How to defrost a water supply plastic pipe. Frozen water in a plastic pipe: how to solve the problem

Causes of freezing pipes
Methods for heating pipes
Do-it-yourself heating of plastic pipes
Heating of metal-plastic pipes

Plastic pipes have become a very common material in recent years. Today they are used both for laying pipelines in apartments and for arranging risers and long highways.

Plastic pipes owe their popularity to a considerable number of advantages, among which it is worth noting:

Decent visual qualities;
Full corrosion resistance;
Simple and fast enough installation;
Electric current non-conduction.

Despite good performance, plastic pipes can freeze just like any others. A pipeline that has stopped working due to frost is always a serious problem that needs to be quickly addressed. This article will discuss how to heat water in a plastic pipe.

The main reason why water pipes located in the ground freeze is that the depth of the pipeline is too small. When installing pipes on the street, you need to calculate the depth of their occurrence so that they are below the level of freezing of the soil. If this condition is not met, then the pipes will freeze through annually.

An exception to this rule is any large-diameter main water supply system: in such systems, the movement of water is constant, so it cannot freeze. However, such pipes are usually used for laying industrial routes, and in private construction, pipes with a diameter of 20 to 32 mm are used, which must be laid at a greater depth.

In some cases, installation of pipes at a sufficient depth is not possible. To avoid freezing, you will have to use active or passive insulation, which will protect the system from the effects of low temperatures.

If the pipeline freezes with noticeable regularity, then to prevent this factor, it is worth leaving the system running even at night. A very important nuance is the increase in the pressure in the system inversely proportional to the probability of its freezing. The desire to save money, for the sake of which the pressure in the system is deliberately reduced, can also lead to its freezing, so you should avoid such situations.

Methods for heating pipes

If the water in the plastic pipe is frozen, there are several ways to warm it up:

Warming up with hot water... To warm the pipes in this way, they must first be wrapped with material such as foam rubber or rags. After that, the pipes must be regularly watered with water heated to boiling water. This method of heating pipes is very simple, but it can only be implemented in a building - plastic pipes located underground will have to be warmed up for at least ten hours.
Warming with hot air... To heat pipes with heated air, you need a hair dryer or some good heater. It will take from 2 to 10 hours to warm up the pipe, while there are some risks: firstly, uncontrolled heating can lead to softening and deformation of the pipes, and secondly, the efficiency of such heating is too low due to the large dissipation of thermal energy. : "Options for defrosting pipes and rules for preventing freezing."
Heating by conduction... The pipe is wrapped with cables that are used in warm floors. The cables are connected to the power supply and begin to warm up the pipe, which can take about three hours. This method of heating does not allow the pipes laid underground to be brought into working condition. In addition, cables for heating are quite expensive, so it is not profitable to buy them for a one-time use.
Warming up from the inside... Heating the pipe from the inside allows you to completely melt the ice plug formed in the pipe. The main requirement for this method is good access to the pipe so that hot water can be poured there. The water supply is carried out either under pressure or using devices similar to a boiler. It takes a lot of time for such heating of pipes (up to three days), and there is a limitation - internal heating is suitable only for horizontal sections of the pipeline.

Do-it-yourself heating of plastic pipes

If the pipe that needs to be warmed up is underground, and the pipeline itself has turns or bends, then the methods described above for heating the structure will not help. In this case, it will not be possible to break through the ice plug with a wire, because the length of the frozen pipe section is unknown.

One of the methods suitable for solving such a problem is a folk remedy: the welding machine is connected to the two ends of the pipe and starts up. There is another effective way to heat pipes, which consists in supplying hot water directly to the area where it cannot get on its own.

The sequence of actions required to heat the pipe with hot water is as follows:

First you need to take a hose of high rigidity or a metal-plastic pipe with a smaller diameter;
A hose or pipe is pushed into a frozen pipeline until it comes into contact with a resistance in the form of an ice plug;
Hot water or strong brine is poured into the pipe;
Melting water will gradually flow out of the pipe, so you need to take care of the container in which it will be collected in advance;
When the ice plug dissolves, it is necessary to start running hot water in order to finally eliminate the effects of freezing.

Heating of metal-plastic pipes

Before you warm up the plastic pipe, you need to study well the algorithm for performing this work, which includes several stages:

The first step is to localize the frozen part of the pipeline. To do this, you need to carefully examine the pipes located right next to the house. As a rule, the problem area is located tactilely - it is usually much colder to the touch than the functioning part of the pipe.
After localizing the ice plug, the pipe is wrapped in a rag. Next, you need to open all the water supply taps, having a supply of hot water with you. If it is not there, you can melt the snow.
The pipe is poured with water in two stages: first it goes cold, and after that it goes hot. A gradual increase in water temperature is necessary so that the pipe is not damaged due to sudden temperature changes.
Water that has passed from a solid to a liquid state will come out through the open water supply taps.

So that the defrosted pipe does not freeze in the future, it is better to immediately take measures to insulate it - then in the future you will not have to think about how to warm the pipe with water.

If water has frozen in plastic pipes located under a layer of soil or foundation, then a barrel, a pump and an oxygen hose will be required to warm them up, with the help of which you need to carry out the following actions:

The barrel is filled with hot water, the temperature of which is constantly increasing.
The hose is inserted into the pipeline exactly until it hits the ice crust.
The tap opens and connects to the hose, which must be brought into the barrel. If the barrel itself or the possibility of installing it near the tap is not available, then a regular bucket will do.
The pump starts, after which the water heated in the barrel is pumped into a plastic pipeline. The hose must be constantly pushed inside the pipe so that it defrosts all the ice in the system. The pump is periodically turned off to drain excess water.
When the blockage has cleared, the hose is removed and the water is drained from the pipeline.

Heating the plastic pipe can be done in other ways. For example, you can always use a hydrodynamic machine for these purposes. Its hose is launched into the pipe, after which the device starts up. In this case, the ice will break with the help of pressure.

A safer option for plastic pipes is a steam generator, which removes ice by converting it to a gaseous state. A manometer and a valve designed for a pressure of 3 atm are attached to the thick-walled pipe of the device. When working with the steam generator, you must strictly follow the instructions in order to avoid possible troubles.

Conclusion

Questions like "the pipe is frozen underground - what to do?" are quite common among owners of private houses. Solving the problem with a frozen pipeline is not so difficult, but the task itself is quite troublesome and takes a lot of time. It is much better to design the pipeline in advance so that the water in it does not freeze even in the coldest times.

In the cold season, even a mild frost can lead to freezing of water in a plastic pipeline (especially if the pipes are located at a level above the soil freezing depth). It is very difficult to dig a trench over a frozen water supply in the event of an ice plug.

To prevent water freezing in pipes, it is necessary to wrap them with heat-insulating and moisture-resistant material, and, if possible, lay the pipeline at a safe depth, taking into account the climatic conditions of a particular area.

However, if you need to warm up the plastic water pipe underground, you can use several methods.

Fast navigation through the article

Warming up with hot water

With a simple heating method, hot water is supplied inside the pipe to the area with frozen water.

Necessary actions:

Disconnect the plastic pipe from the taps;
Heat water in a large container;
Insert a hose or a tube of a smaller diameter into the pipe until the end of the hose rests against the ice plug;
Supply hot water from a container to the hose (use a pressure pump to speed up the process);
Advance the hose as the ice thaws until a strong pressure of water from the pipe appears, indicating successful defrosting.

Electricity use

The method using electricity is effective, but must be used with strict adherence to safety precautions. Preparation for the process is as follows:

Take a plug for an outlet and a two-core copper wire, from which you need to remove the top layer of insulation;
Bare one core of the wire, bend the other in the opposite direction along the wire;
Make 3-4 turns of the bare core (bite off the excess with pliers);
Step back 1-2 mm from the last turn and twist the second core with turns (bare cores should not touch each other in order to avoid a short circuit);
Connect the wire to the plug.
How to warm up a pipe: practical recommendations for restoring system performance

The efficiency of the device can be checked in a container filled with water: bubbles should go from the ends of the wire, a current should hum. In no case should you put your hands in the water during the test.

To warm up the wire, place it in a plastic pipe and push it until it reaches the congestion;
Then plug the plug into the outlet and advance the wire as the ice melts;
After passing every 1-1.5 meters, pump out excess water with a pump or compressor.

Technically equipped methods

With special equipment, the process of defrosting a plastic pipeline is greatly simplified.

