Author Topic: Partially frozen pipes (Read 2831 times)

Chairboy · « **on:** December 19, 2005, 12:36:45 PM »

I just returned from a trip to find that in my absence, my (I suspect) water supply pipes began to ice up.

Symptoms:
Water pressure in my hizzouse is very low, maybe 1/5th the usual. This applies to both hot and cold, hence me suspecting that it's the upstream supply.

I've got some faucets on low in case it spontaneously decides to thaw, any other thoughts on what to do?

GreenCloud · « **Reply #1 on:** December 19, 2005, 12:54:24 PM »

look for wet spots...under house..

it sure does narrow down the areas if ur hot water is running slow too..So you need to trace before ur water heater water lines

are you on well?

If you have any pipes..exposed to codl areas..You may want to wrap them with pipe insulation..

When I lived in Truckee we had our whoel downstairs pipes UNWapped..they froze and split....it was bad..after they got fixed we wrapped all of them

Holden McGroin · « **Reply #2 on:** December 19, 2005, 01:09:46 PM »

If your pipes are metal, you can hook up a welder with a lead either side of the ice. It'll heat the pipes and thaw the ice.

If your pipes are PVC, U R SOL.

loser · « **Reply #3 on:** December 19, 2005, 01:49:52 PM »

Choirboy, turn on your faucets.. all of them

Your pressure will be back to normal in 24 hours. If it doesnt clear up then:

Go trace your service from the main. It will be a 4 inch wide copper cap with a 5/8 plug in the middle.

make a line from that point to your plumbing stack basically

go buy 20 bags of charcoal briquettes and lay em two bags deep on top of the ground on that line. Pour the fluid, light it up.

call your local HVAC buddy and get him to bring over some used 90
duct and lay it on top of the "bbq"

wait a day and any underground pipes will be good to go.

(edit) and when you do that, use it as an excuse to have a pig roast

Chairboy · « **Reply #4 on:** December 19, 2005, 03:09:59 PM »

I've got my faucets on. I'll crawl under the house in a little bit and check it out. Too bad my tank-cam isn't working, this would be a perfect time to use it.

Curval · « **Reply #5 on:** December 19, 2005, 03:34:38 PM »

My pipes never freeze.

Literally and figuratively.

NUTTZ · « **Reply #6 on:** December 19, 2005, 04:01:30 PM »

Chairboy, go to Home depot or any hardware store. They sell a kit for under 10 bucks, a wire line you plug in, then wrap with tape ( also supplied) around any water piping, then cover it with insulation ( also supplied) that once pluggged in will thaw and keep your pipe from freezing. It is sold in different lengths. I also had this problem and this fixed the water pipes out in the garage. It also has a red light on the cord end so you know it is working.

very cheap way of fixing the problem and from reaccuring. Sounds like you have a crawl space under the house like me also, this should fix it.

NUTTZ

Quote

Originally posted by Chairboy
I've got my faucets on. I'll crawl under the house in a little bit and check it out. Too bad my tank-cam isn't working, this would be a perfect time to use it.

Chairboy · « **Reply #7 on:** December 19, 2005, 04:32:11 PM »

My pipes are not burst!

I crawled under the house, and was immediately wary of a pool of water I found accompanying the sound of running water.

On closer inspect, I saw that water was coming into the crawl space from outside and pouring into an open catch-all drain pipe, so the water was in a limited place (whoever built this house actually did something cool that really paid off).

I went outside and lo and behold found a vacuum something breaker for what I'm guessing is the sprinkler system had popped off the water head and broken, and was gushing water.

I opened the green access hatch below and shut off the water, and it stopped, and mysteriously the rest of the faucets in the house came on at full blast. There must still be another master water valve upstream, note to self, find it.

I'm heading off to the home improvement store to buy a new plastic vacuum breaker thing.

eagl · « **Reply #8 on:** December 19, 2005, 04:33:17 PM »

In the future, if you have to leave the house for a few days and there might be a freeze, you can try letting a few faucets drip just tiny bit of water. Yea it wastes water but that's better than a burst pipe. A pipe heating system and insulation on external pipes/spigots is best, but if necessary just letting the faucets drip will work too.

rabbidrabbit · « **Reply #9 on:** December 19, 2005, 04:41:01 PM »

no need to have them all run.. just a slow drip on the one at the end of the line. They also make a thermstacially controlled electrical tape that you wrap around the risky parts and plug in. Don't buy the one thats on all the time unless you like to spend money on electricity all year round for no reason.

Chairboy · « **Reply #10 on:** December 19, 2005, 05:35:15 PM »

The thing that broke is the plastic top of the breaker, with the springs and whatnot inside, but it looks like I need to purchase a complete breaker setup just to replace that one part. Any ideas where to find it on its own?