A good, informative video about how to do a simple air test with no muss or fuss, yet with safety at the forefront. Well done!

That's a game changer with the schrader valve, what a top tip! I can absolutely see the advantage of air testing. Thank you. At college finding the leaks was half the fun! There was always one pipe insert missing, or a compression fitting not nipped up properly and the crestfallen student would get properly ribbed for it. Nobody ever had a leaky soldered joint though. The pros do it too. A neighbour knocked on the door the other night as her radiator was leaking and the boiler pressure dropping, she'd had British Gas out to service the system a couple of weeks ago but this was the first time she'd used it since. The leaking compression fitting on that radiator wasn't even hand tight, it just hadn't been tightened up at all.

Love the stuff you talk about on this channel. I’m not an expert, I’m not in the Trades, I’m smart enough to hire experts who have spent years becoming experts do the things I don’t have the skill sets to do…whew…that took forever to simply say: Thanks for taking the time to teach all of us (experts/Journeymen, apprentices/undergraduates, and us fans of the Trades) about the cool stuff you do as part of your job. Cheers

Good to see this tip First, thing to say is I am not a pro plumber. But I have done this several times when installing new plumbing runs. A central heating system operates at more than 1 bar or 14 psi, so I use a foot pump with a pressure guage and never go above that. I've done this to test sections of plumbing before filling with water, leaving it pressurised for several minutes. Air leaks out a lot quicker than water, so you can tell very quickly if something's wrong. I push the button in the middle of the valve to release the air safely.

For someone that is 70 Roger you are a god of the building industry keep up the good work

I love tips like this, valve made for a completely different fitment but fits the compression joint perfectly, can't wait to do it, thanx Roger.

I’m a plumber and never seen this tip always struggled but now I can do it a lot easier thanks good video

What great timing for this video. Just about to air test my own new system. Was racking my brain on the best way to attach the pump. Cheers.

Absolutely brilliant idea. Sadly came one day too late for me. I'm water testing at the moment and yes one push fit fitting decided to attempt a return to the wild at one bar. Thanks so much for this top idea Rodger :)

The best video for me this year. Brilliant.

I made a pressure test rig as I was doing loads of plumbing in my house - with a pressure gauge and 22mm and 15mm end so I could attach it to either. I wish I'd known about the schrader tip here, as the way I attached mine was MASSIVELY more complex. I only tested it to 1bar and then left it for an hour to see if the gauge moved. Allowed me to find a couple of tiny leaks easily with water spray and fairly liquid. No leaks when I finally filled the system, and happy days as it was another massive job that I saved a packet on doing my own extension... which i will eventually finish, maybe in the mid 2030s.

Brilliant......I've always wondered how pros do this. Just ordered my Schrader valves.

You are a font of information Roger. You have steered me through a lot of stuff here in Northern France !!! Keep up the good work please !!

Rodger i have been in the building trade my whole working life and i have never seen anyone use this nice trick i must say i am always impressed with your content on this channel and every topic you cover A++++

Excellent video !!

thanks very informative!!!

brilliant info and safety tip

Thinking of coverting from open to closed system, this test would come in really handy.

Very clever. We had the water level in the CH header tank going up and down with the cold water tank in the loft. The ball valve had scaled up and ran very slowly so I suspected a slow leak in the hot water cylinder coil. The plumber disconnected the coil from the CH system and did an air pressure test. He came back the next day and the pressure had dropped indicating a leak. The cylinder was replaced, but I didn’t appreciate the possibility of CH inhibitor mixing with our hot water, so I’ll probably get a combi boiler when we replace it.

What a great tip. Your advance warning was sufficient, and in fact a bicycle pump came to mind even before you mentioned it. There's always going to be that One Guy ... (thanks for posting!)

Very pleased to find this , with this cold I didn't want to fill an underfloor heating system in a conservatory that's got no doors or window in yet ,

Thanks Roger, yet another piece of sage advice. Hitherto I'd never considered using air to pressure test.