Easy to use jetter:

Insert the end of the installation hose into the plastic pipe;
Then turn on the hydrodynamic machine (in a short time the ice will break under strong air pressure).

Autoclave Application:

Water must be poured into the autoclave and heated;
Put a hose from a gas welding or other durable hose on the autoclave's fitting;
Push the hose into the plastic pipe as far as possible (when the water boils, steam under pressure flows through the hose and melts the ice plug).

Heating with a steam generator:

The end of the steam generator hose must be inserted into the pipe;
Switch on the unit (ice gradually melts under the action of high pressure hot steam).

In what cases it may be necessary to defrost pipes
External heating
Heating pipes from the inside
Steel pipe fixture
Hot water spill
Plain enema or Esmarch mug
Electricity
What to do to prevent the pipes from freezing

In the winter period of time, quite often people are faced with the fact that water pipes in severe frosts can freeze through.

In this material, we will talk about how to defrost a pipe with water without damaging communications and without remaining without water for a long time.

In what cases it may be necessary to defrost pipes

In cases where the water supply pipes were not insulated on time, with a sharp drop in air temperature outside, the water in them may freeze.

However, even if such a nuisance happened, you should not panic - everything can be fixed, including on your own.

Among the most common reasons for the freezing of water pipes can be called incorrect laying of the line without taking into account the depth of freezing of the soil or without insulation.

Alternatively, this can happen with a plumbing that is used at very low temperatures or too little water flows through it.

If the pipes are frozen in places where it is quite easy to reach them, you can use a regular hair dryer to warm the surface to the desired temperature.

It is somewhat more difficult to unfreeze water pipes that run underground. Freezing at the point of entry can be broken by simply heating the wall of the house, however, often the freezing point is located a few meters from the building. See also: "How to warm water in a plastic pipe - proven and simple ways from practice."

In order to defrost pipes, you can use equipment such as a building hair dryer (if it is not there, a regular household one will do), a blowtorch, and an electric heater. Here are some guidelines for defrosting frozen pipes.

Defrosting is very easy when working with steel pipes. For this, a welding machine is connected from opposite ends of the pipe, which will lead to thawing of water inside the water supply system for 3-4 hours.

The duration of the process depends on the length of the pipe. However, recently, plastic pipes that can withstand pressures up to 10 atmospheres have been actively used in water supply systems.

Although such products do not deform when freezing, it is still impossible to defrost plastic pipes with a welding machine. You should also not use an iron rod to break through the cork, so as not to spoil the water supply.

There are a lot of ways how to defrost a water supply or sewerage pipe.

External heating

Of course, the need to tear apart the frozen soil in order to get to the pipe is a significant disadvantage of this method.

However, for those situations where the frozen area is small, this method has a right to exist.

When the trench is excavated, the type of pipeline material is established.

To work with polymer products, you can use only electric type heating devices that produce a temperature of no more than 100-100 ℃. To reduce the heat loss of the heater and warm up the pipe section faster, the place of work is covered with a layer of thermal insulation.

With metal pipes, the process of thawing the cork is faster, because here you can use a source of open fire - firewood, a gas burner, a blowtorch or any other device, which, of course, is not applicable to plastic.

Heating pipes from the inside

To get rid of the plug in the sewer pipes, you will have to take into account a number of features. Firstly, such communications, as a rule, have a rather large diameter, which allows heating from the outside and from the inside better.

However, the amount of accumulated ice in them will be significantly greater, so that more heat consumption by heating devices will be required.

To defrost plastic pipes, one simple device is required. We take a board with rounded edges and attach a heating element to it in the shape of the letter U. Only the heater loop should protrude beyond the board. All other parts must not come into contact with the walls of the heater.

Having determined the thickness of the plug and the distance to it, we fix the wires of the appropriate length to the ends of the heating element, and we attach the entire structure to a piece of metal-plastic pipe, with which our device will be pushed into the sewer.

It is necessary to introduce the structure into the drain pipe from the side of the receiver, where the melted liquid will drain. First, the heating element is fully promoted to the place of work, after which it is connected to the network.

Moving the device forward as the plug thaws, the device is periodically turned off.

Steel pipe fixture

One of the most effective methods for removing frozen plugs in pipes is the use of an industrial device.

However, it only applies to metal products. To defrost the plug, terminals are attached to the two ends of the frozen pipe, through which current is supplied. Gradually heating up, the pipe begins to melt the ice clot inside it.

The duration of defrosting the pipe will depend on its length and diameter. For example, for pipes with a cross section of up to 6 cm and a length of 23 m, it will take about 1 hour of operation of the device.

If the diameter of the pipeline is greater than this indicator, then the run-up between the terminals is made less. This also applies to sections with measuring devices and tie-in points.

A prerequisite in this case is the presence of pressure inside the pipeline.

Along with the generally accepted methods for defrosting water pipes, polyethylene products can be pierced in three more "folk" methods. They are all quite effective, however, only on pipes with a small cross section.

Hot water spill

It should be noted right away that you will not be able to simply pour hot water into the pipe - you will have to work hard.

A flexible hose or thin tube is required to supply hot liquid to the ice plug. For example, if a plug has formed on a straight section of a pipe with a diameter of 25-30 mm, you can use a thin metal-plastic tube with a cross section of 16 mm.

After straightening the thin tube, it is gradually pushed into the water supply until it reaches the ice plug. Then hot water is dispensed. Melted water will pour out through the gap between the water supply and the working tube.

To save money, this water can be reheated and fed to the cork to thaw it.

As the ice thaws, the metal-plastic tube is gradually pushed into the depths until the cork is completely pierced.

It is worth noting that on winding pipe sections, you can only use a rigid hose instead of a pipe.

However, you should not use a garden hose - it is too soft and will get wet quickly. Optimally in this case, gas or oxygen hoses are suitable. They can be pushed 15 meters deep into the water supply system, however, significant efforts will be required to push them due to their heavy weight.

Plain enema or Esmarch mug

This method allows you to get rid of ice in cases where the pipe is frozen quite far from the house, and the water supply system has bends and turns.

In this case, you will need a strong steel wire, a hydro level and an ordinary enema (Esmarch's mug). All of these items are inexpensive and easy to get hold of.

First, the water level must be combined with the wire, wrapping them with electrical tape. The end of the wire is wrapped in a loop so that it gets stiffness. It must be wound so that it does not stick out to the sides, and at the end, the hydraulic level tube should extend beyond the wire by 1 cm.

The other end of the tube is connected to the Esmarch cup. After that, the tube with the wire is pushed into the water supply system until it hits the ice.

Such a device will be able to go through all the bends of the pipe quite easily and without complications and get to the right place. When the water level has reached the desired location, hot water is gradually fed into the enema tube. Under the pipe outlet, you need to substitute a container for water, which will flow from there.

Gradually, the ice plug will melt, so that the device can be pushed further and further.

It should be noted that this method is rather slow. The average speed of work is 1 meter of pipe per hour, that is, about 5-7 meters of pipe can be defrosted per working day.

Electricity

There are cases when the thickness of the water supply system is only 20 mm, its length is about 50 meters, but the depth is about 80 cm (this is very small), and in places where it is not recommended to carry out excavation work (on the roadway, for example).

To defrost a plastic pipe in this case, you can use a homemade device.

To assemble it, you need a plug for an outlet, a two-core copper wire, a compressor and a hose for pumping water. For our example, let's take a wire with a cross section of 2.5-3 mm, a car fuel 8 mm hose and a compressor for a car or a pump.

Please note that when working with electrical current, strict safety precautions are required to avoid personal injury.

Now you can start assembling the device for defrosting the water pipe.

On a small section of the wire, the external insulation is removed, the cores are separated.

First, one of the cores is stripped of insulation, and the remaining insulated piece of wire is carefully bent, trying not to damage the sheath, in the opposite direction along the wire. Now, almost at the bend, the wire is screwed with 3-5 tight turns of bare wire.

Having departed 2-3 mm from this place, the same manipulations are performed with the second core. Make sure that the ends of the two strands do not touch each other.

On the other side of the wire, a plug and a "bulb" are attached. Such a unit supplies an electric current directly to the water, as a result of which a reaction occurs with the release of a large amount of heat.

Ideal in this case is the fact that only water is heated, while the wires remain cold, which does not threaten accidental burn-through of polyethylene pipes.

