“Must be winter,” she said.
I was doing the unbearable task of unloading my fly rods and gear from the back of the Explorer, bringing in my sweat-stained hat with the patch of wool on the brim.
“Yes,” I said.
White43,
That kind of weather would just kill a Southern boy. We still fishing down here. My fishing gear stays in the back of the car year around. 8T 
White43, I hope that the patch of wool on your hat is dyed or stained so that it doesn’t appear white(-ish). When I go out during deer and turkey seasons, I make it a point not to have any white color exposed. There are too many morons with guns out there. I pity the poor goat farmer who raises a fawn-colored breed and has to write “GOAT” in flourescent orange on both sides of each one at the start of each deer season.
A few years ago we had the former president of the state turkey hunter’s association accidently shot because another turkey hunter saw the flash off of his bald head, mistook it for a turkey, and fired too fast.
Many years ago I read a poem that was written by a hunter to his son. It was a set of safety instructions to be learned by heart before his young son was to go out into the field with a gun. The last line sums it all up. “All the pheasants ever bred, won’t repay for one man dead.” I found a copy of the poem on line here: http://www.furfeatherandfin.com/index.a … s–2033633
Take care,
Ed
I feel your pain my friend.
20 degrees here.
Rick
10F yup … but 10 below that is … and a bit of a biting wind … the water ain’t so warm any more …
but on the bright side … hmmms - still lookin for it - the bright side that is
19? in McKinney this AM. I know its lots colder elsewhere but this is plenty cold for us here in N. Texas, especially after our last summer of 100? days.
I’m in ARIZONA. 4 days ago it was 3 degrees at 6:30am and at 7:30am it was on down to ZERO. I went to see my ailing wife 3.5 hours away and stayed 4 days. Got back late last night. I have no running water and my hot water heater is cold from top to bottom. I can only poop two times and I am done. Geeeez a corn cobb out in the back of my property with 9 inches of snow doesn’t really seem like something I want to do very badly.
Guess I have work to do today to figure it out and fix the problem. I left my house thermostat on 60 degrees to keep pipes from freezing. Guess I shoulda bumped that up to 70. rats
Gemrod, I feel YOUR pain, my friend. I’ve been there, done that. My solution was to borrow an electric welder, set it on about 70 amps, open all faucets, and attach one electrode to the wellhead, the other to the lines under the sinks. Do each in turn, till all are thawed. Doesn’t usually take long.
P.S., that’s assuming you have galvanized pipe…G…won’t work on plastic.
Figures…I have plastic. Still without water tonite. Had to go to town today.
Guess I will have to work on it tomorrow. If my little tricks don’t work over night.
Gem, do you have a crawl space under your house or do you have a slab?
Cheers,
MontanaMoose
I have crawl space. I have a manafactured home on stemwall.
I’ve had some luck with a hair dryer Gem, also at the hardware store they have a heat tape arrangement that plugs into 110…this is what we used in cold country when we had a mobile but ask if they have one that works on pvc…I don’t think it’s too hot for it but I’d ask but I’d ask. They know what to do at the hardware store and may even recommend foam insulation for pipe over the heat tape. Hope I’ve helped.
Stay warm,
MontanaMoose
Mr. Moose,
You have helped. I will make a run to town today and check out Ace and Home Depot.
Thanks for helping.
the heat tape will work on the PVC piping - been there - froze pipes and all.
If you’re able to pick up the tape - the installation intructions will note to coil it around the pipes. Then again, that is for continuous use in winter conditions … BUT, all you need is a small running path of water in the ice and it’ll open up in no time.
Your ice blockage will be in your crawl space. So … to thaw (and this worked for at 20 below F) lay heat tape along bottom of PVC pipe (starting at lowest point you can) and attach it with electrical tape. Make sure the heat tape is in direct contact with pipe. Wrap the heat tape with insulation (R12 will do) and cover that with plastic (garbage bags work). This will retain the heat in the area and prevent additional condensation to cause further problems.
Oh yeah - and shut off your HW tank elements - they might be toasted already.
Another item that can work (very tricky though) is a propane torch. Can be done even on PVC but you need one bare hand to check when pipe is cooled. Heat PVC a bit - let it cool. Heat it some more - let it cool. etc., etc., etc.,.
darrell,
First snow flurries of the year as I drove to work today. While it signals less fishing I love the seasons so I was glad to see the snow coming.
jed
Darrell,
Thansk for the explanation and instructions. Very helpful. I was wondering if I could wrap the pipe with an electric blanket to just get the water going. But, I am going to have to do a permanent fix anyway. I don’t want to have to worry about this situation every winter.
My son says for $100 you can hook up a constant hot water gadget under the sink, the farthest away from the water source, which in my case is the outside wall of my master bath. He says you can program it to run only at nite, let it run all the time you are away, or just shut it off. It has a sensor and whenever it senses X degrees it causes hot water to circulate. Simple to install. The main line goes INTO it and then you connect lines from it to faucet. Probably run up the hot water propane costs if not careful.
I actually like your fix better. Just don’t really know what you mean by “heat tape”. Are there more than one product? Is heat tape the same as the electrical wrap you can buy? Or is it a different product?
You’re welcome Gem and when you go to ACE or HD they’ll know what you mean when you ask for plumbing heat tape. It actually has a plug on one end and what I did was run an extension cord under the mobile that was connected to the heat tape, (wound around the pipe, but darrel’s instructions sound better for immediate fix) then I just left it unplugged in the mobile till winter. I would imagine that by now they even have them with sensors so they’ll cut in at a certain temp. I never lost any pipes with this setup but they did freeze once in a while though turning on the hotwater faucet always got them going right away in the morning. 25 watt bulbs in small lamps under the sinks will take care of that I’m told but with the heat tape (flat, seemed like .5 inches wide, with wires inside, sort of like TV antenna wire) I never had any major problems.
Good luck !
MontanaMoose
An electric blanket might work - depends on length of line I guess. I’m not too used to them so … mmmms, maybe.
Heat tape / heat chord / electrical wrap … many names. As MM noted - ask / describe the item to the hardware people - they should be able to help.
Keep a cold water tap on inside and once it starts to run really good, open all the cold water taps for a few minutes (will help remove ice blockage).
fishing related :
Jed - one of the guys here hits a local(ish) lake in mid-Oct - usually hits a snow squall or 2. He notes the browns really turn on at the time - for a short time - white baby buggers seem to do the job.
As for the snow arriving - it helps (mentally) accept the cooler temps.
Gemrod… I grew up in Flagstaff… Nobody ever believes it gets that cold in Arizona. I feel for you with the pipes been thee done that, good luck. I have used a hair dryer to thaw them out.