How to defrost a plastic pipe in the ground. How to thaw a frozen water supply made of propylene and plastic pipes? Defrosting hidden plastic pipes

The lack of water in the water supply in a private house may be due to for various reasons. One of them is the formation of an ice plug in the pipe. Such a nuisance occurs if the temperature outside is very low, and the rules were violated when laying the water supply. You can try to fix the problem yourself, but it requires considerable effort. Let's consider the answer to the question: water in a pipe underground has frozen - what to do in this situation?

Before we figure out what to do if the water in the water pipes freezes, let's figure out why this might happen. Main reasons:

• laying pipes at insufficient depth;
• a small layer of insulation, it low quality or complete absence;
• insignificant or zero water consumption in severe frosts;
• abnormal weather conditions.

As a rule, pipes running outside freeze, either outside or underground. But in the absence of heating and significant sub-zero temperatures over a long period of time, the problem may occur indoors or at the point where the pipe enters the wall.

Finding a traffic jam

Before deciding how to thaw a frozen water supply, you should first find where the ice blockage has formed in the pipe. Most often they form at the joints of elements, but sometimes the structure freezes along its entire length. Search methods:

1. Visual inspection of external pipes. Because water expands in volume when it freezes, ice plugs cause expansion. plastic elements. In addition, these areas feel cooler to the touch than others.
2. Internal check. If it is not possible to inspect the pipeline, you should partially disassemble it and insert a flexible cable into the hole. As soon as an obstacle arises in the way of its progress, a traffic jam is detected. To determine its location, you should measure the length of the inserted cable.

The solution to the problem of how to warm a frozen water pipe depends on whether there is open access to problem area, or it needs to be heated from inside the water supply system.

External heating of the pipe

If the water in the pipe is frozen, how can you warm it up from the outside? If there is open access to the area where the ice jam has formed, it is not difficult to solve the problem. Before heating, be sure to open the taps so that the melted liquid can come out freely. The main methods involve the use of:

• hot water;
• warm air;
• elements of the “warm floor” system (heating cable).

Hot water

This method is suitable for any pipes: polypropylene, metal-plastic, metal, and others. But the water temperature should be increased gradually so that the structure does not crack.

1. Wrap the cloth around the frozen area. This is necessary to protect the pipe and distribute heat more evenly.
2. Place a container under the pipe to collect water.
3. Water the area hot water within a few minutes.
4. Periodically wring out the fabric and repeat until the water supply is restored.

Warm air

It is best to use as a source of warm air construction hair dryer. It should be aimed at the area with the ice plug and held for a while.

If the freezing area is small and the pipe is thin, then you can use a regular hair dryer, but it should not work for more than 15 minutes at a time. It is advisable to wrap the pipe heat-insulating material and let in hot air under it. This “casing” will speed up warming up.

It is useless to use a fan heater or an electric radiator, since they cannot be used to create a concentrated air flow. You can safely defrost metal pipes with a construction hairdryer. Plastic structures If used carelessly, it can cause damage.

Heating cable

To heat a plastic pipe, you will need an electric cable, which is used when installing a “warm floor” or a special cable for heating pipes. Algorithm of actions:

1. Wrap a section of pipe with foil. Place the electrical cable on top.
2. After the cable, put a layer of insulation. Secure everything with tape.
3. Connect the cable to the network for 2-4 hours.

Note: Metal structures can be heated using welding machine, connecting it to the frozen section of the pipe. It is also allowed to use open sources of fire - a fire, a blowtorch. For propylene and others plastic pipes such methods are not suitable.

Internal heating of pipes

Let's consider what to do when the water in a pipe underground freezes. If the soil is shallow and not very hard, it is worth digging a trench and using the methods described above. If this is not possible, internal heating should be carried out. The main methods are based on the application:

• steam generator;
• homemade boiler;
• hot water.

All methods require the possibility of penetration into the pipeline. If it is missing, you should disassemble or cut out part of the structure, first turning off the water supply.

Steam generator

To defrost the pipe, you will need a steam generator - a device that produces hot water vapor under pressure. Stages:

1. Fill the reservoir with water.
2. Connect a heat-resistant hose with a small diameter to the steam generator.
3. Insert the hose all the way (to the ice plug) into the water pipe. At the same time, it should remain free space for drainage of melt water.
4. Turn on the steam generator. Wait until the ice begins to defrost. This usually takes 5-15 minutes. It is necessary to monitor the amount of water in the steam generator tank.

When solving the problem of how to heat water in a plastic pipe underground, if there is no steam generator, you can use an autoclave. The heat-resistant hose should be connected to the fitting of the device.

