frozen outside water hydrant. help

JD2ACWD · Dec 29, 2017

poured 10 gallons of hot water on the outside of pipe still wont thaw out,any ideas what to do?

Dblair · Dec 29, 2017

at work in a paper mill we use to hook a welder up , stinger on one end of a pump ground on the other , did a great job .

rrlund · Dec 29, 2017

Set the torpedo heater in front of it and let it blow. Might put a sheet of barn steel behind it too to hold the heat and direct it toward the bottom.
Did you leave it on or is it that the rod is a little out of adjustment so it's not draining right?

jeffcat · Dec 29, 2017

Turbo tourch or that industrial heat shrink hair dryer from Harbor Freight. You should have left a good trickle running. Worse case is run over to tractor supply and buy some heat tapes. You need to make a long spiral wrap and electrical tape or tywrap it too. You want really good contact with the pipe. One section out into the heifers barn i had to put that split gray foam insulation over the pipe and heat tape. After that, and the stupid cows don't chew on it, it will thaw sooner or later.

keh · Dec 29, 2017

Lincoln 225 amp tombstone welder has a 75 amp heat setting marked for that purpose. Never used it, don't know if it makes any difference which lead you attach to the pipe. Does not work on plastic pipes.

KEH

RBoots · Dec 29, 2017

Have 2 of those, but never noticed that or knew you could do that!

farmerwithmutt · Dec 29, 2017

To help mine i cut a hole in the bottom of a barrel and put the barrel over the hydrant put an electric heater in and cover with a blanket. I also but a small dial thermometer in to get the temp right. One trick to try run a small tube down the inside of the pipe and inject water down with a syringe it's slow but in time it will work down.

showcrop · Dec 29, 2017

Well from my experience, you need to buy some hose and arrange a heated space for it to thaw out in. Hydrants freeze up for just one reason: The water was not draining down to below frost level. Whether the drain was plugged, or water was not draining away, (most common), or the handle to stem set screw was out of adjustment, unless you have a means of thawing to below frost depth, you are done until spring.

Janicholson · Dec 29, 2017

Is it a regular hydrant with a handle on top and a valve below ground? If so the drain down bleeder on the valve may be plugged allowing water to stand in the pipe above frost line. Sometimes leaving the valve on all the time, or with a hose on it can hold water in the stand pipe. Heat is really the only answer. A welder can do it on plastic supply if a rod is driven a foot or so away from the stand pipe and 3 feet deep, connected to about 75 amps. One connection to the rod, the other to the stand pipe. Good luck. Jim

MARK ROBKE · Dec 29, 2017

I agree with randy: use a torpedo heater.I don't use mine a lot,but it is the fastest,handiest way to thaw anything.Just make sure you don't melt or burn anything.Mark

rusty6 · Dec 29, 2017

We used to use a piece of plastic pipe and funnel and hot water. Have to remove the head of the hydrant so just the rod is sticking up. Have a piece of plastic pipe just big enough to fit over the rod and inside the outer pipe. Just kept pouring hot water down the top of the plastic pipe with funnel while one of us applied down pressure on the pipe. It worked but took a lot of hot water. If your hydrant is not draining properly it will happen again. I stack a layer of square bales around mine in early winter to prevent the ground from freezing so deep. Its 8 feet down to the bottom of the hydrant and usually that is below the frost line.

Andy Martin · Dec 29, 2017

The middle of the earth is molten rock. Heat is always escaping through the soil. If you stack square hay bales on the ground around it, it will thaw in a few days. Of course not good where you have livestock. Don't knock it until you're tried it. When an underground water line freezes it has barely gotten to freezing temperature at it's depth even though it's very cold at the surface. By insulating the surface with hay or anything else the heat coming from below will warm the deep pipe back up. Just putting Styrofoam on the permafrost in the north slope of Alaska will destroy the permafrost underneath.

Young Mechanic · Dec 29, 2017

If it is not up against a building or outside were there is no electric for the suggestions the others made all you have to do is get some trash and start a fire next to the pipe. This is what I always do as long as it's steel pipe. Usually only takes 20 minutes, the heat travels through the pipe. Then when the fire goes out put some straw around it.

C.Amick · Dec 29, 2017

If it's a metal pipe. buy some heat tracing tape and insulation.

flying belgian · Dec 29, 2017

You need a 3 foot steel rod pointed on one end and a hammer. Tap, tap, tap in the ground along side the pipe. Fill that divot with hot water. Tap, tap, tap in the hole. Fill with hot water. Repeat, repeat. You will have that water flowing in 20 min.

retired farmer · Dec 29, 2017

If you have a propane or Mapp gas torch, heat the pipe from ground level up to the top, may take a few minutes to thaw, keep heat applied. DO NOT open the hydrant handle while heating. Also depends on how deep your pipe is buried. Works for me.

retired farmer · Dec 29, 2017

Then when it freezes again you have the hole against the pipe filled with frozen water.

super99 · Dec 30, 2017

Too long ago to remember the details, But do remember that one neighbor had trouble with water line to hydrant freezing up. He had a separate well house next to driveway and water lines would freeze under driveway. He had a 220 plug wired in the well house. He would take his welder to the well house. He had a LONG wire, not sure of the size, guessing 8 ga or maybe larger. Clamp end of wire to hydrant and the other end to ground on welder, hooked stinger to water pipe in well house and turned on welder. Thawed out pipes every time. Chris

showcrop · Dec 30, 2017

(quoted from post at 20:15:58 12/29/17) You need a 3 foot steel rod pointed on one end and a hammer. Tap, tap, tap in the ground along side the pipe. Fill that divot with hot water. Tap, tap, tap in the hole. Fill with hot water. Repeat, repeat. You will have that water flowing in 20 min.

That will get pretty old after two days. He needs something to last him until May.

Traditional Farmer · Dec 30, 2017

If its free standing take some square hay bales and pack them tightly around the pipe where it comes out of the ground might take a day or two but it'll thaw from the ground up.

Ragnarok · Dec 30, 2017

Yeh my father used the welder trick to thaw pipes in the old farm house I was raised in

When my wife was a little girl her family set their house on fire with a torpedo heater trying to thaw pipes!!...I bet it thawed the pipes though... :shock:

hydro70guy · Dec 30, 2017

Welder probably will not work as almost all underground waterlines are plastic anymore. Unless you have metal pipe from start to finish you have no circuit.

Joe

frozen outside water hydrant. help

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