I have an old home in which a radiant system was installed in the 1960's; 1" copper in the slab. There are a few leaks that I'm discovering and trying to fix (I think the previous owner left water in the pipe over the winters and shut the valves off to save money, which are causing this).

I can locate the leaks (with the aid of a infrared camera) and I can expose the pipe for repair. The issue is that the copper pipe is not perfectly round (more oval shaped) and it's very difficult to get a coupling on the pipe. I've tried to reshape the pipe and was successful in a few areas, but it's very trying and difficult.

Any advise or solutions for this? Standard couplings have a tight tolerance and I want something that will last in concrete.

First try to reshape the pipe to round with ChannelLocks. Then take a cast brass coupling (increasingly harder to find) or some other cast brass fitting and file the perimeter leading edge slightly. Last, use a hammer to tap the fitting over the pipe. Alternate between tapping it on to removing it and starting over again. Eventually, the pipe should round out. Doesn't hurt to put a little silicone grease on it first.

Could you please explain how you use the infrared camera to locate the breaks in the slab?

i don't think i would bother to repair them. generally speaking the pipe is leaking because it is worn out but yours may be as you said. if it really looks nice but truly has just a couple of leaks then by all means fix it.
you can always flare the 3/4 soft copper. a flare tool that you hit with a hammer would work.

I'm with packy...I'd have a room by room heat loss calculation done(or do it yourself), and be installing panel rads in each room. Usually, once the leaks start, it's a downward spiral. You may be able to nurse it along for a couple seasons while getting things set up to abandon the radiant.

Infrared is pretty exciting
[www.plbg.com]

You can now pretty much do it yourself..

can be used to check for roof leaks Insulation problems electrical shorts hot spots etc..



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Go to any good plumbign supply store and get a male/female resizing set.

I agree with Paul48, abandon the in floor and go with baseboard or panel rads. Once you start getting leaks in a copper system they will keep on coming. The fly ash used in the concrete deteriorates the copper as well as pipe erosion from over pumping.