Brilliant tip! Carried out on my Reno. After a few minor noticeable leaks, I can now get the pressure to hold at 1-2bar for an hour. Sadly overnight it keeps dropping, so still on the hunt for that final leak….. hoping it could be the schrader valve itself

Exactly what I was looking for 👍

Thank you.

What a fabulous tip Wish I'd known about this for the last 40 years

Brilliant idea. Simple and safe , if you think, as you say.

I use predominantly push fits now and been using them for about 15yrs. Only had one leak and that was because the pipe was marked. On compression fittings I use paste. Rarely solder. I feel confident enough to say that I never pressure test and (so far) it’s been great. Although, I think pressure testing is the right thing to do. Useful video.

Thank you so much for this tip with the valve 👍 I am retired plumber and I have a one off job to do where I need to dry pressure test, I went to get my dry test kit and it is nowhere to be found and I didn’t want to spend £30-£50 on a one off job To replace the dry pressure valve, thanks again Roger. This has just saved me a lot of money 👊, keep up the great work with the videos 👍

Air testing could be dangerous. Says a man who puts gas in pipes and uses a blow torch.😉😉. Very informative video rodge 👍👍

You are Hydraulic Master! Thank you!!

Thank you, Rodgers learnt something new today , question when using compression fitting I see in the usa they tighten the crap out of it . They way I was taught is to tighten by hand them continue with a half turn with a spanner / wrench if it leaks another quarter turn until it is tight . If you over tighten it deformed the olive / brass ring. Would you agree . Keep making the vids always great information and advise .

Fantastic! 👍

This is great, came across it as I need to test my underfloor heating to pressure. I was thinking of filling the system a Dan extra length of pipe outside of the system, stuck a shrader valve on the end and pressurise that, shouldn't force any air into the system itself, than I can just isolate the ufh and leave it for 24 hours, pressure gauge on the manifold.. Can't see and issue?

Was on a Site today in London where they are doing exactly this. With a compressor though. For all the same reasons. Much easier and quicker to identify and fix the faults without the big draindown!

Quite brilliant-) Would you leave the pump connected?

Awesome, that's what I'll be doing tomorrow

Been air testing for yrs .its ideal for ufh especially on exposed sites prior to pouring slab. Using large 500 m coils generally you'll have just two connections lever valve with blank one end and pressure gauge at the other leaving manifold until 2nd fix.

Thanks for this tip Roger. 1-2 bar isn’t going to create missiles and this would be a real help for us DIY’ers.

Gonna get one! I like the soap test as its definate, leak or not, since pressurised air can vary with temperature plus a large volume of air could take a long time to drop pressure enough to be sure its leaking

How much pumping should be required to start pressurising the system? I've laid new push-fit pipe work to replace the old CH system and would like to test it. I've rigged this up and capped all the pipes that will connect to the radiators. Should I expect to be pumping a good bit or should I see the gauge move fairly quickly after I begin pumping? There is a main run of 22mm pipes with branches of 15mm out to different radiators.

As a trainee site engineer many many moons ago this is how 6" or 4" etc rainwater drainage was tested prior to backfilling using pipe end stops and a certain air pressure pumped in.If the pressure held backfill and lay the next few lengths and so on.I forget the tolerance of psi loss per minute now though.Basically if air cant escape water cant.

CLEVER!

Automatic air vent isolation is a good idea, aavs in modern boilers too....

Hi Rodger; I’m a plumber of over 20 years, I generally use air for pressure testing as well, particularly for first fixing, I do use wet testing, but find it a pain to remove the water from the pipework for soldering. A question for you; what pressure is industry standard? I test at 2 bar for 30mins, then 5 bar for the same time, and have done for years. Recently I’ve had some problems with some speedfit fittings leaking, speedfit say to test at 2 bar for 10mins, then 10bar for 10mins, that seems extreme and dangerous particularly like you say cap ends popping off and bouncing around at a hundred miles an hour! Also, when doing my apprenticeship we used to test like that and had loads of leaks afterwards we think because of stretching the grip rings. My concern is that would speedfit honour any warranty issue if we test at a lower pressure? Also on combined copper & plastic systems would the extra pressure cause any damage to copper pipework and fittings (old or new)? Many thanks

I love you sir!

