One of the unpleasant consequences of prolonged severe frosts is the freezing of water in the heating pipeline, hot and cold water supply or domestic sewage system, so owners of private houses need to know how to unfreeze a pipe underground, preventing it from being damaged by the formed ice crystals. Indeed, in addition to the formation of an ice plug, which completely blocks the inner lumen of the pipe, the crystallization of water is accompanied by an increase in volume frozen ice in a confined space, which can lead to rupture of the outer walls of the pipeline.
To prevent water freezing, the outer pipes must be carefully insulated., but if for some reason this still happened, they need to be properly defrosted using the technologies described below.
In order to substantively consider this issue, this article will describe several ways to combat this dangerous phenomenon, used using ordinary household tools and available funds household chemicals.
In addition, the reader will be presented with detailed instructions and helpful advice for the installation of water pipes, the implementation of which will avoid the occurrence of unpleasant consequences.
Most often, the main reason for water freezing in pipes is a violation of the technology for laying an external or underground pipeline and non-observance of the rules for using a water supply system in winter period time. So that in the future you do not have to deal with a solution to such a problem, it is enough to follow the simple rules for the installation and operation of the supply or drain pipeline in the cold season.
In any case, when equipping an external or underground water supply system, it should be remembered that the price of thorough thermal insulation will cost significantly less than the cost renovation works to replace the damaged section of the pipeline in the winter.
Note!
Advice! To completely remove water from all utilities, their pipes should be located at an inclination of 1-2 ° to the horizon, towards the lowest point of the water supply, sewer or heating system.
In practice, two methods are used to reheat frozen pipes. They differ from each other in the way of heat exposure - internal and external heating:
Note!
Advice! When using open fire, it is imperative to follow the fire safety rules. This method is not allowed to be used for heating pipes that are wrapped with roofing felt or covered with a layer of bituminous waterproofing.
Reinforced-plastic water pipes, as a rule, are used to carry out intra-apartment or intra-house wiring of the water supply system, so they can freeze if they are filled with water for a long time in an unheated room with a negative temperature.
Note!
Advice! Beforehow to defrost heating pipes, you need to check the water level in expansion tank, and make sure that air does not enter the autonomous heating system during operation.
Plastic plumbing made of polypropylene or polyethylene pipes is most often used to supply water to a house from a well with an autonomous water supply system or to connect to a centralized water supply system. It is also often used to perform internal wiring for hot and cold water supply in many apartments and houses.
Most often, freezing of water supply networks occurs at the entrance to a residential building or at the exit from a water metering unit, and this site is usually located underground. In this case, the methods described above will not work, so you need to use the internal heating method. To do this, you will need Esmarch's medical mug and a thin long hose.
The diagram shows how to defrost a pipe using an Esmarch mug. Note!
Advice! In order to prevent flooding of the house as a result of a sharp supply of water after removing the ice plug, you must first, slightly not completely shut off the inlet valve, which is located between the metering unit and the main pipeline.
Freezing of the sewage system rarely happens, because, as a rule, waste heated water flows into it from the drain holes of plumbing fixtures that are located in a house or apartment. If this nevertheless happened, then several methods will be presented, in which it is described in detail how to defrost a sewer pipe in a private house when an ice plug forms.
After reading this article, it is easy to conclude that there are many simple and effective ways, which allow you to independently eliminate the consequences of freezing water in any pipeline of a private house.
Additional information on this issue can be obtained by watching the video in this article, or reading similar materials on our website. All your questions and suggestions can be left in the comments form.
Why do pipes freeze? The reasons can be very different: the pipes are laid at insufficient depth, they are ineffectively insulated, too small volumes of water are transported along them, the pipes are operated at extreme low temperatures... It should be borne in mind that if defrost pipes laid in accessible places does not cause any particular difficulties (for example, they can be warmed up with an ordinary household hair dryer), then how to defrost outdoor underground laying? "Successful" if the pipe is frozen at the point of entry - in this case, you can simply heat the walls. And if the freezing point is a few meters from the structure? Is there a solution to the problem or should you wait for the heat? There is a solution to the problem!
