How We Fix Our Frozen Well
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- Опубліковано 31 жов 2018
- Amidst our day we discovered our well had froze solid in the freezing temperatures overnight, we fix the problem and reclaim our water source.
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Put some pipe insulation over the 1st 10 feet and an insulation jacket round the outside of the steel well tube
Eric, that was COMPLETELY smart!!! Good work!
Dollar store pool noodles wrapped around your pipes help to keep your pipes from freezing. Not sure if you can get them there though. Maybe spray foam or such too. I'm so glad both worked it out.
You could also get a ten foot electric heat trace. When the line freezes plug it in the generator and thaw the line. Just a though.
maybe build a very well insulated well house , dog house . Plus a remote temp sensor to monitor the inner well pipe temp ? cheap to do .
Genius solution on the well. It can't freeze if the line is not full of water. Brilliant.
So, I’m just going back and watching videos that I haven’t seen. In 2 hrs y’all have gain 2k subscribers! Tonight is a good night! Great job guys!! 08/30/2020
Those portable generators are SO handy to have! 👍
Ingenious!!!!! We are having our well dug summer 2020 and will definitely be looking to do this.
Nice fix. Thanks for sharing.
You guys are the best!!!
In NC we built a pump house around it and insulate it .and put a heat lamp inside,heat tape works in real cold areas for spigots on the outside spigots will burst when it starts thawing out
Nice-we use that in New Hampshire as well... most put a hole 4-8 feet down. Quick solid fix!
Thought my pipes were frozen. Turns out it was just what you said. Thank you so very much.
bales of hay around the pipe should also help.
Looks like a quick and easy solution. I know they make self draining outdoor faucets so I am sure someone makes something for your setup.
Quick and free... Don't hear that to often when something goes wrong!
Grew up on well water. My sis has w sump well like yours. She has had problems with it freezing even here in Oklahoma. She wound up just putting a box over it. Nothing fancy, just a 3/4"wooden box. Just having a little air space between the outside cold and the well casing to keep the cold off worked for her.
Good to know, so far it has been working well but it has been warmer than typical so it may not be a bad idea for the future!
@@andrewweninger1059 would two 60w bulbs with a trash can as an igloo work or too much heat
I have a little house for my well, Also as an extra measure I got a aluminum lightbulb fixture with a 80w light bulb that keeps it warm during the winter.
If you turned the value open after it was shut off it would drain. Drilling a hole will stress the pump more, it's doing twice the work
Haha! Just finished watching a few of your videos and then this one pops up. Nice fix. Looks like you have good pressure despite the hole. Take care.
Thanks! The pipe did not freeze after our fix so far but we never know what's going to happen next.
When you're married, walking on thin ice is a daily chore!
Just another idea. If you use a small solenoid from a dishwasher or ice maker you would be able to get full pressure or a valve with a long reach valve so it can be off until the pump stops they also have special porpoise solenoids that are normally open so when the power is off it’s open to drain the water out. So it will self drain when power is off
We put an insulated box around ours, and around our spigots. Haven’t had an issue since but worst we get here is -10’ ish.
It works...
Put an electric heating element inside the outer metal pipe. Then add some type of insulation. This could be as simple as a wooden box around it with sawdust between the box and pipe. This way it will be less likely to freeze and if it does plug in the heater and wait a little while and running water.
We have had frozen water line issues before as well. Not fun.. Hopefully it doesn't become an ongoing problem for you guys this winter!
That's what we are hoping! So far it hasn't frozen again but we haven't gotten into the negative temps.
Put a little building around it and hang a light in the there it will never freeze again.
Aint nothin for eric to take a swim under the ice,,Alaskan Wild Man ! Hey thats a neat rick draining the lne,,ya think the installer would have done that with every install. unless its an insulated and inclosed well.
Oh no!! Glad Eric is okay. Is that pipe insulated in any way?? Do Alaskans use pump houses, or is the exposed well a usual thing? Glad it's running, though. Pretty smart!
It depends on the system, usually the well casing is above the ground and if you have running water to your house the pipes can be dug below the frost line to the house. Our old house had a pressure tank and a pump in our shed that was insulated and we put a heated lamp on in the winter, because we just have the sump pump and hook up the generator when we need water it should be fine as long as the water drains back, the next step would be to add heat tape to the water line. We will see what happens!
Def build an insulated box around your pipe outlet .. come the depths of winter you will be grateful.
davemis40, we hope to build something this next winter but made it through last winter fine once we added the hole :)
U r awsome
Eric. In this video at the start you were splitting wood . When the axe gets stuck, lift the end of handle up not down . Ten times easier
Would a heat-tape help?
Easy fix. Put a drain valve in the line below your ground frost line. When your done running water . Unplug the pump, and turn open the drain valve and the top faucet . The water will drain back down the line to the valve problem solved. The drain back valve will have a petcock and all you do is attach 1/2 rod to petcock and up and out the well cap. Easy peasy grasshopper. Drilling a hole in the line will cause water to piss out the line as pump is running and eventually make the hole bigger. Also constant water blowing out the hole will cause rust to keep washing your well casing and damaging the well pump fins.
The Alaskan pitless adapter I guess ??
Another question, did you used a heating cable along the pipe? I want to know so I could figure out what is the problem I have here
7 degrees? It's -25 where I am in the great white north.
That almost exactly what I did.
Don’t they use pitless adapters below freeze line that’s what we use in Idaho
I hope you have a self priming pump, as soon as you drilled that hole in the suction line you canceled out the foot valve function. Good luck with that. If you have a submersible pump you should state that because some above ground pump owners may create a problem using this method. Just sayin!!!
The pump head is at the bottom sitting in the water at all times
You might try to insulate the pipe.
Make a streamer . 20 lb l.p. tank put a stainles ball valve on with a t under it put AIR hose CHUCK on t clip AIR hose to the fitting 20 foot 50 foot WHAT ever length then add 2 gallon of water close ball valve put the tank on fire when the steam comes out shine the CLEAN hose down and thow out the line . Put the mail end on the t so it can't blow up on you .or go to a plumbing shop and look at thers so you can make one. It is a must have for you.
Suggestion if you have to do that or you have hot water put a towel in it and put it on the area that is frozen wait about 2 3 minutes turn your pump on and the water will pass around in and Thaw it out
Lee Barefoot hey that is a great idea to use a towel. Our fix of drilling the hole in the pipe has worked out great for us but if we get a frozen pipe again we will for sure use your great idea thank you!
@@SimpleLivingAlaska I think your fix isn't going to fail. There is a check valve further down the pipe isn't there? I saw the video of you putting in the pump and pipeline but I don't remember if you put in a check valve, if you did you are all set. Even though if you didn't no big deal cuz it's been working ok.
Why did you not put the well in the house or right next to the house
A old buddy of mine was snowmobiling on a lake and went through the ice. RIP
Patrick Baitman sorry to hear that, we are careful on ice but it can happen.
👍🏻
Hei guys, what were your temperatures on those days?
Some time ago i had sugested heat tape Turns out your solution is the cats meow
I thought you had done that when you put the pump in.
James Couch, we should have, I think we believed at the time the pump let water flow back down but quickly realized that wasn't the case, we have not had an issue with it since then :)
Wrap in insulation would heap
let the water drip then ir wont freeze up
😂
This time I will do it manually with the help of Stodoys plans designs.
You made a huge mistake drilling that hole.
Were you born after 1985?