The assembled mechanism should be tested before starting. Dip it in a container of water and apply current - everything works correctly if air bubbles are visible in the water and a buzz is heard. Please note that you must not touch the water while the device is in operation - you will get an electric shock.

So, we push the wire into the water supply system, making sure that it does not bend, until it contacts the ice.

Now it is time to remove the melt water from the pipe using a compressor in order to reduce the volume of heated water and avoid re-freezing of the pipe. If special equipment is available, a faucet can be welded onto the pipe, which can be closed as soon as water flows through the pipe.

This will avoid flooding the place of work with the plug and will not pull the wire out of the pipe.

What to do to prevent the pipes from freezing

After such a detailed description of the options for getting rid of ice plugs in water pipes, it will be useful to talk about preventive measures for such an unpleasant phenomenon.

The first thing to remember is that the depth of the water supply pipes must be below the level of soil freezing in your area.

The norm for sewer and water supply systems is considered to be a depth of 1.2-1.4 meters.

It is better not to lay pipelines near reinforced concrete structures, since the level of thermal conductivity of concrete is much higher than that of the ground.

How to heat water in a plastic underground water pipe

Therefore, near the foundation, beams or grillages, pipes will freeze through more than in other places. If it is impossible to bypass them, it is worth taking care of thermal insulation, for example, laying plates of extruded polystyrene foam between the pipe and the foundation.

Alternatively, if additional funds are available for construction, a heating cable can be laid near the pipeline. On sale you can find self-regulating cables that start heating the surface only under certain specified conditions.

Where the water supply and sewer pipes are in contact with the walls of the building, passing through them, it will be useful to insulate the communications with glass wool, mineral wool or foam.

The reason lies in the same thermal conductivity of the walls of the building.

If work is carried out in a country house, the best choice would be water pipes with a cross section of at least 50 mm, which do not freeze so much in winter.

As for the material for water pipes, there are also differences here. For example, polypropylene pipes are able to withstand no more than 2-3 freezes, after which they begin to burst. But polyethylene pipes are practically insensitive to frost and defrost.

Please note that in cases where you do not plan to use the sewerage and water supply in the winter season, it is worth draining all the water from the system.

So, every resident of a private house can face the problem of freezing water in a water pipe in winter. In this situation, the best thing to do is not to waste time, but to immediately start defrosting the ice plug.

To do this, you can use traditional methods, such as external or internal heating, as well as the use of industrial equipment. Or you can take advantage of folk experience and try one of the unconventional methods of defrosting.

In any case, only you yourself can decide how to solve the problem.

FROZEN SEWERAGE: HOW TO MELT ICE IN A PIPE.

There are two ways to deal with an ice blockage in a sewer: thermal and chemical. The first involves the use of electrical devices, which in itself can be a problem, the second allows you to get by with simpler means, but its effectiveness is worse.

So, if a sewer pipe is frozen: how to melt years in a thermal way.

If the pipes are steel and the place of the plug is localized, then the current from the welding transformer can be passed through the pipe section up to several meters long by connecting with the welding and return cables to the ends of the frozen section.

The pipe between the cable connection points will heat up and the plug will melt. Unfortunately, this method is not possible for polyethylene or ceramic pipes. In this case, the heat source must be supplied to the end of the ice plug from the inside. For this, a U-shaped heating element under voltage is often used, which is pushed through the sewer pipe with a thinner metal-plastic pipe.

So that the heating element does not rest against the pipe walls and melt them, you need to center it along the pipe axis using simple spacers, for example, from thick wire.

If there is a cork in the above-ground part of the sewage system, or it is possible to open a trench with a pipe, then it is warmed from the outside with fan heaters, construction hair dryers, blowtorches.

Frozen water in a plastic pipe - what to do and how to fix the problem?

If this is possible, you can use the services of a local water utility or a specialized company that has a mobile steam generator to which a rigid heat-resistant hose is connected.

In this case, hydrodynamic flushing will also be effective, when hot water under pressure is supplied to the hose from a special installation.

The easiest way is to dissolve salt or a reagent for cleaning ice from asphalt in boiling water, and pour the solution into the hole in the pipe closest to the ice plug.

It is better in this case if the cork is inside the house. Otherwise, there is a risk that the incoming solution will cool down even before the cork is completely dissolved and also freeze. If there are no holes in the pipe near the plug, then the hot solution is fed to it through a flexible metal-plastic pipe.

It is tough enough to push it through a crumb of ice, and can bend once or twice on sewer bends. The water thawed from the cork should be taken through a hose, which is completely filled with water, squeezed, pushed all the way and the squeezing is removed. The water should flow by gravity.

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Ruslan Sedykh

Supervisor.

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Astakhov Igor Anatolievich

Specialist plumber Water supply, sewerage and heating installer.

Sedykh Sergey Mikhailovich

Plumber specialist.

Water supply, heating and sewerage installer.

In winter, one can observe such an unpleasant phenomenon as freezing of water and drain pipes in private houses. It is easier to defrost the sewer pipe, since during the thawing process, water will drain into the drain pit. The situation with the water supply system to the house is more complicated.

The pipes are usually underground, so it is very difficult to dig frozen ground.

In this article, we will look at how to reheat a frozen pipe in various ways.

Methods for warming up frozen pipes

It is quite difficult to warm up frozen pipes, so you can choose the appropriate method for this depending on where these pipes are located.

The length of the frozen section and the material from which the pipeline is made are also taken into account. Before starting work, you must turn off the water supply and open the tap, which is closest to the frozen area.

Heating with hot water

The method is good if the pipe is in the house or the trench in which it is located, can be easily opened.

For example, it is not buried, but a concrete channel with quick access. It is assumed that the pipeline is steel. The frozen area is wrapped with rags and poured with boiling water. In a relatively short period of time, it is possible to warm up the desired place.

How to warm up frozen pipes without damaging them? If the fire is too large, then the water inside the pipe can turn into steam and provoke a rupture of the wall of the communications.

Areas that do not need to be warmed must be covered with thermal insulation, otherwise ice may appear elsewhere.

Warming up with an open flame

This method is applicable only to metal pipes.

For work, you need a gas burner or blowtorch, although you can get by with an ordinary fire.

The frozen metal is heated by an open flame, and the resulting water gradually flows down to the site. The method is used only when the pipes are openly visible.

Heating up a frozen pipe with a hairdryer

The construction hairdryer allows you to very effectively cope with ice plugs.

But again, such heating can be used only in cases where the pipes can be easily reached. For example, if they are inside the house. The method is not suitable for plastic pipes, since the construction hair dryer is capable of producing very high temperatures.

As a result, the plastic can simply melt.

You can simply heat up the metal with a hair dryer, but this will take a significant amount of time. A sleeve made of polyethylene or other dense material will speed up the process. The sleeve is put on the desired area, after which a hairdryer is inserted into it and connected to the network. Warm air is collected in the sleeve, which acts on the pipe, heating it over the entire area.

Defrosting with a welding machine

This way of warming up was invented by folk craftsmen.

It consists in the fact that current is supplied to the pipe section from the welding machine. The current can be adjusted by making it larger or smaller. The wires from the welding machine are connected to the ends of the frozen area (they are wire).

After that, the device turns on for 30 seconds.

How to defrost a pipe filled with water - 11 simple and effective ways to deal with ice

After a short pause, the action is repeated. If the pipe does not heat up during such an impact, then the apparatus current is increased.

Industrial defrosting machines work according to this principle. The terminals of such an apparatus are connected to the ends of the section to be defrost.

The device turns on and applies a current to the pipe.

For information: a pipe with a diameter of 6 cm and a length of 25 meters is defrosting with such a device in 1 hour.

Therefore, if the communication has a diameter of more than 5-6 cm, then it is better to defrost it in separate sections - it comes out faster.

Heating with a heating cable

We have considered methods of heating metal communications. And how to warm frozen plastic pipes? For this, you can use hot water sprinkling or use a heating cable.

If everything is clear with hot water, then many have not even heard of a heating cable. The pipe section is wrapped with metal foil. A special heating cable is wound over the foil.

Attention!

To avoid damage to the cable, its turns should be spaced with a pitch of at least 9-10 cm.

A temperature sensor must be installed on the cable, which disconnects the cable when the set temperature is reached. The cable is connected to the mains and heats up the required area.

Whichever method you use to defrost pipes, observe certain safety measures.

It is very important not to damage the pipes and not be left without water in the midst of winter.

