How to warm up a pipe in the ground? In winter, the water in the pipelines often freezes. This can happen for various reasons. For example, if the depth of the pipeline is insufficient or the insulation is ineffective. Freezing of the pipeline can occur in winter with very strong frosts. Accessible piping is easy to defrost. For example, you can defrost it with a household hairdryer. But what to do with pipes that lie underground at a distance from home?

Defrosting metal

If the pipeline is frozen at the entrance to the building, you can simply heat the wall. But there are times when the water pipe froze 10-20 m from the house. If it is made of metal, warm it up quickly enough. This requires a welding machine. It needs to be connected to different ends of the pipeline.

By heating with a welding machine, you can defrost the water in the pipe in 3-4 hours.

The duration of the work depends on the length of the pipeline.

Warming up plastic

How to defrost a plastic pipe? Currently, plastic structures are being made that can withstand a pressure of up to 10 atmospheres, easily tolerate frost and are not subject to corrosion. Plastic pipes do not conduct electric current, which means that it is impossible to defrost them with a welding machine. It is also impossible to break through the ice mechanically with steel wire. Often the length of the frozen area is more than 5 m. Therefore, the only way out is to melt the ice with hot water. If hot water is simply poured into the pipeline, then the ice plug will not melt from this, and hot water will not go inside.

Therefore, hot water must be supplied directly to the ice mash area. This can be done with a smaller diameter pipe. For example, if plastic pipes have a diameter of 32 mm, the section on which the ice plug is located is straight, the pipe should be made of metal-plastic with a diameter of 16 mm. It is necessary to straighten the pipe with a smaller diameter and push it into the pipeline until it reaches the ice plug.

Then hot water is poured into the smaller pipe. Cold water will flow in the gap between the smaller and larger pipes. This water can be used, it is heated and re-filled into the system. It is necessary for the ice plug to thaw. As the ice plug gets smaller, you need to push the smaller pipe further.

If the plumbing has sharp bends, then a rigid hose can be used. A simple irrigation hose will not work for this, because it will soften from the hot water and cannot be pushed further. Therefore, you can use an oxygen hose that serves gas cylinders. It has sufficient rigidity, but it can only be extended 15 m from the inlet. It is difficult to move through the pipeline, since it is too heavy.

The first way

How to defrost a pipe correctly? If the pipe has 2-3 turns and is frozen 20 m from the house, a more effective technique can be applied.

Materials and tools:

• Esmarch's irrigator;
• hardened steel wire 2 mm;
• construction hydraulic level.

First, the pipe of the hydraulic level is leveled, with its help the steel wire is leveled. Then the end of the wire is screwed with electrical tape to the hydraulic level. The end of the wire can be bent for greater strength. It is necessary that the wire does not stick out and the end of the tube protrudes 1 cm in front of it. After that, the hydro level is connected with the other end to Esmarch's mug. The wire and tube are pushed into the water pipe until they reach the ice plug.

The hydraulic level tube is small in diameter and light in weight. Therefore, it easily passes through the pipeline and overcomes all bends. After that, the water is heated and fed into the pipeline using the Esmarch mug. Place the bucket under the water pipe. How much hot water is poured in, the same amount of cold water comes out of the pipeline. The wire and tube are pushed as the ice plug melts. This kind of work takes a long time. It takes 1 hour for 1 m of the frozen system. Therefore, in order to defrost 6 m of pipe, you need to work all day. Pour at least 10 liters of hot water. Then the tube is pushed through. This method is often applied in practice and leads to positive results.

Method two

Materials and tools:

• two-core copper wire;
• plug for the socket;
• fuel hose for diesel engines with a diameter of 8 mm;
• compressor.

They take a two-core copper wire and remove the insulation from it. Of the two wires inside, one is exposed, and the other is bent along the wire in the opposite direction. Then 5 turns are made with a bare wire at the very edge of the wire. Then, at a distance of 3 mm from the end of the turns, another wire is exposed and wound in the same way. It is necessary to ensure that the wires do not touch each other. Otherwise, a short circuit may occur.

Attach a plug to the other end of the wire. This is how a warming device is made. When the device is turned on, a current flows through the water. As a result, a reaction occurs and a significant amount of heat is released. During the operation of the device, only water heats up, and the wires do not heat up. Due to this, the penetration of the plastic pipeline cannot occur.

It is necessary to push the wire into the pipe until it rests against the ice plug, it is not necessary to press hard so that it does not bend. After that, plug the device into a power outlet and press on the wire. The warming-up process begins. You can then select the excess water by the compressor to spend less time heating the water. The product will be defrosted after a long enough time. The twisted pipe is sometimes warmed up for several days.

After the pipe is defrosted, care must be taken to ensure that it does not freeze again. For this it is necessary that a certain volume of water constantly passes through it. Therefore, you need to turn on the tap more often and use more water. Leave a thin stream of water in the water supply overnight. As long as the water flows through the pipes, the risk of re-freezing is reduced.

