Frozen Water Line, Will this do any good?

[Industrial Toys]

I've got various kinds of wire pulling lubricants and entertained using them, but not sure I want that stuff in my potable water. My woman friend up on the weekend, jokingly suggested KY or just plain SPIT! Not sure I want that in my potable water either. lol Maybe, I should at least look to see what's in the pulling lubricant.

 

[PILOON]

Re Pulling Lubricant
The folks that occupy that house are still alive. LOL

Fact is whenever I needed to thaw, replace pump, or otherwise service a water line I like to add a cup or so of chlorine to the system as a precaution. Also volume of flowing water will be an efficient way to flush the line clean.

 

[Egon]

Ok, now for the big question, how you gonna keep the line thawed once it's open?

 

[sixdogs]

I have not read many of the replies but know there is Canadian company that sells a plug-in heating element that heats a wire that you stick into the water line and solves the problem. If you need the name I can get it.

When you dig a new water line trench, put some 2" blue insulation foam on top of the line. About three or four two foot wide pieces. Frost travels straight down so this solves lots of problems if you aren't deep enough.

I used to live with a deep frost line and this ws how we handled things. Sorry if someone else already discussed these things.

 

[kevinwak]

I have not read many of the replies but know there is Canadian company that sells a plug-in heating element that heats a wire that you stick into the water line and solves the problem. If you need the name I can get it. When you dig a new water line trench, put some 2" blue insulation foam on top of the line. About three or four two foot wide pieces. Frost travels straight down so this solves lots of problems if you aren't deep enough. I used to live with a deep frost line and this ws how we handled things. Sorry if someone else already discussed these things.

I have been thinking of digging down a foot and adding a couple inches of foam over my buried concrete cistern. I have never had freezing issues, but I will be finishing landscaping and planting grass this coming summer, so now is the time to do it.

 

[Redneck in training]

If you dig it out for insulation add another pipe parallel to current line and keep it dry. If one freezes just switch the lines and run water through it until the originally used line unfreezes. Alternatively you could add two large gauge direct burial wires parallel to the pipe and short them in the well house. If the pipe freezes then use arc welder to heat the wires and thaw the pipe. You would have to do some calculation what wire size to use to deliver enough heat (W/ft) to thaw the pipe.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Wel, another day in paradise!

Could not get my fancy nozzle through the "T". Took it out and took a piece of 3/4" pipe to see how the pex went through it. As I suspected, the curl of the pipe forces the tip to slide along the wall and then hits the "T" fitting. Usually I take a step drill when I install such fittings and chamfer the edge, but I guess I didn't.

Just a picture of the "T" in question when it was installed three or so years ago. Drainage pipe goes to my frost free hydrant a few feet away at the garage.

So, I tried to bend the nozzle inward and promptly broke it off! Then I cut the pex at an angle so it would go through the "T" which I had tried before, but never having tired it in a mock piece of pipe.

Tried again, and it finnally got through the "T". I sat in that pump house feeding that line half an inch a minute, envisioning having a hot shower that night. The first in two weeks!

Then my hundred feet of pex ran out! Probably, if I had addressed this situation by attempting to thaw the line with my current method, rather then covering with snow and "waiting" for it to melt, I would not be in such a bad position.

 

[Industrial Toys]

Oh, thanks for the advice. I did use Lubricant, after reading it was water based and had absolutely no warnings on the bottle. It was half frozen however. I think it helped with the initial 85' of insersion but probably gets washed away quickly with the water running.

 

[gary49]

Try using a brine solution instead of plain water, that way it will be less likely to re-freeze while you aren't working on it, it fact it will work while you aren't working on it. Yes , heat it. When it thaws, make sure to leave a good drip going until frost is out of the ground.

 

[Billrog]

Instead of going through the T can't you just take it apart?