Homemade boiler

You can warm up a plastic water supply using a homemade electric boiler. This method not suitable for metal structures. It involves working with high voltage, so you need to be careful.

Algorithm of actions:

1. Take copper wire with two insulated cores (cross section - 2.5-3 mm).
2. Separate the wires and move them apart.
3. Remove the winding from one wire. Bend the second core in the opposite direction along the wire.
4. Wrap the “bare” part tightly 3-5 times around the fold. Trim off the rest.
5. Depart from the turns 2-3 mm. Expose the end of the bent wire. Wrap it around the insulated wire 3-5 times. Trim off the excess part. The turns of the first and second wires should not touch.
6. Attach a plug to the other end of the wire.
7. Insert the “boiler” into the water supply until it stops.
8. Plug the plug into the socket. When exposed to heat, the ice should begin to melt.
9. As the plug decreases, the “boiler” should be moved deeper.

Tip: When using a steam generator or “boiler”, you should ensure the outflow of melt water. It is necessary to periodically turn off the device and use a thin hose and compressor to pump it out of the pipe.

Hot water

The essence of this method comes down to exposing the ice in the pipe to hot water. To “deliver” it to the plug you can use:

• Esmarch's water level and mug;
• pump.

The first option is suitable if the question arises of how to warm up a frozen pipe underground, when the plug is far from the house, and the system has turns and bends. Required:

• construction hydraulic level;
• Esmarch's mug (device for enemas);
• hardened steel wire.

1. Connect the hydraulic level tube and the wire along the length, making a loop at its end for greater rigidity. The edge of the tube should protrude 1 cm beyond the end of the wire.
2. Attach the second end of the hydraulic level to Esmarch's mug.
3. Push the device all the way into the water supply.
4. Place a bucket under the pipe hole.
5. Pouring into a mug hot water. It should flow through the hydraulic level tube to the ice and heat it. In this case, thawed water will pour out of the pipe hole.

This heating method requires a lot of time and effort. To thaw 5-10 cm of ice, up to 5 liters of hot water are needed. The entire process can take 5-7 hours depending on the length of the cork.

If there is a pump, then it should be installed in a container in which water is constantly heated, and a heat-resistant hose, insert it into the water supply and supply hot water under pressure. The diameter of the hose must be such that there is a gap for melt water to exit the pipe. It can be reused for heating.

Note: In the warm season, it is worth inspecting the water supply system that has been defrosted. Deformed elements may need to be replaced. It is also worth taking measures to prevent pipes from freezing.

Prevention

Freezing of the water supply is a problem that owners of private houses periodically face during cold winters. You can remove the ice jam yourself. The easiest way is to restore the patency of a pipe that has external access. If the structure is in the ground, then certain devices will be required. IN difficult cases it is better to seek the help of specialists who have powerful apparatus to destroy ice - with a hydrodynamic machine.

The water pipe may freeze due to various reasons. If, when laying the water supply system, the requirements of GOST were violated and the propylene pipes were laid at an insufficient depth. Poor or lack of insulation. When water consumption is low or in the absence of residents, when water consumption is zero and there are abnormal frosts outside. Whatever the reason, frozen water pipes must be warmed up. The heating method will depend on where the ice jam occurred: underground or in the house.

Finding the freezing point

Before you start defrosting the pipe, you need to find the area where the ice plug has formed. You can do this in two ways:

• visually inspect the pipe. When water freezes, it expands, and the ice plug can push the plastic plug. Externally, there will be a visible thickening on the pipe;

First of all, it is necessary to determine the location of the ice jam.

• the second method is used if there is no way to visually inspect the pipeline. In this case, turn off the tap and then dismantle the nearest plug connection or cut the pipe. Then a metal flexible cable is inserted into the pipe. Using the length of the cable, you can calculate the distance to the freezing point.

Order further actions Removing the ice jam will depend on where exactly the ice jam is frozen.

Defrosting water pipes with electric current

Will need copper wire, having two cores with a cross section of 2.5 mm. The wires are separated and pulled apart. Then the end of one core is exposed in such a way that several turns of the exposed wire can be made around the other. The cores should not touch each other to avoid short circuit. A plug is connected to the opposite end of the wire.

Wire for electric current

The wire is pushed into the water pipe until its ends rest against the ice plug and the plug is plugged into the network. The heating process resembles the operation of a household boiler. The current passes through the water and heats it. This method is safe for the pipe; only water is heated, so melting of the propylene water supply is excluded.

Advice. Before inserting the boiler into the pipe, you should test the device. Dip the end of the bare wire into a bucket of water and plug in the plug. Bubbles and a slight buzz should appear. Do not put your hands into the bucket under any circumstances to avoid electric shock.

