Heat Tape Snafu - Help!

[Bubbles Galore]

I have had winterguard wet heat tape in my trough since I bought my facility 4 years ago. After a few issues in the beginning of this winter, I noticed that my 2 furthest bays weren't getting any heat in the trough. I tested out the heat tape and it was bad.

Long story short, I replaced it with a roof and gutter de-icing kit I got at my local supply house since they didn't carry winterguard wet. Lo and behold, I get to the wash tonight and a few of my low pressure air lines weren't working I get up on the roof and get the trough uncovered and the new heat tape had heat welded three of my low pressure lines together!

So...my question is since the winterguard wet seems to be "self-regulating" and this new brand is not, what are my options? Is there some way to make this new system work or am I up sh&t creek? I have unplugged my heat tape at this point to ensure I don't heat weld any more of my low pressure lines together, but I need to get this figured out quick.

Thoughts?

 

[I.B. Washincars]

Weep warm water, problem solved.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I am setting my facility up to work with the Polar Freeze Guard system so that's not really an option. Any other ideas?

 

[2Biz]

I'm using the Raychem Winter Guard in my trough...To see at a glance how well it is performing, I put two electronic thermometers in the ER and put the thermocouples against the heat tape in the trough. It registers between 80° - 90° so I don't see how it could melt the tubing. I think I would switch back to the Raychem....

Do you have it on a thermostat ? I have mine set to come on about 25°....I would think continious use would wear it out quicker...

 

[Indiana Wash]

I run a loop of warm water through my trough. It really doesn't take much heat too keep all the lines in your trough from freezing. I put styrofoam under the lines and 2 layers on top. No problems.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I would like to use this heat tape, but I can't have it melting lines. I was thinking that I might be able to run it through some conduit to help disperse the heat? Maybe I could even wrap it in some high heat tape to help keep the temp from getting out of control. I don't know, I really don't want to have to replace the entire run if I don't have to. Thoughts?

 

[Indiana Wash]

I would like to use this heat tape, but I can't have it melting lines. I was thinking that I might be able to run it through some conduit to help disperse the heat? Maybe I could even wrap it in some high heat tape to help keep the temp from getting out of control. I don't know, I really don't want to have to replace the entire run if I don't have to. Thoughts?

Can you move the tape far from the hoses but still be in the trough? If you have the trough properly insulated, that should be plenty.

 

[soapy]

My winter guard wet heat tape has been working fine for over 12 years with no issue ever. I would go back to it.

 

[Buzzie8]

My winter guard wet heat tape has been working fine for over 12 years with no issue ever. I would go back to it.

I've been fooling with my trough heat for a while now. When you install this heat tape do you zig zag or just run it down the trough? Do you strap tie it to the hoses or keep it away because it will melt them? If I can't get my small water heater and pump to work this year I might just install the heat tape.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I'm going to go with an industrial grade dimmer switch and regulate it using that. Thoughts?

 

[Jeff_L]

I do the same as Indiana, loop hot water through the trough. I installed Windtrax's anti-freeze system for my foaming brushes, the nice side effect is that I'm looping the warm water through the trough. So I used large zip strips to bundle all the lines together to keep them thawed. Haven't had a problem since.

The loop consists of hose, electric water heater, 15gal collection barrel in attic (pipes to the pump as the source) and an electric procon pump.

 

[soapy]

My troughs are 4 or 6 inch PVC pipes. I just run the heat tape inside them. At each bay I have a electrical box that house the various solenoids for chemical injection. I run a couple of loops around inside the boxes with the solenoids. It works to at least -35 below zero.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I wired up the dimmer switch last night. I am going to use a thermocouple to dial in the temperature and make sure I don't melt any lines. I will update as to how this works out.

 

[2Biz]

My trough is 6" pvc pipe too...To make it easier to work on or replace lines, I cut a 2" wide opening in the top of the pipe (Full length) for access. I just laid the heat tape in the trough on top of the HP, LP, and air lines. Then I stuffed plastic wrapped insulation in the pipe taking up most of the dead air space. If I have trouble with the heat tape, I have a loop of hot water from the floor heat boiler in the trough for backup...75' of the Raychem only uses 450w of electric which I will take any day over running the boiler. Where I live, there are many winter nights below freezing with daytime temps well above freezing that doesn't require the boiler to be on. So far I'm pretty happy with the heat tape....

 

[Buzzie8]

I'm going out to buy winterguard wet this morning. I am tired of fighting problems with the pump and pex tubing in my current heat arrangement. Is there anything I should know about the installation of this? I am assuming and have read that it is self regulating so I will not need to connect it to a thermostat. Just plug it in and run it the length of the trough near the all the hoses correct? Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I'm going out to buy winterguard wet this morning. I am tired of fighting problems with the pump and pex tubing in my current heat arrangement. Is there anything I should know about the installation of this? I am assuming and have read that it is self regulating so I will not need to connect it to a thermostat. Just plug it in and run it the length of the trough near the all the hoses correct? Any advice greatly appreciated.

You nailed it. It's pretty easy to work with, just make sure your trough is well insulated. Good luck!

 

[2Biz]

I wired in a 30a line load thermostat....Its set to come on at about 28°-32°. The weepmiser will keep the high pressure lines good down to a tested 15° without trough heat or possibly lower, but having the heat tape come on at about 30° helps to protect the LP lines as well. Even though the Heat Tape says its self regulating, I don't know why you'd want it "ON" all the time.

FYI 75' of this Raychem Heat Tape only uses 450w of power. I'm glad I went this route. I have two temp sensors in the trough that I can check temps at a glance. The temps hover around 90° even down to 15° outside.

 

[Earl Weiss]

, but having the heat tape come on at about 30° helps to protect the LP lines as well. .

Is that 30 degree temp sesor in the trough?

 

[Reds]

I run Wintergard Wet thru my trough. No Tstat because it is self regulating. I wire tied and taped it to my high pressure lines in order to get good contact with the high pressure hose. I hooked it to an Ericson G101 Inline GFCI. The Ericson in line GFCI units were only $18 apiece as opposed to the GFCI connection kits that Raychem sells for $80 each. And they were very nice, high quality units that were easy to wire up. I bought them online. I used a separate piece of WGwet on each hose so that if I had a malfunction everything would not freeze up. I keep my eye on Ebay for Wintergard wet. If you watch it over time you can get rolls of it reasonable. I bought 2 100' rolls with a so called "truck pack" (connection kit) for each for $1.80 per foot. It retails in the $6 -$7 range. I keep 100', one truck pak, and one Ericson GFCI on the shelf in case I need it in a hurry. I use it on my vacation house in Ontario to protect my well water lines where they come out of the ground. So far no problems anywhere and the cost is reasonable.

 

[2Biz]

Is that 30 degree temp sesor in the trough?

The sensor bulb to the line load t-stat is hanging in the bay not in the trough. The electronic temp sensors I have in the trough transmitt the trough temp back to a display in the ER just so I can monitor trough temps as this is what I'm trying to protect anyway. When the weep is running and no heat tape, the temps in the trough hover around 40°. Once the temps drop to 28°, the heat tape kicks on and temps rise to around 80°-90°....I feel I'm pretty much covered with this setup.