Investment of tracer gas equipment

[jaydebruyne]

a tracer gas kit for water leak detection.. £4300
Can charge up to £450-550 per job.
Cuts out getting in a specialist firm.

A good investment or not worth it

 

[Last Plumber]

In my opinion, not worth it unless you have a source of work for it.
How often have you thought one would be handy ?

 

[jaydebruyne]

In my opinion, not worth it unless you have a source of work for it.
How often have you thought one would be handy ?

I've had 2 jobs in the last 2 weeks where I'd have needed one. And I can go for quite a few like that that come in on a jobs website I'm on

 

[Last Plumber]

I've had 2 jobs in the last 2 weeks where I'd have needed one. And I can go for quite a few like that that come in on a jobs website I'm on

Well, only you know how much you'd use it.
If you can make it pay for itself that's grand !

Is the £450-£500 per job just the charge for the equipment or is that including your time too ?

 

[ShaunCorbs]

if it pays for it self then go ahead but remember you might not have another job for it for atleast 2+ years etc

 

[jaydebruyne]

Well, only you know how much you'd use it.
If you can make it pay for itself that's grand !

Is the £450-£500 per job just the charge for the equipment or is that including your time too ?

That would be all inclusive. The gas is only £60 for 7litres witch is great.. so overheads aren't that steep.. I'm kinda thinking it's another weapon in my arsenal I can add to my services.. even if it takes 6 months to a year pay for itself I still reckon it's not a bad investment.. or am I just trying to convince myself?!? Lol

 

[Last Plumber]

It also depends on your charges for a day.
You need to weigh up how much you're getting for the kit, each time you use it !

If it's good for your business, go for it.

 

[jaydebruyne]

It also depends on your charges for a day.
You need to weigh up how much you're getting for the kit, each time you use it !

If it's good for your business, go for it.

I'm gonna do a little research into other companies and what they charge and see if it's a viable purchase.. cheers Last

 

[townfanjon]

I think you should by the kit and then we can all borrow it .lol

 

[jaydebruyne]

I think you should by the kit and then we can all borrow it .lol

lol I wondered who'd be the first to pipe up with this one

 

[mfgs]

I'm not sure it would be worthwhile personally. I can think of about 3 jobs in the past 5 years where it would have been handy but that's about it. It just seems like a massive outlay for something quite specialist, you would have to be advertising to get the right work in to pay for it

 

[jaydebruyne]

I'm not sure it would be worthwhile personally. I can think of about 3 jobs in the past 5 years where it would have been handy but that's about it. It just seems like a massive outlay for something quite specialist, you would have to be advertising to get the right work in to pay for it

Yeah I hear what you're saying.. how do you go about finding leaks in heating pipes if they're under floor below boards and wooden flooring that the customer doesn't want to take up because it's just been laid. The thermal camera isn't picking anything up since the floor is too thick and there are no damp patches or trace of a leak anywhere... you top up the pressure and it goes to zero in 20 mins. where do you even start causing no or minimal damage?

 

[Harvest Fields]

That would be all inclusive. The gas is only £60 for 7litres witch is great.. so overheads aren't that steep.. I'm kinda thinking it's another weapon in my arsenal I can add to my services.. even if it takes 6 months to a year pay for itself I still reckon it's not a bad investment.. or am I just trying to convince myself?!? Lol

That's a lot of wonga for it to stay in your Arsenal.

 

[jaydebruyne]

That's a lot of wonga for it to stay in your Arsenal.

Lol not sure it detects those type of gases lol

 

[townfanjon]

lol I wondered who'd be the first to pipe up with this one

Eye , it had to be a Yorkshire man .

 

[leelister6]

Yeah I hear what you're saying.. how do you go about finding leaks in heating pipes if they're under floor below boards and wooden flooring that the customer doesn't want to take up because it's just been laid. The thermal camera isn't picking anything up since the floor is too thick and there are no damp patches or trace of a leak anywhere... you top up the pressure and it goes to zero in 20 mins. where do you even start causing no or minimal damage?

Would the customer be happy paying £500 (plus cost of repairing the leak)?
And how many jobs would you get where they would be? If it'll pay, do it, if not, don't!

