canarm stock waterer with no water to it?

[touchwood hills]

Does anyone have any ideas on troubleshooting a canarm livestock waterer that has no water to it? We have one in our barn and another out in a coral system and it is this one that we found with no water in the bowl. The main water line comes up to the one in the barn then T's off to the one in the coral - the one in the barn has water to it and is running fine and the one in the coral has no water to it? It is -45 degrees and the line from the barn to the coral is most likely froze somewhere. I am in the process of trying heat tape, car warmers are running and a heat lamp is also running but if it is froze below the shut off's both at the barn and at the waterer, I think I need a plumber....any suggestions? Thank you all in advance for your advice.

 

[cowwrangler]

if you can pour hot water on the pipe coming up,as you pour the water it will wrap around the pipe on the way down,pour it slow,should work if it hasnt been froze too long

 

[per]

If the hot water doesn't work which it should. Build yourself a steamer.

 

[touchwood hills]

Thank you to both....Yes, I have slowly poured hot water on the section of pipe which branches over to the waterer in the coral and no luck...There has been no water there for a day and a half now so I am wondering now, if there might be a break in the line (not at the waterer and not at the shut off valves but somewhere in between?) This is going to be a disaster, I think...Thanks again everyone.

 

[elwapo]

we had a t rust out under the barn a few years back. We ended up digging the line up outside the barn and put a plug in so as to not jeopardize the rest of the waterers on the line. A good thawing technique is to get an exhaust hose (mechanics type) and put the hose from your truck under a tarp that is placed over the water bowl. Then sit in your truck and have a coffee and let the exhaust do the work.

 

[rustynail]

what kind of pipe is running between the barn and the corral?
If it is copper or galvanized you can use a dc battery charger or a dc welder with the leads hooked to opposite ends of the water line, this will make the pipe line get warm and melt the ice out. Yes I know this sound crazy but it does work.
If your pipe is plastic or steel or copper you might try a pressure washer if you can get to the open end of the pipe. It is messy but might have success.

Good luck an hope you get some warmer weather!! -45 BBBBRRRRRRR too cold for this southern boy.

G3

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

Gee i was going to brag that our Canarm is the only one we don't have trouble with. Guess i can't say that now. The darn thing is froze up as well. :?

 

[Kato]

Ours freeze all the time. :roll: :roll: :roll: Usually it's because the connector on the element, or the element itself has burned out. Once in a while it's the thermostat.

One time we had a real bad freeze that went way underground. We used a trick our plumber told us. We unhooked the water line where it came out of the ground, and then slowly poured hot water and a whole bunch of salt down it. We boiled the kettle, and took it outside to the water bowl. You have to use coarse salt, like pickling salt. It took a while, but you could see the salt working it's way down the pipe. Eventually it started up again. If you are patient, it will work.

If it's just a mild freeze, and only the top part is frozen, just filling the water bowl up with hot water will often get it going again.

 

[touchwood hills]

Wow, thank you to everyone for your useful insight! My husband works a full time job off the farm so I spent the day filling and heating water in the electric kettle plugged in right inside the barn by the waterer, stupid thing must be really frozen because there's still no water. I have a car heater running, a heat lamp and must have poured at least 10 kettles of hot water on the pipe where it T's off to the corral. It must be frozen right below the shut off valve out at the corral location so tomorrow is another day and I will tackle that one tomorrow however, it will still be -45 with the windchill so if I'm still alive to talk about it, I'll let you know how it goes...till then everyone, sleep well and goodnight!