Why freeze pipes? The reasons can be very different: pipes are installed at insufficient depth, are ineffectively insulated, they carry too little water, pipes operate at extremely low temperatures.

It should be noted that if pipe deflection, in accessible places, does not cause any special problems (for example, they can be heated with an ordinary household hairdryer), and then how to defrost external water pipes in an underground position? “Fortunately,” if the tube freezes at the entry point, then you can simply heat up the walls. What if the freezer is located a few meters from the building? Is there a solution or should you wait for the heat?

Solution!

If the pipes are metal, the defrosting process is quite simple. To do this, take a simple welding machine and connect it to different pipe ends. This simple electrical method fixes the problem within two to four hours.

How to defrost a water hose - 4 simple and effective ways

The frozen part of the tube is longer; defrosting takes longer.

What to do if it's frozen plastic tube? Currently, water supply networks mainly use high density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes, which can withstand pressures up to 10 atm. They do not corrode and do not degrade during freezing. By its properties, polyethylene is not a conductor of electric current, therefore defrosting with a welding machine is impossible.

Removing the ice plug with a steel stick is also filled, a damaged hose may be damaged. This is the only way to use thawed water.

The proposed three methods for defrosting polyethylene pipes are the knowledge of folk artisans. Despite their eccentricity, they work. Their only drawback is that they are only suitable for small diameter pipes.

Method 1

Note that the ice plug in the tube will prevent hot water from entering if it is being poured.

Therefore, you need to find a way to supply hot water to the frozen area. If you want to do this, you can use a smaller diameter hose or tubing. For example, if you need to defrost a water pipe with a diameter of 25 or 30 mm, and the frozen part is flat, then the most effective use of a metal pipe with a diameter of 16 mm is most effective. Line up the metal plastic hose first (m / p pipes usually turn into compartments) and insert it into the frozen tube until it reaches ice.

Then fill it with the freezing point for as much hot water as possible. Dehydrated cold water flows through the gap between the plumbing and the metal plastic pipes. By the way, if you have a limited water supply, you can use melt water: preheat and re-send it to the freezing point. At the same time, the ice cube will melt and you can push the metal plastic tube further.

What if the frozen part of the water pipe has bumps and brakes?

In this case, it will be impossible to use rigid metal pipes made of plastic. Is there a solution? In this case, you can use a rigid hose. Keep in mind that a regular charging hose will not work, it will soften from hot water and will not be able to push it.

In this situation, efficient pipes and pipes for connecting gas cylinders were created. Such pipes are quite heavy, but nevertheless they can be brought to the entrance of 10-15 meters. In addition, they are quite heavy and the thrust in the pipe is very difficult.

Method 2

How to defrost a water hose if it happened ten meters from the house and the pipeline was rotating and turning?

There is an efficient and economical way. To do this, you will need a set of hardened steel wire (2-4 mm), construction hydraulic steps and an Esmar mug (banal enema). The cost of such a kit is small, and many of them have all of its components on the farm.

First, you need to align the hose and hydraulic level wire and then tie the end of the wire to the hydraulic level with tape.

You can use a loop to provide more rigidity at the end of the wire. The stone wire should not be supported and the end of the hydraulic pipe level should be 1 cm in front of the wire. Thereafter, the other end of the hydroelectric plant must be connected to the Esmarch jar, and the wire must be pushed through the pipe to the pipeline until it stops in the ice cap. Due to the very small diameter and very light weight of the water hose, it moves easily through the pipeline and overcomes all bends.

Then pour hot water so that the frozen water line is “clogged”. In order to collect the melt water under the water pipe, you need to replace the container, because the amount of hot water is poured out, so the cold is poured out. When the ice is consolidated, continue to push the wire with the water hose. This method of defrosting a pipe is quite long, it can be thawed up to 1 m of pipe in about one hour, i.e.

During operation, the ice-ice can be released from 5-7 m. In this case, do not worry, before pumping the hose / pipe, you should charge at least 10 liters of hot parts at a minimum cost.

Diagram of the bending process of a tube with a wire, a water level and an Esmarch jug

Method 3

Consider the situation when we have frozen polyethylene water with a small diameter (20 mm) and a length of 50 m with a compaction depth of up to 80 cm.

Note that this is an inappropriate installation depth for the plumbing, which is why it is frozen. Feature - the water supply runs under the train. As a rule, passengers in such a situation are usually advised to wait for defrosting, but without them it can be done.

We need the following "equipment" from a two-wire copper line (the length and thickness of the cross-section is chosen by the length and diameter of the frozen water tap), with a drain plug, a compressor pipe for blowing out the defrosting water.

For example, for a pipe with a diameter of 20 mm, you can take a wire of 2.5-3 mm, and a pipe for an automobile pipe with a diameter of 8 mm - a conventional automobile compressor (in extreme cases, a pump).

We would like to point out that the use of this method must be especially careful as the work is done using high voltage.

Now everything is needed for the defrosting process.

From a small part of the wire, it is necessary to remove the outer insulation, divide it into two wires and one of them is bare (remove the inner insulation), and the remaining wire in the insulation is neatly folded in the opposite direction along the wire. It must be ensured that the insulation is not damaged.

Then, practically close to the curvature of the wire, you need to make 3-5 turns of the bare wire (as close together as possible) and cut off the rest of the end.

After that, move 2-3 mm away from the devices to support and around the other wire just as well.

Turning the first and second wires must not touch, otherwise a short circuit will occur in the future.

Connect the plug to the other end of the wire and the “block” for the pipe outlet is ready. In humans, this device is known as a "bulbulator": if you put it in water and plug it into an electrical system, as the flow passes through the water, a reaction occurs by releasing a lot of heat.

In our case, this device is ideal, because only the water heats up and the wires remain cold, for example, the plastic hose is not accidentally damaged.

The composite device needs to be checked. To do this, you must put it in a glass of water and combine it with food. If the air bubbles remain in contact and there is a little noise, the device is working. Again, contact with water while operating the device may result in an electrical shock.

We are continuing the process of water drainage.

The wire must be gently pushed into the tube so that it does not bend at the same time. Therefore, it is better to take a wire with a large cross section. With the wire resting on the ice plug, you need to turn on the lamp and wait one or two minutes.

Now you can try to push the wire forward: the ice has started to melt. When defrosting with the counter of the pipe, the defrosted water is preferably in the compressor, which is necessary to reduce the volume of heated water and to ensure that the water pipe does not freeze again in the thawed area.

If special equipment is available, it is advisable to turn the tube into a hose.

When water enters through the pipe, the wire is pulled out of it and the tap is closed, for example, an underground section of a defrosting section (such as a basement) will not take place.

To prevent freezing of plastic pipes, please note:

The installation of pipes must be carried out at a depth below the freezing point in a specific area. In the northern and eastern parts of Ukraine - Lugano, Kharkiv, Poltava, Sumy, Kiev, Chernigov - the freezing depth is no more than 100 cm, in the south - (Nikolaev, Odessa, Kherson) - 60 cm, the remaining 80 cm .
It is advisable to place water and wastewater at a depth of at least 120-140 cm.
Do not place water and sewers near reinforced concrete structures (beams, beams, foundations, necks), because the thermal conductivity of concrete is much higher than the thermal conductivity of the floor, i.e. T
The probability of freezing of the soil of reinforced concrete structures increases. In this case, it is necessary to perform pipe insulation (for example, between the pipeline and the reinforced concrete structures of the extruded polystyrene panel)
If the medium is close to the pipeline, you can place the heating cable.
They currently produce self-regulating heating cables that can be activated when needed
the points of passage of the pipeline through the walls of buildings and structures are preferably insulated with fiberglass, mineral wool and foam to prevent direct contact of the pipe walls with the walls of the buildings
when equipping water pipes in a recreation area, it is advisable to use pipes with a diameter of at least 50 mm, while pipes of a smaller diameter are more susceptible to freezing
in the choice between different polymer water pipes, it should be noted that polyethylene pipes are well tolerated by repeated freezing and thawing, while polypropylene pipes can be started after two or three discharges
If water or wastewater is not used regularly in winter, it is preferable that the water from the system is completely drained.

If all of these conditions are met when installing water pipes, you do not need to think about how to defrost the pipes.

