Possible frozen lines, no pressure in tank though.

[AllIwant4XmasIsH2O]

I'm going crazy! My husband is out of town and I've tried to handle this stuff by myself but I'm not having any luck and I can't get ahold of my neighbor. I think the pipes froze last night, thanks to our 9 degree weather, so I got a heat lamp out and set it to thaw out part of our line where I thought it may be frozen...5 hrs ago. Still no water. I went to the basement (heated) to see if the the blue pressure tank had water in it...it doesn't and I noticed there is no pressure in the tank. I checked the fuse box and all is fine there. Being that there is no water in the tank and it's possible my lines are still frozen somewhere should there be any pressure in the pressure tank??? Could that be my problem? Thank you for your time!!!

~All I want for Xmas is water

Edited to add: I went back to check well line coming from pump and I can feel a vibration in it, not sure what that is from. I have all faucets on in the house, in hopes that will help. I have an air compressor that I can use to put air in the pressure tank(I think the correct term is the bladder???) if needed but I have no idea if that's the problem. Dang I'm in over my head. Please help.

 

[Valveman]

Turn off the pump quick. A frozen line before the pressure tank will burn up your pump. Thaw out the line, then turn on the pump. If water doesn't come out in a couple of minutes, turn off the pump again.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Gary Slusser]

The pressure gauge on the tank should read 0 when there is no water in it. You would need to check the air pressure in the tank to see that pressure. And there won't be a problem with that if things were working right before the freeze.

The frozen spot is in the line from the well to the tank. The vibration was the submersible pump in the well running. In the future, when you don't have water, immediately shut off the power to the pump, at the circuit breaker panel box.

Hopefully there is no leak in the line ahead of the frozen spot. Removing the well casing cap and listening for water spraying can usually tell you if you have a broken line above the water level in the well. And you can't have a broken line below the water level without that water being frozen in the well unless the break happened without the line being frozen.

 

[AllIwant4XmasIsH2O]

Mr. Valveman and Mr. Slusser,

Thank you both 100x over!!! I never knew to turn off the power to the pump if the lines freeze! Thank you so much for that valuable info! I woke up at 1 am to water running in the house, before I saw the posts here but I will make a note at the pressure tank and inside the well house that if lines freeze to turn off the pump! Great info guys, thank you so very much! You've probably saved our pump and saved us thousands in repair bills! *big bear hugs*

 

[Gary Slusser]

Good for you, now you get to wish for something else for Christmas.

You might want a bit of heat in the well house too. like a light bulb down by the floor but not close enough to anything to overheat it and start a fire. Or have the mice playing with it. And don't leave faucets open with no water when you go to bed.. maybe the cold water in the tub a teeny bit open; you don't want the septic system full.