We use a steam generator

A steam generator is a special machine that regenerates steam and supplies it under pressure. The fitting is inserted into the water pipe and hot steam melts the ice plug. This is the most effective and quick way eliminating ice jams. There is only one drawback - not every home has such a device. But if you have a double boiler or autoclave, they can also be used for heating. When using them, the procedure is as follows:

You can use a steam generator to defrost the water supply.

1. Pour water into one of the listed units.
2. One end of the heat-resistant hose is connected to the autoclave fitting.
3. We push the other end into the water pipe to the freezing point.
4. Turn on the heating device and wait for the result.
5. We monitor the water level in the autoclave.

Submersible pump and barrel to help

Will need metal barrel, bucket, pump and hose.

Advice. Propylene pipes are connected with fittings that do not narrow the internal diameter of the pipe at the joints, so the process of removing ice plugs is greatly simplified compared to pipes made of other materials.

Internal defrosting using improvised means

This method is similar to the one we described above. But not everyone has it iron barrel with a pump and the ability to make a fire, but Esmarch’s mug (popularly known as an enema) will probably be found in every home. So, for work you will need:

• enema;
• wire;
• a tube.

Scheme: defrosting a water supply using an Esmarch mug

The tube and wire are connected with electrical tape so that the end of the wire is shorter than the end of the tube. Push the tube all the way into the ice. Open the tap on Esmarch's mug, which is pre-filled with hot water. The water flows to the ice plug, and the melted water will pour out into the substituted bucket. As the ice decreases, the wire is pushed further. It should be noted that this method will require a lot of patience and time.

External heating of propylene water supply

External heating of the water supply is quite simple. There are several ways to do this. But first they open the taps so that the melted water and ice can come out.

• Hot water. Any rag that absorbs and retains water well is wound onto the pipe over the freezing area. To avoid damaging the pipe, the water temperature is increased gradually. Any container to collect water is installed under the pipe. It will take more than one cycle of squeezing out the rag and pouring hot water over it again.

If defrosting is necessary small area, you can use a hairdryer

• Hairdryer. A hair dryer can be used as a heat source. This requires great care and skill in working with this power tool, since the propylene pipe can be melted by negligence. Fan heaters and other electric heaters are used, but this method is not effective enough, since a large number of the heat generated is wasted. For absolutely small plot freezing, a regular hair dryer will do. Additionally, build a small casing to trap warm air.
• Self-heating electrical cable, it is also used when installing heated floors. The cable is wrapped around the pipe and plugged into the network.

Advice. Do not use a blowtorch, wax candles or a fire for heating propylene pipes- they will melt. Such methods can be used for frozen metal water pipes.

• Hydrodynamic machine. If all the methods have been tried, but there is no result, call a specialist. In a matter of minutes they can remove ice jams using a hydrodynamic machine, profile application which – water cleaning of tap and sewer pipes. Water equipment the unit runs on diesel fuel, and the installation itself is connected to the network. The machine creates high pressure hot water and can break more hard materials than ice, therefore the use of such equipment requires qualifications and knowledge of safety precautions.

Measures to prevent pipeline freezing

At the first opportunity, when it is established warm weather, it is necessary to take measures to insulate the water supply to avoid such trouble in the future. Deformed areas will need to be replaced.

But while the frost is crackling outside, not all insulation methods can be used, and it makes no sense to chisel the frozen ground. I can recommend one thing effective action- although this is a violation of safety rules: keep the tap slightly open so that the water flows in a small thin stream, and then the moving water stream will not allow ice to form.

How to warm up a frozen water supply: video

Methods for defrosting water supply: photo

When frozen water pipe- an unpleasant thing and always at the wrong time.
Our private home has had water supply for more than ten years, but the water supply has frozen for the second time.
The first time freezing occurred at the end of March in the first year of operation, then I could not defrost it - at the beginning of May the water began to flow on its own.
That first time, the lack of water was somehow calmly experienced - all the technologies in life had not yet been lost from the times when water was brought from a pump.
This winter of '16, the entire month of January was in the twenties, and at the beginning of February, as soon as it got a little warmer, everything shut down for once.
Here we had to move. Firstly, summer is still so far away, and secondly, washing machine It doesn't work without water.
And thirdly, a shower cabin and a warm toilet have just been put into operation - you get used to good things very quickly.
The guys from the housing and communal services looked at the pipes in the well - they were all warm and working.
Entering the house is also clean and free.
The location of the ice jam was roughly determined - the water supply runs under the snow along the road past the neighboring house, where snow is always shoveled out efficiently, promptly and widely (about eight meters) to enter the yard and garage.
Just there, due to soil shedding, the pipe was laid only 170 centimeters.
A metal-plastic pipe with a diameter of twenty millimeters was laid into the house as a water supply; they had only just appeared in our country at that time; there were no traces of branded insulation, and we had never seen heating cables either.
The length of the water pipe to the well is approximately 60 meters. They said it right smart people- don’t listen to anyone and go two and a half meters away. But we didn’t want to spoil the beautiful green street with an excavator, but we couldn’t go deep by hand - maybe it wouldn’t freeze, but it did.
The task of defrosting a water pipe is to thaw the ice plug. Heat must be supplied directly to it from the inside or outside. As a rule, when laying a pipe in the ground, it is almost impossible to do this from the outside.
From the inside, heat can be supplied through a thin hose using hot water, steam, air, or heated with electricity.
After thinking, I decided defrost a metal-plastic pipe using a galvanic boiler at the end of the wire through which 220 Volts are supplied.

