FML

[Red Squirrel]

AGAIN this year my hose burst! WTF?

This one was professionally installed too and I did exactly as was told to do. Disconnect hose, leave it turned on, close the valve, drain the little plug.

Going to be time for some more drastic measures. Maybe a little heater or a wire coil around it with a couple watts of current.


I'm just glad I noticed this now, and not in spring when I go to use it.

 

[darkxshade]

FYL!

 

[Howard]

Is that hose, or is it tubing?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Well that's for the outside hose, so technically it's a hose spigot and not a hose, bad title. Not sure how water even got in there. It was completely dry and I let it drain.

 

[Dirigible]

I see the problem. You live in a place that gets very cold. Rectify that one little issue and your bursting hose troubles will be behind you for good.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Meh even at -38 degrees that should not be happening. The one on the north side of the house is fine, not sure why the south one keeps doing that.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

does the pipe slope down as it run outside? looks like it may be at a slight angle sloping back towards the valve, leaving water in there and allowing it to freeze.

 

[SandEagle]

bro, stop wasting all your time and money on these useless hose. move to warmer climates.

 

[spaceman]

i like ya squirrel, u got alot of color
ive always thought so
:3

 

[dank69]

does the pipe slope down as it run outside? looks like it may be at a slight angle sloping back towards the valve, leaving water in there and allowing it to freeze.

Well if it slopes back to the valve it should have all drained out the plug. Only explanation is that water is getting in there after you drain, either slow leak from valve or from outside. You could try leaving the plug cap off all winter and see when/if water comes out of it.

 

[SagaLore]

That is a copper pipe INSIDE and it still burst?



Maybe insulate the pipe all the way up? Create a little insulted box and cover up the spigot on the outside?

 

[JTsyo]

Disconnect the hose from the spigot and leave the spigot open (water off of course). This way when the water in the pipe freezes, it has a place to expand.

Wouldn't insulating the pipe inside make it worse? Since it's warm inside, the insulation would only make the heat transfer to the pipe slower. Insulation on hot water pipes help slow the loss of heat to the cooler air.

 

[K1052]

Disconnect the hose from the spigot and leave the spigot open (water off of course). This way when the water in the pipe freezes, it has a place to expand.

Wouldn't insulating the pipe inside make it worse? Since it's warm inside, the insulation would only make the heat transfer to the pipe slower. Insulation on hot water pipes help slow the loss of heat to the cooler air.

Yea...you'd want to put a pipe heating cable on the pipe inside before insulating it.

 

[edro]

Wouldn't insulating the pipe inside make it worse? Since it's warm inside, the insulation would only make the heat transfer to the pipe slower. Insulation on hot water pipes help slow the loss of heat to the cooler air.

Yeah, don't insulate the pipe inside the house.
You can get those covers to help insulate the outside though.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Maybe you have a dip in the pipe there, which is allowing water to pool in the low spot. Still seems like it would expand down the pipe first before expanding outwards, if the valve at the end if actually open and allowing air out.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

The ONLY explanation is that the inside valve is leaking AND you closed the outside spigot after draining it. This is the only way I can see water getting into the pipe between the spigot and valve and creating enough pressure to burst a pipe when it freezes.

It doesn't happen on the other side because the valve isn't leaking and/or the interior room the pipe runs through is warmer.

EDIT: I will also say that soldering those valves in place after the house is finished is quite a pain because all the solder wants to run downhill and drip on the under side of the joint and it's hard to get the top of the pipe hot enough due to the lack of clearance between the pipe and the sub-flooring. This leads to not enough solder on the top sides of the joints. Those welds in your picture look suspect.

 

[Skitzer]

 

[Red Squirrel]

I'm pretty sure it slopes down as no water came out when I drained it in fall. Hose is not connected.

I think it might just be the thing of lack of air circulation and maybe it actually DOES drop below zero in the immediate location of the pipe. Ex: Pipe conducting the cold inside. I think I'll have to just go with the heat tape idea. I'll put a sensor so it only goes on when it gets cold enough. I imagine those heat tapes arn't cheap to run.

This one was installed by a pro as well. My previous one was installed by myself. Both burst. Definitely something weird going on.

 

[dank69]

The ONLY explanation is that the inside valve is leaking AND you closed the outside spigot after draining it. This is the only way I can see water getting into the pipe between the spigot and valve and creating enough pressure to burst a pipe when it freezes.

