Frozen pipes

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

This one is for you brainiacs who know all there is about closing a house for the winter months: Assuming that you have done almost everything possible to prevent a disaster in freezing weather, including draining the pipes, etc….if the house is on a slab, which makes emptying the hot water heater completely almost impossible,
my husband claims that the water heater would still contain some water. If that is so, and it’s a 50 gallon tank and there’s 10 to 20 gallons left in the tank, if there should be a freeze (power failure plus generator failure), wouldn’t the water, as it begins to freeze, merely expand to fill the available space in the tank and not result in a disaster?
This has been driving me nuts!
TIA for any useful advice.

Sue

Hi Sue,

Besides just draining why don’t you simply blow out your lines with an air compressor? This would ensure everything gets drained. It’s very simple to do just hookup a small compressor (preferably oiless) to your blue well tank (well-x-troll), set your compressor for 60 psi, then just repeatedly open and close all faucets, toilet tanks, washing machine, etc, etc, in your home until nothing but air comes out. It’s really pretty simple and will ensure your lines are completely drained.

Don’t forget to run RV antifreeze through your washing machine to avoid serious problems in the spring!

Good luck!

Dan

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by ishoot308

Hi Sue,

Besides just draining why don’t you simply blow out your lines with an air compressor? This would ensure everything gets drained. It’s very simple to do just hookup a small compressor (preferably oiless) to your blue well tank (well-x-troll), set your compressor for 60 psi, then just repeatedly open and close all faucets, toilet tanks, washing machine, etc, etc, in your home until nothing but air comes out. It’s really pretty simple and will ensure your lines are completely drained.

Don’t forget to run RV antifreeze through your washing machine to avoid serious problems in the spring!

Good luck!

Dan

I started using the compressed air technique a few years ago.... I have great low point drains, but got tired of crawling under the camp..... Now that I have that all in place, my next improvement will be to create an enclosure for the pump and tank, added in some heat tape, and hopefully extend my season some... when I leave I will have things set up so I can blow out the lines that aren't protected... the the heat tape should be enough to keep the pump and tank from freezing up Just don't let my wife know, she thinks the season is long enough already.... I just want a few more weeks at the beginning of the season.

[phoenix]

I agree i use Smitty and he shuts down and opens up. I have forced hot water heat so all rooms area concern. I use a professional rather than guess and with him its worked for 10 years. Prior to that i used a plumber who is now retired so don't need to mention his name but he didnt do it right and we have three years of leakage in the ceiling. Smitty so far has been perfect

[Biggd]

Originally Posted by LIforrelaxin

I started using the compressed air technique a few years ago.... I have great low point drains, but got tired of crawling under the camp..... Now that I have that all in place, my next improvement will be to create an enclosure for the pump and tank, added in some heat tape, and hopefully extend my season some... when I leave I will have things set up so I can blow out the lines that aren't protected... the the heat tape should be enough to keep the pump and tank from freezing up Just don't let my wife know, she thinks the season is long enough already.... I just want a few more weeks at the beginning of the season.

Blowing out the lines with compressed air is always the safest bet. Sometimes you have pipes that are not pitched to drain or sag and hold water when just draining won't get it all out.

[LIforrelaxin]

Originally Posted by Biggd

Blowing out the lines with compressed air is always the safest bet. Sometimes you have pipes that are not pitched to drain or sag and hold water when just draining won't get it all out.

The only reason for years that I trusted the low point drains, is because my father and I installed the entire system in the camp.... when I was younger crawling around under the camp was no big deal.... however I have a few more creaks than I used too... and by my age, my father had me to do that work, so he never had an issue either.... My kids are busy, and we just can't always make our schedules align to close the camp.... so I started down the road of just making things easier....

The camp next door, also has a low point drain, and has never had a problem... once again because it was designed that way, although they now have someone close who I believe also uses compressed air regardless....

[Biggd]

I used to have a 3-season camp in Alton Bay back in the 80's. My next-door neighbor built his camp with the kitchen and bathrooms over a corner of his house. He had everything draining into one small, insulated enclosure in the crawl space which he heated with a small propane wall heater. So he would just drain the pipes down to that room, put antifreeze in the traps, and just heat that area, very efficient!

[Sue Doe-Nym]

There are some really great suggestions here….much appreciated, that’s for sure. I really like the one using RV anti freeze…maybe that will work here. You just can’t be too careful with our frigid climate. With all the suggestions here, I hope that these are helpful to many of you. Happy winter 🥶!

[ishoot308]

Originally Posted by Sue Doe-Nym

There are some really great suggestions here….much appreciated, that’s for sure. I really like the one using RV anti freeze…maybe that will work here. You just can’t be too careful with our frigid climate. With all the suggestions here, I hope that these are helpful to many of you. Happy winter 🥶!

Sue, if you have a washing machine, you really have no choice but to use RV Antifreeze. There is no easy way to drain a washing machine fully. Below is a video I cut and pasted for you to show you how easy it is. The only thing I would do differently than the video is to use a full gallon of antifreeze and not a quart as they say. Also if you do blow out your lines there is no reason to remove the water lines from the back of your washer…

https://youtu.be/jp-zbirc_JI?feature=shared

Dan