I already tried this method more than ten years ago, and I came up with it myself (we didn’t have the Internet then). This method is now well described on the Internet.
I made a “burbulator” as described - it’s simpler, by winding several turns of each wire around the insulation with a small gap between windings.
The wire was of the PRPPM type - telecommunications, it is rigid polyethylene and fits well into the pipe.
At the entrance to the house in the basement, a shut-off plug valve with a filter is installed on a metal-plastic pipe. I removed the faucet, disconnecting the couplings on both sides and placed it in the open position next to the keys for emergency connection when the water thaws.
The hard PRPPM goes down the pipe very well. To make the wire slide better, wipe it with a cloth soaked in silicone.
The traffic jam, as I approximately expected, turned out to be twelve meters from the entrance to the house.

I connected the electricity and began to move the wire further every half hour. It didn't move very quickly. I walked three meters in 24 hours, and at night I also got up and moved forward.
In order not to oversleep the flow of water in the basement, I installed an alarm with an audible signal.
I measured the resistance of the “burbulyator” with a tester - in my water it shows 2-3 kilo-ohms. This is a lot and the power of the boiler is very small.
In the morning I made a galvanic boiler from strips from a children's iron designer, tying the strips with threads through sticks and connecting through the terminal blocks, clamping the strips of steel wires from paper clips. These are almost like nationwide razors through matches.
Things went much faster, and the resistance of the boiler in the water showed 150-200 Ohms.
During the day I walked another three meters, and by evening my progress became worse. I decided to leave the boiler on overnight because I was tired and went to bed.
This was the main mistake. When early in the morning I decided to check what was there - how everything had melted, I discovered that my wire was not going this way or that - it was frozen in the pipe in the thickness of the freezing plug in the place where I had already passed (the boiler heats only in one place - behind it everything is cooled due to the frozen soil).
Having thoroughly scratched my head and all other places, I decided to go through the plug using a polyethylene hose and hot water. Friends found a polyethylene hose with an outer diameter of about ten millimeters (I’m not the only one who has problems with water).
The hose had to be fed into the pipe along with the wire that was already there.
The first step was to decide that it was necessary to melt the wire and pull it out of the pipe so that it would not interfere with the progress of the hose.
I connected a bucket from a summer washbasin to the hose and began to feed boiling water by gravity to the plug. The displaced water flowed into a bucket at the end of the pipe. During the evening I spilled three buckets of hot water and walked about three meters. To prevent the water in the pipe from freezing overnight, I poured salt water into it.

The next day I decided to supply hot water under pressure. There is a way to use a washer reservoir with a pump from a car, but I decided to use a manual car pump.
By the way, it’s very convenient and quite fast. I took out the rod with the rubber piston, poured in water (about 0.7 liters comes in), then inserted the rod and pressed. In 10 seconds, under pressure, water flies into the hose.
In a couple of hours I pumped about 40 liters of water (heated on the stove), but after a couple of meters the hose refused to move at all. Moreover, in order to move the hose further along the pipe, you need to wait until it cools down and becomes hard.
All these procedures, along with work, household chores and other things, took almost a week and there was one weekend left and the last option.
I cut off a piece of metal-plastic pipe and, on a trial basis, carefully cut off part of the top layer of polyethylene with a shoe knife, stripping it to half the diameter.

I examined the strength of the remaining two layers - the aluminum tube and the inner polyethylene. It seems to be more or less durable. If you apply a wire bandage and then wrap everything tightly with several layers of electrical tape, the pipe should be able to withstand its pressure.
The idea is to make a connection at both ends to the aluminum layer of a metal-plastic pipe, connect it in a water supply well using a wire of a decent cross-section (70 meters of AC-16 were available), and connect a welding inverter to the closed circuit (I have 10-160 Amperes).
Since the length of the pipe at the connections to the water fittings is already limited, the polyethylene stripping points must remain on the pipe at all times.
The electrical connection on the pipe must have a good cross-section, so I decided to apply four turns of stripped aluminum wire from the same AC-16 to the aluminum tube three times - it turns out 6 wires - it should withstand.