If the pipes are metal, then the defrosting process is quite simple. To do this, we take an ordinary welding machine and connect it to different ends of the pipe. This simple electrical method fixes the problem within two to four hours. The longer the frozen pipe section, the longer the defrosting process takes.
But what to do if frozen plastic pipe? Currently, networks are mainly made of high density polyethylene (HDPE), which can withstand pressures up to 10 atm. They are not subject to corrosive processes and do not deteriorate when freezing. By its properties, polyethylene is not a conductor of electric current, therefore defrosting with a welding machine is impossible. Removing the ice plug with a steel rod is also fraught with damage to the pipe. Thus, there is only one way out - to use hot water for defrosting.
The proposed three methods for defrosting polyethylene pipes are the know-how of folk craftsmen. However, despite their some eccentricity - they work. Their only drawback is that they are only suitable for pipelines of small diameters.
Method 1
It should be borne in mind that the ice plug in the pipe will not allow hot water to get inside if it is poured just like that. So you need to find a way to supply hot water to the frozen area. For this you can use a hose or pipe with a smaller diameter. For example, if you need to defrost water pipe with a diameter of 25 or 30 mm, and the frozen section is straight, then the most effective will be the use of a reinforced-plastic pipe with a diameter of 16 mm. First we straighten metal-plastic pipe(m / n pipes are usually rolled into coils), and then push it into the frozen pipe until it reaches the ice. After that, we supply the hottest water along it to the freezing point. Thawed cold water will pour out along the gap between the water supply and the plastic pipes. By the way, if you have a limited supply of water, then you can use thawed water: heat it up and send it back to the freezing point. In this case, the ice plug will melt, and you can push the reinforced-plastic pipe further.
But what if the frozen section of the water pipe has twists and turns? In this case, it will not be possible to use a rigid metal-plastic pipe. Is there a solution? In such a situation, you can use a rigid hose. Note that a regular watering hose is not suitable for this, it will soften from hot water and it will be impossible to push it through. Oxygen hoses and connection hoses proved to be effective in this situation. gas cylinders... Such hoses are quite rigid, but, nevertheless, they can be pushed no more than 10-15 meters from the input. In addition, they are quite heavy and you need to push them through the pipe with significant effort.
Method 2
How to unfreeze a water supply pipe if it happened tens of meters from the house and the pipeline has bends and bends? There is an efficient and economical way. To do this, you will need a set of hardened steel wire (2-4 mm), a construction hydraulic level and an Esmarch mug (a banal enema). The cost of such a set is low, and many have all its components in the household.
First, it is necessary to align the pipe of the hydraulic level and the wire, and then screw the end of the wire to the hydraulic level with electrical tape. A loop can be made at the end of the wire to provide greater hardness. The wire itself should not stick out, and the end of the hydraulic level tube should protrude 1 centimeter in front of the wire. After that, the other end of the hydro level must be connected to the Esmarch mug and push the wire and tube into the pipeline until it stops in the ice plug. Due to the fact that the hydraulic level pipe has a very small diameter and very low weight, it easily moves along the pipeline, overcoming all the turns. Next, fill in hot water, making the frozen water supply an "enema". To collect thawed water, you need to substitute a container under the water pipe, because how much hot water is poured, so much cold water is poured out. As the ice melts, we continue to push the wire with the hydraulic level tube. This method of defrosting pipes is quite lengthy, in about an hour you can defrost up to 1 m of the pipeline, i.e. during a working day, 5-7 m pipes can be freed from ice. In this case, you should not rush, before pushing the tube / hose, you need to fill in at least 10 liters of hot, it works at minimal cost.
Diagram of the pipe defrosting process using a wire, a hydro level and an Esmarch mug
Method 3
Consider a situation when we have a frozen polyethylene water supply system of a small diameter (20 mm) 50 m long with a laying depth of up to 80 cm. Note that this is an insufficient depth of the water supply system, which is why it froze. Distinctive feature- the water supply runs under the carriageway. Utility workers in a similar situation As a rule, it is advised to wait for the thaw, but, nevertheless, there is a way to do without them.
We need the following "equipment": a copper two-core wire (we select the length and thickness of the cross-section according to the length and diameter of the frozen water pipe), a plug for a socket, a compressor and a hose for blowing out thawed water. So, for example, for a pipe with a diameter of 20 mm, you can take a wire of 2.5-3 mm and a car fuel hose with a diameter of 8 mm, a regular car compressor (in extreme cases, you can use a pump).