To avoid freezing of water in the pipeline, when laying pipes, it is necessary to place them at a depth that is below the level of soil freezing. After laying, the pipeline must be insulated. Then the pipes will not freeze in winter.

It is carried out with violations, which in winter leads to freezing of pipes and the inability to use water.

The following leads to violations in water supply:

• the location of the pipeline outside the house above the ground or above the level of freezing in the ground;
• lack of water supply insulation;
• errors in the installation of the water supply system.

Note! Before defrosting a water pipe, you need to take into account what material it is made of, and where exactly the frozen area is located: indoors or outdoors. Depending on this, the methods for defrosting the pipe and, accordingly, the tools used will differ.

Plastic plumbing

It is necessary to proceed with extreme caution when defrosting a water supply system from plastic pipes. Methods for defrosting pipes may vary depending on the location of the frozen area.

Note! The defrosting of the ice plug must be started from the side of the tap.

The water supply section located directly in the building can be defrosted as follows:

Note! Warming up should be started first with cold water to avoid cracking the plastic pipe.

When defrosting the water supply system at home, it is necessary to exclude damage to the system due to the steam arising in the pipe during the defrosting process. To do this, you need to open the tap and watch when water flows from it.

Defrosting plastic pipes outside the home depends on whether they are laid above the ground or in the ground. In the latter case, you must provide full access to them. Defrosting can be carried out in the same way as indoors - using hot water and electrical appliances.

A special heating cable can be used to thaw pipes from the outside. To do this, you need to wrap it with foil, wind the heating cable on top and cover it with insulation - this will take quite a long time.

If the frozen area is located inconveniently, it is recommended to depressurize the water supply and thaw it by introducing hot water inside. For this you may need a mug of Esmarch. Simultaneously with the supply of hot water to the pipe, it is necessary to use a steel rod to insert it into the water supply system and break through the ice plug.

Metal pipes

There are several more ways to defrost a metal water pipe. Indoors, you can use the same methods as for plastic pipes:

1. Thawing with rags and hot water;
2. Defrosting with a building hair dryer;
3. Defrosting with electrical appliances.

Outside, you can use not only all of the above methods, including the heating cable, but also special devices - a propane burner or a defrosting device.

When using a propane burner, precautions must be taken to prevent a fire hazard. For example, when treating a frozen section of a water pipe on one side, it is necessary to put a metal plate on the back side.

For metal pipes, the use of an apparatus is suitable, with the help of which a current is supplied that can break through and eliminate the ice plug.

Note! Each of the methods for defrosting the water pipe is quite laborious, therefore, even during installation, you need to take care of the timely insulation of the water supply, both indoors and out.

Video

For instructions on defrosting a water pipe using hot water, see below:

Failure of a water supply or heating system in winter is a sad and terrible situation. Terrible, because the residents can freeze themselves and be left without water. And sad, because the restoration of the pipeline will require hard work, which, moreover, will be carried out on the street. But not everything is as hopeless as it might seem.
Of course, it is easier to heat sewer pipes than water pipes. After all, boiling water that is poured into the sewer will be excreted naturally. But the water, which is used to heat the water supply system, enters the pit or well, from where it has to be pumped out.

It is necessary to defrost the water supply as early as possible, then the water flow will be restored. In addition, if you delay with defrosting, pipes can burst, but this is already a real disaster.

Water pipe rescue

Before starting the restoration work, the water supply should be disconnected from the general line by shutting off the valve. In order to start defrosting, you need to prepare some tools:

• buckets,
• kettle,
• hose,
• basin (preferably a few),
• rags,
• heating devices (gas or electric stove, boiler),
• gas cutting,
• blowtorch
• foil,
• insulation,
• heating cable.

If all this is available, you can get down to business.

First, we determine in which area the congestion has formed. Then you have to dig it up (since the pipe is obviously located underground) and remove the insulation from it.

The pipe burst from freezing

Methods for heating pipes

There are several ways to heat a water pipe.

• Hot water is often used for this. The frozen section of the pipe is wrapped with rags, other rags are placed under it (they will absorb the flowing water), and then boiling water is poured onto the pipe from the kettle. From time to time it is necessary to reheat the water. It is poured until the problematic section of the pipe is warmed up. This method is usually used if the frozen area is in the house.

Sometimes it is possible to bring hot water into the pipe itself; for this, a flexible hose is used. If the pipe is very long, it is convenient to start defrosting from the water supply side.

