Water Hydrant Problem

[MikePA]

We have two standard water hydrants (lift up handle) in the barn. The water line is 3 feet under ground. As cold as it's been here, the ground has been frozen and the hydrants have worked just fine.

On Friday, we got almost 2 inches of rain and the barn got a good deal of water including at the base of the hydrant we use most of the time.

This morning it doesn't work. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Lift up on the handle, the little plunger rod moves up, but no water.

My guess is that because the ground is saturated, the stand pipe can not drain and it's frozen (18 degrees F last night).

Assuming this to be correct, are there alternatives to these hydrants? Will this one start working once it un-freezes?

BTW, the other hydrant works fine.

The water line comes from our house, to the first hydrant (the one that still works) then to the second one (the one that does not work) where the line terminates.

Mike get one of those propane torches and just heat up and down on the exposed pipe. It may take 15 minutes or so but it will thaw out. To prevent this in the future we put a piece of 4" pvc pipe with a cap on it that the hydrant goes through. This way the pipe is protected and you also protect the line from getting soaked with water and freezing.

[MikePA]

Thanks, doc. I will try the torch.

Update: I tried the torch and it's working now but I have a dumb question... [img]/forums/images/icons/tongue.gif[/img] where is it best to concentrate the heat, right at ground level? There's 3 feet of pipe sticking out of the ground.

Also, I opened the spigot before I applied the heat.

About the 4" pipe, do you have a picture? Do you just slide it down and let it sit on the ground, or do you run the PVC pipe into the ground?

[MikePA]

Well, my wife called me at work and both hydrants are frozen this morning (18 degrees F last night). [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] She tried lifting the handles on both hydrants and neither would budge. Wisely, she didn't try and force them.

I think this confirms my suspicion that the ground is saturated down at the depth where the hydrant is supposed to drain. The water has no where to go so it stays in the pipe, then freezes. Guess what I will be doing when I get home from work? Yep, getting the torch out again. Day time temps in the 40s today, maybe it will thaw on its own?

I will stop and get some heat tape and wrap the pipes with that, maybe that will eliminate the morning torch routine. [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img]

Mike,

Did you put the hydrants in? If so did you put about a foot of gravel around the drain at the end of the hydrant? This lets the water drain away from the hydrant. As to the pvc we put it into the ground all the way down. This also acts as heat for the pipe. That cold ground when it's wet touching the sides of the hydrant will freeze it pretty quick.

[MikePA]

Hi doc,

No, I did not install them, but two times I've dug them out to re-attached the plastic supply line when it's detached. There's no gravel at the bottom of the hole. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

I bought a heat tape and some pipe insulation I'm going to try on the hydrant the horses can't get to, i.e., chew on.

[Chippy]

Hi Mike,

This may not be an option for you. I have a frost free hydrant. When we put it in we could only get the end of the line down about 2 feet. (we hit rock ledge). It stays pretty good until temps stay below 15 or so for a few days.

Our supply line also comes from our house. I have a shut off and drain inside the basement so I can turn off supply and drain it back when needed. It takes an extra minute to go to the basement to turn on the water before going to the barn, but I haven't had to thaw pipes since I started doing it.

I haven't run any stock the past several winters so it gets very little use when its cold anyway. Just a thought. Good luck! [img]/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

The best thing you can do to avoid frozen pipes is move to Mexico! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Its been a tough winter here!

[MikePA]

Hi Todd,
<font color="blue"> I have a shut off and drain inside the basement so I can turn off supply and drain it back when needed. </font color>
We have a shut off in our basement, too, but I hope it doesn't come to that. [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[Stoneheartfarm]

I watched while the guy installed our hydrants. He didn't use gravel either, instead he used a section of 6" PVC and set the bottom of the hydrant on top of it. Then he wrapped several layers of thick plastic over it and buried it. I asked him why and he said it provides more sump room than gravel and seems to drain better. He claims to have never had one freeze up.

Ours is buried 5' and the portion that gets plowed has 5" of foam over the plastic line.

Steve

[RichZ]

Mike, I had the exact same problem. I have two hydrants, one in the barn, and one outside, and they both were frozen. I dug down about three feet in the one in the barn and wrapped heat tape around it, and then wrapped foam around the pipe to keep the heat in. It's worked fine since then.