We warn you that using this method, you need to be very careful, since the work is done using high voltage.
Now you need to prepare all this for the defrosting process. WITH small area wires you need to remove the external insulation, divide it into two wires and strip one of them (remove internal insulation), gently bend the wire remaining in the insulation into reverse side along the wire. In this case, care must be taken that the insulation is not damaged.
Then, almost next to the bend of the wire, you need to make 3-5 turns of bare wire (as tightly as possible to each other) and cut off its remaining end.
After that, step back 2-3 mm from the turns made, strip the second wire and wind it around the wire in the same way. The turns of the first and second wires must not touch, otherwise a short circuit will occur in the future.
We connect the plug to the other end of the wire and the "unit" for defrosting the pipe is ready. This device is popularly known as a "bulbulator": if you put it in water and connect it to the mains, then when current passes through the water, a reaction occurs with the release of a large amount of heat. In our case, such a device is ideal, because only water heats up, and the wires remain cold, i.e. the plastic pipe will not melt even by accident.
The assembled device must be checked. To do this, it must be placed in a jar of water and connected to the power supply. If air bubbles leave the contacts and a slight hum is felt, the unit is working. Once again, we remind you that if you come into contact with water while the device is working, you can get an electric shock.
We begin the process of defrosting the water supply system. The wire must be carefully pushed into the pipe so that it does not bend. Therefore, it is preferable to take a wire of a larger cross-section. When the wire hits the ice plug, you need to turn on the "bulb" and wait one or two minutes. Now you can try to push the wire further: the ice began to melt. When about a meter of pipe is thawed, it is advisable to blow out the thawed water with a compressor, this is necessary to reduce the volume of heated water, and so that the water supply does not freeze again in the already defrosted area.
If there is special equipment, then it is advisable to weld a crane onto the pipe. When water flows through the pipe, the wire is pulled out of it, and the tap is closed, i.e. flooding of the place where the defrosting procedure will be carried out (for example, the basement) will not occur.
To prevent plastic pipes from freezing, remember:
If all these conditions are met when laying the water supply, you will not have to think about how to defrost the pipes.
Russia is located in a harsh climatic region, so in winter and early spring there is a risk of defrosting the water supply and sewerage system. This is especially true for owners of private houses, because often systems are laid without carrying out the necessary calculations and measures for insulation and frost protection. In this article, we'll talk about how to protect pipes from freezing and what to do if the problem cannot be prevented.
If the temperature outside the window has dropped to zero, that is, to the freezing point of water, this does not mean that the water supply system will freeze. Not everyone knows, but in winter the water in the pipe freezes at a temperature of -7 degrees. Water pipes burst when they freeze. during the transition from liquid to solid, the volume of water increases. This does not happen often, but it does happen, especially in metal systems that cannot stretch.
To prevent water freezing in pipes and protect them from damage, it is necessary to take care of the heating system in advance or take a set of measures to insulate the pipeline.
Some measures to protect the pipeline in the winter should be carried out even at the stage of laying communications during the construction of a house. What needs to be done to reliably protect pipes from cold during the installation process:
Thermal insulation using a heating cable is a reliable way to solve the problem of icing, even in the most severe cold.
In private houses of temporary residence, for example, country houses, the water supply is rarely laid underground and is used mainly in the summer.
To prevent freezing of the structure located above the ground, in winter it must be completely drained of water after each use. The second option, how you can not defrost the pipe on the street, is to leave the tap slightly open so that the water moves. The water in the source (well, well) has a temperature of about +5 degrees. Moving, it gives off part of the heat for heating, therefore freezing of pipes in such a situation can occur only in severe frost, from -15.
In the case when the open water supply is frozen, it is not difficult to unfreeze the pipe, because you have access to it.
Advice: you need to start work on heating the water supply immediately after freezing is detected, otherwise, every hour the situation only gets worse, especially if the heaters are not of high quality or are completely absent.