In winter, not only ourselves are freezing, but also communications. And if it is enough for a person to drink a cup of hot tea, wrap himself in a blanket and sit around, then with pipes it will be more difficult. If the water or sewage in them is frozen, then you will have to deal with utilities (and we all know that this is not always fast), or else take the initiative into our own hands. Fortunately, the people's ingenuity has come up with a lot of really working and effective ways to unfreeze a water supply and sewerage pipe without waiting for spring.

Why do pipes freeze?

No, this is not a rhetorical question. The reason is often within ourselves. Yes, it is we, knowingly or not, violating the norms, and as a result, in the midst of a fierce winter, we get an unpleasant consequence in the form of an icy water supply system or, even worse, a sewage system.

Pipes freeze for the following reasons:

insufficient burial depth... Ideally, the pipes should be below the level of soil freezing, and in some regions this level is at a depth of 1.8-2 m, or even deeper. Utilities and private developers sometimes do not adhere to this rule, either due to incorrect calculations, or in attempts to save money;
ineffective insulation... To prevent pipes from freezing in winter, and those places of pipes that pass through or brick walls need double insulation, since these materials are cooled faster than the ground;
it is better not to place pipes close to brick and concrete structures for the same reason. An exception is entering the house;
low water consumption... In private unheated houses, water must not be left in pipes; it is better to drain it before winter;
too small pipe diameter... The smaller the diameter, the faster the liquid freezes. Under the ground, it is not recommended to lay water pipes with a diameter of less than 50 mm;
even if the pipe laying depth is sufficient, and they are high-quality insulated, with extremely low temperatures not typical for the region, freezing may occur. This is already an emergency.

If it so happened that the pipes are frozen, and you will have to defrost them on your own, then first you have to calculate the place where the water freezes. These can be outdoor areas or underground. Defrosting methods will vary.

# 1. Defrosting the pipe with a hair dryer or blowtorch

If the outside of the pipe that is within reach is frozen, then the task is greatly simplified. It is enough just to expose the frozen area to external heating, and for this you can use:

If the pipe is metal, then you can also use the following heat sources:

The principle is the same in all cases. The frozen area is exposed to heat. If this is a heating pad, then it is applied, if the cable is wrapped around the pipe and connected to the network, if the burner or blowtorch is used, the flame is directed into the pipe zone, but with a hairdryer, everything is clear. You can wrap an old blanket or thick cloth over your heating pad, heating cable, and thermal blanket to keep warm.

It is important to open the tap with water before starting work so that the thawed water can flow out of the pipe calmly. or turn off for this time.

No. 2. Defrosting with boiling water and rags

The method is also suitable, if the pipes are in the building and are accessible... Of course, you can simply water the pipes with hot water, having previously substituted the containers for collecting water, but it is much more effective to first wrap the pipes with rags, and only then arrange a "hot shower" for them. The rags will absorb water, heat up and keep the pipes warm. If there are few rags, then it will periodically need to be moved along the pipe section. Remember to place a container for collecting water that will not absorb.

No. 3. Defrosting a pipe with a welding machine

If the frozen area is located outside the house, then it will take more time and effort to thaw. The c method is considered one of the most effective, but it has a limitation - it only suitable for metal pipes.

To begin with, you will have to at least approximately determine the location of the formation of the ice plug. Then, on both sides, the water pipe is cleaned of thermal insulation and cleaned to a metallic sheen. An electrical cable is connected to these places, connected to the secondary winding of the welding transformer.

Now it remains to set the minimum current on the device (about 180 A) and connect it to the network. will begin to heat up along the entire length of the connected section. Thawing occurs relatively quickly, but the duration of the entire process depends on the length of the pipe. In this case, the tap with water should also be kept open. Experts warn that the method has a side effect - the pipes after such treatment begin to rust faster.

It is very important to connect and disconnect the cables to the pipe only when the welding machine is turned off. Otherwise, you can get an electric arc that can damage both the pipe and your hands and eyes.

No. 4. Defrosting by supplying hot water through a hose

When the frozen area is in sight, it is enough to pour hot water directly onto it. Through simple inferences, we can come to the conclusion that if the congestion is located far from home, then it is necessary to somehow deliver hot water to the place of icing. Just pouring hot water into the pipe is not very effective - you have to get a little confused. This way applicable to, when you can't just take and send current through them, like on metal.

The procedure is as follows:

remove the shut-off valves;
prepare a rigid hose or pipe with a diameter smaller than the water supply. For example, for a pipe with a diameter of 25-32 mm, a diameter of 16 mm is suitable. This is if the site is completely straight. If there are turns and bends, then you will have to take a hose that can bend, but at the same time it is quite rigid. You cannot take an ordinary one - it may not withstand exposure to hot water and soften, so it will be more difficult to push it. You can take an oxygen hose or the hose that is usually used to connect gas cylinders. True, it can only be stretched 10-15 m from the entrance - it is too hard and heavy. Alternatively, a flexible hose with an attached wire can be used;
we put a prepared hose or a metal-plastic pipe into the pipe until you hit the ice;
a container can be attached to the outer end of the hose, from which hot water will be supplied. If you attach a faucet to it, it will be much more convenient. However, hot water can also be poured through a funnel, only this is not very convenient;
instead of a simple hot ox, you can use salt solution- it freezes at a lower temperature, so the work will go faster;
melt water will flow out through the gap between the pipe or hose. Prepare a container in advance to collect it;
as the ice plug melts, it will be possible to lower the reinforced-plastic pipe or hose deeper.

When the work is completed, it remains to assemble the pipeline and put the shut-off valves. To prevent re-freezing, ensure a constant flow of water through the pipeline, at least with a slight head. The heating cable can be lowered into a straight pipe.

Hydro-level method

A variation of this method is the use of a building hydraulic level of the required length. Method is good if there are 2-3 bends in the pipe and the distance from the house to the frozen area is 20 m. Wire is tied to the end of the hydro level with electrical tape. And then, and then it is necessary to align a little in advance. There should be no wire sticking out of the end that will plunge into the pipe. It is better to let it be 1 cm shorter than the hydro level.

The hydraulic level is pushed into the pipe until it hits the ice. Hot water (or saline) can be served with an Esmarch mug, popularly - an enema. When you hit the ice, you can start the water supply. To put it simply, we give the tube an enema. We collect the melted water in a basin or bucket, as it thaws, we advance the hydro level.

The method is good in that the water level tube is thin enough, so that it passes well into the water pipe, and it easily overcomes turns. The average speed is 1 meter of ice per hour.

No. 5. Defrosting with a wire

The method is suitable for defrosting only plastic pipes plumbing located at a distance from the house. To work, you should purchase:

two-core wire, the length and thickness depends on the pipe, but people with experience advise taking a thicker and harder wire;
plug for the socket;
a compressor and a hose will be needed if there is a sufficient length of the pipeline, or if the ice plug is located far from the place of entry into the house. You can buy a fuel hose, it is inexpensive, and use a pump as a compressor, or use a car compressor.

The main thing, prepare the wire correctly... First, we remove the general insulation in an area of 8-10 cm and expose one of the wires. Gently fold it in the opposite direction and make several turns (3-5 is enough) around the part that remains under the general insulation (it is clear from the pictures below). The turns should be tight. Insulation is also removed from the second wire and wound below the turns of the first wire. The distance should be about 2-3 mm - the turns of the first and second wires should not touch. If you use pliers during the creation of turns, then first wrap the wire with something tight so as not to damage the insulation.

When the first end is ready, it remains to connect the plug from the second end. Here is our working tool, popularly sometimes referred to as a "boerboiler", is ready. You should not take this method if you do not know much about electrics.

This method is based on a simple physical phenomenon. When the current passes through the water, the water heats up. What you need when you need to defrost pipes! It is important that the wire itself remains cold, only water is heated, i.e. the likelihood of damage to the plastic pipe is minimized.

This method of defrosting frozen pipes can only be used if all parts (including shut-off valves) are made of plastic. A short circuit may occur with steel fittings.

You can check if our defroster is working with a jar of water. It is enough to put one end of the wire there, plug the other into the outlet, and you will see how bubbles begin to appear in the water, all this will be accompanied by a buzz. Do not put your fingers into the water - it can shock you.

Now it remains to lower the wire into the pipe until it hits the ice, but without unnecessary force. We plug it in, gently press the end of the wire to the ice and wait a couple of minutes, after which you can try to lower the wire a little more, as if it would fall into the ice itself. If the frozen area is large enough, then it is better to gradually pump out the melted water. You can do without this, but then it will take more time, because you will also have to warm up a sufficient amount of water. There is another threat - the ice that has already melted can begin to freeze while you melt its deeper layers. In general, it is better to use a pump or compressor.

