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5 Deg. F and, of course, my pipes froze.

Started by Weekend_Sawyer, February 07, 2007, 07:47:34 AM

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Weekend_Sawyer

It went down to 5 deg F Monday night. I got up Tuesday morning to find no water. Said ah crap a couple of times and called my brother Chris. Chris is a building maintenance engineer, lives next door and shares my well. ;D
Shure enough he had no water too so the problem must have been in the pump house. We met there and found it a mess with 2 squirrels living in it. We had a double layer of foam board covering the pump hole, expansion tank and piping. All in an underground concrete bunker with a little high pitched roof over it, looks like a little adiorandack challet . The squirrels had knocked the foam boards in and chewed them up and made a great big nest in the bottom of the well house! We cleaned everything out and put heat on the pipes and the leaks started showing themselves. Chris pushed on a T connection and it snapped right off. Looking inside the pipe it was so clogged you couldn't push a pencil in it.. Longish story shortened we replaced all the pipes and expansion tank which was full of crud too. 3 trips to the hardware store, new foam board, we patched holes where the squirrels were getting in. Water is restored and pressure is better than ever. I didn't want to go to work yesterday anyway.

Jon

Imagine, Me a Tree Farmer.
Jon, Appalachian American Wannabe.

JimBuis

My sympathies Jon.  We lived thereabouts for a while, first in North Springfield, Virginia, then Upper Marlboro, Maryland.  I don't miss the commutes at all.  I traded them for Tokyo.  The temperatures here are generally milder and I don't have the commute any more.

Jim
Jim Buis                             Peterson 10" WPF swingmill

Weekend_Sawyer

 
I go to the Marlboro Trading Post for used tractor parts. They have a real nice setup there with new and used equipment.
Imagine, Me a Tree Farmer.
Jon, Appalachian American Wannabe.

WDH

Wells are wonderful things sometimes and not so wonderful things sometimes.  I live so far from the paved road that it is not economical to tie into the county water system, so am also a well owner.  I (me and the well man) recently had to pull 240 feet of 2" metal pipe and replace the pump.  Not an easy job.  But, better than hauling water up in a bucket on a rope!

I have learned that of all the many things that stresses a marriage, about the worst is "no water".  Sounds like you got your problem fixed pronto.  Good for marital harmony, Weekend_sawyer!
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Dale Hatfield

was in the same boat. -15 tuesday morning. Cold water froze off. Hot water still good. Natural gas froze off. One Dodge diesel gelled ,other running.
Its a wonderfull thing to wake up and have you morning unfold in such a manner. 49 degrees in the house.
Truck fixed last night at  9pm  while its a snow like a mad man. water repaired by 11:30pm  . 2 more frozen pipes to go and were home free . I had been waiting on cold weather so i could get some work done without all the mud. but thats not the kinda work i had in mind.
Dale
Game Of Logging trainer,  College instructor of logging/Tree Care
Chainsaw Carver

hiya

I live on top of a hill here in Mt. Airy, so I get a lot of wind.Monday morning the washer pipes were froze. Had to leave for Pa. for eye doc appointment, so I turned water off so if the pipes broke it would be a little less messy ;D. Got back about 8:30 pm got the pipes open about 11;15. Tuesday same thing.( still was only 5 at 11:30) used a hair dryer, worked good, took about 1/2 hour. The pipes drop under the bottom of sink cabnet, go behind dw than through under the counter of corner cabnet, then through wall to laundry room.So I replumbed the pipes.This morning water to washer 8) 8). 
We'll learn not to complain about hot weather ::).
Richard
RichardinMd.

Murf

Dats no fun at all...... sounds like you need to be my buddy Lorne's next customer...  :D

Next best thing to a wood stove!!!  ;)

Heat-Line Pipe Freeze Protection.
If you're going to break a law..... make sure it's Murphy's Law.

Radar67

"A man's time is the most valuable gift he can give another." TOM

If he can cling to his Blackberry, I can cling to my guns... Me

This will kill you, that will kill you, heck...life will kill you, but you got to live it!

"The man who can comprehend the why, can create the how." SFC J

bitternut

My neighbor had his pipes freeze up a couple days ago ( around zero with 40 mi/hr winds ). He finally had to call a plumber who brought a pipe thawing machine. Charge was $225 for first hour minimum I think and $95/hr for succeeding hours  (Pretty good pay). Took longer to get from his truck to the door than it did to thaw the pipe. Not sure what brand of machine he had but I found one brand that I could get for less than $700. At that rate I could pay for it with only 3 stops.  ;D  :D Guy said he has been running night and day trying to keep up with all the calls for frozen pipes.

Here is the link for you guys that might want to see what they look like. Just a small box with a couple welding cables and clamps. Plug her into the wall ( 120v, 14a ) and within a few minutes the water is running.

http://www.drainbrain.com/specialties/hotshot.html

Furby

Yeah, they are running 24 hour days here to.
If you can get someone to come out you are lucky.
Neighbor lady's pipes froze yesterday morning.
We were suposed to get down to -10°F, but I'm not sure what we actually hit.
I'm not in a position to deal with her pipes, so we had to call in some favors to get someone out as there is a waiting list.
I gotta stop over there in a little while and make sure everything is ok.

beenthere

Gotta leave the water running a bit to keep 'em from freezin up.

The stick welders work good for heating the froze pipes. But often those froze pipes will leak when they thaw out.  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

sawguy21

More than one has burnt the house down using a stick welder to thaw pipes
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

farmerdoug

Stick welders work great but you really have to watch the grounds that electricans and plumbers attach to the pipes.  Also alot of people attach the stick welders at the pumphouse but not at the house side of the freeze too.  That power will go to the easiest place it can.

Farmerdoug
Doug
Truck Farmer/Greenhouse grower
2001 LT40HDD42 Super with Command Control and AccuSet, 42 hp Kubota diesel
Fargo, MI

Faron

Am I correct in thinking that machine will only work on metal pipes?  Or will it pass a current through the water and ice in plastic as long as you can find metal on both ends?
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for dinner.  Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote. - Ben Franklin

bitternut

Thats right Faron. The type that I posted only works on metal pipe and won't work on plastic pipe. The link that Murf posted is heat tape that goes right inside the pipe and prevents the water from freezing. It won't thaw frozen pipes. It will work with any kind of pipe to prevent the water in the pipe from freezing.

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