That's what I think, too. To get that kind of pressure that section must be full of water with no escape. Interior valve must be leaking and most likely outside spigot closed.

It doesn't happen on the other side because the valve isn't leaking and/or the interior room the pipe runs through is warmer.

EDIT: I will also say that soldering those valves in place after the house is finished is quite a pain because all the solder wants to run downhill and drip on the under side of the joint and it's hard to get the top of the pipe hot enough due to the lack of clearance between the pipe and the sub-flooring. This leads to not enough solder on the top sides of the joints. Those welds in your picture look suspect.

Flux will draw the solder into the joint so that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[dank69]

I'm pretty sure it slopes down as no water came out when I drained it in fall. Hose is not connected.

I think it might just be the thing of lack of air circulation and maybe it actually DOES drop below zero in the immediate location of the pipe. Ex: Pipe conducting the cold inside. I think I'll have to just go with the heat tape idea. I'll put a sensor so it only goes on when it gets cold enough. I imagine those heat tapes arn't cheap to run.

This one was installed by a pro as well. My previous one was installed by myself. Both burst. Definitely something weird going on.

The only problem is that there is water trapped where it shouldn't be. Make sure the outer spigot is open and leave it that way. When temps warm up see if you have a slow drip from the spigot.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

That's what I think, too. To get that kind of pressure that section must be full of water with no escape. Interior valve must be leaking and most likely outside spigot closed.

Flux will draw the solder into the joint so that shouldn't be a problem.

From practical experience, you should not count on shoulds.

My point was that when pipes rupture they don't. It's the joints that tend break. This just may be part of the current problem. Obviously there is another problem, but the plumber should check for leaks by shutting off all the draws in the house and checking the water meter before he leaves.

 

[dartworth]

That's what I think, too. To get that kind of pressure that section must be full of water with no escape. Interior valve must be leaking and most likely outside spigot closed.

Flux will draw the solder into the joint so that shouldn't be a problem.

Capillary action

 

[sandorski]

Could be worse. Yesterday I get up, head to the bathroom, and hear raindrops. Pretty normal when it's raining, except these raindrops are coming from the kitchen. I go there, find a puddle on the floor, and water dripping rapidly from my cupboards. The puddle grew and grew until it was in my living room, despite catching most of the water in some pots.

What happened is that the City was working on a main water line in the neighbourhood and screwed up the water pressure, causing numerous pipes in my apartment building to burst.

Fortunately nothing of mine got seriously damaged, just a few boxes that were destined for Recycling. Carpet is still wet though. My biggest worry was that I have 2 power bars that I keep on the floor, if I hadn't gotten up when i did, both would have been sitting in water.

 

[Red Squirrel]

After thinking this I think what's happening is that blue valve may be leaking slightly. Every drop of water that comes out slowly starts to go down the valve stem, but never makes it down before it freezes as the metal is conducting the cold. Over time it just created an ice dam and then accumulated too much water at the end.

This run has a small ball valve as a shut off too, so think I will need to turn it off at that valve too.

I wonder if they make air compressor quick connect fittings that go on standard pumbing fittings. I could also blow air into the lines to ensure there's not a single drop of water left.

Speaking of bad situations though I saw two plumbing company trucks at my neighbor's house. I have a feeling one of his pipes actually burst.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Could be worse. Yesterday I get up, head to the bathroom, and hear raindrops. Pretty normal when it's raining, except these raindrops are coming from the kitchen. I go there, find a puddle on the floor, and water dripping rapidly from my cupboards. The puddle grew and grew until it was in my living room, despite catching most of the water in some pots.

What happened is that the City was working on a main water line in the neighbourhood and screwed up the water pressure, causing numerous pipes in my apartment building to burst.

Fortunately nothing of mine got seriously damaged, just a few boxes that were destined for Recycling. Carpet is still wet though. My biggest worry was that I have 2 power bars that I keep on the floor, if I hadn't gotten up when i did, both would have been sitting in water.

Ouch that sucks. That was me last year in spring. As the snow on the roof started to melt it caused some huge ice dams and started to leak through. Had to get my attic ventilation fixed. Hopefully I'll be ok this year. We hard a really weird spring last year, everything melted way way way too fast.