No. 6. How to defrost a sewer pipe?

We note right away, freeze much less often than plumbing and this is a solid cause for joy. The fact is that warm drains are constantly moving along them, but if it suddenly happens that the sewer is frozen, try one of the following methods:

If independent attempts to defrost water supply and sewerage pipes have not been successful, then we can only hope for specialists who use special steam generators. These devices resemble car washing machines, only steam is produced at the outlet, and its temperature and pressure can be adjusted depending on the pipe material and the length of the frozen section. This method is very fast and efficient.

How to prevent pipes from freezing?

The answer to this question comes from the very first section of the article describing the reasons. In short, we must try to minimize possible risks, i.e .:

The only thing that cannot be predicted is record low temperatures in the region... If in winter the temperature usually does not drop below -15 0 С, and -25 0 С is considered almost a disaster, then it is quite logical to lay pipes to a depth of 80 cm (for example, Stavropol). It is hard to believe, but still one cannot completely reject the situation when the temperature drops to -35 0 С or even lower. And if earlier we could only rely on nature, now we have at our disposal a heating cable that will not allow the pipes to freeze under any conditions, so that for the purpose of reinsurance, you can additionally use it.

Winter frosts are a test that not only living creatures have to withstand, but also engineering communications.

If the rules for laying pipelines are violated in winter, they often freeze and then the problem will arise in full growth, how to defrost a water pipe?

Causes of water freezing in pipes

As a rule, the cause of freezing of water in pipes is an elementary violation of the technology of installing a water supply system. For example, if the pipes were laid without taking into account the depth of soil freezing in the area.

Or the requirement to insulate pipes was ignored. It happens that pipes freeze not only in external networks, but also in a room if there is no heating in it.

How to avoid freezing of pipes?

In order not to require defrosting of water pipes, care should be taken to ensure that the following requirements are met during the installation of the pipeline:

When laying the pipeline underground, ditches should be dug to a depth that exceeds the level of soil freezing in the area.
It is not necessary to lay a water supply pipeline near reinforced concrete structures. The fact is that the coefficient of thermal conductivity of concrete exceeds that for the soil, that is, when pipes are laid in the immediate vicinity of reinforced concrete elements, the probability of water freezing in the pipes increases.
It is advisable to install pipelines complete with a heating cable.
This, of course, will lead to an increase in the cost of installation, but on the other hand, it will forever get rid of the problem of freezing.
In places where the pipeline passes through the wall of the building, glass wool insulation should be used to avoid direct contact of the pipe with the wall.
In pipes of a small diameter, water freezes more often, therefore, for a water supply, it is advisable to use pipes with a diameter of 50 mm or more.
When laying pipelines in unheated rooms and outdoors, it is best to use polyethylene pipes. Such pipes tolerate freezing and defrosting well, in contrast to polypropylene pipes, which can become unusable if they freeze once or twice.
If the water supply or sewerage system is supposed to be used only periodically (for example, in the country), then during the downtime, it is advisable to completely free the system from water so that there is nothing to freeze.

Methods for defrosting metal pipes

There are several ways. They will be described below.

But when choosing any of them, you should adhere to the following general rules:

When reheating pipes, keep the water tap open to allow defrosted water to escape.
It is forbidden to make a sharp heating of the frozen section of the pipe, starting from its middle.
Heating is carried out from the water tap towards the riser. But if it requires to warm the sewer pipes, then you need to move in the opposite direction, that is, from the riser to the water intake point.
Pipe heating should be started after the location of the frozen section has been assessed. This will help you choose the right defrosting method.

All methods can be divided into two large groups, these are:

Methods based on external impact on the pipe.
Methods with an internal defrosting method.

Consider how to defrost water pipes using external influences.

This will require the use of some kind of heating device, it can be:

Blowtorch;
Building hair dryer;
Electric heating device.

Fire safety precautions should be taken when using a blowtorch indoors.

In particular, a metal screen should be installed behind the pipe to protect the walls.

Using any of the listed devices, one should methodically act on the pipe. The success of the measures taken will be evidenced by the water that will appear from the supply valve.

It should not be forgotten that when water freezes, it expands in volume, so there is a high probability that steel pipes will be damaged after freezing.

After the water is warmed up, you should carefully inspect the pipeline for leaks.

The safest and most effective way to defrost pipes by external exposure is to use a heating electric tape or heating cable.

In this case, you just need to wind the tape on the frozen area and connect it to the network.

To defrost steel pipes, you can also use this method: a welding machine is taken and connected to different ends of the frozen area.

As a result, the pipe heats up. When using a welding machine, the entire process takes 2-4 hours, depending on the length of the frozen section.

How to defrost a plastic pipe?

Recently, steel pipes for water supply are used less and less, they were replaced by plastic pipes. Such pipes do not corrode and do not collapse if water freezes in them.

However, when an ice plug appears in them, almost all methods of external influence cannot be applied to them. Naturally, the use of an open fire to heat the plastic will lead to the destruction of the pipe, and the use of a building hair dryer is often ineffective, since the plastic does not conduct heat well.

It is also completely useless to connect a welding machine to such pipes, since the pipes do not conduct electric current.

The mechanical method of action, that is, the elimination of the ice plug by introducing a steel bar inside, can be effective with a small freezing area, however, its use creates a serious risk of damaging the pipe.

Thus, if it is necessary to defrost plastic pipes, the only way remains is to use hot water poured inside.

Below are several ways to defrost plastic pipes. All of them are quite effective, however, it is advisable to use them only on small-diameter pipelines.

The first defrosting method is to supply hot water to the freezing point.

This is done like this:

To defrost a plastic pipe, prepare a pipe or hose of high stiffness with a smaller diameter.

To remove the ice block in a pipe with a diameter of 20-30 mm, a pipe or hose with a diameter of 16 mm should be used.

If the damaged section of the pipeline is straight, then it is more convenient to use a metal-plastic pipe. In the event that the frozen pipeline has bends, the use of a hose is required.

Conventional irrigation hoses are not suitable for this operation. The fact is that they soften greatly under the influence of hot water, so pushing them further will be problematic.

For defrosting, use gas or oxygen hoses.

Reinforced-plastic pipes are sold, as a rule, coiled in coils. Therefore, the pipe should first be unbent, and then begin to move along the pipeline, pushing the ice plug all the way.
Now you can pour hot water into the pipe, trying to maintain the highest possible temperature.
The thawed water will flow out at the point where the pipes are connected, so a collection container should be placed there.
As the ice melts, the plastic pipe will need to be pushed further and further until the problem is completely eliminated.

This method of defrosting is good if an ice block has formed in an area located near the point of entry into the pipe. If the pipe is frozen far from the house and there are turns and bends in the pipeline section, then it will not work to push the pipe inside the pipeline.

To carry out the work, you will need a hydro level, a coil of steel wire with a diameter of 2-4 mm, and an Esmarch mug, that is, a device that is used in medicine to carry out cleansing enemas.
We take the hydrolevel tube and wrap it with wire, or attach the wire to the tube with tape or electrical tape. This must be done so that the wire does not stick out in different directions, while the tip of the tube should protrude one centimeter.
Now we connect the second end of the hydraulic level tube to the outlet pipe of the Esmarch mug and start pushing our structure into the pipe.
Since the hydraulic damper tube has a small diameter and weight, there is no difficulty in pushing through, even if there are turns along the route.
Push the tube until the tube rests against the ice plug.
Now pour hot water into Esmarch's mug and open the supply valve.
As the ice plug decreases, the tube should be pushed further.
Place a suitable container at the pipe joint to collect the escaping water.

This defrosting method is quite effective, but it takes time. In one hour of work, you can have time to free about 0.8-1.0 m of the pipe from ice.

So, there are several fairly effective ways to help solve the problem of how to defrost water pipes. However, all of them are laborious, so it is more correct to take the necessary measures, for example, when and to prevent the water from freezing in the pipeline.

Winter is such a time of the year that not only brings unforgettable and joyful experiences from celebrating the New Year or skiing. Winter is a severe test, both for living beings and for all kinds of engineering systems that are created by man to improve their life. Low temperature tests directly touch the water supply. In cold weather, it happens that water pipes freeze. Therefore, knowledge such as defrosting pipes in winter and not being left without water at this time will be quite useful.

