jumpstartpipe

Listed among my long list of why I always have and always will despise winter is the following account regarding winter pipe problems. Since our old farmhouse didn’t have one molecule of insulation in any of it, every winter when it got really cold and the wind picked up, our water pipes would freeze, resulting in no water in the morning. I seem to recall that this phenomenon usually happened in Janurary, hence, that is my least favorite month of the year. We would arise early in the dark winter mornings, go to the bathroom water faucet, and tentatively turn the faucet valve and hoping water would flow out, all the while thinking and hoping that it would. More often than not, especially in Janurary, nothing would come out and our hopes and expectations would be dashed! If it was a “school day,” then we would get dressed and go to school “as is.” If it happened on a Saturday or Sunday morning, we got to watch our dad and Uncle Ned go through the ritual of thawing the pipes. The one that usually froze was the main ¾ inch lead pipe that ran on the basement ceiling and was exposed to the open in our unheated basement. They would take a portable propane torch and slowly run it along the bottom of the pipe to the “elbow” right under the floor where it ran up to the downstairs kitchen sink. More often than not, the wood base of the floor would start on fire and they would repeatedly blow the fire out since there was no water to douse it. They would turn on the kitchen cold water faucet and eventually it would start to drip, then turn into a steady stream and eventually “BINGO,” water! The next morning this whole procedure would repeat itself. One JANUARY, in 1964 as I recall, there was a severe cold wave and when they went though the usual procedure, the water still didn’t work. They finally discovered that the main ¾ inch lead pipe from the well to the house was frozen. This line was 4 feet deep! Now that was a cold wave when the frost reached 4 feet deep! I vividly recall the “neat” way they thawed out a pipe 4 feet underground. A guy came with a gasoline powered portable welder on his flat bed truck. He took a long cable that looked like a jumper cable to hook to an automobile battery for jump-starts and hooked it over the pipe where it went into the well. The other long cable was run through the basement window to where the pipe came through the old stone basement wall. He fired up the engine to the welder and ran full power from the welder through the long “jumper cables.” It seemed to only take a few short seconds, and then the pipe was thawed! I’ve never figured out the physics behind this, but I have always assumed that it heated the lead pipe like a burner element or something. I do remember, however, that it seemed to only take a few seconds! I’ve often wondered, if we had PVC pipes used today, how we would have ever gotten that main waterline thawed out? Maybe it’s better that I don’t dwell on such horrible thoughts! I believe it was that same year that the ultimate in worse case scenarios took place! One morning not only the incoming water pipe to our toilet was frozen, but the toilet drain was frozen too! It seemed “forever” until it finally thawed out and worked normally! To make matters worse, just that summer before, I believe, they burned down our old “out house,” or “privy” as Uncle Ned always called it. Tim and I called it the “Kearny,” why we did, I have no idea. It was probably the result of one of my “8, 9, 10 ers”! We had “to go” in an old garbage can, then our dad would empty it WAY out in the field north of the house. (I realized then how they must have felt at any concentration camp!) Well, this story and previous accounts of my winter experiences as a kid will leave no doubt in the mind of ANYONE, why I always have, and always will despise winter with a “passion”! Even though I got the best and thickest insulation for my modular house crawlspace and have NEVER had any frozen pipes, nevertheless, to this day, I still turn on the kitchen faucet in January mornings with some trepidation, then always relief! It’s the evening of January 27^th as I write and post this, and it was –10 this morning at 6:30 AM when I checked the thermometer in my barn as I fed the horses. I was still feeling relief the whole time while outside that my PVC water pipes had not frozen!



	“PIPE PROBLEMS” Listed among my long list of why I always have and always will despise winter is the following account regarding winter pipe problems. Since our old farmhouse didn’t have one molecule of insulation in any of it, every winter when it got really cold and the wind picked up, our water pipes would freeze, resulting in no water in the morning. I seem to recall that this phenomenon usually happened in Janurary, hence, that is my least favorite month of the year. We would arise early in the dark winter mornings, go to the bathroom water faucet, and tentatively turn the faucet valve and hoping water would flow out, all the while thinking and hoping that it would. More often than not, especially in Janurary, nothing would come out and our hopes and expectations would be dashed! If it was a “school day,” then we would get dressed and go to school “as is.” If it happened on a Saturday or Sunday morning, we got to watch our dad and Uncle Ned go through the ritual of thawing the pipes. The one that usually froze was the main ¾ inch lead pipe that ran on the basement ceiling and was exposed to the open in our unheated basement. They would take a portable propane torch and slowly run it along the bottom of the pipe to the “elbow” right under the floor where it ran up to the downstairs kitchen sink. More often than not, the wood base of the floor would start on fire and they would repeatedly blow the fire out since there was no water to douse it. They would turn on the kitchen cold water faucet and eventually it would start to drip, then turn into a steady stream and eventually “BINGO,” water! The next morning this whole procedure would repeat itself. One JANUARY, in 1964 as I recall, there was a severe cold wave and when they went though the usual procedure, the water still didn’t work. They finally discovered that the main ¾ inch lead pipe from the well to the house was frozen. This line was 4 feet deep! Now that was a cold wave when the frost reached 4 feet deep! I vividly recall the “neat” way they thawed out a pipe 4 feet underground. A guy came with a gasoline powered portable welder on his flat bed truck. He took a long cable that looked like a jumper cable to hook to an automobile battery for jump-starts and hooked it over the pipe where it went into the well. The other long cable was run through the basement window to where the pipe came through the old stone basement wall. He fired up the engine to the welder and ran full power from the welder through the long “jumper cables.” It seemed to only take a few short seconds, and then the pipe was thawed! I’ve never figured out the physics behind this, but I have always assumed that it heated the lead pipe like a burner element or something. I do remember, however, that it seemed to only take a few seconds! I’ve often wondered, if we had PVC pipes used today, how we would have ever gotten that main waterline thawed out? Maybe it’s better that I don’t dwell on such horrible thoughts! I believe it was that same year that the ultimate in worse case scenarios took place! One morning not only the incoming water pipe to our toilet was frozen, but the toilet drain was frozen too! It seemed “forever” until it finally thawed out and worked normally! To make matters worse, just that summer before, I believe, they burned down our old “out house,” or “privy” as Uncle Ned always called it. Tim and I called it the “Kearny,” why we did, I have no idea. It was probably the result of one of my “8, 9, 10 ers”! We had “to go” in an old garbage can, then our dad would empty it WAY out in the field north of the house. (I realized then how they must have felt at any concentration camp!) Well, this story and previous accounts of my winter experiences as a kid will leave no doubt in the mind of ANYONE, why I always have, and always will despise winter with a “passion”! Even though I got the best and thickest insulation for my modular house crawlspace and have NEVER had any frozen pipes, nevertheless, to this day, I still turn on the kitchen faucet in January mornings with some trepidation, then always relief! It’s the evening of January 27^th as I write and post this, and it was –10 this morning at 6:30 AM when I checked the thermometer in my barn as I fed the horses. I was still feeling relief the whole time while outside that my PVC water pipes had not frozen!