A heating cable is required to heat frozen plastic lines. It is extremely simple to use it, just wrap the water supply and connect the cable to a power source. This option requires additional costs for the purchase of the cable. You can cast plastic pipes with hot water, but this option is effective only with small areas of freezing, or with not severe frosts.
Heating pipes made of metal can be carried out using an open fire. A portable gas torch, blowtorch, or small diesel cannon designed for heating will work. unheated premises... It is possible to combine heating with a burner with the ice crushing method. The burner can be used to heat the entire metal system except for taps. The faucets have rubber (plastic) valves, which can deteriorate with a sharp rise in temperature and the faucet will have to be changed.
Important: it is forbidden to heat frozen plastic pipes with an open fire, because they can melt or even catch fire.
To warm up the tap, it is not necessary to heat it up with a burner, it is enough to wrap it with rags and pour boiling water over it. If after the first time the crane does not move, the operation can be repeated.
To defrost an open one, you can use a building hair dryer. It is powerful enough, heats up well and is not able to melt the material.
Thawing water in a plastic pipe hidden underground is much more difficult due to the fact that there is no access to it. Heating options that are used for open water pipes will not work.
You can quickly defrost a water supply pipe only by heating it from the inside. There are several ways to do this.
Depending on the situation, the availability of tools and other circumstances, different devices can be used for each of the methods. For example, in order to pour hot water, you can use a thin hose that goes inside the water supply system, or you can simply pour hot water from a pear.
To defrost a pipe in the ground, you can use a cable heating system, but only if it was installed at the stage of laying the water supply system. If the elements of cable heating are not installed, then this method is too laborious and not always possible.
Now we will consider the options for heating that can be used if the HDPE pipe located underground is frozen.
Based on the name, it can be understood that the steam generator is designed to generate steam. It sounds complicated, but in reality everything is much simpler. But not everyone has a steam generator. In everyday life, in the country, you can use a pressure cooker instead. Defrosting a pipe with a pressure cooker is no more difficult than pouring hot water. To carry out the work you will need:
The process itself is similar to the ebb flow of hot water, only steam is used instead. Water is poured into the pressure cooker and heated to a boil. One end of the hose is hermetically connected to the valve for releasing excess steam in the lid of the pressure cooker, the other is pushed into the line. Thus, steam from the pressure cooker enters the hose and then into the pipeline to the freezing point. The steam temperature is higher than the hot water temperature, so using a pressure cooker is more effective and warms up faster.
Another option to replace the steam generator is to use the Karher steam cleaner. The power of the steam cleaner is sufficient to cope with defrosting.
If the underground water supply is made of iron or copper, then a special device can be used to defrost it - an apparatus for defrosting pipes. You can find out which model of the device to use for a specific pipe diameter by reading the instructions of the device manufacturer. The most popular in Russia are the devices "Dragon" and their analogues.
The essence of the method is that the power cables of the device are connected to the mains and voltage is applied to them, due to which the walls of the pipe are heated and the ice block is thawed. This method can be combined with the crushing method.
Its essence lies in tapping a metal line in order to cause ice delamination from the inner walls or its destruction. Crushed pieces of ice, under the pressure of water in the system, can escape to the outside. Using this method, you need to take care of the unhindered passage of pieces of ice along the entire length of the water supply system. This means that the outlet valve, tees and other structural elements with a smaller diameter must be dismantled.
It looks simple, but in reality it does not always work out, tk. the device has restrictions on the distance of the electrode connection. If it is not a problem to connect an electrode on the outlet side of the water pipe, then it is not always possible to install the second one, at a certain distance from the first, due to the fact that the system is closed and the water has frozen in the pipe underground. Sometimes such nuances make it impossible to use the device for heating a closed water supply system.
At one end of the rigid two-core wire, several centimeters of cores are stripped and wrapped around the wire in such a way that the bare contacts do not touch each other, and the distance between them does not exceed 1.5-2 cm.A plug is installed on the other end of the wire for connecting to a household outlet ... Further, the structure is pushed into the pipeline and connected to the 220 network. By passing the current, the water between the contacts of the wire heats up, and the water supply system gradually thaws.
Important: the method is suitable for use in closed system from plastic pipes, it is strictly forbidden to use in metal structures, because the pipe wall contacts are closed.