 

[jaydebruyne]

Would the customer be happy paying £500 (plus cost of repairing the leak)?
And how many jobs would you get where they would be? If it'll pay, do it, if not, don't!

They'd have to weigh up the cost compared to the cost of replacing their flooring.. I guess some people depending on what type of flooring they have would rather take up the floor, but others would rather not.

I'll wait a while and make note of how much use I'd get out of it.

I think I just got a bit excited at a new tool lol but it's blooming expensive so will just rip people's floor up for the time being lol

 

[Last Plumber]

Is this 100% guaranteed to find the location of a leak or is it just another 'brilliant' idea being sold to you as a way of earning big bucks. I've been doing this job a long time and seen a lot of 'brilliant' ideas come and go.

My advice, wait for a year or two and you'll know if it is really a 'brilliant' idea.

It will only upset you if you sink thousands into it and can't get it back. It is only an investment if it will definitely pay for itself, gain you work and customers and continue to earn its own revenue (aside from your charges).

Can you not hire one for a few occasions and add it to the invoice (maybe make a bit on that) just to see if you will /can, get work for it?

If it becomes a good source of income to you, I would say then is the time to invest your hard earned money into an idea like this.

 

[jaydebruyne]

Is this 100% guaranteed to find the location of a leak or is it just another 'brilliant' idea being sold to you as a way of earning big bucks. I've been doing this job a long time and seen a lot of 'brilliant' ideas come and go.

My advice, wait for a year or two and you'll know if it is really a 'brilliant' idea.

It will only upset you if you sink thousands into it and can't get it back. It is only an investment if it will definitely pay for itself, gain you work and customers and continue to earn its own revenue (aside from your charges).

Can you not hire one for a few occasions and add it to the invoice (maybe make a bit on that) just to see if you will /can, get work for it?

If it becomes a good source of income to you, I would say then is the time to invest your hard earned money into an idea like this.

Yeah I'm gonna wait a while before I do anything to do just as you said..

 

[Last Plumber]

Yeah I'm gonna wait a while before I do anything to do just as you said..

Just out of curiosity, do the manufacturers say that it will find the leak for definite ?
Meaning it has a 100% success rate ?

Just wondering jayde?

 

[jaydebruyne]

Just out of curiosity, do the manufacturers say that it will find the leak for definite ?
Meaning it has a 100% success rate ?

Just wondering jayde?

Nope.. they said in conjunction with other methods (acoustic, damp detection) it's a good tool to use if other methods fail. But none of the tools are 100% guaranteed to find the leak. E.g you may pick up the gas but if it's under concrete the pipe may be sleeved therefore you still need to use a bit of savvy

 

[Last Plumber]

So, (and bare in mind I have not seen this equipment), if you test a pipe that you cannot drain and it is under a floor with a pinhole in the bottom of it, would the gas leak out of that or is that one of the circumstances were it is no use?

 

[jaydebruyne]

So, (and bare in mind I have not seen this equipment), if you test a pipe that you cannot drain and it is under a floor with a pinhole in the bottom of it, would the gas leak out of that or is that one of the circumstances were it is no use?

If there's water there the gas can't get out.. you'd need to drain the system completely, in this case the acoustic method might be best by slightly overpressurising the system and listening out for the hiss, or doing a damp detection with a tester

 

[tolly]

If there's water there the gas can't get out.. you'd need to drain the system completely, in this case the acoustic method might be best by slightly overpressurising the system and listening out for the hiss, or doing a damp detection with a tester

Hi Jay, I've done a lot of tracer gas work for another company I subby to. Theres good money in it, they get all there work from insurance companies and get £750 per day for doing a tracer gas job plus £250 for a prelim inspection, this doesn't include my fee's either to assist with the draining down and connecting up the gas to the system, refilling etc.

I would hate to do it everyday though, one of the most boring things I've done.

 

[jaydebruyne]

Hi Tolly.. thanks for the reply. So in order to get work it's best to advertise those services to insurance companies? Even if I did 2-4 a month the tools will pay for themselves I reckon. Plus a selling point is that I can repair and do all the plumbing/heating aspects myself instead of getting in an external engineer adding to costs and time involved etc