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Thawing water tanks

Started by Qweaver, February 02, 2014, 01:08:44 PM

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Qweaver

My 1200 and 1500 gal above ground water tanks get ice a few inches thick (about 6") around the sides and top. The center stays liquid and the tanks continue to supply water and I have another 1500 gal of underground tanks as well.  It does not take much melting and rain to refill and in fact all of my tanks are nearly full right now...which really surprised me after the really cold temps we've had..   But I would like the option of melting the ice if I needed to. 
Is it possible to buy a small wood fired water heater that would allow me to circulate hot water in the tank?

Quinton
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

thecfarm

I have no idea your fabrication skills,but could you build one? It's not like it would be in your house where it would have to airtight. And saying that I wonder if you just kept the water moving inside,like bubbling,would it still freeze? Do you have any insulation around them?
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

firecord

Put a bubbler in it.  5 to 10 psi should keep the water moving and discourge freezing. we used to do iit in our fire protection tanks. it worked there

Coon

How big of an opening do you have in the tanks first off.... If you simply use an electric stock tank heater and a small circulation pump you wouldn't have to worry about much ice.... The little you would get you wouldn't have to worry about.

Up in these parts we have to deal with things like this on a regular basis. I am currently getting awefully fed up with hauling our water here.  We use a 900 imperial gallon tank on a trailer set up.  The drain hose connects to the bottom of the tank towards the back of the tank and is ran to the front. At the front of the tank is a shut off valve.  The valve and 2" hose are prone to freeze up before I get it home.  I am in the process of figuring out a remedy to get me through the rest of the winter.  One thought is to wrap the hose in electric heat tape and run this off an inverter and 12 volt car battery. My second thought is to put a 2" gas powered banjo pump inline and use it to recirculate the water through...  We had the pump on this setup earlier this winter as we were going to use it to pump the tank out and into our inground cistern but had starting issues with the pump so we removed it and just use gravity.... This Honda pump is tempermental to start in the cold so.... the debate is on.   Brad.
Norwood Lumbermate 2000 w/Kohler,
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