With a small length of the frozen water supply system, it is convenient to pour hot water from a bucket or a rubber medical heating pad, often called an Esmarch mug. This is a simple method that requires a minimum of assistive devices. It is often used for self-de-icing of pipes in the country. For heating, you will need a piece of thin hose with a length of at least the length of the frozen line and a funnel, for the convenience of filling the hose with hot water.
The hose is inserted into the water pipe until it stops, that is, to the freezing point. Next, hot water is poured into the hose. Hot water, passing through the hose, flows directly to the freezing point and gradually melts the ice. As it melts, it is necessary to advance the hose inside the water supply system and add hot water, because it will gradually leave and cool down.
A sewer system that is made with the wrong slope, or made of small-diameter pipes and laid without insulation, is at risk of defrosting. In a private house, in the event of an ice plug, you can warm up a drain pipe in the same ways that are used to defrost hidden water pipes.
Important: to remove ice in the toilet, it is not enough to pour hot water into the toilet. this is ineffective, it is necessary to organize the supply of hot water directly to the place of the ice plug, which means you need to use a hose.
If the sewage system is long enough, then to deliver the hose to the freezing point, it can be tied to a plumbing cable.
There are several nuances when defrosting.
It is possible to defrost metal water pipes that are underground using the same methods that are used when you need to warm a pipe in the ground. If there is access to the pipe every 10 meters, for example, wells are installed, then it is effective to carry out heating using a pipe defrosting apparatus.
Ice in the pipe underground begins to form at minus 5 degrees, which happens closer to spring, so during this period you need to be extremely careful, especially if the underground metal pipes are new and winter for the first time.
Similar to metal pipes, plastic pipes are defrosting at temperatures from -5, but they must be warmed with all available ways it is forbidden. For example, it is forbidden to heat frozen plastic pipes with an open flame. 
Plastic is a combustible material and can catch fire in a few minutes. Also, for plastic communications, the method of crushing and heating with the help of an apparatus is not used. The device will not work because polypropylene pipe does not conduct electricity. At low temperatures, some types of plastics lose their flexibility.
If you hit a frozen plastic system with a hammer or other percussion instrument, the walls may not withstand and burst. As a result, part of the water supply system will have to be changed. Reinforced-plastic pipes burst even more easily, so crushing is not applied to them.
In conclusion of the article, I would like to note that in order to avoid problems with sewerage and water supply systems, you do not need to neglect the requirements normative documents, for example SNiP SNiP 2.04.01-85 *. If freezing could not be avoided, then after restoring the system's performance, it is necessary to analyze the reasons that can be eliminated in the warm season. Otherwise, the situation will repeat itself. It will not always be possible to get rid of only by thawing the water supply system, because integrity may be violated and the system will have to be changed in winter, or a temporary highway will be laid, which will require additional investments.
On video original way defrosting pipes with hot water from a flow heater "Atmor":
In winter, quite often people are faced with the fact that water pipes can freeze during severe frosts. V this material we will tell you how to defrost a pipe with water without damaging communications and without being left without water for a long time.
In cases where the water supply pipes were not insulated on time, with a sharp drop in air temperature outside, the water in them may freeze. However, even if such a nuisance happened, you should not panic - you can fix everything, including yourself.
Among the most common causes of freezing of water pipes is incorrect laying of the line without taking into account the depth of freezing of the soil or without insulation. Alternatively, this can happen with a plumbing that is used at very low temperatures or too little water flows through it.
In order to defrost pipes, you can use equipment such as a building hair dryer (if it is not there, a regular household one will do), a blowtorch, and an electric heater. Here are some guidelines for defrosting frozen pipes.
When working with steel pipes defrosting is very simple. To do this, a welding machine is connected from opposite ends of the pipe, which will lead to thawing of water inside the water supply system for 3-4 hours. The duration of the process depends on the length of the pipe. However, recently, plastic pipes that can withstand pressures up to 10 atmospheres have been actively used in water supply systems.
Although such products do not deform when freezing, it is still impossible to defrost plastic pipes with a welding machine. You should also not use an iron rod to break through the cork, so as not to spoil the water supply.
There are a lot of ways how to defrost a water supply or sewerage pipe.