The need to defrost pipes

If you did not timely insulate the water pipes, then a situation may occur when the water in the pipes freezes. If you paid attention in time to the occurrence of force majeure with tap water, then this is not a reason for panic at all. There are many ways, including "folk" ones, how to defrost a water pipe with your own hands.

For trivial reasons, water pipes freeze: incorrect pipe laying technology (for this area, the depth of freezing is not taken into account or the pipes are not insulated), as well as the lack of heating in the room. Also, the reasons for the freezing of the system may be as follows: very small volumes of water are transported through the pipes, or the pipes are operated at very low temperatures.

It should be borne in mind that defrosting pipes that are laid in accessible places does not cause any particular difficulties (for example, they only need to be warmed up with the help of an ordinary household hair dryer), but some difficulties may arise with defrosting pipes during underground laying. It's pretty good if the pipes are frozen at the point of entry, since you can simply heat the walls. But often the freezing point is located a few meters from the building.

The issue of defrosting pipes is solved with the help of improvised means that are available in every home: a blowtorch, an electric heater, a professional construction hairdryer (you can also use a hair dryer). But before considering options for defrosting water pipes, you need to understand a few useful tips.

The defrosting process is quite simple if the pipes are metal. For this purpose, we take a conventional welding machine and connect it to different ends of the pipe. This simple method eliminates such a problem within 3 - 4 hours. The longer the frozen pipe section, the longer the defrosting process takes. But today, mainly PE pipes are used in water supply networks, which are made of high-density polyethylene and can withstand pressures up to 10 atmospheres.

They are not destroyed by freezing and are not subject to corrosive processes. Polyethylene, by its properties, does not act as a conductor of electric current, and this suggests that it is impossible to defrost using a welding machine. Removing ice plugs with a steel rod is also fraught with damage to the pipe.

Traditional methods of defrosting pipes

To date, there are a lot of defrosting methods, so it is not difficult to remove ice from sewer or water pipes.

Outdoor heating

External defrosting of pipes has a very important drawback - it is necessary to open a trench in which the sewage system is laid. Digging the frozen soil itself (and it is, if the ice has formed in the pipe), it is clear that it is not the most pleasant occupation. But still, if the size of the cork is not very large, then this method may be worth using.

After you have opened the trench, you need to look at the material from which the pipe is made. There is a difference in how to defrost plastic or metal pipes. In the first case, you need to use such electric heaters so that the temperature is not very high - up to 100-110 degrees. With all this, it also makes sense to cover the additionally excavated area with a decent layer of thermal insulation during the heating process, so the reverse side of the device will not heat the street, and the pipes will warm up faster.

For metal pipes, the method of using open fire is applicable through such equipment as gas burners, blowtorches, firewood, as well as any sources of flame with a long burning time. From such influences, the plastic can simply melt.

Internal heating

Defrosting sewer pipes, in comparison with water pipes, has certain nuances. On the one hand, the large diameter of such pipes offers significant advantages for internal heating. On the other hand, these pipes provide a fairly large volume of accumulated ice with frozen ground, and therefore a large contact area, which will lead to increased heat transfer from both external and internal heaters.

Before defrosting plastic pipes from the inside, you need to make a not very complicated device: fix a U-shaped heating element on a board with rounded edges. At the same time, it is required that the bend protrudes beyond the front edge of the board, other parts of the heating element should not protrude beyond its limits, so that there is no contact with the walls of the heater pipe.

Since its dimensions and distance to the plug are known, in order to defrost the plastic pipes, it is also necessary to attach a wire of the appropriate length to the contacts of the heating element, and attach a small piece of metal-plastic pipe to the plate itself, which will act as a pusher.

From the side of the sinks, the entire structure is pushed in, because the slope of the sewage system is made precisely in this direction, there is simply nowhere for the melted water to drain from above. In this case, the heating element is turned on in the network only after it is placed inside the pipe, and with each movement, as the plugs melt, it turns off, respectively.

Apparatus for metal pipes

The most effective way to remove ice from a water pipe is an industrial pipe defrosting machine. But such a device is intended only for metal pipes; this technique does not apply to plastic pipes. The principle of operation of the device is quite simple and straightforward. Terminals are attached to the edges of the required section of the pipe that needs to be defrosted, then current is applied. After that, the pipe heats up and begins to thaw the frozen place.

When using an apparatus for defrosting metal pipes, the following data should be analyzed: a pipe up to 23 meters long and up to 6 centimeters in diameter is defrosted for up to 60 minutes. With a larger pipe diameter, it is necessary to install the terminals at a shorter length, and especially in the area of various tie-ins and measuring devices. When defrosting water or sewer pipes, it is necessary that water pressure be present in the system.

Unconventional ways to defrost pipes

In addition to traditional methods of heating pipes, we can offer you three defrosting methods for polyethylene pipes, which are the "know-how" of our folk craftsmen. Regardless of some eccentricity, they still work. Their only drawback is that they are only suitable for pipelines that have a small diameter.

Hot water

When using this method, it must be borne in mind that the ice plug will not allow hot water to get inside if you pour it just like that. So it is necessary to find a way to supply hot water to the frozen zone. You can defrost a pipe using a pipe or hose with a smaller diameter. For example, if it is necessary to unfreeze a water pipe with a diameter of 25 or 30 millimeters, and the frozen segment is straight, then the use of metal-plastic pipes with a diameter of 16 millimeters will be more effective.

To begin with, we straighten the metal-plastic pipe, and then push it into the frozen pipe until it touches the ice. After that, through the pipe, we supply hot water to the place of freezing. The thawed water will pour out through the gap between the metal-plastic pipe and the water pipe. If you have a limited supply of water, then you can use the thawed water in the second circle, that is, heat it up and again send it to the freezing point.

At the same time, the ice plug will melt, and you can continue to manually defrost the pipe and push the small metal-plastic pipe further. But if the section of the pipe, which is frozen, has turns and bends, it will not be possible to use a rigid metal-plastic pipe in this case. But you can take a hard hose.

It should be noted that an ordinary watering hose is not suitable for this, it will simply soften from hot water and it will be impossible to push it through. In such a situation, hoses for connecting a gas cylinder and oxygen hoses turned out to be effective. These hoses are quite stiff, but you can still push them from the input no more than 15 meters. In addition, such hoses are quite heavy and should be pushed in the pipe with great effort.

Esmarch's irrigator

And now it's worth figuring out how to defrost the pipe if ice has accumulated tens of meters from your house, and the pipeline itself has turns and bends. Still, there is an economical and effective way: for such purposes, you will need a set of a building hydro level, Esmarch mugs (banal enema) and hardened steel wire. Such a set has a low cost, and many of its components are on the farm.

First, you need to align the wire and the tube of the hydraulic level, and then screw the end of the wire to the hydraulic level with electrical tape. In order to ensure greater hardness at the end of the wire, it is necessary to make a loop. The wire itself should not stick out, and the end of the hydraulic level tube should protrude one centimeter in front of the wire. After that, the other end of the hydro level must be connected to the Esmarch's mug, and then push the wire with a tube into the water supply until it stops.

Due to the fact that the hydraulic level pipe has a small diameter and low weight, it moves quite easily through the pipeline, while overcoming all the turns rather simply. After that, we fill in hot water, making an "enema" for the frozen water supply. A container must be placed under the water pipe to collect the thawed water, because as much hot water is poured, the same amount will pour out cold.

Then we push the wire with the hydraulic level tube gradually as the ice melts. This method of defrosting pipes is very long, that is, you can defrost only up to one meter of the pipeline in an hour. This means that 5-7 meters of pipes can be defrosted from ice during working hours.

Using current

Consider the following situation when you have a frozen polyethylene water pipe 50 meters long, 20 millimeters in diameter, and the laying depth is up to 80 centimeters. It should be noted that such a depth for laying a water supply system is insufficient, therefore, the water supply system froze. Another distinctive feature is that the water supply is located under the roadway. In this case, utilities usually advise to wait for the thaw to come, but there is still a way when you can do without it.

You will need the following equipment: a plug for a socket, a two-core copper wire (we select the thickness and length of the section according to the diameter and length of the frozen water supply), a hose and a compressor for pumping out the thawed water. For example, for a pipe with a diameter of 20 millimeters, you can take a wire of 2.5-3 millimeters and an automobile fuel hose with a diameter of 8 millimeters, as well as a conventional automobile compressor (you can, in extreme cases, use a pump).