• A water pipe that is underground on the street can be warmed up with an open flame. To do this, you must have a blowtorch, a welding heating pad, or at least a torch (a lit stick or branch). A metal sheet should be placed under the pipe, which will deflect the flame from those structures that can ignite. Then they begin to drive the pipe with fire, starting from the side from which the water is supplied. This way you can warm up many pipes, but not plastic - it can melt itself.
• If the house has a hair dryer (household or technical), then you can use it to save the pipe. In this case, a "sleeve" of film or other dense material is created over the frozen area. Hot air is pumped into this space with a hairdryer. After a while, the pipe should warm up. This method is also suitable for plastic pipes.

However, a heating cable is considered an ideal tool for warming plastic pipes.

How do you use it?

First, the plastic pipe should be tightly wrapped with aluminum foil - plain or adhesive (see). Then attach the heating cable by wrapping it around the pipe in a spiral. So that the cable itself is not damaged, the pitch of the spiral must be at least 8 cm. The cable is attached to the pipe with tape, then the cable sensor, which triggers the automatic shutdown, is reinforced - it must be firmly pressed against the pipe. On top of the entire resulting structure, you need to lay insulation (mineral wool or any other). You can plug the cable into the network.

• It happens that water freezes in a well. In this case, you can lay the heating cable there too. This is usually done underground, with the cable running under the pipe.
• If the pipe is frozen in water, then to warm it up, it is enough to heat the wall. This can also be done with a regular hairdryer. Such a remedy is very simple and in some cases very effective.

Using the welding machine

It turns out that a welding machine can not only join metal surfaces. He also copes well with frozen pipes. It is enough to attach the welding wire to the ends of the area that is frozen (to one plus, to the other minus), turn on the device for 30 seconds, then wait 10 seconds and turn it on again.

In this case, the welding current should be small, in the region of 100 amperes; if this does not work, the amperage can be increased.

It is clear that the pipe mentioned here must be metal. After all, plastic does not conduct current.
This method, however, practically does not help if the pipe has a large diameter or the freezing area is too long.

HDPE pipes

This material is quite new in our market. HDPE is low pressure polyethylene. This material can withstand high pressure (up to 10 atmospheres), does not corrode, and most importantly, it practically does not freeze.

HDPE is an excellent solution, especially for areas with harsh climates.

What not to do

• When the pipes freeze, some try to solve this problem with metal or metal wire. However, this is unlikely to be beneficial, since the ice plug is very hard and durable, in addition, its length can be rather big.
• No need to pour boiling water directly into the pipe. Instead, you should take a metal-plastic pipe with a smaller diameter and shove it into the one you want to defrost. Boiling water is poured into this pipe, and cold water from the cork will flow into the gap between the inner and outer pipes. This water can be collected, heated and poured again, because there is often not enough water for repairs (the water supply is blocked by a plug).

This method helps if the failed section is straight.

If the pipe has bends, then a rigid and flexible oxygen hose should be pushed into it.

But taking a regular watering machine is a bad idea, since it is too soft and becomes unusable from hot water - it becomes impossible to promote it inside.

The problem of how to defrost water in pipes is solved quickly and professionally: with knowledge of the reasons and effective methods of defrosting.

Freezing of water in pipes occurs in such cases:

• too low temperatures;
• insufficient depth of pipe laying (the correct depth of pipe laying should be 1.5 - 2 meters, that is, below the level of ground freezing);
• poor-quality insulation or its complete absence;
• low water consumption: its stagnation in cold pipes contributes to freezing.

Considering this when laying or, in the kitchen and outside, you can avoid such troubles.

Features of defrosting pipes laid in different places

1. Accessible pipes can be defrosted with a regular hairdryer.

1. It is much more difficult with frozen water pipes laid in the ground.
   If the water is frozen at the inlet, heating the wall will help. This is the most affordable solution to the problem of how to defrost frozen pipes.
2. Pipes located 10 - 20 meters from the house must be defrosted taking into account their material.

• It is easy to defrost a metal pipe by connecting to different ends of its welding machine. Electric current will solve the problem depending on the length of the pipe in 2 hours.
• It is impossible to defrost a plastic pipe using a welding machine: the plastic does not conduct current.
  And now the use of HDPE pipes is very popular, that is, from low-pressure polyethylene. It perfectly withstands frost, pressure up to 10 atmospheres and does not corrode.
  It is also impossible to break through the ice with a steel wire: as a rule, the length of the frozen section is more than 3 meters. So, you need to melt the ice with hot water. There are several ways how to defrost water in a plastic pipe.

Defrosting in a straight pipe section

It is impossible to simply pour hot water into the pipe - after all, hot water will not penetrate to the ice block inside the pipe. How to defrost a water pipe? To do this, take a metal-plastic tube of a smaller diameter, and push it all the way into the ice.

Then you need to pour boiling water into it. Cold water will flow out in the gap between the pipes. At the same time, the water flowing into the gap can be heated and poured again - after all, in such cases there is always not enough water due to the lack of its supply to the house. When the ice melts, push the pipe further.