Of course, the need to tear apart the frozen soil in order to get to the pipe is a significant disadvantage of this method. However, for those situations where the frozen area is small, this method has a right to exist.
When the trench is excavated, the type of pipeline material is established. Only heating devices can be used to work with polymer products. electric type, issuing a temperature of no more than 100-100 ℃. To reduce the heat loss of the heater and warm up the pipe section faster, the place of work is covered with a layer of thermal insulation.
WITH metal pipes the process of thawing the plug is faster, because here you can use a source of open fire - firewood, a gas burner, a blowtorch or any other device, which, of course, is not applicable to plastic.
To get rid of the plug in the sewer pipes, you will have to take into account a number of features. Firstly, such communications, as a rule, have a rather large diameter, which allows heating from the outside and from the inside better. However, the amount of accumulated ice in them will be significantly greater, so that more heat consumption by heating devices will be required.
To defrost plastic pipes, you need one simple device. We take a board with rounded edges and attach a heating element to it in the shape of the letter U. Only the heater loop should protrude beyond the board. All other parts must not come into contact with the walls of the heater.
Having determined the thickness of the plug and the distance to it, we fix the wires of the appropriate length to the ends of the heating element, and we attach the entire structure to a piece of metal-plastic pipe, with which our device will be pushed into the sewer.
It is necessary to introduce the structure into the drain pipe from the side of the receiver, where the melted liquid will drain. First, the heating element is fully promoted to the place of work, after which it is connected to the network. Moving the device forward as the plug thaws, the device is periodically turned off.
One of the most effective methods for removing frozen plugs in pipes is the use of an industrial device. However, it only applies to metal products. To defrost the plug, terminals are attached to the two ends of the frozen pipe, through which current is supplied. Gradually heating up, the pipe begins to melt the ice clot inside it.
The duration of defrosting the pipe will depend on its length and diameter. For example, for pipes with a cross section of up to 6 cm and a length of 23 m, it will take about 1 hour of operation of the device. If the diameter of the pipeline is greater than this indicator, then the run-up between the terminals is made less. This also applies to sections with measuring devices and tie-in points. A prerequisite in this case is the presence of pressure inside the pipeline.
Along with the generally accepted methods for defrosting water pipes, polyethylene products can be pierced in three more "folk" methods. They are all quite effective, however, only on pipes with a small cross section.
Here it is worth noting right away that you will not be able to simply pour hot water into the pipe - you will have to work hard. To supply hot liquid to the place of the ice plug, you will need flexible hose or a thin tube. For example, if a plug is formed on a straight section of a pipe with a diameter of 25-30 mm, you can use a thin metal-plastic tube with a cross section of 16 mm.
After straightening the thin tube, it is gradually pushed into the water supply until it reaches the ice plug. Then hot water is dispensed. Melted water will pour out through the gap between the water supply and the working tube. To save money, this water can be reheated and fed to the cork to thaw it.
As the ice thaws, the metal-plastic tube is gradually pushed into the depths until the cork is completely pierced. It is worth noting that on winding pipe sections, you can only use a rigid hose instead of a pipe.
However, you should not use a garden hose - it is too soft and will get wet quickly. Optimally in this case, gas or oxygen hoses are suitable. They can be pushed 15 meters deep into the water supply system, however, significant efforts will be required to push them due to their heavy weight.
This method allows you to get rid of ice in cases where the pipe is frozen quite far from the house, and the water supply system has bends and turns. In this case, you will need a strong steel wire, a hydro level and an ordinary enema (Esmarch's mug). All of these items are inexpensive and easy to get hold of.
First, the water level must be combined with the wire, wrapping them with electrical tape. The end of the wire is wrapped in a loop so that it gets stiffness. It must be wound so that it does not stick out to the sides, and at the end of the hydraulic level tube should extend beyond the wire by 1 cm. The second end of the tube is connected to the Esmarch cup. After that, the tube with the wire is pushed into the water supply until it hits the ice.
Such a device will be able to go through all the bends of the pipe quite easily and without complications and get to the right place. When the water level has reached the desired location, hot water is gradually fed into the enema tube. Under the pipe outlet, you need to substitute a container for water, which will flow from there. Gradually, the ice plug will melt, so that the device can be pushed further and further.