What bar is correct? I heard some say 5bar some say 3 for dry testing?

Smart man.

My dad taught me this technique, always released the pressure through the tyre valve. Just remember you get all the energy out that you put in, 5 min work on the pump can come out in less than a second, and if it brings a bit of brass with it you've made yourself an air rifle.

“Guns don’t kill people, rappers do” great video, schreider great tip

Great idear Roger. Never had a leek on a soldered fitting, it's all down to preparation. I used to test my joints by Topping the system up venting off and then tapping each joint if there was an issue it would show.

good

In my house 20yrs ago they did pressure test for the city code un USA. Just curious the dif techniques

I worked on a church renovation and the undercroft had underfloor heating and £50k worth of hardwood flooring. The underfloor heating was tested with an air-pressure test and passed. When they switched the water on, a section of pipe started to leak and the flooring above it got wrecked. When the flooring was taken up, the section of pipe had several holes drilled into it, like a flute.

Great tip, I'm going to be trying soldering for the first time on my combi boiler system. What's the best way to let the pressure back out. Pressing the valve pin in? Undoing a bleed valve on a rad?

Its also a useful hack for unblocking microbore.

I like to test pipe work at 40 BAR using OFN,, but that is on an AC system fit for R410a

Does the system have to be drained/dry, or can you air test with it mostly filled? Incidentally, my Stanley is the tool I'm scared off the most!

Does the UK not have test gauges. We air test all the time. This video may be about testing existing pipe work. I’m referring to new construction. There’s lots of times where you don’t have water to do a live water test. We have to pump it to 80psi because that’s the maximum allowable water pressure. We have to use a gauge because the inspector needs to see it. I’ve even done work at TX state university and they are basically a municipality unto themselves. The use UPC but have lots of their own exceptions. I did a live water test and was told it wasn’t sufficient. I had to air it up to 125 psi. As for testing existing systems, we use a test gauge that fits on hose threads. You put it on a hose Bibb or washer box, turn it on so it pressurizes then turn the water off to seal the system. If it holds for 15 min, it’s good.

Agree that this is a very good idea and very well executed. Just use a manual pump at less than 1 bar and take the obvious site precautions indicated. I'm off to get a Scraper valve. I suspect that Kwikfit or any tyre dealer will have 1000s of old ones lying about as they replace one for every new tyre sold....

If possible would be good to see you using this method in practice on a project Roger.

I work on site and have always water tested. Didn’t know air testing wasn’t allowed and just assumed it was because it isn’t very time efficient when It came to finding a leak.

Good video ,,but use ldf (leak detection fluid) if you can as washing up liquid is corrosive.also a strength test is usually 1.5 x the operating pressure so as a 1.5 x 1.1 bar allow some time for temp stabilzation and stay below 3 bar incase it trips any prv,s ( pressure relief valves..but defo better to test if you can before any flooring etc goes back down...keep up the good work..cheers

Would you trust this rubber schrader valve on new build pipework at 10 bar

I’m sure the guy with the funny hair cut has a fancy machine that costs a right few Bob,In the shipyard we test a ship with 2lbs and that finds cracks and missed welds all over the place Dangerous to go any higher I kid you not.

Do you leave the olive in before fitting the valve?

Manufactured a 35mm low loss header and mixing valve recently in my own home. Air tested it up to 3 bar and it held for 24 hours. When I installed it , it leaked on one joint like a sieve. Be warned that air testing sometimes will not show up a water leak. Don’t ask me why, but apparently it’s known about in the trade!

If you are going to air test , turn off all the radiators both sides first . Minimum air content then. If it’s on a combi you could always isolate the boiler as well.

