mobile home water pipes freezing ??

Question

mobile home water pipes freezing ??
where the pipe comes out of the ground, it travels under my mobile home about 3 feet before entering my heated mobile home, any suggestions? it was -25 last night.. i need a better solution than that "heat tape" i already have wrapped around it.

Answer 1

take the heat tape off of it and wrap it with fiberglass insulation then plastic. Don't wrap over the heat tape, it will overheat and possibly cause a fire. I'm guessing the pipe is copper, copper transfers temperature very quickly so any draft is bad. Seal it up airtight and you should be ok. Another idea is to go under your trailer and look for any light coming in under your skirting or where there are wires or anything coming through it, seal these off as well.

Answer 2

simply wraping the pipe wil not do it the heat tape is the correct approach for the main supply line. this is kind of a canned answer for mobile home people. I have been in mobile home service for far to many years.

nipco, turbo,salamander, they all work fantasticly. PB and PEX pipes will take freeze and thaw with no damage. others and you should be on the lookout for broken fittings or split pipes as you unthaw. do not leave the heater unnatended!!

Often the reason only one of the supply lines will freeze is because the pipe is pressed down against the insulation in the belly of the home so hard that it has compressed the insulation to a point that its "R" value has been lowered considerably. particularily in Mobile homes elbow fittings are avoided and the pipe is made to bend around a corner. Another very common occurance is in the outside access water heater compartment often people have packed insulation around the water heater. This not only keeps out the cold but also sheilds the unit from the heat inside the mobile home unit. it is best to only place insulation directly behind the access door and leave the rest of the compartment onobstructed. DO NOT install heat tapes within the belly cavity only install it around pipes directly exposed to exterrior of the cavity under the home. check to see that there are no open holes in the belly that allow cold air into the cavity. Carefuly cover them with a peice of insulation and then a peice of heavy plastic or tarp. Spray adhesives are available that do a terrific job to secure the patch in place. If you can locate where the pipe is pressing hard against the insulation often it is possible to support the pipe higher in the belly cavity by tying it to the waste pipe or useing small peices of ridgid insulation placed between the fiberglass belly insulation and the pipe. raising it away from the cold and further up into the belly cavity. you can close the registers and run the furnace many times the heated air that is forced out of gaps or joints in the ductwork will fill the cavity and the pipes will thaw.

just a couple notes on letting the water drip or run a little. If there is not sufficient flow the heat in such a small amount of water will disipate befor it can make it to the pipes underground and it will freeze in the sewer pipe under the home that leads to the underground line. This is much more dificult and time consuming to solve than a supply freeze. it is not uncommon in the midwest for some companys to charge five and six hundred dollars to unthaw a sewer line when the supply line and the heat tape could have been replaced by the same contractor for 250.00. If you let the hot water run damage to the T/P valve can occour because the steady trickle of cold water at the thermostat in the bottom of the tank keeps the unit on even though the top of the tank can be far above scalding. pipes are rated for 180 degrees and I have seen the water temp go so high that the pipe has had small holes blown in it from water that was too hot. I had a customer severly burned from overheated water created by this very practice. If the water is freezing there is something wrong get it properly repaired.

Answer 3

The heat tape you got is warm is it not? It has to be plugged in constantly (works the same way as a block heater for your car).
If you only ran a 3 foot strip up one side of the pipe and left the rest of it exposed to the cold it will still freeze because most of the pipe is in the cold. Build a long box(pipe length)-closed on 3 sides and open on one and the ends are open and then pack it with insulation- fibreglass preferred - and then slap that overtop of the pipe and heat tape and then more insulation and close up the box(basically it looks like a splint or cast around a broken arm/leg
If you haven't got plywood or boards to make the box, there is no reason you can't use metal pipe like heating duct (more preferred in this case) Split it open and stuff with insulation and do the same cept you can use "duct tape" to close it up. That is all you can do an should be enough. But you have to have the heat tape that heats "the one you plug in". Insulation does not heat either....otherwise explain your beer cooler or fridge.

Answer 4

Mobile Home Water Lines

Answer 5

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
mobile home water pipes freezing ??
mobile home water pipes freezing ??
where the pipe comes out of the ground, it travels under my mobile home about 3 feet before entering my heated mobile home, any suggestions? it was -25 last night.. i need a better solution than that "heat tape" i already have wrapped around it.

Answer 6

Be careful using heat tape on plastic pipes. If the temperature gets very cold and turns on the tape it can overheat the empty plastic pipe and melt it. To prevent this possibility I used a piece of angle iron on the main plastic 1" pipe feeding my home and attached the heat tape to the outside of the angle iron, then wrapped the assembly every six inches with silicone "Extreme" or "Rescue" tape, which handles high temperatures and needs no adhesive. It fuses to itself when it comes in contact with itself. Ten foot rolls of black silicone self fusing tape are available at Harbor Freight. Then I built a 1' x 1' x 4' box ready to be filled with polyisocyanurate insulation board (which has the highest R-value) to keep the heat in, minimizing use of electricity for the heat tape. The temperature sensor must be firmly pushed against the angle iron so it correctly senses the temperature of the iron. I left one side of the box open to install it around the pipe / heat tape assembly, and the box extends part way into the ground. Then packed the box with the insulation board and closed up the third side. Plywood will work but bugs will eventually get into it. I made my box with waterproof concrete backer board (such as used on tile walls).

Answer 7

the heat tape, if it is working, is more than sufficient to keep your pipe from freezing. to be extra sure you might want to try covering the water connection and sewer connection on the ground with hay and adding foam insulation boards on the sides of your home's skirting (inside underneath) that receive the most wind, usually about 2 inches thick. this will protect the pipes underneath. we too have had -20's this week and because my husband did this we have had no problems, unlike all of our neighbors. hope this helps.

Answer 8

you need to leave your water dripping just a little bit in each of your sinks in your house. That keeps the water flowing so it won't freeze. also maybe try wrapping your outside pipes with insulation.

Answer 9

wrap all pipes that may freeze with heat tape this will protect them from breakage and freezing

Answer 10

i have heat tape plus insulation around the pipes, make sure your heat tape is working, ours unplugs sometimes or the receptacle trips