some of my pipes are frozen

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tagteamcomputing

Gold Supporter
Feb 7, 2017
252
Tulsa, OK
I turned my skimmer off because my water was low and it got really cold. I have filled the pool back up but now one of my skimmer lines and my spa return line wont open. I am sure it is because some water froze there. Should I put a tarp over my equipment and put a space heater under there to thaw it? It is not supposed to get above freezing until Sunday and it is only Friday here.

My pump is still flowing water. Actually I have two of them, one for the spa and one for the pool. So they are both running, I just know that some sections of the pipe where the water doesnt constantly flow are probably frozen.

It is supposed to stay cold for the next week so it is not just a problem for today.
 
some people use a drop light to provide heat for that ...

100 watt bulb under a tarp is often enough to keep temps above freezing
 
Definitely do something. If the valve is already frozen it won't be long until the ice pressure causes serious issues. A tarp over it with heat and/or some cool water running over the pipe/valve until it thaws? Try to get the water to flow some and problems will be reduced or eliminated.
 
As an update to those that helped and for anyone else having this problem:

I bought a heavy duty tarp and built a wooden frame to hang it over all my pool equipment. I then put a work light under there focused on one of the pipes I was trying to thaw. I put a remote thermostat in there and waited for about 4 hours. The temperature outside was at or around freezing but it was about 50 degrees inside my cover. However, after 4 hours I still couldn't move the valve. So I ended up just taking the valves of and sure enough the water right by the valve was frozen but not much else. First i poured some hot water on it but that took took many trips with the kettle and I thought it might cause some problems so I stopped and just shot it with the hose with regular water. That worked really well and I got rid of the frozen water pretty fast. I lubed the orings and put the valve back together and everything is working fine.

Yesterday, it was below freezing outside but inside my covered area by the pool equipment it never got below 37 and no ice formed. So the tarp seems to work great to keep things from getting too cold. When the pump is not running it is usually a few degrees warmer in there than outside, plus now wind chill, and when the pump is running it is several degrees warmer in there than outside.

Thanks for the help.
 
If the blanket is not touching the equipment, then the insulating value of the blanket will be close to the same, wet or dry.

There will be some heat loss to the evaporation of the water in the blanket as your air temperature will be higher on one side of the blanket over the other, but it should be minimal.

Hope that helps --
 
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