winter freeze ups

[mikeexpress]

its getting colder and it brings up a question. if you have a freeze up what is the best method to un thaw. I have a tin trough that sits on top of the roof and then the high pressure hose goes down into the boom thru the roof. we use 2 methods 1 is hot water in the trough to thaw it 2 is a large propane style heater pointed at the hose that comes down from the roof.

 

[Reds]

I assume you mean SS bays. My lines to SS run through an insulated trough in the attic and down to the bays. I try to avoid freeze ups, but still get them a couple times a year. The biggest problem is with the water in the boom pivot freezing up and the frozen water "climbing" up into the attic lines about a foot. I have to open up the trough and thaw it with a hair dryer. My hoses from the boom down have to be pulled and put in hot water to thaw. I tried thawing with a propane heater pointed at the lines in the trough and melted every chemical line in the trough, so I learned that lesson the hard way. Most of my freeze ups come from some glitch in the weep system. I weep warm water since 0? temps are not unusual here on winter nights. My IBA lines run thru the wall into the heated bays and I have never had a freeze up in the IBA(yet). I have temperature alarms on my mechanical room and IBA's and keep backup portable heaters ready in case the alarm calls me.

 

[borumrm]

You need to heat the trough (I am assuming your channel is covered and has top pieces you can lift off)...I have a run of hose that ties into a wall mounted tank that has a recirculating pump on it .... has a thermostat control...when the temp drops near freezing this comes on, heats up the antifeeze solution in the tank and recirculates through the hose in the trough...it heats it up real tostey...the only freeze ups I have are if the weep system fails for some reason but in the trough it is warm....i have short hoses from the trough manifold thru the roof opening to the top of the boom swivel...this part of the hose is covered with pipe insulation to help there.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

I'm thinking about disconnecting 4 of my 8 bay hoses in the equipment room, blowing out the lines before it gets to cold, remove the bay hose/guns, close the bays and just wait it out. I'll keep the drip on the other 4 bays.
When the weather breaks or I need the bays I'll open them up.
I think this might help in a several ways.

1. With the 4 bays of water turned off I'll get better water flow out of the remaining bays that are open.
2. If a hose breaks during the night in 1 bay because of a freeze up, I'll only possibly freeze up 4 bays total not all 8 bays.
That way I can re-open the other 4 bays that I had closed off and still be open while I fix the freeze ups.
3. I'll save on water and sewer bills.

 

[bigleo48]

Three words...Ice Breaker Machine
http://www.pipethaw.com/ice_breaker_350.html

I have one and it works great! Clam one end, then the other, turn it on, wait 5 minutes...done.

Big

 

[Jeff_L]

In my trials and tribulations I have learned once you do have a bay freeze up, remove the hose in the bay from the boom, then begin a dethawing process. Otherwise while you are melting the ice in the bay it could start backing up towards the equipment room and break some fittings. Usually a coupler, reducer, etc..

However, you should start working on a system which best suits your wash to prevent the freeze up in the first place. Like circulating hot liquid through lines in your troughs AND insulate the troughs, etc..

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Three words...Ice Breaker Machine
http://www.pipethaw.com/ice_breaker_350.html

I have one and it works great! Clam one end, then the other, turn it on, wait 5 minutes...done.

Big

BigLeo it says it's for pipes. Do you use it on hoses?

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Big, how do you use that thing? I read the spec sheet, but does that actually work in the bay itself?

 

[pitzerwm]

You would need wire braided hoses, I doubt if the ice would conduct well enough.

 

[soapy]

Ice thawing machine is really just a welder with the leads hooked on each end of the pipe. Brings back a memory of my youth when my dad used a large welder to thaw our cabin pipes. One time he was standing on the deck in snow turning on the welder and grabbed the wrong thing and shorted it through his body. It knocked him right out of his boots and through him back into the cabin with his boots sitting in the snow outside. Just be careful when using these pipe thaw machines.

 

[borumrm]

I have heard tales that you use jumper cables also....hook one end to the battery of your car and the other end to the pipe....never had tried it and don't think I ever will but had a old guy that used to help at my wash .... he claims it works but I never had the nerve to try it....he died a few years back otherwise I would have him show me just to test it out..

 

[MEP001]

It would be a lot safer to test with a battery out of a vehicle since the direct short you're creating might overload components in the car or truck. The worst you might do with a "loose" battery would be to melt the cables or ruin the battery.

 

[bigleo48]

Like any electrical device, you need to be carefull, however, this thing works great.

First, all my hoses are braided and I use aluminum heads on my foam brush.

I'll clamp the gun tip or FB head, and clamp the other end (at the pump or top of the boom). Plug the ice breaker in and turn it on. I will also use an amp clamp to make sure there is good current flow (I think about 20 amps) and I will also use an infrared thermometer to see the temp rise on the hose.

Once the temp gets up above freezing, I will turn on the pump and that usually opens it up and gets the line flowing.

It's really easy with no fuss. I use to dismantle everything too, but that's a real pain

Big

 

[pitzerwm]

Wouldn't a battery charger be the same thing?

 

[MEP001]

Wouldn't a battery charger be the same thing?

Probably, in fact I'll bet Sam's still sells the 10/100A roll-around charger with built-in protection against overload.

 

[Reds]

Long ago when I was in the welding biz I had a Lincoln portable welder that had a setting specifically for pipe thawing, and it thawed pipes real fast. I have a Miller Bobcat portable welder now but it doesn't have a pipe thawing setting. I wonder if there is any difference between the pipe thawing setting and other settings on the welder other than the amount of power being put out? It sure would make my life easier if I could use my Miller to thaw the pipes.

 

[pitzerwm]

IMO its the same thing, its just an amperage setting, start it on the lower setting and move it up, the bottom line is that it is a short and that creates heat which thaws the ice. If the pipe/hose were long enough you could use 120.