Flume Smart Home Water Monitor

[wpns]

Would you believe that the clown who installed the water heater did not install a shutoff on the cold input ...
We shut hot output but no change ...

You would not believe what we would believe!

At least you have narrowed it down to the cold water pipes. I don’t suppose you have any access to intermediate points, or multiple places where water supply goes into the slab?

 

[n6ac]

Sadly, no. There is just one entry point – feed comes up from ground; a tee separates irrigation (valved); valve and pressure regulator; then into the wall for the dive. Feed has main shutoff valve maybe 50 feet upstream from all that.

 

[wpns]

Sorry, I don’t know much about leak detection, other than that it’s looking for particular audio signals. Maybe if you blew all the water out of the lines in the slab, you put compressed air instead, and that would generate a bigger signal?

 

[Twowaxhack]

If you’re sure the leak is under the slab on the cold water piping, repipe all the cold water piping under the slab.

 

[havasu]

I'm sure you've mentioned it, but confirm there is no irrigation lines causing this issue?

 

[wpns]

If you’re sure the leak is under the slab on the cold water piping, repipe all the cold water piping under the slab.

Yeah, too many instances of people digging up the slab to fix one leak, only to have another one appear a few months later. If your slab pipes are failing, replace them all, or bypass them by going up instead.

 

[n6ac]

You would not believe what we would believe!

At least you have narrowed it down to the cold water pipes. I don’t suppose you have any access to intermediate points, or multiple places where water supply goes into the slab?

Oh, fiddle, the clown is me! Thee valved upper pipe was warm to the touch which in my haste made me think that was the hot – but it was warm because the recirculation feeds back to the tank's cold input ...
Leak finding guy returned four days after first try, and found the leak this time, because the first attempt had included pressurization which caused the leakage to start growing.
So bypass is in our (very near) future.

Any thoughts nohow one finds the manifold?

 

[wpns]

Any thoughts nohow one finds the manifold?

What? With your eyes? By following the pipes? Do you have a manifold? #DontUnderstand

 

[havasu]

Most underslab pipes will be coupled together in what could be described as a manifold type collection of pipes. I was able to find mine by using a neighbor who had a previous leak, It was adjacent to the water heater for me, but the previous remodels here made this process easier to find.

 

[wpns]

Most underslab pipes will be coupled together in what could be described as a manifold type collection of pipes. I was able to find mine by using a neighbor who had a previous leak, It was adjacent to the water heater for me, but the previous remodels here made this process easier to find. View attachment 44720

Oh, something in the wall where all the underslab pipes come together? I learned something today!

 

[n6ac]

Most underslab pipes will be coupled together in what could be described as a manifold type collection of pipes. I was able to find mine by using a neighbor who had a previous leak, It was adjacent to the water heater for me, but the previous remodels here made this process easier to find.

Thank you havasu for showing an example!

 

[havasu]

Just for info, if you take your baseboards off, then cut just an inch or two, you can find the collection of pipes usually. The baseboards can easily be installed without any drywall repair.

 

[n6ac]

A new question –
When copper pipes are bypassed with PEX, is it standard practice to maintain electrical grounding by clamping jumper wires onto the severed copper connections?
Seems logical ...