Another doubt was raised by the fact that the welding inverter automatically turns off during a short circuit - the protection is triggered, but maybe the circuit resistance is enough for it to work.
I did it on my day off electrical connection V water well, unwound and connected the coil of wire, fed the wire through the window into the basement.
I made exactly the same connection in the basement and put it in place stopcock onto the pipe (the frozen PRPPM had to be left in the pipe until better times).
Connected one welding wire inverter with connecting wire and set the inverter to 10 Amp.
I turned on the inverter, and after starting, I connected the electrode holder to the wire from the pipe. The inverter growled slightly, but did not turn off. I added current to half, then to full - it worked.
I control the temperature of the pipe and connection with my hand - you can’t melt polyethylene and aluminum.

After a minute, the hand on the pipe feels a slight warmth; the connection point is much warmer.
I reduce the current to ten Amperes and wait half a minute - the inverter is a household one and may overheat from continuous operation. Then again I give a high current for a minute. The warmth can already be felt confidently.
Thus, intermittently, without overheating the device and pipe, I work with the inverter for about ten minutes.
When I glance at the end of the pipe, I see that water has slowly begun to flow. Joy knows no bounds!
I connect all the water supply, open the faucet in the washbasin, heat it for another ten minutes, and the counter starts spinning quickly. Hurray - we won!
I touched the connecting wire and found that it got quite hot - it even burned. Outside, the wire melted into the snow along its entire length.
I ran the water for an hour and a half to dissolve the ice plaque with the flow. The water flowed well and in full force.
While it was freezing, I decided to leave a small stream overnight to prevent freezing. Consumption will, of course, increase, but what can you do?

This situation with water showed where and what on the farm needs to be slightly improved.
As they say, big step forward is the result of a good kick from behind.

The results of the winter allowed us to draw conclusions for later life:
- To prevent freezing of the water supply system, it is necessary to insert a heating cable into the pipe in the summer along the entire length of the resulting plug.
- It’s a good idea to drill a well with casing pipe(neighbors have 14 meters to the level), put pumping station and make a connection to the system - it will be pure water for drinking and a reserve (or main) for everything else.

The following can be said about the use of defrosting methods:
- The “boiler” method is good and does not require much labor, just time and attention. If the plug is not very long (2-3 meters) and is located no further than 10 meters in a plastic and metal-plastic pipe without sharp corners, then defrosting the pipe is quite possible. This method cannot be used in metal pipes ah - a short circuit is possible. The length of the wire passage is limited by its rigidity. You can tie the wire to a steel wire - this will give rigidity and you can go much further. At long length ice plaque, you cannot leave the wire in the pipe without movement for a long time - it will freeze.
- The method of supplying hot water to the place of the ice plug is effective, but also up to a certain length of entry. You can also bind flexible hose from level to steel wire or use a rigid polyethylene hose. It is better to supply water under pressure.
- You can supply heated steam from a steamer or a special device through a hose, but this is technically more difficult.
- You can also supply hot air through a hose, for example, connect a household hair dryer to a car compressor into the system.
- Application welding inverter(namely an inverter - with wide current regulation) is very effective for any length of ice plug (probably up to a hundred meters), but requires a long connecting wire of large cross-section and careful work with the pipe.

Russia is in severe climatic region, therefore, in winter and early spring there is a risk of defrosting the water supply and sewerage system. This is especially true for owners of private houses, because... often systems are laid without carrying out the necessary calculations and measures for insulation and frost protection. In this article we will talk about how to protect pipes from freezing and what to do if the problem cannot be prevented.

If the temperature outside the window drops to zero, that is, to the freezing temperature of water, this does not mean that the water supply will freeze. Not everyone knows, but in winter the water in the pipe freezes at a temperature of -7 degrees. When water pipes freeze, they burst because... when moving from liquid state into a solid, the volume of water increases. This doesn't happen often, but it does happen, especially in metal systems that don't have the ability to stretch.

To prevent water from freezing in pipes and protect them from damage, it is necessary to take care of the heating system in advance or carry out a set of measures to insulate the pipeline.

