¹ Note, some don't like reading about lawn hydrants and associated issues. Please read no further.
It's winter in New England and cold as usual. This year we left a hose on one of the hydrants
and that mistake caused a frost proof hydrant to not be frost proof. I figured I would wait for
some warm up and hopefully the situation would remedy itself. In the meantime, I would fill
a couple large plastic trash cans with water, cart them out to the water trough and pump them
out with a sump pump. It worked, but it was a pinta.
Searching youtube, there were a few videos by farmers that were heating the riser with torches.
My only concern, as others noted as well, is the chance of building up steam pressure with the
ice block still in place. We all know what steam can do....
First go at it was with my Red Dragon weed torch. I heated the base at ground level and kept
my hand on the valve head to make sure I was adding heat but not too hot. Being a little gun
shy and safety cautious my mind was thinking about alternatives that were less dangerous,
shall we say. Suddenly:
I put the torch away and headed back to the shed. There I mixed up a strong solution of
calcium chloride and water. Grabbing a short length of hose I headed back to the spigot.
Attach the hose, hold it as high above the head as possible and slowly add the solution.
It will fill to the the end of the hose and slowly go down.
I filled the hose twice then on the third time it gurgled and went right down.
"No, way" I said out loud to the horse watching me.
I pulled the handle and voila
Water.....
I let it run a for awhile to purge the line of the calcium chloride mix and then
removed the hose. Not gonna make that mistake twice.
Damn dude, wear some gloves - your hands look half frostbitten!
ReplyDeleteThe past few years I have noticed the cold bothers my hands. I did have gloves on but didn't want to get them covered in the "solution". You can see them on the ground in the first picture. When I'm out for longer periods of time, I have some good North Face gloves and put the hand warmer packs in them.
DeleteGood job and lucky you. Mine froze and I sheared the piston in half when I lifted the handle on a -10deg morning. Now it’s carrying 5gal buckets about 300ft twice a day. -Chad
ReplyDeleteThat sucks. I would try the handle every few days but only gently. If it broke there would be a fast trip back to the house to shut off the breaker to the well pump. I will be installing a shut off this spring.
DeleteJust upstream from the first hydrant. That way if there is an issue, we don't lose house water.
Better living via chemistry
ReplyDeleteI was surprised it worked so well and so quickly.
DeleteThe 0° set point for farenheit thermometers was 50% by weight crushed ice and salt. It is possible to make a brine that will not freeze under normal conditions. The key is to make the solution strong enough that the dilution from the melt ice doesn't impair its strength.
ReplyDeleteFrikkin' BRILLIANT dude!
ReplyDeleteWe had icing on the fresh water and septic system on my boat this year. I wish I could do the calcium chloride trick, but it'd leak into our drinking water tank.
ReplyDeleteMight be worth doing in the crap tank, though. When I left there was a 30' horizontal run of 4" drain to the crap tank iced up rock solid. The World's Most Awful Freeze Pop.
Nice solution. Our hydrants would freeze at least once a winter so I installed heat tape, wrapped around the riser pipe to a foot or so below grade, plug it in if the below zero temps and wind causes the handle to freeze. Haven’t needed the heat tape since wrapping the riser with large foam pipe insulation, encased it in a split a 3” pvc pipe section held in place with large hose clamps. Capped the top (below the handle) with a rubber pipe cap. Also protects the riser.
ReplyDeleteI should have known when you said off to care for the horses it would be a murphy adventure it usually is for me. If I ever get a hydrant to my barn I may be calling you.
ReplyDeleteThat's good to know. Well done. Ohio Guy
ReplyDeleteWho doesn't like reading about lawn hydrants and associated issues? Weirdos.
ReplyDeleteHow is it you had Cal. Chlor. kicking around?
ReplyDeleteI have two bags of it for icemelt of the walkways
DeleteYou don't?
DeleteDon't you bury the hydrants below frost line? Like at least 3 to 4ft deep? Or did the weep/drain hole close off with roots?
ReplyDeleteI think the hose being left on when the cold temps started hitting caused the freeze up. This one hydrant we have never had an issue with. There are 3 and I will redo them all this spring.
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