Frozen drain pipe

frozen_2007

19 years ago

I have a mountain cabin. The temperatures have dipped and remained many degrees below zero lately. I believe the culprit is severe temperatures with very little snow. Usually the snow insulates any drafts in the crawl space. The shower will not drain. I have tried boiling water and salt. Neither has fixed the problem.

I haven't checked to see if the vent is covered with snow. I will do that when I return later this week. There is a crawl space that has always given us fits, but the past couple years has been great. Getting under there is more than an adventure and one I would rather not attempt if I don't have to.

The drain has a "Y" in it where it splits to either go to a grey water tank or if that is full it will divert to the holding tank. I am suspicious....

I will try bio friendly antifreeze this time. I am wondering if there is a tool that I can take with me to put down the drain to heat it through. The distance to either holding tank is less than about 15 feet.

Thanks in advance.

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Comments (4)

bus_driver
19 years ago
What is the material of the drain pipe? Metal, plastic? Do you know the exact type of which ever of those it is? The available thawing methods will vary somewhat depending on the piping type. If the crawl space is enclosed, a construction site "torpedo" heater probably will do the job. While some of those will burn Diesel fuel, it will smell while in operation. Kerosene K-1 burns cleaner.
frozen_2007
Original Author
19 years ago
The pipes are 2" PVC. The crawl space is very tight. I can get in only by scooting along on my back. Where the pipes are frozen it is even tighter. Is there a fire danger with either heater?
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bus_driver
19 years ago
The heater can be rented at tool rental outlets. The heater should specify the clearances to be maintained from the heater to combustible material. Be sure to follow those instructions.
coolvt
19 years ago
if you can borrow or rent a steam thawer that might be the way to go. Many small towns in the northern regions have them. It's a tank, filled with water with a propane heater under it. There will be a flexible 1/4' tubing attached. Fire it up, get steam and begin pushing the tubing down from the top or the bottom...whatever you can access. You feel a resistance and then feel the ice melt away the you will be able to push the tubing a little more. You can go through about 3' of ice in under 10 minutes.
The last one I used I borrowed from the town's water dept. It's about an $800 gadget.