Some measures to protect the pipeline in winter period, should be carried out at the stage of laying communications during the construction of a house. What needs to be done to reliable protection pipes from the cold during installation:

1. Lay the water supply below the freezing level of the soil. In SNiP 2.02.01-83 you can find information on the freezing depth for a specific region and soil type.
2. Use polyethylene or polypropylene for underground water supply.
3. . For convenience, insulation made of foil polystyrene foam in the form of tubes, or any other available insulation or insulation methods, is used.
4. Mount the system electric heating. It is installed directly on the water supply under the thermal insulation layer. The system is guaranteed to prevent freezing or allow heating of the water supply in the event that heating is used cyclically and freezing still occurs.

Thermal insulation using a heating cable - reliable way solve the problem of icing even in the most extreme cold.

In private temporary residences, for example country houses, water supply is rarely laid underground and is used mainly in the summer.

To prevent freezing of a structure located above the ground, in winter it is necessary to completely drain the water from it after each use. The second option to avoid defrosting the pipe outside is to leave the tap slightly open so that the water moves. The water in the source (well, borehole) has a temperature of about +5 degrees. As it moves, it gives off some of the heat for heating, so freezing of pipes in such a situation can only occur in severe frost, from -15.

How to defrost an open pipeline

If an open water supply system is frozen, it is not difficult to defrost the pipe, because... there is access to it.

Advice: you need to start heating the water supply immediately after freezing is detected, otherwise the situation only gets worse with each passing hour, especially if the insulation is of poor quality or is completely absent.

To heat frozen plastic lines you will need heating cable. It is extremely simple to use, just wrap the water pipe around it and connect the cable to the power source. This option requires additional expenses to purchase a cable. You can cast plastic pipes with hot water, but this option is only effective when small areas freezing, or in mild frosts.

Metal pipes can be heated using an open fire. Portable will do gas-burner, blowtorch or a small diesel gun designed for heating unheated premises. You can combine heating using a burner with the method of crushing ice. Using a burner you can heat all metal system, with the exception of taps. The taps have rubber (plastic) valves, which can deteriorate if the temperature rises sharply and the tap will have to be replaced.

Important: it is forbidden to warm frozen plastic pipes with open fire, because they may melt or even catch fire.

To warm up the tap, it is not necessary to heat it with a burner; just wrap it in a rag and pour boiling water over it. If the tap does not come off after the first time, the operation can be repeated.

To defrost an open one, you can use a hair dryer. It is quite powerful, heats up well and is not capable of melting the material.

Defrosting hidden plastic pipes

Defrosting water in a plastic pipe hidden underground is much more difficult due to the fact that there is no access to it. Heating options that are used for open water pipes are not suitable.

You can quickly defrost a water supply pipe only by heating it from the inside. There are several ways to do this.

1. Outflow of hot water.
2. Warming up with a steam generator.
3. Warming up electrical apparatus for defrosting pipes.
4. Defrost water pipes using a homemade boiler.

Depending on the situation, the availability of tools and other circumstances, for each method you can use various devices. For example, in order to pour hot water, you can use a thin hose that will go inside the water supply, or you can simply pour hot water from a pear.

To defrost HDPE pipes in the ground, you can use a system cable heating, but only if it was installed at the stage of laying the water supply system. If cable heating elements are not installed, then this method is too labor-intensive and not always possible.

Now let's look at heating options that can be used if an HDPE pipe located underground is frozen.

Warming up with a steam generator

Based on the name, you can understand that the steam generator is designed to produce steam. It sounds complicated, but in reality everything is much simpler. But not everyone has a steam generator. At home, in the country, you can use a pressure cooker instead. Defrosting a pipe with a pressure cooker is no more difficult than pouring hot water on it. To carry out the work you will need:

• pressure cooker;
• hose with a diameter less than polyethylene pipe water supply;
• mobile electric or gas stove.

The process itself is similar to draining a water pipe with hot water, only steam is used instead. Water is poured into the pressure cooker and heated to a boil. One end of the hose is hermetically connected to the valve to release excess steam in the lid of the pressure cooker, the other is inserted into the line. Thus, steam from the pressure cooker enters the hose and then into the pipeline to the freezing point. The temperature of steam is higher than the temperature of hot water, so using a pressure cooker gives a greater effect and allows you to heat faster.

Another option to replace the steam generator is to use a Karher steam cleaner. The power of the steam cleaner is enough to cope with defrosting.

Ice crushing

If underground water supply made of iron or copper, you can use it to defrost special device— apparatus for defrosting pipes. You can find out which device model to use for a specific pipe diameter by reading the device manufacturer’s instructions. The most popular devices in Russia are “Dragon” and their analogues.

The essence of the method is that power cables The devices are connected to the main line and voltage is applied to them, due to which the walls of the pipe heat up and the ice jam thaws. This method can be combined with the crushing method.

