Editing Smoke testing (mechanical) (section)

{{Short description|Technique for detecting leaks}}
{{Other uses|Smoke testing (disambiguation){{!}}Smoke testing}}
[[File:Smoke test manhole, Springdale, AR.jpg|thumb|upright|A [[sanitary sewer manhole]] in [[Springdale, Arkansas]] with smoke coming out as a result of smoke testing for leaks]]
'''Smoke testing''' refers to various classes of tests of systems, usually intended to determine whether they are ready for more robust testing. The expression probably was first used in [[plumbing]] in referring to tests for the detection of cracks, leaks or breaks in closed systems of pipes.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://archive.org/details/treatiseonhygien01stev| title = Stevenson, Thomas. A Treatise on Hygiene and Public Health, Volume 1. Published by: J. & A. Churchill, 1892| year = 1892| publisher = Philadelphia}}</ref>

Pre-dating the term itself, smoke tests were performed to detect leaks in wooden sailing vessels at least as early as 1836. After making a slow fire in the bottom of the hold, Richard Henry Dana writes, "Wherever smoke was seen coming out we calked and pasted and, so far as we could, make the ship smoke tight."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dana|first=Richard Henry|title=Two Years Before the Mast|publisher=Pyramid Books Edition|year=1958|location=United States of America|pages=132–133}}</ref>