In article ,
Andrew McKay writes:
On 5 Aug 2003 15:27:17 -0700, (John
Stumbles) wrote:

No, Speedfit (and Hep2O etc) are fine when used correctly at mains
pressure. From my own enquiries to JG they say "We recommend testing
central heating pipework 2 bar for 10 minutes and 10 bar for 10 minutes" and
mains is typically around 4 bar.

Stupid question time I guess - how do you go about introducing extra
pressure to a water mains in order to carry out this testing?

I pressurise pipework with air before connecting it up to the
water. You can use a bicycle pump and leak detector spray to find
leaks. The air leaks out much faster than water would through
the same leak, so if it's air tight, it will certainly be water
tight at the same pressure. Also, the air leak doesn't damage
anything else, and doesn't wet the pipework making soldering of
joints harder. One of the vertical cycle pumps (looking like a
detonator) can easily reach 4 bar, although if that includes
something like a radiator, you'll have to be fit and it will
take a while. You can use a compressor too. Just beware of the
potential energy you store up in a radiator pumped up to even
2 bar, and try to resist the temptation to see how far you can
fire the pushfit endcap you temporarily fitted to hold the
pressure in, at least without goggles and ear defenders ;-)

--
Andrew Gabriel