Frozen "Frost Free" Water Hydrant

[Willow Valley Ranch]

Hello All! We have a "frost free" water hydrant under a cattle water fountain (which appears to be frozen). It is supplied by a 1" plastic pipe from another water fountain 200' away. That fountain works, the heat elements in the "frozen" fountain are working. So it appears to be frozen underground. Any suggestions or tips on thawing this line out without digging it up? Thanks! Please Help, calving season is just around the corner & we need this fountain!

 

[Jalopy]

Is the Frost Free Hydrant in a vertical tile with space around it? if so it may just be frozen at the very bottom where the water line makes the elbow to come up and a five gallon dosing of hot water down the tile may thaw it out. If is surrounded by soil is it possible to remove the head of the hydrant and fill the standpipe with hot water? I have had better luck using hot water than heaters over the years. Of course I am assuming that your pipe is buried below the frost line in your area. I hope for your sake you don't have to dig it up. Good Luck with getting it thawed.

 

[Willow Valley Ranch]

Thanks for the reply,
The hydrant comes up thru a cement pad in which the waterer is mounted to. How do you go about taking off the head of the hydrant????

 

[Hunny Do Ranch]

We have the frost free ones on the house. Hubby insisted. Well they are frozen and leaking :frowns: Well maybe next time he will listen. If it ain't broke DON'T fix it.

 

[cowsrus]

I wouldn't advise trying to remove the head on a frozen faucet without thawing it first. The hydrant may not be draining back down when you shut it off. Not sure if your talking about a free standing "freeze proof hydrant" or one thats inside a cattle waterer. Also where are the heating tapes located?

 

[Willow Valley Ranch]

Greetings!
It is a free standing "freeze proof hydrant" that is located inside the cattle waterer. The heat tapes are around the above ground portion of the hydrant. Thanks! for your imput!

 

[pdfangus]

I must confess that I am confused.

Hydrant to me is a pipe with a shutoff valve.

frost free hydrant has a shutoff vlave that works a mechanism which should be below the frost line and the hydrant drains empty when off.

Frost free trough has a float valve in an insulated body and a ground tube to tap earth heat to help keep water from freezing.

which do you have and where is it frozen?

 

[Willow Valley Ranch]

Hello,
It is a frost free hydrant that will drain back when you shut it off. However we put a cattle water fountain above the hydrant, the water fountain has heating elements on the inside of it to keep the above ground pipe from freezing. It does not seem to be frozen above ground. We had -38 temps with -50 wind chills I think the pipe that comes up to the fountain froze below the ground.
Hope that helps to explain what we have

 

[pdfangus]

WOW

That cold it is supposed to be froze.

If you have metal pipes you could try an arc welder. Many years ago we used one to thaw a frozen line under ground. Not easy but it can be done.

Hardest part is digging up the line without busting it so you can hook the clamp.

 

[glesamiz]

If the hydrant is exposed a propane weed burner works great. I do this 10 times a year. It may take a lot more heat than you think. Interestingly I've never damaged the PVC pipe that feeds ot.


g lesamiz

 

[luckefarm]

When my hydrant froze over the winter the neighbor told me to pour a bucket of hot water slowly over the top and it freed right up

 

[DiamondSCattleCo]

"That cold it is supposed to be froze."

<chuckle> Not when properly installed they certainly won't. We have frost free hydrants here, and -40F weather doesn't affect them in the least.

Thawing it will be a bit of a challenge in that cold. I had one improperly installed here, but it froze in the upper half, so pouring hot water over it thawed it out right away. I'd try it, because if you're down below your frost line, I'd have trouble believing that it froze down low. You may also want to put hot water in a squeeze bottle and force water up the spout and down the tube. As someone mentioned, unscrewing the head will likely damage the valve down in the ground.

This summer I suspect you'll need to pull that hydrant. Either the drain back valve is non-functional, or the hydrant wasn't installed properly. These hydrants need to have coarse gravel or rocks around the drain back valve so the water has someplace to go. It doesn't drain back to the water line, but rather "leaks" out to the surrounding soil. If the soil is too compacted, the drain back won't occur quick enough and the hydrant will freeze part way down. The drain back also must be installed below the frost line.

Good luck. Nothing worse than water problems at -30 or -40. Had the bulls get mad at one of my water bowls this year at -40 and they tore it all apart. That was a miserable job.

Rod

 

[Willow Valley Ranch]

Thanks! for all the tips. The problem finally fixed itself, the temp. finally rose to 70 above! I will need to dig it up before fall and fix the problem once and for all! Thanks Again!

 

[Tod Dague]

Thanks! for all the tips. The problem finally fixed itself, the temp. finally rose to 70 above! I will need to dig it up before fall and fix the problem once and for all! Thanks Again!

Wow! if the cold don't kill ya the temp change should! There is no way I could live there!