Frozen boiler pipes

[waterboy]

I have 2 ss bays and some bonehead ( me ) did not get enough glycol in the system, teco pump went down, now all zones except one are frozen. Cannot use icemelt because it gets into the reclaim and leaves a film on cars that come out of auto. Any ideas on how to get the pipes thawed so I can get more glycol in the system ? Thanks.

 

[under pressure]

I dont think icemelt would work through concrete to thaw pipes anyways, my only guess is electric blankets...!!

 

[ken-pro]

My suggestion would be to put tarps on the door openings and rent a couple of large portable heaters to get the bay temps above 32oF for an extended period. You may have to build a frame to be able to tarp and heat the outside aprons too. Hopefully all you have is slush in the floor heat loops, and that they are not frozen solid. Are you sure the loops are frozen? Unless you have no glycol at all, an airlock would be much more likely than a frozen loop.

 

[mjwalsh]

Waterboy,

I agree with Kevin. The fact that your pump went down tells us that you might have introduced air in the system. You may have to isolate some zones to be thorough enough. When we extended our deicer for the outside of our dog wash last fall ---we had the new zone working & then it quit ---we had to isolate it away from that zone & eventually the new zone again worked & has since. I am thinking we are at the edge of the pump's capababilities for it to be that finicky.

 

[waterboy]

Thanks

I bled out each zone many times and still no go. I am sure they are frozen, I shall either build the portable "wash sauna" like Ken pro suggested or just wait for the spring thaw. thanks Mike.