egarant, I have also read about leaking outdoor speakers. Fortunately I don't have any and don't want any, ever.
path1, I don't know how to check the A/C gasket. Mine is not visible as far as I know. Can you provide more details.
As far as testing the water system, I have no issues or complexity to doing a test. I turn on the pump, then turn it off. I turn the pump back on hours or even days later. The pump will not run unless the system pressure has dropped due to a leak. You do need to start the test without any hot water. If you start with hot water and the temperature drops, the pump will need to go on to compensate.