How to thaw frozen pipes!

Users who are viewing this thread

Cookie

.
Messages
5,580
Reaction score
8
Points
0
Location
Home
Well, it is 19F here, and suprise! I turned on my kitchen faucet and heard that all too familiar sound of my pipes starting to freeze! So... I took action. Doors open, faucet dripping, all throughout the house.

The fun has begun. :( I guess I better warm up that blow dryer.
 

Rich B

DIY Senior Member
Messages
285
Reaction score
1
Points
16
Location
New Jersey
I have a 2 family house. I rented one side for about 35 years. The rental side has been vacant for over 2 years now and that is so I can do some rennovations. It is a duplex style home and each side is a mirror of the other.

I have kept the heat at a minimum on the vacant side during the winter. One cold winter morning (I think it was 12 overnight) I had NO cold water in my upstairs bathroom.....I knew immediately what it must be......I followed the pipes to an area where they were run right next to an outside wall in the basement......YUP....one elbow was getting hit with a cold air stream from outside.......I thawed it and than sealed up the air leak with foam and insulation.......I used a 500w quartz light and directed the heat to the pipe........Luckily it thawed without damage to the pipe.......

In the spring I moved all 3 copper pipes that were run in that area in further and up to the second floor........I also insulated them anywhere I could.
They were the supllies for the 2 upstairs bathrooms......1, 3/4" cold and 2, 1/2" hots.......The original "plumber" ran them right next to the oustisde uninsulated wall........With the heat always turned up on both sides it never caused a freezup in the past.....

I now have some heat from a duct sending warm air directly in the area of those pipes and sealed up any leaks I could find around the sill area. All you need to do is use you hand on a cold day and feel for a cold draft.......The foam insulation works great.....


P.S. I do believe the Pipe Thawing machines are DC as that would explain the high price.....a rectifier, just like in a battery charger or a welder....
 

Thatguy

Homeowner
Messages
1,454
Reaction score
3
Points
0
Location
MD
Thawing machine, 1800 W
hair dryer, 1000 W
lamp, 500 W
but the last two waste a lot of the heat they throw off.
Oh, well. . .

I don't guess anybody makes a machine that forces superheated steam into frozen pipes? If so it's probably only for commercial use.

If Ridgid answers me I'll ask them about the DC output.
I guess for small blockages you could use a car battery for 30 second intervals but it might need a long rest between attempts and you would need to limit the current to 200 A or so with your connecting cables.
 
Last edited:

Rich B

DIY Senior Member
Messages
285
Reaction score
1
Points
16
Location
New Jersey
If the Rigid machine is AC output.......$800 seems like a heck of a lot of money for a box with a couple switches/ a gauge/ a couple other components and a transformer and some jumper cables and clamps.....
 

Terry

The Plumbing Wizard
Staff member
Messages
29,942
Reaction score
3,459
Points
113
Location
Bothell, Washington
Website
terrylove.com
Those things pay for themselves after about two jobs.
I don't have one though.

Years ago I worked at a shop that had them. Too much power and you can melt the solder joints is what I was told.
To me, that would be worse then waiting for the pipe to thaw.
Can you imagine having to find a bad solder joint underground with snow on the ground?
 

Ballvalve

General Engineering Contractor
Messages
3,581
Reaction score
45
Points
48
Location
northfork, california
And watch the insulating crew carefully. On one house I found they pushed all the pex up against the exterior walls wherever they could. It would have been a disaster.
 

Terry

The Plumbing Wizard
Staff member
Messages
29,942
Reaction score
3,459
Points
113
Location
Bothell, Washington
Website
terrylove.com
It's that time of year to revive this thread.
At the moment we have freezing rain in Seattle. I went out to my car last night to grab a flashlight when the lights flickered inside, and all the doors were frozen shut. It looks like I will need to take a hair dryer to it.
 

hj

Master Plumber
Messages
33,602
Reaction score
1,041
Points
113
Location
Cave Creek, Arizona
Website
www.terrylove.com
quote; will say that the women on their calendars look, well, wholesome. . .:D

To me, all the heads look like they have been Photoshopped onto bodies from previous calendars.
 

Gary Swart

In the Trades
Messages
8,101
Reaction score
84
Points
48
Location
Yakima, WA
A couple of years ago it got down to about 10 degrees and my DW supply line froze. It is under the DW after coming from the sink cabinet and was completely closed in. I removed the baseboard and got overly anxious about thawing the line with a heat gun. Made the mistake of leaving the gun blowing for a few minutes while I did something else. Toasted the line. Not a disaster, just a "learning experience". I left the baseboard cover off and have had no more problems. Also learned the hard way about taking hoses off my frost free valves. I usually learn pretty well after experiences after this, so I have few repeat performances. Best way the thaw pipe? Don't let them freeze.
 

Dlarrivee

New Member
Messages
1,150
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Location
Canada
Best way to keep them from freezing is not to wrap them in pipe insulation... contrary to popular belief.

You want insulation on the cold side of the pipe, and warm air reaching the pipe itself.

Insulation doesn't create heat. For example you can insulate a house till the cows come home, but you'd still need a furnace to heat it.
 
Top
Hey, wait a minute.

This is awkward, but...

It looks like you're using an ad blocker. We get it, but (1) terrylove.com can't live without ads, and (2) ad blockers can cause issues with videos and comments. If you'd like to support the site, please allow ads.

If any particular ad is your REASON for blocking ads, please let us know. We might be able to do something about it. Thanks.
I've Disabled AdBlock    No Thanks