How to Thaw Drain Pipes
Living in a cold climate sometimes can sometimes cause issues with carious aspects of your house. One of the areas most affected by the cold is plumbing. As drain pipes freeze, they can stop letting water through and, as the frozen water expands, can cause your pipes to crack. If you have frozen pipes, it is very important that you thaw them out as quickly as possible. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Locate the area the drainage pipe is frozen. Determine the material of the pipe and its overall accessibility.
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Turn off the water to the area where the frozen drainage pipe is located. Additional water will make the frozen area harder to thaw out.
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3
Heat up pipes that are accessible with a hair dryer. Slowly run the hair dryer over the frozen area until it thaws. Don't leave it in one place for too long.
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If the hair dryer doesn't work, wrap the pipe in a warm cloth where the freeze is located. If you can't get the cloth warm enough, use a grounded, water resistant heating pad.
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If the pipe is inaccessible, but you know where in the drain the freeze is located, shine a heat lamp at the area where the pipe is. This should heat up the wall or floor and the pipe behind it. As the pipe heats, this will melt the ice.
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Finally, if you have no idea where the freeze is located, but know you can't get to it, raise the ambient temperature in the entire house. This heat will get into the walls and floor and heat up any drain pipes that might be clogged.
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Tips & Warnings
Remember, you don't have to get the pipe extremely hot to get this job done. You need to have constant heat for a period of time to bring up the ambient temperature of the pipes
Be careful not to directly heat a pipe too quickly or too hot as this will weaken the pipe even further and help it to split apart.
