......... how can I protect my outside tap from freezing up?

Sue

Sue wrote:
: ........ how can I protect my outside tap from freezing up?
:
: Sue

Call me a spoil sort but the berries only tell the weather that has passed

Sue wrote:
:: ........ how can I protect my outside tap from freezing up?
::
:: Sue

Turn the water off at it's supply...draining it is unnecesary as any water
which remains inside it will expand out of the tap if you leave it in the
'on' position.
If it is connected directly to the mains and doesn't have it's own stop tap,
the above is obviously impossible...in this case you will have to lag it and
hope for the best, you can buy pipe lagging from any d.i.y place, make sure
it's the thick walled stuff (don't worry about the diameter of hole in the
middle) and you will have to cut it to shape to go completely around the
tap..if you have any pipework outside you'll have to do this as well but you
will struggle as it's nearly always butt up to the brickwork meaning that
you can't lag the back of it.

Or!!
If you are handy or know someone who is, you can buy a washing machine valve
and fit it to the pipe inside the house, before it goes through the wall and
turn it off from here...it should take no longer than 30 minutes to fit one
of these and no soldering is required, they simply tighten up with spanners.
http://snipurl.com/9ibf about a fiver!


Turn water off at mains.

drain cold water by turning on downstairs taps (and outside tap!)

cut through the copper pipe leading to outside tap, you may need to take
about an inch of pipe away.

fit valve and tighten nuts.

turn water mains back on s l o w l y ! - half a turn at
a time...when your sink tap starts running again, stop and check the valve
for leaks etc...use a piece of kitchen roll to check for minute drips.

HTH

Brilliant, I think I might ask my local, friendly plumber to come back and
fit a stop tap, everything else in the house has one and it sounds like a
sound investment to put one on this as well. Mind you, he might be
reluctant, this tap drenched him last time he was here, he thought he'd
turned off the stop but that turned out to be for the kitchen sink!

Thanks everyone,

Sue




"Phil L" wrote in message
. ..
Sue wrote:
:: ........ how can I protect my outside tap from freezing up?
::
:: Sue

Turn the water off at it's supply...draining it is unnecesary as any water
which remains inside it will expand out of the tap if you leave it in the
'on' position.
If it is connected directly to the mains and doesn't have it's own stop
tap,
the above is obviously impossible...in this case you will have to lag it
and
hope for the best, you can buy pipe lagging from any d.i.y place, make
sure
it's the thick walled stuff (don't worry about the diameter of hole in the
middle) and you will have to cut it to shape to go completely around the
tap..if you have any pipework outside you'll have to do this as well but
you
will struggle as it's nearly always butt up to the brickwork meaning that
you can't lag the back of it.

Or!!
If you are handy or know someone who is, you can buy a washing machine
valve
and fit it to the pipe inside the house, before it goes through the wall
and
turn it off from here...it should take no longer than 30 minutes to fit
one
of these and no soldering is required, they simply tighten up with
spanners.
http://snipurl.com/9ibf about a fiver!


Turn water off at mains.

drain cold water by turning on downstairs taps (and outside tap!)

cut through the copper pipe leading to outside tap, you may need to take
about an inch of pipe away.

fit valve and tighten nuts.

turn water mains back on s l o w l y ! - half a turn
at
a time...when your sink tap starts running again, stop and check the valve
for leaks etc...use a piece of kitchen roll to check for minute drips.

HTH

"Phil L" wrote in message
. ..
Sue wrote:
:: ........ how can I protect my outside tap from freezing up?
::
:: Sue

Turn the water off at it's supply...draining it is unnecesary as any
water
which remains inside it will expand out of the tap if you leave it
in the
'on' position.

That depends on whether it freezes solid at the tap end first.

[snip]

Franz

Franz Heymann wrote:
:: "Phil L" wrote in message
:: . ..
::: Sue wrote:
::::: ........ how can I protect my outside tap from freezing up?
:::::
::::: Sue
:::
::: Turn the water off at it's supply...draining it is unnecesary as
::: any water which remains inside it will expand out of the tap if
::: you leave it in the 'on' position.
::
:: That depends on whether it freezes solid at the tap end first.
::
The water at the tap end will expand though the outlet...unless there's a
long pipe (half a metre or more)outside, this will not cause any problems.

"Phil L" wrote in message
. ..
Franz Heymann wrote:
:: "Phil L" wrote in message
:: . ..
::: Sue wrote:
::::: ........ how can I protect my outside tap from freezing up?
:::::
::::: Sue
:::
::: Turn the water off at it's supply...draining it is unnecesary as
::: any water which remains inside it will expand out of the tap if
::: you leave it in the 'on' position.
::
:: That depends on whether it freezes solid at the tap end first.
::
The water at the tap end will expand though the outlet...unless
there's a
long pipe (half a metre or more)outside, this will not cause any
problems.

Not if the water freezes solid at the tap end before the water in the
rest of the pipe begins to expand as it gets cold.

It is of the essence to realise that water starts expanding when its
temperature drops below 4 deg C, long before it freezes.

Franz

Franz Heymann wrote:
:: "Phil L" wrote in message
:: . ..
::: Franz Heymann wrote:
::::: "Phil L" wrote in message
::::: . ..
:::::: Sue wrote:
:::::::: ........ how can I protect my outside tap from freezing up?
::::::::
:::::::: Sue
::::::
:::::: Turn the water off at it's supply...draining it is unnecesary
:::::: as any water which remains inside it will expand out of the
:::::: tap if you leave it in the 'on' position.
:::::
::::: That depends on whether it freezes solid at the tap end first.
:::::
::: The water at the tap end will expand though the outlet...unless
::: there's a long pipe (half a metre or more)outside, this will not
::: cause any problems.
::
:: Not if the water freezes solid at the tap end before the water in
:: the rest of the pipe begins to expand as it gets cold.
::
:: It is of the essence to realise that water starts expanding when
:: its temperature drops below 4 deg C, long before it freezes.
::

Yes, it's the 'long before it freezes' which needs understanding... once it
has expanded enough to freeze solid, excess water has been pushed out
through the open tap.

It can only burst the pipe if it has nowhere else to go! - if there is an
outlet it will go through this (the tap)....to suggest that the tap is
colder than the pipework is false, the copper is less than a millimetre
thick while the brass is up to 10 mm, ergo the pipewater will freeze first,
pushing the rest of the water towards the outlet.

The message
from "Sue" contains these words:

......... how can I protect my outside tap from freezing up?

Fill the pipe with gin.

--
Rusty
Open the creaking gate to make a horrid.squeak, then lower the foobar.
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

If you move down here in Plymouth we wouldn't be having this thread and you
could leave your tap outdoors as long as you like. Now if that isn't
tempting fate lol