Just realized my old trick for clearing a blocked line in the cold is actually a problem

I used to pour a gallon of hot water down the suction line on my 8-inch dredge when the slurry froze up, but last winter in Duluth it just made a bigger ice plug further down. Anyone have a better fix for those deep freezes?

4 comments

4 Comments

jessica3312mo agoMost Upvoted

Wait you were running an 8-inch dredge in DULUTH in the winter? That's a whole other level of cold I can't even imagine.

williams.luna2mo ago

Yeah and jessica331 you're not wrong, that cold gets into your bones in a way regular winter doesn't. I remember my gloves freezing to the steel railing once, left a patch of skin behind. Makes you wonder about the old timers who did that work without modern gear, absolute madness.

schmidt.iris2mo ago

Hold up, your glove froze to the railing and took skin with it? That's a horror story right there. Williams.luna, you just convinced me I never want to go near Duluth in winter. Thinking about guys doing that in wool coats and leather gloves makes my teeth hurt. Pure survival, not a job.

david_palmer15d ago

Wait, you poured a gallon of hot water down an 8 inch line in subzero temps? That's just asking for trouble. The water flash freezes before it even gets halfway down, and now you got a solid plug that's even harder to break up. I did something similar with a 6 inch line in Fairbanks years ago, and I had to take a propane torch to the whole thing for an hour to fix it. You need a different approach for deep freezes like that. @jessica331 you're right about that cold being a different beast, and hot water just makes it worse down the line. Best trick I've seen is using a heat tape wrapped around the suction line before you even start, but if it's already froze, try a portable steam generator or a low wattage heater aimed right at the plug for a slow melt. That way you don't shock the pipe and make a bigger mess like you did.