We warn you that when using this method of self-defrosting pipes, you need to be very careful, because work is done using high voltage. And now all this needs to be prepared for thawing the pipes. It is necessary to remove the external insulation from a small section of the wire, divide it into two wires, remove the insulation from one of them, and carefully bend the remaining wire in the insulation in the opposite direction along the water pipe. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the insulation is not damaged.

Further, practically near the bend of the wire, 3-5 turns of bare wire should be made (as tightly as possible to each other) and its remaining end should be cut off. After that, 2-3 millimeters must be retreated from the turns made, then - bare the second wire and wrap it around the wire in the same way. The turns of the first and second wires should not touch.

And on the other end of the wire we connect the "unit" and the plug (such a device is popularly called a "bulbulator"). If it is placed in water and connected to the power grid, then when the current passes through the water, a corresponding reaction occurs, in which a large release of heat occurs. In this case, such a device is ideal, because only water heats up, and the wires themselves remain cold, that is, plastic pipes do not even accidentally disappear.

This assembled device must be checked. For this purpose, it is recommended to send a device to a jar of water and connect it to the power supply. If a slight hum is felt, and bubbles leave the contacts, respectively, the unit is working. We remind you again: while the device is working, an electric shock may occur on contact with water.

We continue to defrost the pipe on our own. The wire must be pushed carefully into the pipe so that it does not bend. Therefore, it is necessary to take a wire of a larger cross-section. When the wire rests against the ice plug, it is necessary to turn on the "bulbululator" and wait one or two minutes. After that, you need to try to push the wire further, because the ice began to melt.

When about a meter of the pipe is thawed, the melt water must be blown out with a compressor, this is necessary to reduce the volume of heated water and so that the water supply system does not freeze again in the already thawed areas. If there is special equipment, then it is advisable to weld a crane onto the pipe. When the water flows through the pipe, the wire is not pulled out of it, but the tap is closed, so the place where the defrosting procedure is carried out will not be flooded.

How to prevent pipes from freezing

You've already figured out how to deal with ice in water pipes. But you can prevent this if you try. In order not to freeze plastic pipes, you must remember:

The pipes should be laid at a depth that exceeds the level of freezing of the soil in your region. It is advisable to lay sewer and water pipes at a depth of at least 120-140 centimeters.
It is not necessary to lay sewer and water pipes next to reinforced concrete structures (beams, supports, grillages, foundations) due to the fact that the thermal conductivity of concrete is much higher than the thermal conductivity of the soil, that is, the risk of soil freezing from the side of reinforced concrete structures increases. In this case, it is necessary to insulate the pipes (for example, place slabs of special extruded polystyrene foam between reinforced concrete structures and the pipeline).
If finances permit, then a heating cable should be laid next to the pipeline. The production of self-regulating heating cables has already been mastered, which are switched on only when necessary.
Places where pipelines pass through the walls of structures and buildings should preferably be insulated with mineral wool, foam and glass wool to avoid direct contact between the walls of the building and the walls of the pipe.
When arranging a water supply at a summer cottage, it is best to use pipes that have a diameter of at least 50 millimeters, because pipes of a smaller diameter are more prone to freezing.
When making a choice between many water supply polymeric pipes, you need to know that polypropylene pipes can burst after 2-3 defrosts, and polyethylene pipes perfectly tolerate the repeated process of defrosting and freezing.
If in winter sewerage and water supply are irregularly used, then the best option would be to completely drain the water from the system.

Thus, in winter, the owners of private houses are often faced with the fact that the water in the water supply freezes. In this situation, the main thing is to react in time and take the necessary measures. To defrost a water pipe, you can use traditional defrosting methods using a special pipe defrosting machine with internal and external heating. Also, along with this, there are effective alternative methods that have been tested by folk craftsmen in practice.

In winter, there are frequent cases of freezing of water pipes in private houses. If the pipelines are laid underground, then most often the reasons are insufficient burial and insulation of the pipelines in combination with stagnation in the pipes. If pipes located in the walls freeze, then this phenomenon can occur due to very severe frosts. In any case, the home owner needs to know how to defrost the water pipes in a private house. Below we will look at how to eliminate ice plugs in metal and plastic lines.

It is not enough to know how to unfreeze a pipe underground. First you need to find the immediate freezing point. This can be done in a simple and proven way. Shut off the water supply in the water supply system. After that, it is necessary to unscrew any detachable connection that is located after the crane. A plumbing cable is launched into the opened hole. It is gradually introduced into the pipeline until its end abuts against the ice plug.

This will be the freezing point. To mark its position on the outside of the pipe, the cable can simply be applied to the ground for the same length as it entered the pipe. In this place, you should look for a place of freezing. In this simple way, you can find the right place in a pipe made of any material.

Methods for defrosting pipelines

Of no small importance when defrosting pipes is the material from which it is made. The methods of influencing the pipeline depend on this.

Defrosting metal pipes

Consider how to defrost metal water pipes in a private house. Usually they pass underground, so there are certain difficulties in digging trenches in winter, although their location in open areas is also possible. After the pipeline is exposed, it is affected in the following ways:

Use an open flame. For example, from a gas torch or blowtorch. You can also make a fire on a frozen section of the pipe;
A welding transformer is used. One wire from it is connected to one frozen section of the pipe, and the second wire to the second. The ice plug melts very quickly;
Pipes are watered with boiling water, after wrapping them with rags.

Important: When defrosting the pipeline, the water taps must be kept open. This is necessary for the free flow of defrosted water from the pipes.

It is easier to unfreeze the sewer pipe, since all the melted ice will go down the drain, and the situation is the opposite with the water supply system. The released water will have nowhere to go, so it is advisable to disconnect the pipe from the taps, or at least open the taps.

How to defrost plastic pipes

Plastic pipes require more respect for themselves due to the lower strength of the material. Let's see how to defrost water in a plastic pipe that is in plain sight:

We examined the heating of an open section of the pipeline. How to defrost a plastic water pipe underground? There are also several ways to do this:

1. Hot water supply. The plastic pipe is detached from the tap. Water is heated in a large container, for example, a barrel. A hose with a smaller diameter is used, which freely enters the pipe. It is pushed inside the pipe until it reaches the frozen area. After that, hot water is supplied to the pipeline. This can be done by means of an injection pump.

The melted water will gradually flow out of the pipe along with the hot water supplied. The end of the hose should be pushed further and further until all the ice plug has been removed. After that, water will pour under strong pressure.

Tip: Plastic or metal-plastic pipes should be pre-insulated in open areas to avoid additional ice plugs.

2. Application of a steam generator. The plastic pipe is detached from the taps. A special sleeve from the steam generator with a special nozzle at the end is introduced into it. It is injected until it reaches the frozen area. Steam is fed through the sleeve into the pipe, quickly melting the ice. As the frozen cork melts, the sleeve moves deeper into the pipe. With such a device, there is no question of how to defrost a pipe located in a wall or underground.

3. The use of electricity. This method works on the principle of heating water with a boiler. To do this, you need to stock up on a thick two-core wire of sufficient length. The veins are split. Each of them is released from the insulation and then twisted. Two thick twists are obtained, located at a distance of 1-2 cm from each other. It is impossible to allow the likelihood of their connection to each other in order to avoid the occurrence of a short circuit.

The wire is pushed inside the pipe to the place of the plug. After that, the end of the wire is connected to the mains. Ice melting occurs due to its heating with an electric current. In this case, the plastic walls do not heat up, since only the conductive water is heated. As the ice melts, the wire moves further along the pipeline.

4. Hydrodynamic cleaning. Any ice plug in the pipe can be removed with the jetting machine. Hot water is fed into it under pressure through a special nozzle, which contributes to the destruction of ice in a very short time. As the cork breaks down, the hose with the nozzle moves further along the pipe. It should be noted that such equipment is mainly from specialists due to its high cost.

5. Another way to defrost the water pipe is shown in the photo.

Freeze prevention

We looked at how to defrost polypropylene pipes (and pipes made of other types of plastic) or metal pipelines. Preventing freezing of pipelines is equally important. The occurrence of this unpleasant situation can be avoided if you adhere to some rules:

We have covered the main ways to get rid of ice plugs in water pipes. However, it is much easier to prevent water from freezing in pipelines than to fix problems later.

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