Its essence lies in tapping a metal line in order to cause ice to peel off from internal walls or its destruction. Crushed pieces of ice can come out under the pressure of water in the system. Using this method, you need to take care of the unhindered passage of pieces of ice along the entire length of the water supply. This means that the outlet valve, tees and other structural elements with a smaller diameter must be dismantled.

Everything seems simple, but in reality it doesn’t always work out, because... The device has limitations on the distance for connecting electrodes. If connecting an electrode from the outlet side of the water pipe is not a problem, then installing a second one at a certain distance from the first is not always possible, due to the fact that the system is closed and the water has frozen in the pipe underground. Sometimes such nuances make it impossible to use the device to heat a closed water supply system.

Defrosting with a boiler

At one end of a rigid two-core wire, several centimeters of cores are exposed and wrapped around the wire in such a way that the exposed contacts do not touch each other, and the distance between them does not exceed 1.5-2 cm. A plug is installed on the other end of the wire to connect to household outlet. Next, the structure is pushed inside the pipeline and connected to network 220. By passing current, the water between the contacts of the wire heats up, and the water supply gradually thaws.

Important: the method is suitable for use in closed system made of plastic pipes, used in metal structures strictly prohibited, because the pipe wall contacts are closed.

Defrosting pipes with hot water

With a short length frozen water pipe, it is convenient to pour hot water from a bucket or a rubber medical heating pad, often called an Esmarch mug. This is a simple method that requires a minimum of auxiliary devices. It is often used for self-elimination icing of pipes in the country. For heating, you will need a piece of thin hose no less than the length of the frozen main and a funnel for easy filling of the hose with hot water.

The hose is inserted into the water pipe until it stops, that is, to the point of freezing. Next, hot water is poured into the hose. Hot water, passing through the hose, goes directly to the freezing point and gradually melts the ice. As it melts, it is necessary to move the hose inside the water supply and add hot water, because... it will gradually go away and cool down.

Removing ice blockage in the sewer

A sewer system that is made with an incorrect slope, or made from small-diameter pipes and laid without insulation, is at risk of defrosting. You can warm up a drain pipe in a private house if an ice jam occurs using the same methods that are used to defrost hidden water pipes.

Important: to remove ice, it is not enough to pour hot water into the toilet, because... this is ineffective; it is necessary to organize a supply of hot water directly to the place of the ice plug, which means you need to use a hose.

If the sewerage system is long enough, then to deliver the hose to the freezing point, it can be tied to a plumbing cable.

There are several nuances when defrosting.

1. The cause of freezing may be a blockage that has reduced throughput systems. In this case, defrosting must be carried out in conjunction with cleaning, otherwise the problem will recur.
2. IN sewer system can defrost a septic tank or otherwise a drainage pit. In this case, the outlet for water and feces is blocked, the pipes gradually fill and freeze. To eliminate the cause, you must first warm up or clean the ice in drain hole and only then begin work on heating the sewer drain.

How to defrost metal pipes in the ground

You can defrost metal water pipes that are located underground using the same methods that are used when you need to warm up a HDPE pipe in the ground. If there is access to the pipe every 10 meters, for example, wells are installed, then heating can be effectively carried out using a pipe defrosting apparatus.

Ice in a pipe underground begins to form at minus 5 degrees, which happens closer to spring, so in this period you need to be extremely careful, especially if the underground metal pipes are new and wintering for the first time.

How not to defrost plastic pipes

Similar to metal ones, plastic pipes defrost at temperatures from -5, but warm them up with all accessible ways it is forbidden. For example, it is prohibited to warm frozen plastic pipes using open fire.

Plastic is a flammable material and can catch fire in a few minutes. Also, for plastic communications, the method of crushing and heating using a device is not used. The device will not work because polypropylene pipe does not conduct electricity. At low temperatures, some types of plastic lose their flexibility.

If you hit the frozen plastic system hammer or other percussion instrument, the walls may not hold up and burst. As a result, part of the water supply will have to be replaced. Metal-plastic pipes They burst even more easily, so crushing does not apply to them either.

In conclusion of the article, I would like to note that in order to avoid problems with sewerage and water supply systems, you do not need to neglect the requirements regulatory documents, for example SNiP SNiP 2.04.01-85*. If freezing could not be avoided, then after restoring the system’s functionality, it is necessary to analyze the causes that can be eliminated in the warm season. Otherwise, the situation will repeat itself. It is not always possible to get away with just thawing the water supply, because... the integrity may be compromised and the system will have to be changed in the winter, or a temporary main will be laid, which will require additional investments.

