Doing the "rounds" at home this afternoon I found that our outside tap is well and truly frozen up and that the (15mm copper) pipe has split. Good job I found it while it's still frozen.
In previous years I have isolated the outside taps and simply left them turned on and never had a problem. This week I forgot.
The repair is easy (but I'll wait for a warmer day).
Q. Would I be doing myself any favours by changing the offending pipe segment to Hep2O, or MDPE?
DIn message , Vortex5 writes
*Standpipes* are not normally damaged by frost.Non return valves and pipes running down to the tap excepted.
There are 6 scattered round my yards mostly going through an overnight freeze up followed by a daytime thaw. Sometimes encouraged by the odd kettle of hot water.
What is special about yours?
regards
If it has an integral non-return valve, that's probably buggered too. Nowadays, the non-return valve has to be inside, for this reason.
Yes; plastic stretches more and is less likely to split, although it can be split by frost under some circumstances.
Vortex5 wibbled on Sunday 03 January 2010 20:23
Plastic will survive freezing but the joints may not (pushing off instead).
How about wrapping it up well with some trace heating tape along the pipe?
Nothing special.
Pipe come through the wall, and goes up about 500mm to a bib c*ck.
It's been frozen plenty of times, this is the first time I've ever seen a split.
Will slip a length of Armaflex over it when I reassemble, and wait and see!
D
The double check valve I fitted inside on our outside tape feed didn't survive the pipe freezing and pushing apart a joint...
This thread has just remined me I haven't isolated said outside tap and turned it on. Probably too late now, it's hardly been above freezing for the last 3 weeks...
I read your post, so a little while later I thought to be safe I'll pop outside and see how my garden tap is doing. What I have been doing now for several winters is place an old plastic washing up bowl over the tap, securing it in place with a bungy rope. I removed the bowl and turned the tap. Only a trickle or two came out! Oh, dear, perhaps my pipe is frozen. But no, soon after, the trickle turned into a stream.
However, for added protection I got a length of bubble wrap and wound it quite loosely around the tap and pipe stub where it comes through the wall, fixing it with a rubber band. Then I replaced the washing up bowl. The outside temperature while I was doing all this was -3 deg Celsius.
MM
In message , Vortex5 writes
I have just finished reinstating the water supply to our florists.
Mostly underground but one section, through an unheated barn, is clipped to an outside wall. All insulated with Armaflex.
Trace heating is the answer but not cheap if done properly.
Perhaps your pipe partly melted and then re-froze.
regards
Interesting.
Actually the tap concerned is on an exterior wall, with a heated room behind it.
Cavity is insulated but I am sure if I prop some kind of box over the whole thing, against the wall heat radiated from the house will do the rest.
I just need a suitable box.
My setup is pretty much the same (cavity wall, tap on exterior wall), except that the room (an annexe with the washing machine and a sink) is not heated, well, for frost-protection only. Temperature in the annexe right now is probably around 10 deg C.
MM
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