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 The Non Sky Diver
Posts: 9004
 
Location: SE Louisiana | dhdqhllc - 2014-01-04 7:04 PM
glideriders - 2014-01-04 6:46 PM I had that happen several winters ago when I was just turning the hydrant on to fill a small chicken water every day, when it got 20 below the thing was froze for the winter. Somebody told me to find someone with a portable Welder on the back of their truck and they could "zap" the pipe??? I didn't ever do that. I was told when I run my outside hydrant in the winter I should let it run for at least 30 or 40 gallons so the pipe does not freeze at the top. My line wasn't froze under ground because my Nelson water was still working it is on the line before the Hydrant. The stupid Nelson plastic valve broke on me last week so I have my back up tub plugged in now. Hope my hydrant doesn't freeze, the summer after the chicken water incident we wrapped heat tape on it several feet below ground just in case. we had 35 below last night, colder than that with wind chill. i'd bet you were wrong and that the line was froze right under the hydrant....and good thing you didn't have someone try to 'zap' it with a welder...
Actually, I have heard of this.... You would need long enough lines to reach both ends, from the hydrant to the well house. Clamp the ground at the well house and touch the stick to the hydrant. The frozen water acts as the conduit and it melts. |
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 The Vaccinator
Posts: 3810
  
Location: Slipping down the slope of old age. Boo hoo. | watchpeppydoc - 2014-01-04 10:38 PM
Delta Cowgirl - 2014-01-04 9:42 AM When temps are going to drop below freezing, we turn off the water at the main meter to our barn, open the taps and drain all the pipes and hoses every afternoon after watering. (We also have heated water tanks for the horses). We do this every day when it is going to drop below freezing. It's the "routine". We also have all the pipes/hydrants in the barn very well insulated.
You must not run your water lines below the frost line?? What a pain!!!
We just do not want anything above frost line freezing, i.e. the hydrants or out auto-waterers, that we drain. We do not want to deal with any burst pipes. Fortunately, we live in the south so we do nto have to deal with sub-freezing temps very often or for a very long stretch of a time. If we did, we'd do things differently. |
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 No Name Nancy
Posts: 2715
Location: never in the right place | if it is the hydrant pipe froze because it didn't drain properly you can put a small metal heater right on the pipe (has a magnet to hold it on) and plug it in, it will warm the pipe. I had to do that all last winter because there was a problem with my hydrant. Hubby put in a new one this fall . Its called a Katz heater and is about 5"x3". |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 695
Location: Windoming | One of my automatic waterers is froze up, and it is between two other hydrants that are fine! It holds about 30 gallons of water that I've been filling with a hose. Guess we need to insulate it, I keep the two hydrants insulated. We've had it 17 years and have never really had a problem till now. |
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Expert
Posts: 1956
Location: Ky | haulin4cash - 2014-01-04 7:41 AM OK, so I go out to the barn to fill water troughs last night. Lift the handle on my hydrant,...nothing. Wrap heat tape and insulation around the pipe......try again this morning.....nothing. I thought hydrants were not suppose to freeze. !!!! It is inside my building. Granted it has been extremely cold, but I have never had a problem before with the hydrant. Any suggestions anybody ??? With the most extreme cold weather yet to come, I am not relishing the idea of hauling water from the house for 5 horses. This is just the frosting on the cake for this horribly cold weather.
Is the valve opening? If it's opening then it probably is frozen at the drain and not letting water out so it's frozen in the shaft.
Sometimes the little allen head screw can get loose and when you lift the lever it comes up but it's just riding up the valve shaft and not actually opening it. |
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 Expert
Posts: 1430
Location: Montana | jd&ez - 2014-01-05 11:54 AM
haulin4cash - 2014-01-04 7:41 AM OK, so I go out to the barn to fill water troughs last night. Lift the handle on my hydrant,...nothing. Wrap heat tape and insulation around the pipe......try again this morning.....nothing. I thought hydrants were not suppose to freeze. !!!! It is inside my building. Granted it has been extremely cold, but I have never had a problem before with the hydrant. Any suggestions anybody ??? With the most extreme cold weather yet to come, I am not relishing the idea of hauling water from the house for 5 horses. This is just the frosting on the cake for this horribly cold weather.
Sometimes the little allen head screw can get loose and when you lift the lever it comes up but it's just riding up the valve shaft and not actually opening it.
That was my first thought too. I hope that's what it is since it's an easy fix. Best of luck. Winter sucks. |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 614
Location: Usually on my horse | Hey thanks everybody for the advice and stories. With the help of a blow torch I got it thawed. It is now wrapped in heat tape and double wrapped in pipe insulation. Thank God ! The worst cold is yet to come and it would have been awful having to haul water in this cold. |
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 Strong Willed Woman
Posts: 6577
Location: Prosser, WA | We have one hydrant that has froze up a couple of times this year. I just get a gallon of hot water from the kitchen faucet and slowly pour it on the frozen hydrant and that has worked every time. Since yours is inside I wonder if that is all that it would take? |
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  More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | Silly Filly - 2014-01-05 12:39 PM One of my automatic waterers is froze up, and it is between two other hydrants that are fine! It holds about 30 gallons of water that I've been filling with a hose. Guess we need to insulate it, I keep the two hydrants insulated. We've had it 17 years and have never really had a problem till now.
If waterers on either side are fine then your fill neck or spout must be froze. One of mine will do that every once in a while. I have a big 5 gallon igloo drink cooler that I fill with hot water and let it trickle over the fill spout until thawed. Usually doesn't take the whole 5 gallons. |
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