On video original way defrosting pipes with hot water from flow heater"Atmor":

In winter, a common problem is freezing water supply and heating pipes. This can happen if the required standards were not met when laying the pipeline and technological standards were violated. Regardless of the root cause of the problem, the question arises: how to defrost a water pipe?

Let's look at some of the causes of ice jams in the water supply:

• the water supply is laid at insufficient depth;
• incorrectly performed pipe insulation work;
• the pipe diameter is selected incorrectly;
• worn pipes.

How to prevent water pipes from freezing

• when laying water supply pipes, it is necessary to take into account the depth of soil freezing in a given area and dig a trench below this level;
• The pipeline should be placed away from concrete and reinforced concrete structures, since they are subject to freezing stronger than the soil;
• where pipes enter the building should be good thermal insulation, most often, mineral and glass wool are used;
• it is better if the diameter of the outer pipes is more than 50 mm - than more water in the pipe, the longer it will freeze;
• pipeline laying can be done with electric cable, which will heat pipes at dangerously low temperatures.

If it was not possible to prevent freezing, you should begin defrosting the water supply.

This can be done in several ways, all of them can be divided into two categories:

1. Exposure from outside.
2. Heating from the inside.

Regardless of the choice of method for defrosting pipes, several rules must be followed:

• it is necessary to determine as accurately as possible the frozen section of the pipe and its length;
• all shut-off valves must be open so that the thawed water has an outlet;
• you need to start heating the pipe from an open tap and then to the riser;
• sewer pipes, on the contrary, are heated from the riser towards the septic tank.

Methods for defrosting a water supply through exposure to the outside

In such cases, prolonged heating of the surface of the pipe and further heat exchange between the pipe itself and the ice inside are carried out.

Boiling water or just hot water. The frozen section of the pipe is wrapped with foam rubber or rags that absorb water, and watered with boiling water, constantly maintaining high temperature rags or foam rubber, and, accordingly, pipes. This method is used on open areas pipelines: in basements, at the entrance to the building, etc. Well suited for metal pipes, since metal is an excellent heat conductor.

Construction hairdryer. The pipe heats up under the influence of hot air. The pipe must be blown from all sides. In order not to lose heat, you can make something like a pavilion around the pipe, for example, from polyethylene film. When heating a plastic pipe using this method, it is important to carefully monitor the heating process so that the pipeline does not melt. If the area where the pipe freezes is small, a regular fan heater or household hair dryer will do. If the pipe has bends, narrowings, or entrances to fittings, they also need to be heated.

Blowtorch or gas torch. This method requires special attention due to the high risk of fire.

Electric heating cable or electric heating tape. The safest and no less effective method defrosting pipes. The cable must be wound around the pipe in a spiral and connected to a power source. This method is only suitable for open pipes.

Defrosting unit or welding transformer. Two wires, positive and negative, are connected to different ends of the frozen section of the metal pipe, the electric current heats the water and the ice plug melts. The time spent heating metal water pipes using a welding transformer is minimal.

Methods for defrosting a water supply through exposure from the inside

All the methods described above are good for metal pipes, but are not very suitable for plastic. That's why there are methods from within. The most important thing is to find the nearest plug connection to disconnect the frozen section from the remaining line.

Two-core copper wire. The operating principle is similar to a boiler. The wire strands are separated and exposed. Then each one must be twisted into a small spiral (from 3 to 5 turns), it is better to make one core a little shorter so that the spirals do not touch and a short circuit does not occur. Next, you need to insert the wire into the pipe and plug the plug into the socket. Electricity, passing through the water, warms it up well.

Hot water. A labor-intensive process that requires patience, but with minimal costs. The hose should be thinner than the pipe. It is inserted into the disconnected pipe all the way into the ice plug and filled with hot water. As the ice melts, the hose moves forward. A container for defrosted water is a must. For straight sections of the pipeline, it is better to use a metal-plastic tube; for bends, a flexible hose is more suitable: gas or oxygen.

“Esmarch's mug” is popularly known as an enema. In addition to it, there is a rigid wire and a hose from the hydraulic level. The wire is attached to the tube (with tape, tape, whatever), the Esmarch mug is connected to the hydraulic level tube on one side, and the other is pushed into the water pipe until the ice plug. Next, the mug is raised higher and hot water is poured into it. As the ice thaws, the hydraulic level hose must be advanced further until it is completely defrosted. This method is suitable for underground pipes.

Special equipment for preventive flushing of water and sewer pipes. Have utilities, you can call specialists to your home.

All methods of defrosting pipes have their own advantages and disadvantages and take a lot of time. To avoid possible problems with water supply, it is better to adhere to all technological standards for laying pipes in advance.

Video

This video shows how pipes are defrosted with a burner:

See how you can defrost a water pipe with steam: