Help with diagnosing leak

[Scottmid1986]

Hi everyone,

I’m new to the forum and would greatly appreciate any help getting to the bottom of a leak in our old Edinburgh Mews flat. Pictured is what we found when dealing with some water damage in the roof. The flexible pipe on the right leads to the outside by way of an exiting 4” pipe, and I’ve no idea what the pipe on the left is - it is constantly dripping water. When I took apart the ceiling to inspect it, the pipe was full of water and we drained about 10L or more!

We do have a Ventaxia which extracts air from the back of the flat which has no external walls or windows. The machine itself is working but the extraction piping is clearly blocked. However, the plans we have access to, and from speaking to the architects who renovated the place years ago, suggest the Ventaxia exits the house elsewhere. Hope that all makes sense! Any thoughts would be gladly received!

 

[^woody^]

The pipe on the left is a square duct connector and it should be joined to the flexible duct on the right to make a single duct from your fan to the outside.

Air can condense with ducts to form water. The whole duct should be relatively straight or inclined to allow air a smooth passage. Any dips will potentially hold moisture. Any kinks will reduce air flow and extract performance.

 

[Wayners]

I used soil pipe for my long runs sloping downward so condensation run away.
Always best to use the correct solid pipe although I never. That concertina pipe should be avoided where possible.

 

[mikeey84]

I would turn all of your extractors on, then put your hand over and see if you can feel any air flow.

If you can't, it suggests it's not connected to your extractor, but maybe your neighbours?

Warm steamy air from a bathroom can hold a lot of moisture, so that's been building up for a while, could easily explain that amount of water.

 

[Scottmid1986]

Many thanks all for your suggestions. The pipes were connected until I took them apart the other day due to a huge amount of water which had filled a large section of the flexible pipe.

Lots of cold air was flowing into the house from the flexible pipe side - I’ve put a 110mm cap on this to prevent it. The Ventaxia does not appear to be connected to the solid piping on the left of the photo as no air flowing. There was some condensation building up still but I’m hopeful that reducing the cool air flow will help with that. No idea what that pipe is for still!

With regards to the Ventaxia which has a blocked outlet pipe, any suggestion on how to diagnose this? We wondered about finding a tradesman perhaps with a flexible fibre optic camera?

 

[mikeey84]

I got a flexible fibre optic camera for £20 from Amazon to diagnose a toilet leak.

I'd recommend you get one and have a look! You can even connect them to a battery pack and drop them down pipes on string, as they work on wifi