Thats exactly how i made my air testing kit

Does anyone do the opposite I.e. vacuum testing, or probably pressure reduction to see if the system will hold a partial vacuum. Could prevent anything ‘blowing off’. I would guess a full vacuum could in theory collapse/buckle radiators or tanks etc.

Well I never, that saves a lot of ballache! There's me drilling holes in 22mm compresion cap ends and fitting the bolt in shrader valves. BTW, they work great in a pneumatic unblocker with a makita air pump ;D

What size Schrader valve is that ?

Great odea im doing a referb at the minute anyone tried this on plastic pipeing(speedfit)

👌

Brilliant. Just like finding a puncture in your BMX inner tubes. Shame Mythbuster is no longing airing. I'd like to see them fabricate a house and pump up the heating system until it explodes..... So we don't have to 🤭🤔😵‍💫

It is my understanding that air testing should not be done on underfloor heating systems or other pex pipework. Is this not the case?

We where advised never to air test by the HVCA years ago.as we would not be insured.

Doesn't air/gas, and therefore air testing, require tighter fittings than water? Can you get a lot of false positives this way as you find "leaks" that might not happen in a water system?

The danger that you are talking about is called stored energy and as you stressed it a lot, it is very dangerous. I worked on a big project (process) and we were only allowed to gas (nitous) test pipeowrk that was not supposed to carry liquids and only gases and we did not want contamination. If I remeber correctly, only 2 out of 30 systems were tested this way.

👍👍👍

Nice vid. Might be worth mentioning how dangerous it is to pump oxygen into a gas supply though!

1 bar is approximately the same pressure as atmospheric pressure , so I guess that say 1.5 or 2 bar ish may be better to test for leaks?

I can pump my boiler central heating system safely upto 2.5 bar with water. why is it more dangerous using air instead if the pressure in the system is also 2.5 bar? I can't understand why the same pressure under air is more dangerous?

👍

What about releasing the air?....

Plumbers do air test on site these days rodge. Heating/water at 7 bar. Even stacks get tested with air now because the nhbc prefer it to a wet test

AH MATE , ME AN A COPPLE BLOAKS DID AN AIR TEST ON A COURT YARD SISTIM , WE HAD TO NOTIIFY THE QUEEN HERSELF WITH PERMISSION , WAH A DAY SHE WAS !!

Always air test my systems before fill up best way of checking all the grab rings on pushfit and highlights compression fittings that need more tightening or paste saves causing a leak and draining down.

Doesn't air compress though? I was under the impression that air testing, especially over larger spans of pipes, was less reliable than water testing.

We just use plastic push fit to test with compressor

Great idea but not fool proof. When a CH system is charged with water and heated you can get expansion leaks which air will not show.

Um. So the guages you get for spinning onto a hydrant and checking pressure? Take the swivel off. The shradar valve wiggles into that hole now you can plug on to a hydrant or washing machine valve. We only air test. 80psi fir water 5psi for drain. You testing a bathroom with that bike pump? Your stored energy is same result with water. Except dryer. Your gonna be there forever with that pump. Strap your pipe and nothing goes flying. It’s copper not plastic.

I had a guy put in a rigid gas connection to our new gas hob …. He then said I need to test it a took a friggin lighter out of his pocket 😳😱. Luckily I’m still here 😬🧱👍🏽

I fart in the pipe. No smell means I have an airtight connection.

No thanks

Follow Jesus Christ today 'Today is the day of salvation John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

6 bar. Wtf were you testing airplane tyres. All the warning should be good enough for people NOT TO DO THIS. Whilst I am never to old or experienced to learn new tricks, this one will never 👎 be attempted by myself.

Air pressure is a required test for water and sewer lines in most US building code sites, they make rubber seals for waste lines so you can pressure test them.

Always used an air tester on full houses, 20 minutes at 1 bar is plenty to see if there's a leak anywhere. Good for testing Gas pipes prior to final connection.