It should be noted that this method is rather slow. The average operating speed is 1 meter of pipe per hour, that is, about 5-7 meters of pipe can be defrosted per working day.
There are cases when the thickness of the water supply system is only 20 mm, its length is about 50 meters, but the depth is about 80 cm (this is very small), and in places where it is not recommended to carry out excavation work (on the roadway, for example). Utilities in such situations recommend waiting for the thaw - but this is not an option.
To defrost the plastic pipe in this case, you can use homemade device... To assemble it, you need a plug for an outlet, two-wire copper wire, compressor and hose for pumping water. For our example, let's take a wire with a cross section of 2.5-3 mm, a car fuel 8 mm hose and a compressor for a car or a pump.
Please note that when working with electrical current, strict safety precautions are required to avoid personal injury. Now you can start assembling the water pipe defrosting device.
On a small section of the wire, the external insulation is removed, the cores are separated. First, one of the cores is stripped of insulation, and the remaining insulated piece of wire, carefully, trying not to damage the sheath, is folded back along the wire. Now, almost at the bend, the wire is screwed with 3-5 tight turns of bare wire. Having retreated from this place 2-3 mm, the same manipulations are performed with the second core. Make sure that the ends of the two strands do not touch each other.
On the other side of the wire, a plug and a "bulb" are attached. Such a unit supplies an electric current directly to the water, as a result of which a reaction occurs with the release of a large amount of heat. Ideal in this case is that only water is heated, while the wires remain cold, which does not threaten accidental burn-through of polyethylene pipes.
The assembled mechanism should be tested before starting. Immerse it in a container of water and apply current - everything works correctly if air bubbles are visible in the water and a buzz is heard. Please note that you must not touch the water while the device is in operation - you will get an electric shock.
So, we push the wire into the water supply system, making sure that it does not bend, until it comes into contact with the ice. Next, turn on the device for a couple of minutes and wait until the ice begins to melt. After that, you need to turn off the device and try to move the wire further. In a similar way, we first defrost one meter of the water supply system.
Now it is time to remove the melt water from the pipe using a compressor in order to reduce the volume of heated water and prevent the pipe from freezing again. If special equipment is available, a faucet can be welded onto the pipe, which can be closed as soon as water flows through the pipe. This will avoid flooding the place of work with the plug and will not pull the wire out of the pipe.
After so detailed description options for getting rid of ice plugs in water pipes will be useful to talk about preventive measures for such an unpleasant phenomenon.
The first thing to remember is that the depth of the water supply pipes must be below the level of soil freezing in your area. The norm for sewer and water supply communications is considered to be a depth of 1.2-1.4 meters.
It is better not to lay pipelines near reinforced concrete structures, since the level of thermal conductivity of concrete is much higher than that of the ground. Consequently, near the foundation, beams or grillages, pipes will freeze through more than in other places. If it is impossible to bypass them, it is worth taking care of thermal insulation, for example, laying plates of extruded polystyrene foam between the pipe and the foundation.
Alternatively, if additional funds are available for construction, a heating cable can be laid near the pipeline. On sale you can find self-regulating cables, which start heating the surface only under certain specified conditions.
Where the water supply and sewer pipes are in contact with the walls of the building, passing through them, it will be useful to insulate the communications with glass wool, mineral wool or foam. The reason lies in the same thermal conductivity of the walls of the building.
If the work is carried out in country house, the best choice there will be water pipes with a cross section of at least 50 mm, which do not freeze so much in winter.
As for the material for water pipes, there are also differences here. For example, polypropylene pipes can withstand no more than 2-3 frost penetrations, after which they begin to burst. But polyethylene pipes are practically insensitive to frost and defrost.
Please note that in cases where you do not plan to use sewerage and water supply in the winter season, it is worth draining all the water from the system.
So, every resident of a private house can face the problem of freezing water in a water pipe in winter. In this situation, the best thing to do is not to waste time, but to immediately start defrosting the ice plug. For this, you can use traditional methods, such as external or internal heating, as well as the use of industrial equipment. Or you can take advantage of folk experience and try one of the unconventional methods of defrosting. In any case, only you yourself can decide how to solve the problem.
