Frozen line - OK to leave power on?

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LeBlanc

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I have a frozen pipe between my well head at my northern Michigan house. We visit only a few times during the winter, and I always shut off power to the pump, open all faucets, and keep the heat on its lowest setting.

The feed line extends about 15 feet from the well casing to where it enters the house within a crawl space. No doubt it is buried too shallow, and I will insulate and install heat tape this spring.

Though it has frozen in the past, it has always thawed as the crawl space heated when we turned the heat up. Last night and today, that's not working. They've had down to minus -35 degrees over the past 2 weeks.

My neighbor leaves his pump on, turns the heat up, and waits until water flows (usually 12 hours or so). Is it ok to leave power to the pump on when the line is frozen?

I've been turning power on for a few moments every few hours with no luck. The neighbor says if I leave power to the the pump on, eventually it'll push the ice. While I don't believe that, I'm more concerned that leaving the pump power on that I might damage the pump.

Thoughts?

And as for wrapping the 2" feed line with heat tape and burying it underground, any advice? It will still be too shallow because of how the original owners had it configured, but hopefully the heat tape will assist.

Thank you.
 

JoshRountree

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I would think that leaving the power to the pump on while the line is frozen will cause the pump to burn out. Moving water is the primary purpose of the pump, but it also cools the pump. Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but I would leave the power off until you get the line unfrozen, turning it on every so often to see if the line is clear is okay though.
 

Reach4

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It is not OK to run a submersible pump continuously into a blockage. You did not say you have a submersible pump.
 

Cacher_Chick

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That would be much like parking your car with it's bumper up against an immovable object, setting a brick on the gas pedal, and then waiting until something happens.
 

LeBlanc

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Sorry for my incomplete question.

It is a submersible pump in a 290 foot well. And I have not allowed the power to remain on. It sounded wrong, and I appreciate that you folks validated my concern.

Any suggestions regarding burying a heat tape line? It would range from about 4 feet deep at the well pit, to less than a foot deep where it meets the house.

Thank you.
 

JoshRountree

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Sorry for my incomplete question.

It is a submersible pump in a 290 foot well. And I have not allowed the power to remain on. It sounded wrong, and I appreciate that you folks validated my concern.

Any suggestions regarding burying a heat tape line? It would range from about 4 feet deep at the well pit, to less than a foot deep where it meets the house.

Thank you.

This is an opinion, so take it for what it's worth, but I wouldn't bury a heat tape line. If you're going to the trouble of digging up the existing line I would bury it below the frost line, if that's not an option I would add insulation.
 

Craigpump

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Insulation won't be worth a damn after it gets wet.

Dig it up and get the line below frost.

And yes, leaving a pump running against a frozen line for extended periods is not good for the pump. The pump needs to move water I order to properly cool and lubricate
 

Reach4

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You should also get a pitless adapter to move the water below the frost line, unless you have a pit that does that already.
 
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