Defrosting pipes with bends

If freezing occurs in a pipe with bends or bends, a sufficiently rigid oxygen hose is used. A light watering hose is unsuitable for this method: hot water will soften it and cannot be pushed through.

If a frozen pipe has several turns, bends or layering at different levels, then the question of how to defrost the pipes can be successfully solved by effective and affordable improvised means.

This is a steel, hardened wire with a diameter of 2 mm or more and the presumably required length, a building hydrotechnical level of the same size and an Esmarch mug - an enema or a large funnel, since it will take a lot and for a long time to fill it.

• The steel wire, as well as the hydraulic level tube, must be aligned and screwed, bending the end of the wire with a loop for rigidity, to the level with insulating tape.
  Let the end of the tube protrude 1 cm in front of the wire - the wire does not stick out, does not scratch the tube and does not slow down from this when moving forward.
• At the other end, attach the level tube to the Esmarch mug and push the wire and tube into the tube until they hit the ice.
  Since the diameter of the level tube is smaller than the diameter of the water pipe, and besides, it is very flexible, therefore the spring tube easily passes through the pipe, overcoming any turns.
• Then, to quickly solve the problem of how to quickly defrost the pipe, we pour very hot water into Esmarch's medical mug or funnel, and put a bucket under the water pipe: after all, how much hot water we fill, so much will pour into a bucket of cold water. You must first fill up to 10 liters of hot water, and only then push the pipe further.
• As the ice melts, gradually push the tube with the wire.

• To speed up the solution to the question of how to quickly defrost pipes, ordinary kitchen salt dissolved in hot water will help. The solution must be very concentrated - we do not regret salt.
  This method is the most effective, works great and has been repeatedly used even by professionals in the case of an ambulance, and the costs are minimal.

Having successfully solved the problem of how to defrost a pipe in the ground, it is necessary to ensure an abundant flow of water: let water constantly flow from the tap in a thin stream.

This will prevent new freezing, because the ground around the pipe is frozen and the possibility of a repetition of the trouble is not excluded.

• In the summer, you will have to protect the pipes from freezing by properly covering it with plates of extruded polystyrene foam or other insulation: glass wool, mineral wool, and so on.

Defrosting small diameter plastic pipe

The question of how to defrost ice in a plastic pipe, besides of a small diameter (20 mm), in which water freezes more often than in large ones, can be solved in an original way.

But only with the participation of a professional electrician.

• Connect the two-core copper wire to the plug for the outlet.
• If the length of the water supply system is up to 40 meters, it is advisable to use an automobile compressor and an automobile fuel hose with a diameter of 8 mm to blow out all the thawed water from the pipe. You can use a pump instead of a compressor.
• Next, remove the insulation (top) from the wire, then strip one wire, and gently bend the other with insulation along the wire in the opposite direction. Then, with a bare wire at the very edge of the wire, we make up to 5 turns tight to each other, remove the extra end.
• Having stepped back from the wound turns of the first wire 3 mm, we expose the second wire and wind it in the same way. The main thing is that these wires do not touch or short-circuit. By the way, for heating pipes, this method of defrosting is dangerous and unacceptable.
• Then, at the opposite end, we attach a plug to the wire and the device is ready. The popular name of the resulting device is "burbulator". When a current passes through the water, a huge amount of heat is released in the pipe.
  The main advantage of the device is that the wires remain cold, and only frozen water heats up, which prevents even accidental melting of the plastic pipe.
• Before using, we test the device in a basin of water. If bubbles come from the contacts and a sound is heard corresponding to a hum, then the device is working. Caution: voltage! Turn it off.
• Now you can push the wire into the pipe until it reaches the ice. We press lightly so that the wire does not bend. Therefore, in this case, a thick wire section is better for defrosting.
• Then we turn on the "burbulator" into the socket, slightly pressing on the wire so that the device is located directly at the frozen place. After about a minute, we will press harder on the wire, and it will gradually fall into the pipe.
• After 1.5 meters, it is necessary to blow out the excess water with a compressor in order to speed up the process. After all, there is no need to heat the thawed water, and it will not begin to freeze again in the thawed sections at the beginning of the pipe.

In winter, quite often people are faced with the fact that water pipes can freeze during severe frosts. 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.

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. Recently, however, 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

Here it is worth noting 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 of the hydraulic level tube should extend beyond the wire by 1 cm. The second 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). Utilities in such situations recommend waiting for the thaw - but this is not an option.

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 dealing with electrical current, strict safety precautions are required to avoid 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 retreated from this place 2-3 mm, 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 into 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 comes into contact with the ice. Next, turn on the device for a couple of minutes and wait until the ice begins to melt. After that, you need to turn off the device and try to move the wire further. In a similar way, we first defrost one meter of water supply.

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 tap 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. Consequently, near the foundation, beams or grillages, pipes will freeze 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 water 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. 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 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. For 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.