Considering the harsh climatic realities of our latitudes, the protection of various communications from the cold and the elimination of the consequences of its impact is an everyday thing. Moreover, the lack of preventive measures leads to the need for repair. This is especially true for pipelines carrying water. Since recently polymer systems have been increasingly used for internal and external highways, the question of how to defrost plastic pipes is becoming more and more relevant.
The situation is not hopeless, and there are ways. However, this does not mean that pipe protection can be neglected. What to do if the trouble nevertheless occurs - further in the article.
Before defrosting the water in a plastic pipe, it is better to find out for sure the reason for the accident. Otherwise, there is a high probability that it will be repeated next, and even worse - the same winter. Therefore, in parallel with the work to eliminate the ice plug, it is worth strengthening the protection from the cold and carrying it out.
There are several main "culprits" of freezing:
Although theoretically a hot water supply or heating pipeline can be laid at a shallower depth, in the expectation that the pipe heats itself - it is better not to do this.
A sudden interruption of the supply can lead to rather serious consequences, and being left without heat in the cold is not the best prospect.
Important information!
Any artificial stone, the same brick or concrete, has thermal conductivity, much better than natural soil, so it can freeze even in the underground part.
Therefore, the pipeline should not have direct contact with the walls of even heated rooms - its outer layer can still have negative temperature, and the water freezes with it.
In places where it passes through a wall, defrosting plastic pipes is especially difficult.
There are several main types of accidents, the decision on how to unfreeze a metal-plastic or plastic pipe depends on this:
Moreover, in each of these cases, two options are also possible: the pipe or fittings are damaged, or there are no cracks in them. At the same time, the algorithm of actions for any pipe material in any of the options will not differ, whether it is about how to defrost metal-plastic pipes, polyethylene or polypropylene.
Important information!
Polyethylene pipes are the most resistant to freezing, followed by metal-plastic pipes, the layers of which also consist of polyethylene, polypropylene pipes feel completely uncomfortable in the cold.
They can withstand about three freezes, but they can burst after the first.
If the pipe has clear mechanical damage, then, perhaps, the defrosting of plastic pipes will no longer be required, except that the section inside which the ice plug has appeared will have a very significant length. Usually the place of damage is simply cut out - and for this it is not necessary to melt the ice.
A new section of pipe is installed at the scene of the accident, which is connected to the existing pipeline using standard fittings for this type of pipe, as a rule, some kind of couplings.
In any case, the valve closest to the place of the ice plug must be open.
If you need to push something into the pipe for cleaning, it should be removed altogether.
But in this case, it is necessary to provide for how, after eliminating the plug, to quickly close the pipe - after all, the water pressure in the pipeline does not disappear anywhere.
If you need to defrost plastic pipes inside the building, for example, in the basement, if there is access to them, the easiest way is to use any heat sources outside the pipe: electric heaters with a fan, hair dryers, electric blankets.
Some craftsmen try to use open heat sources such as blowtorches or gas burners, but this method is not entirely safe - if you miss the right moment, then the pipe wall can simply be burned through. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to use the apparatus used for "metal" for defrosting plastic pipes - its operation requires an electrically conductive material, which polymers do not belong to.
If a plug has arisen in a closed section of a pipe, it is warmed, as a rule, with hot water, which is poured into the system "towards" the ice, that is, from inside the building. However, water will not go into the pipe just like that - an air, and sometimes a water (in the ascending sections) plug forms between the ice and the open end of the pipe.
In such cases, in short sections, a metal-plastic pipe with a diameter smaller than the pipeline itself is used, and if this is not possible, then an oxygen or other heat-resistant rubber hose.
And, for example, how to defrost a polypropylene pipe with many bends? There is a solution for this case as well.
This will require a mug of Esmarch ("bucket" enema), a hose like those used in water building levels and a piece of 2-4 mm steel wire of sufficient length.
The procedure is as follows:
There are also tips on how to defrost a plastic pipe using a homemade electric heater from a two-core cable, but even with a good set of circumstances, the process will be even more protracted. Therefore, it is still better to turn to the "boiling water" classics. And the best thing is to think about that while installing the system. And if a trouble has happened, be sure to fix it by the next winter season.
