Holy smokes, I think we froze our water pump (plumbing, place) - Alaska (AK) - Page 2 - City-Data Forum

BIGBOB · 11-09-2009, 11:47 PM

What Ray said...............since you have a copper line you can take an arc welder and put the neg. on one end and pos. on the other. It will heat the pipe and thaw the ice. This is a time-tested and proven method. The only thing you need to worry about is whether the pipes have frozen to the point where they have already burst. Then you'll have a leak to contend with.

Good luck, Bob

megensmom · 11-12-2009, 09:17 PM

Well we found out we have copper lines all the way to the plastic water holding tank. Since its still frozen up guess we will be digging up the outside lines to see if we can thaw it out somehow

starlite9 · 11-13-2009, 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megensmom

Well we found out we have copper lines all the way to the plastic water holding tank. Since its still frozen up guess we will be digging up the outside lines to see if we can thaw it out somehow

Well if you are going to the trouble to dig it up, make sure that whoever you have do it, adds a heavy gauge wire that comes to the surface from the end of the copper pipe and put it where you can access it again if it should freeze and need thawing... you may aready have one there if you look.

That is a standard installation in most cases for such an event.

Good luck!

Marty Van Diest · 11-14-2009, 12:16 AM

I suppose you know by now that you can buy an inline heat wire. It goes INSIDE your waterline. I don't know if you can use it to thaw your pipe, but once it is in, if it every freeezes just plug it in, or better yet, don't unplug during the winter.

Its surprising that your froze your line this early in the winter if it hasn't frozen up in previous winters. Usually lines start freezing late in the winter after the frost has had a chance to go down aways.

If it worked fine in previous winters and only just now froze I would sure look long and hard at all the other possibilities before I dug it up.

megensmom · 11-14-2009, 11:29 AM

We had Bigfoot pumping come out yesterday they were super fast and used the steam and thawed it in about 30 mins. They said we can not use the electric shock thaw method or we would risk damage to the tank since it is plastic and unless we would sign a waiver they wouldn't do it. So the steam worked fine. The frozen part is in the section outside the home but still buried in the ground. We asked what to do and the said keep the heat strip on,but they never mentioned that there was a type that could be put INSIDE the pipe only on the outside.

blueflames50 · 11-14-2009, 02:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megensmom

We had Bigfoot pumping come out yesterday they were super fast and used the steam and thawed it in about 30 mins. They said we can not use the electric shock thaw method or we would risk damage to the tank since it is plastic and unless we would sign a waiver they wouldn't do it. So the steam worked fine. The frozen part is in the section outside the home but still buried in the ground. We asked what to do and the said keep the heat strip on,but they never mentioned that there was a type that could be put INSIDE the pipe only on the outside.

YHEAAYYYY...you have water again!!

happy for you...know whats it's like....been without water for weeks at a time and it sucks!!

RayinAK · 11-14-2009, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megensmom

We had Bigfoot pumping come out yesterday they were super fast and used the steam and thawed it in about 30 mins. They said we can not use the electric shock thaw method or we would risk damage to the tank since it is plastic and unless we would sign a waiver they wouldn't do it. So the steam worked fine. The frozen part is in the section outside the home but still buried in the ground. We asked what to do and the said keep the heat strip on,but they never mentioned that there was a type that could be put INSIDE the pipe only on the outside.

Yes, a sort of thermostat is attached to the far end of the heat tape (near the tank), and the tape runs right next to the pipe (underneath), all the way through the foundation to the house. It's plugged to an electrical outlet inside the house.

Older heat tapes have caused house fires, but this problem has been solved by new technology. The new heat tapes use two electric leads, and the isolating material is shielded. If you already have a heat tape installed, keep it plugged through the winter, and unplug it during the summer. That's something you will have to remember to do each year.

BudinAk · 11-15-2009, 11:51 AM

I hope you have found the problem. I've had frozen pump/tanks before....no fun. My well is one of those "shallow-well" installations, with pump good to only 25' depth...beyond that it loses suction. That's ok, because my water table is only 10' down. Have a wooden well housing 5' X 6' X 8' deep, with the pump, and tank mounted in it. Top cover is insulated with 4" of "blue-board" insulation, then plywood over that. I keep two 75-watt light bulbs lit down there all winter, to provide heat to prevent freezing. I wired the two light bulbs in series, so that each receives only half of it's normal voltage. (about 60 volts) That way, they will take decades to burn out, if ever, yet still provide plenty of heat...

Bud

megensmom · 11-16-2009, 08:56 AM

Yes I was very happy to have it thawed only to find out that we couldn't get the water back to 40psi. So we messed with the pump and messed with it and finally I called a plumber who was kind enough to help since he didn't want to come out and fix it himself. Saved us about $200 to boot. Seems that when they steamed the line it is common for scale to come loose from the pipe a small piece of this was blocking some little sensor inside the jet pump and causing it to only get to 30psi and if you turned off the pump the water would drain back after cleaning that we are now back to perfect water.
We have also added the lighted plugs and put them in an easy to see spot so we can keep an eye on them.

terryusher · 01-03-2017, 10:36 AM

We have been away and came back to 2 feet of snow and the electricity had went out for 2 days and we got back on the 3rd day. There has been no water. The pipes are not busted. Have been heating the belly of the pump for 2 days water is beginning to come out in all faucets just a few minutes then stops. We have a heating blanket over the belly and a ceramic heater 2 feet away. We have a mobile home with well water. How long can this take to unthaw? the reset button was off for 3 days. Help