Frozen Plumbing Pipes

[Nashville Cat]

When I used to work on outdoor steam turbines, any parts we had to keep warm and dry, we would build plywood boxes and put the parts in the box with a droplight (incandescent bulb for heat).
You could mount a droplight in the roof of a box, cover the pipes and only turn it on in bad weather. Or forget the light, put an insulated box over the pipes and that would help the heat tape work better.

 

[Shovelrick]

We have 4" to 5" snow and it was 10 degrees last night and tonight. Brrrrr

He said plumber can’t get back there till AM, no water tonight, I told him YouTube and he said he did, they’re use to apt living and call Maint., wish I was closer I think I could figure something out to get water flowing, either frozen underground and I’d heat the pipe where it goes into the ground to well, or try RE priming but I’ve been in Fl since I was 12 except for a cpl months living in Mi, Oh (where I’m from) and 1 month in NC and 1 or 2 in Az

 

[Shovelrick]

When I used to work on outdoor steam turbines, any parts we had to keep warm and dry, we would build plywood boxes and put the parts in the box with a droplight (incandescent bulb for heat).
You could mount a droplight in the roof of a box, cover the pipes and only turn it on in bad weather. Or forget the light, put an insulated box over the pipes and that would help the heat tape work better.

He found the breaker that turned power on in the pump house ( I thought they said it never had power??) so he has an electric space heater near the pipes now, Hell we put a small box fan in front of our well pump so it stays cooler

 

[Nashville Cat]

That's a good temporary solution, but their electric bill will be horrendous until you can get rid of the space heater.
Getting water flowing is #1 right now.

 

[77cruiser]

We have 4" to 5" snow and it was 10 degrees last night and tonight. Brrrrr

Wish it was 10 here.

 

[Shovelrick]

He got the water thawed by using this propane heater under the main house for 2 hours, I said wrap it with Reflectix silver bubble wrap looking insulation tomorrow, he can’t find insultube that big so I’ll take some up when I go there, not soon though Edit doesn’t that look like a drain pipe? I also said careful not to melt the PVC pipes, surprised they used PVC in a region it freezes

 

[kmakar]

Those are the main drains and don't need to be wrapped. The bigger concern is getting the pipes wrapped in heat tape as this issue will only get worse the colder it gets.

 

[Alwhite00]

Build a box out of 2" styrofoam and put a 100w incandescent bulb in it. My parents did this for 10 years, sold the place and the new owner put a LED bulb in it to save $$ and promptly split the pump in half when it froze.

 

[Shovelrick]

He bought another wire heater and more adhesive insul tape and I told him to buy Reflectix bubble wrap insulation but it’s Flamable so I’m going to tell him not to use it with the electric heat wire, I’m not sure he can build a decent box, he’s in sports advertising, maybe he can? Won’t hurt to ask him, I also told him to look this up online, that blue pic is the heat wire he bought

 

[Nashville Cat]

Looks like quality stuff

 

[Shovelrick]

I asked him are you sure under house isn’t the drain? He said it’s the supply and same size in pump house, big damn pipe for a supply IMO also shut off under house

 

[Nashville Cat]

I asked him are you sure under house isn’t the drain? He said it’s the supply and same size in pump house, big damn pipe for a supply IMO also shut off under house

Maybe he's referring to a different pipe than the one in the pic ? That big one is definitely a drain.
And the pipes in the shed are ~ 1" pvc.
I like the split foam insulation - and then wrap that !

 

[Shovelrick]

Maybe he's referring to a different pipe than the one in the pic ? That big one is definitely a drain.
And the pipes in the shed are ~ 1" pvc.
I like the split foam insulation - and then wrap that !

View attachment 17730

He said he couldn’t get the foam insul tube big enough, he keeps saying the big pipe is the supply

 

[Nashville Cat]

He said he couldn’t get the foam insul tube big enough, he keeps saying the big pipe is the supply

Tell him to go to his water heater. He will find the supply line there ! LOL

 

[Shovelrick]

Here’s a pic of WH, it’s a smaller supply pipe so changes some where

 

[Nashville Cat]

Here’s a pic of WH, it’s a smaller supply pipe so changes some where

Probably goes from 1" down to 3/4" before entering the water heater at that red valve.
The line with the red valve is the cold water coming in.

 

[kmakar]

Typically water will come in as a 1" (even with city water), then it splits off to feed the WH and the rest of the house. Any plumber would do this normally to make sure the same volume of water goes to the WH and the house at the same time. I plumbed my new place the same way. I have 1" CPVC that goes into a 1" x 3/4" x 3/4" Tee so the WH get's the same volume as the rest of the house. All the main trunks in the house are 3/4" and tap off as 1/2" at each faucet / outlet so no one can tell a drop in water pressure at any endpoint and the washing machine, dishwasher, showers and sinks can all get the same volume and pressure.

 

[Shovelrick]

So I’m guessing it’s at least plumbed correctly they just never insulated it?

 

[Shovelrick]

He has an electric space heater in the pump house closet where the pump is located, wouldn’t that work the same as building a box around pump? It’s pretty sprawled out to build a box around

 

[kmakar]

So I’m guessing it’s at least plumbed correctly they just never insulated it?

It'd appear that way, but also seeing the 4" PVC drains dropping into a cast iron bell, it's abundantly clear a majority of the plumbing has been updated at some point.