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Pressure gauge and test fittings

A gauge on a fitting is connected to an isolated pipe, which is then filled and left to stand. It needs a point to connect to, such as a tap, a drain-off or a boiler filling loop, and the supply to be shut off at a valve that holds.

What the property needs to provide: access to the isolation valves and the stop tap. See what a pressure gauge tells you.

Acoustic sensors

A sensitive microphone with headphones, placed on the floor, wall or an exposed pipe and moved along the suspected route. Some sets use two sensors and a unit that compares the sound arriving at each.

What the property needs to provide: the pipe under pressure, and as quiet a building as can be managed, so appliances and heating may be switched off for a short time. See acoustic detection on plastic pipe.

Tracer gas detector and cylinder

A cylinder of tracer gas mixture supplied as non-flammable and non-toxic, which can still displace air so the room is ventilated, and a handheld detector with a probe that is swept over the surface. The cylinder is charged once at £80 on top of the hourly rate, and No VAT is charged, as set out on tracer gas leak detection.

What the property needs to provide: a run that can be isolated and emptied, a ventilated room and a floor surface the probe can be moved over. A worked case is the hydrogen tracer on a heating manifold job.

Thermal camera

A handheld camera that shows surface temperature as a colour picture. It is used from a standing position and is pointed at walls, ceilings and floors, and it needs no contact with the surface. How a phone-sized camera compares is in can a phone thermal camera find a leak.

What the property needs to provide: clear sight of the surface, so furniture is moved away from the wall, and a difference between inside and outside temperature. See thermal imaging limits.

Moisture meter

A handheld meter with a pair of pins, or a flat pad, pressed on to the surface. Readings are taken on a grid and written onto a plan of the wall or floor, which is how mapping works.

What the property needs to provide: bare plaster or floor in the area, and permission for the small pin marks that a pin meter can leave. See how moisture mapping works, the difference between pin and pinless meters, and the damp behind a bed job for a map in use.

Endoscope

A small camera and light on a flexible lead, viewed on a handheld screen. It is passed through a small opening or an existing access point, such as a loose bath panel. On the shower waste job it was passed through one ceiling opening.

What the property needs to provide: a place to enter, and consent for a small hole if none exists. The order these six are used in is on how a visit works and the non-invasive leak detection page.

Questions customers ask

Do I need to prepare anything for the equipment?

Yes, a little: clear access to the stop tap, valves and the affected area, and furniture moved away from the wall in question. Nothing needs to be dismantled, and pipework should be left closed.

Do I need to buy this equipment myself?

No. A householder only needs the safe checks on the leak source triage page. The instruments are used by the team.

Is this the full list of equipment?

This is the complete set used to find a leak, and nothing outside it is claimed. Trace and access, meaning a small opening made once the leak is marked, follows from these instruments.

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