I have a greenwood 100 that is located 100 ft from my house in my shop and i have a MAJOR issue right now. the other morning before work i went out to fill the burner just like any other morning just like normal, but my fire had gone out and i messed with it for 45 minutes without success building another fire. it just wasnt happening. i switched everything back over to propane real quick before my ride showed up to for work. i work 12 hour shifts with an hour commute each way and by the time i get home its 11pm. my circulatory pump was shut off by my stupid mistake. while i was at work the fire had started up but before that happened i think my pipes froze underground. the water that was in my burner hadreached beyond my blow off valves temperature so i lost all my water that was in my burner and the pipes that are still above ground before they go out of my shop and into the ground. this unit was already installed when i purchased my house so im not exactly sure how deep the pipes are burried i just hope its beyond the frost level.what can i do to find out where my pipes are frozen. if it is underground what can i do to thaw them. i just hope i dont have to dig up the pipes to fix this
NEED HELP
- Thread starter griff8907
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stee6043
Minister of Fire
My first thought would be to heat up the areas of pipe you can get to without digging. See if they thaw. If you can make sure everyhing above ground is thawed and you still get no flow you will know the freeze is below ground.
Assuming those pipes are down at least a foot or so and have some level of insulation, they should not have froze that quickly. The ground around the piping would have been quite warm and would probably take many days to freeze. Is it possible to contact the previous owner, if he installed the pipe he should be able to tell you how deep and how well insulated they are.
You could also go indoors and try to hook up some kind of higher pressure water supply and see if you could blow open the lines. Not sure if you can do that without ripping the plumbing apart. i still think your pipes would not have frozen in that short of time.
good luck, always something, unfortunately.
You could also go indoors and try to hook up some kind of higher pressure water supply and see if you could blow open the lines. Not sure if you can do that without ripping the plumbing apart. i still think your pipes would not have frozen in that short of time.
good luck, always something, unfortunately.
tom in maine
Minister of Fire
Most plumbers have the ability to use a "Jetter" which is high pressure water jet that can open any ice blockage in a water line.
I suspect the pipe is not frozen solid (yet!?) and if the weather is not miserable, it is worth a couple phone calls to get a quote.
It costs about $150 for a water line here in Maine. I am sure it is an hourly thing.
Not the end of the world. But it is a pain.
I suspect the pipe is not frozen solid (yet!?) and if the weather is not miserable, it is worth a couple phone calls to get a quote.
It costs about $150 for a water line here in Maine. I am sure it is an hourly thing.
Not the end of the world. But it is a pain.
what kind of pipe is buried, If it's black or copper you might be able to use a welding machine to thaw them.
I'm guessing that the pipes aren't frozen either. Maybe there's air in the line, or the pump kicked out or is blocked or something similar.
If you can disconnect them or check the pressure at different points throughout the system you should be able to track where the water is able to flow and where it isn't. The pump won't be able to pump with any air in it, and even if it is full of water it might not have enough pressure to force the air out of the system if it's in different places. If you can hook it up to your water supply and block either of the pipes to the shed, then you can use the higher pressure to flush out the air.
If it's really frozen, and is plastic, disconnect one end and use a length of 1/2" pex of the same length to jet it with cold (or hot) tap water, or a piece 5/8 of the total length from each end.
please post back to let us know how it's going, or if you need more ideas.
If you can disconnect them or check the pressure at different points throughout the system you should be able to track where the water is able to flow and where it isn't. The pump won't be able to pump with any air in it, and even if it is full of water it might not have enough pressure to force the air out of the system if it's in different places. If you can hook it up to your water supply and block either of the pipes to the shed, then you can use the higher pressure to flush out the air.
If it's really frozen, and is plastic, disconnect one end and use a length of 1/2" pex of the same length to jet it with cold (or hot) tap water, or a piece 5/8 of the total length from each end.
please post back to let us know how it's going, or if you need more ideas.
Welcome aboard Griff.
First off ya may want to edit yer thread to call attention to your specific problem. You may get more help that way.
Ok, I guess I need clarification.
The GW overheated because the circulator wasn't running?
If the damper can open if the circulator isn't running, that's not good. But maybe I misunderstood you.
Has the GW cooled down yet? You may be amazed how long this takes.
If the unit has cooled, start putting water in it, carefully. Do NOT attempt to do this with the external reservoir. There should be a bung in the back for filling. The GW's originally were shipped with an organge tag on this bung. Sometimes this will find a 'hot spot' which will produce steam and come back out. but once you think you have the unit full, turn the circulator on. Disconecting the return from the house should eventually produce a stream.
Lest there be any misunderstanding, I am no Plumber
Jimbo
First off ya may want to edit yer thread to call attention to your specific problem. You may get more help that way.
Ok, I guess I need clarification.
The GW overheated because the circulator wasn't running?
If the damper can open if the circulator isn't running, that's not good. But maybe I misunderstood you.
Has the GW cooled down yet? You may be amazed how long this takes.
If the unit has cooled, start putting water in it, carefully. Do NOT attempt to do this with the external reservoir. There should be a bung in the back for filling. The GW's originally were shipped with an organge tag on this bung. Sometimes this will find a 'hot spot' which will produce steam and come back out. but once you think you have the unit full, turn the circulator on. Disconecting the return from the house should eventually produce a stream.
Lest there be any misunderstanding, I am no Plumber
Jimbo
i believe i have found my problem. it occured to me last night that maybe the pump was messed up so this morning i decided to take the pump out and replace it with the backup i have. after taking the motor off i realized that the seal was missing. once i took the rest of the pump off i looked into the elbow and it had been clogged with the seal. whileattempting to remove it i damaged the thermocupler that was in the elbow so now im off to home depot and hopefully they have what i need to get the GW fired back up tonight. wish me luck
henfruit
Minister of Fire
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