frozen sunp pump discarge

[pacca]

i have a 2 1/2 inch discharge hose going out side (sump pump) it is frozen,cant empty sump ,i guess i have to wait until spring,it is now raining in Wisconsin,hate winter!!!!

[philoÂÂ]

I'm in Wisconsin also and it's 34 here so it should not take much to thaw the pipe. Possibly all you need is a hair drier.

[Stormin Mormon]

Man, that sounds rough.

[TomR]

There is usually a way to set up the 2 1/2 inch discharge so that it can't freeze. A couple of photos may help and allow people to give better feedback or suggestions. But, my guess is that you won't be writing back or responding to what anyone here writes or suggests.

[Stormin Mormon]

Be interesting to see. Needs a bit more pitch, so the discharge doesn't collect water.

[trader4]

Probably right that we won't be hearing back. Not sure what the point was. And 2 1/2" discharge? Must be one hell of a sump pump. If it's frozen, easiest thing to do is buy one of the flex ones that only cost a few bucks at HD and use that temporarily.

[Stormin Mormon]

I did get a flex discharge hose one time. The usual sump pipe at my parents house clogged, and Dad drilled a hole through the sill plate to run the hose out to the next door driveway. * We needed two lengths, but I got the last one we could find any where.

After that, I bought a 1/2 HP sump from Harbor freight, and adaptors to 75 feet of inch and half blue line. Dad never had any trouble with the sump after that.

I did use the pump once, on a totally unrelated task. I still have it, which is likely why the sump at parents house has been fine.

• Neighbor said it was OK, the water was all going towards the street, and no animals were harmed.

[micky]

Depending on your situation, I might not want to wait. What does the pipe do after it exists your house. Mine stops, and then there is some

4" corrugated flexible black pipe that goes underground and out at the edge of the hilll, just past my property lilne.

So if mine were frozen, I could use an electrict drill with a 1/2" bit to drill a half-inch hole in the horizontal part of the ice. Once the hole went th rough the ice, the pump would liquid water though tthe hole and gradually make the hole bigger.

I might continuouslly fill the sump from the basement sink if I thought it was going to freeze again before the hole was full size. Though if it's raining now, it's not going to freeze except maybe at night when it gets colder.

How would a flex hose help?

Well, mine is 2". It's in the basement and has to lift the water 8 feet to get to the horizonatal discharge part. It will never freeze becaue they didn't bother to put a check-valve, so right after the pump stops, the discharge pipe empties, except what's below the water line in the sump. I never thought this lack of a check valve was a good thing until now.

[hrhofmann]

n,cant empty sump ,i guess i have to wait until spring,it is now raining in Wisconsin,hate winter!!!!

I installed a "WYE" in the line going from my pump to my outside discharge line that is above ground for about a foot before it goes uunderground. T he branch on the Y has a shutoff valve before it goes through the sill plat e at the same height as the main discharge line. The alternate line goes a bout 10 feet from the house and then diischarges above the ground into a dr ainage swale the goes away from the house. The shutoff is normally closed and the discharge goes normally underground.

When I suspect that the main line may freeze, like when it gets below zero for a couple of nights, I open the alternate valve so that the discharge wi ll be through the alternate pipe if the main pipe freezes. The alternate p ipe is sloped sufficiently steeply enough that it drains completely before it has a chance to freeze, and the next batch of water will flush away any residual ice that might form in the pipe. Had this system for 40+ years, a lways seems to work ok, only drawback is that someone needs to be hole to o pen the valve.

[trader4]

Hook it up to the sump pump and run it out a basement window or to a drain somewhere.

Usually you have a check valve and the pipe pitching down from it's highest point in the basement. That way it self drains and the water is only left in the vertical section is inside, where it can't freeze.

[Exx-AA_Forever#742827.07]

Dont keep running the pump like that, or you might ruin the pump. Waiting till spring is not a good idea. Once the snow starts to melt, you will likely get water in the basement, and if that pipe is still frozen, you'll get a flooded basement or ruin the pump (or both).

If the hose is attached with a hose clamp, or screws on, SHUT OFF THE PUMP FIRST. Then remove the hose, and bring it on the house to thaw out. Once thawed, put it back outside but be sure it's pitched downward, and dont have sags. Duct tape it to a straight 2x4 if needed to keep it from sagging. Also be sure the discharge end is never buried under snow, because that will cause the water to backup and freeze.

If you cant remove it now (frozen in), buy some cheap black plastic sump pump pipe, or use some sections of 2" (or bigger), PVC drain pipe. Spending $20 on some pipe or another hose is much cheaper than ruining your pump and/or a flooded basement.

[bud--]

Another possibility is to temporarily pump it to a laundry tub or other sanitary drain. It is really frowned on here, but necessity is a mother.

More permanently you could put a tee where the pipe exits the house and run the pipe to the ceiling and across to a laundry tub (or whatever). Presumably the higher head to the ceiling would prevent water taking that path unless the outside drain was blocked.

[tom]

A couple times when we've had torrential extended rainstorms my main sump pump seems to be nearing max pumping and an overflow might happen. I drop a smaller pump in the pit and run flex line to washtub and eliminate any possibility of an overflow......insurance.

[micky]

I came home once and found the basement floor wet. Sump pump was running.

Went outside and sump pump was surely putting out plenty from the 2" pipe.

First and only time in 30 years, probalby 34, that the sump pump couldn't pump enough. I've been meaning to get a bigger pump, or a basepump in addition, or a battery pump in addition. Can't make up my mind. Or it may be another 30 years before it does that again.