# Frozen pipes



## bigbuck (Mar 17, 2001)

I think I have a frozen pipe in my craw space because only half of my hot water baseboard heat works in half the house. I can tell where the copper pipe goes from hot to cold. What kind of heater should I put down there to help thaw?


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## Murphy (Aug 10, 2005)

I would suggest using heat tape that's made for the purpose.. 

Other than that, the next question would be "how long of a section needs heating?"


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## CHASINEYES (Jun 3, 2007)

A friend of mine water quit. He has a 5 ft deep concrete block well pit. After lifting the top off you could see frost on the upper 2ft of the walls. His pipes didn't freeze. It was the small copper line running to the pressure switch. Cupping the small pipe with his hand thawed it out. To prevent further freezing, he ran an extension cord to the pit and a heat lamp. Problem solved.


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

bigbuck said:


> I think I have a frozen pipe in my craw space because only half of my hot water baseboard heat works in half the house. I can tell where the copper pipe goes from hot to cold. What kind of heater should I put down there to help thaw?


Use whatever heater you can, a salamander (jet) would be best. Preferably with the boiler heat off. Hopefully you don't have some split lines.

When you get that done,you need to have antifreeze/ conditioner added to your system..... And maintain it. Hopefully this learning experience is a cheap one this time


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## Reel_Addiction (Apr 18, 2012)

Be careful thawing them out. If u blast to much heat to fast u can actually cause more damage. May cause your pipes to split if they havent yet.

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## bigbuck (Mar 17, 2001)

Thanks for the advise. I'm talking about the hot water baseboard heat lines. I will look into the conditioner.


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## GullLkRltr (Dec 13, 2005)

If you can get to it use a hair blow dryer to thaw pipe where it goes from hot to cold and work your way back along cold pipe...
a heat tape would work too if you have one handy but I thawed a frozen waqter supply line coming from my well into basement with a hair dryer a couple weeks ago in the last super cold temps. - took about an hour of working it along the frozen section


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

bigbuck said:


> Thanks for the advise. I'm talking about the hot water baseboard heat lines. I will look into the conditioner.


So am I. They require conditioner/ antifreeze to prevent what happened to you, your system over time will loose a small amount of water which is replaced by the water supply line coming to your boiler. Many/most don't even realize this ..over time it becomes diluted and prone to freezing just like the coolant in your vehicle....I also lowers the efficiency of your system. Costing you more to heat your house. 

You could have really had a mess if the power failed and froze the whole system, I repaired some of those years ago.


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## upknorrth (Jan 22, 2011)

Could also be air locked and need to be purged or have a faulty zone valve and not frozen at all. 
Would NOT use a salamander or other gas burning heater to warm a crawl space due to carbon monoxide and/ or catching something on fire. 

Good luck.


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## Ricky Missum (Jan 10, 2003)

Been responding to frozen meters, frozen pipes,backflow preventors, vacum breakers on irrigation systems(started back in Nov. can't wait until they all start to thaw!!)(even came across a frozen bathtub drain pipe) for the last few weeks and be carefull how you go about thawing out what is frozen!!!! I would only use a torch (propane) if you know what your doing. (had a homeowner going at it with a three headed torch and mapp gas, thawed the pipe and melted a buch of sweat joints!! What a mess!!)As mentioned above, if you know where the pipe is frozen, start with a hair dryer, which will take longer, and if possible, turn off the inlet valve so if any piping is damaged and once the ice is thawed, water will be going everywhere. Also mentioned above, heat tape, which is a great way to prevent frozen pipes and water meters in the first place!!(as long as you don't lose power!!) Also, finished basements, which means a lot of pipes have been insulated against basement walls!!! Be very carefull what you use to heat any crawl space with. As mentioned above, don't want to burn the crib down!! And insulate like crazy(no, not a couple of bales of hay!!)


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## bigbuck (Mar 17, 2001)

Good news I got my baseboard heat pipes thawed out. Called a heating and cooling guy and asked how much to put some sort of antifreeze in. He said my system would take about 10 gallons. To purge it and put antifreeze in total bill about $375. Does this sound in the ball park?


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## swampbuck (Dec 23, 2004)

It's been years since I did it , don't know what their charging the antifreeze itself isn't cheap.


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## walleyeman2006 (Sep 12, 2006)

if that's a flush and clean purge it's going to pay for itself any way...rust hard water ect clogs up and works the pump harder then need be along with hampering heat transfer ...get er done......I've got about a mile if water lines to replace but my house was plumbed by a really good beer drinker lol....up hill drains work awesome and hot water lines in contact with block above the frost line all ways work well lol

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## upknorrth (Jan 22, 2011)

Glad to hear you got it going, without any broken pipes I take it. 
If you add antifreeze to the system the water supply to the boiler has to be disconnected or an " RPZ back flow protector" has to be installed to protect the potable water. That price must not include a backflow protector. Also, unless it's a small house, 10 gallons usually isn't enough. Right way to determine amount is to measure the piping. 
And does he have a refractometer to test it and make sure it's strong enough. It only needs to be 30% concentration.


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## bigbuck (Mar 17, 2001)

Good questions I will have to find out. House is 2400 sq ft. I read some where that adding some sort of anti-freeze will make the system 20% less efficient. Anyone know if this is true?


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## upknorrth (Jan 22, 2011)

bigbuck said:


> Good questions I will have to find out. House is 2400 sq ft. I read some where that adding some sort of anti-freeze will make the system 20% less efficient. Anyone know if this is true?


True you lose a little heat transfer efficiency but not 20%. I don't recall the actual amount. The higher antifreeze concentration the less efficient. 
If the house is 2400 sq ft you're looking at closer to 20 gallons of antifreeze needed. There again, boiler size, pipe diameter, and zone pipe lengths all determine amount. 3/4 pipe has 2.8 gal/ 100 ft, 1"-4.5/100', 1-1/4"-7.8gal/100'. Average cast iron boiler is 3-5 gallons. 
Also, if its an aluminum boiler, or you a boiler mate with aluminum heat exchanger make sure the Antifreeze is compatible. Just like the new cArs with aluminum motors require different antifreeze, so do heating systems. 
Hope this helps.


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