spokanetim
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2009
Posts: 656
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Post by spokanetim on Dec 22, 2012 2:23:32 GMT -5
This is from the "Necessity is the mother of Invention" category. Living in the great white north during the winter months I don't have access to my water hose, it's frozen solid. My rock shop is a little shed not connected to the house, far away from water and gets damn cold. When I'm working out there I quickly heat it up with a couple industrial sized heaters.
So, I had a bunch of custom orders for stone plugs and need my water hose to run my water drill press. What I did was make a $100 dollar heated hose. I bought a 100 foot "Roof and Gutter De-icing kit wire" ($75) plus a 100 foot hose ($25)and a roll of duct tape. I stretched out the hose, pressurized it, then ran the wire down the length of the hose. Using the duct tape I wrapped the wire down the entire length of the hose with the plug of the wire at the end of the hose. It's a pain, took about a hr to wrap the hose.
It works perfect. I plug in the wire and about 30 min later the hose if thawed. The wire doesn't get too hot so no worries about melting the hose. Hope that helps some during the winter months.
Tim
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Post by NatureNut on Dec 22, 2012 7:27:12 GMT -5
Yup, that's what we do for RVs in the winter that are in the great north.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,175
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Post by jamesp on Dec 22, 2012 10:14:14 GMT -5
We use Alabama Chrome down south for such.Duct/duck tape is the way.Glad it helped.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Dec 22, 2012 10:44:03 GMT -5
I've never heard duct tape called Alabama chrome... guess it's a regional thing. In southern California, silver spray paint is known as Mexican chrome - lol! Another type of heat tape is sold specifically for water pipes. We used it when we built our wall unit of snake cages (in a previous lifetime) for heating them. Down here, we don't have to worry about freezing pipes (too much), although it did get down to freezing a couple nights in a row. The leaves of my remaining zuchinni squash plants look they were hit with a blowtorch! Home Depot has some that's pretty inexpensive - www.homedepot.com/buy/frost-king-30-ft-automatic-electric-heat-cable-kit-hc30.html around $40. Or, you can buy ten of them on eBay for $200. Jean
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keystonecops
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2010
Posts: 957
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Post by keystonecops on Dec 22, 2012 11:12:05 GMT -5
Guess I'm lucky. I thought my shop area was kinda small, 3rd bay of a 3 car garage, but its warm an dry. Later Clyde
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,175
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Post by jamesp on Dec 22, 2012 14:27:23 GMT -5
If the shop is higher or lower you can often disconnect the hose and drain it.I have a 50 foot hose and a plastic wash tub.I roll the hose up and lay the tub upside down over the coil.Works to 20 with out insulation.
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spokanetim
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2009
Posts: 656
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Post by spokanetim on Dec 22, 2012 21:18:25 GMT -5
Draining doesn't work for me as my shop is too far away from the source, there's always some in the hose that wont drain out. Also, it gets really cold and freeze solid in almost no time. That Home depot $40 wire is the same as mine but it's only 30 ft vs. the 100. As I get older I keep thinking that moving south sounds like a wonderful idea. 4 months of cold and snow sucks.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,341
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Post by quartz on Dec 23, 2012 11:05:41 GMT -5
When we built our shed, I fully insulated it, a small price to pay for the quiet and the fact that the tumbler motor [1/3 h.p.] keeps it at 50+ even when it's 15 outside, and the rest of the stuff in it never sweats and rusts. To protect the insulation, I bought a bunch of cheap wood paneling, turned it back side out, and painted it white.
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