i live in a trailer and my pipes have frozen. every plumber i have called can't do anything until next week. here's the details: the water in the sinks won't run, but the water heater and the gas heater works can anyone help me or give advice on how to fix this problem?
2007-01-12 04:00:34 · 12 answers · asked by speed676 1 in Home & Garden ➔ Maintenance & Repairs
We had the same problem when we had our trailer. You need to go and purchase heat tapes and wrap the frozen pipes in them. Your local hardware store should have them and can give you advice on how to use them. Once we put them on our pipes, we never had another frozen pipe.
2007-01-12 04:11:56 · answer #1 · answered by ? 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Go under the trailer and make sure the pipes did not burst when they froze. If they have call the city or the county and they will come turn off water at the meter and give you the name of someone who will fix it now. If the pipes froze but did not burst and you want to save money turn on a cold water in the sink or tub just a very little bit and go under the trailer with your hair dryer and slowly heat the pipes till they thaw. Be careful not to start a fire by getting something too hot and if the pipes are plastic make sure you don't hold heat too long in one place and melt the pipe. Plastic is common under a trailer as it will swell up and not burst as often as other kinds of pipe. As soon as water starts dripping in the house (sink or tub) then stop and leave faucet on with a very slow drip whenever it gets this cold again. When warm enough outside make sure the pipes under the trailer and the skirt (the wall around the bottom of the trailer) both get insulated. Good luck and I hope this helps. Once the water starts to drip, it will thaw on it's own if you just leave it dripping for a while. See the answer from Josie 826 as that is very good advice.
2007-01-12 04:18:14 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You have to get the pipes warmed up somehow. Blow dryer can work. Once we turned it on, under and behind the skirting where the pipes need to get warm, and left it run. We placed it so it wasn't close to anything. And we kept an eye on it very close. The heat tape does work wonders. We used that too and never got froze again. Also, if you can, some people put bails of hay all around the skirting so it stays warmer under there. If you live in a park though, you'll have to check with them. Some don't allow it. That's on the outside, not behind. That could cause a fire if under and behind. Good luck.
2007-01-12 04:21:02 · answer #3 · answered by Shari 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have been doing this for years,if you have a Coleman lantern put it underneath and put the skirting back on. Make sure there is at least 6 inches over top of it to the bottom of the trailer. And check it about every 5 minutes to make sure things aren't getting to hot. Put your hand on the bottom of the trailer over the lantern to make sure it's okay that's where it will get the hottest. If you don't have a lantern shut all your registers and cover them and turn the heat up to 75,it will push some heat to your pipes but it will take awhile
2007-01-12 06:34:27 · answer #4 · answered by Larry m 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The lantern thing is good but you can buy a small propane salamander to run off your 20 lbs.BBQ tank. www.Northerntool.com sells them for about a hundred and it thaws them out quick,just keep an eye on it while using it and just put it barely under the trailer. Make sure your pipes coming into the trailer are at least insulated and your trailer is skirted
2007-01-12 06:43:56 · answer #5 · answered by lostboy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First check to see if you have enough crawl space under mobile home to access the pipes; then with hair blower de ice the elbows of all pipes and cover with heat tape;this you can get at any hardware store(Lowes or Home Depot);if temps fall below freezing turn water tapes on in kitchen sink and bathroom; turn both taps(cold & hot) till you have a med driping; this helps from freezing; we do this when tempts fall below 30s degree.
2007-01-12 04:50:11 · answer #6 · answered by spookareus 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Use hair dryer to gently warm the pipes, keep plenty of rags and buckets and waterproofing materials. Next time winterize your trailer with the liquid product additive that is rated -30 F or -50 F.
Visit your local hardware store or home improvement stores for the supplies and the additives.
2007-01-12 04:11:14 · answer #7 · answered by Mack 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
um... one thing not mentioned is if they are plastic or copper pipes. heating plastic pipes often found in mobiles can be risky.
you stand a good chance of having busted pipes once the ice melts and they do start flowing again. the heat tapes and such will work, but get the ones designed for the plastic pipes. once thawed, get insulation on them so you don't have the problem again. seems to me it is either very cold there or the underneath of the trailer is not skirted properly.
2007-01-12 04:21:40 · answer #8 · answered by tootall1121 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
open the skirting rent a torpedo type heater warm your space underneath you trailer then wrap your pipes with electrical heat tape designed for pipes
2007-01-12 12:55:31 · answer #9 · answered by Fred S 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the final circulate is to open the wall an insulate the pipes. in case you do no longer opt to try this, bypass to the plumbing furnish and have a mixer put in on your laundry room or everywhere else interior the line. This unit will bypass warm water in the time of the chilly water pipe protecting it from freezing. once you turn on the chilly water the mixer closes and you have chilly water.
2016-10-07 01:28:52 · answer #10 · answered by esannason 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