Frozen DI tanks

Waterfed Poles
1

Winter’s here but I’m not about to give up using my WFP during the day. We’ve had about 5 nights already where it’s gotten into the low 20’s so a couple of weeks ago when my DI tank expired, I swapped it for a half-cube so I could pull it in the garage at night. The big tank was just too big to load and unload everyday with my setup. Unfortunately, the half-cube only lasted for two weeks so now I’ve got to come up with something else.

Any of you know of a good way to keep a tank from freezing? I can’t get my truck in the garage. A buddy of mine blows his tank and hoses out with an air compressor every night. I would think that the residual water in the tank would still freeze and mess it up. Any thoughts?

2

extension cord and smallest electric heater, that you can buy, set on the lowest setting

3

A blanket would even help a tiny bit. Wrap the entire tank up with it.

4

I’m afraid it wouldn’t keep my tank from freezing if it’s 25 or below. Have you used this with success? Also, what if it rains?

5

ROB dont take the chance. Put the thing on a hand truck and bring it in your house. You will never know what the breaking point is. Will it break at 25 degrees? Will it break at 10? Don’t take the chance cause if you wake up one morning and see this,

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If this happens to you, you will wish you brought it inside. Mine is in my basement.

6

I have my van insulated with thermowrap… Its like bubblewrap but covered with silverfoil to insulate. That would help to some extent… I’ve not had to deal with -20 on a regular basis but we have had -12 at times here in my part of the UK. Insulating the tank is a good way to stop that from freezing up but it doesn’t help your pipes, pump etc… Could you fit a couple of tropical fish tank heaters or a hot water element to the tank and so actually heat the water in the tank to just above freezing? a small timer conected to the pump so it switches in for just 30sec every couple of minutes to curculate the water should stop the system freezing completely.
These are just a few of the ideas we use in the UK to keep our sytems running in the winter…

Regards
Mr H

7

Hey Rob, I only use half cubes so loading them in and out of my truck is easy. But for no more cold weather that we have just lug it in and out of the garage and I know that is a pain. Or there is is a plug in heating strip that is safe to use on pipes. I have used it in the past on water pipes going from a well to a hose with no problems. tha may be an oprtion? but We may not have to worry about that much longer either?