Thawing out a frozen water tanker valve without propane idea

Discussion in 'Oilfield Trucking Forum' started by row684, Dec 6, 2014.

  1. row684

    row684 Bobtail Member

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    I was sitting at a site last night waiting to off load and started building up a little ice and it got me thinking about ways to thaw it out if the valve froze up without a propane torch. I was thinking that if you stuffed an MRE heater in there as far as you could with the open end facing the valve and let it do it's thing, would it work? You can buy them for less than $2 a piece and could easily store a handful of them on the truck. Thoughts?
     
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  3. FuzzFace2

    FuzzFace2 Medium Load Member

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    That may work but how long do they stay hot? You would also need to keep that heat in so need to insulate I would think.
    If you have access to power you could get the heater strips you wrap around pipes to keep them from freezing. Again need to insulate to keep the heat in.

    What is the temp of the item in the tank? I ask because it could act like a big "heat sink" to pull heat away from the valve but could also act the other way by using the heat of the item to heat the valve?
    Dave ----
     
  4. Ezrider_48501

    Ezrider_48501 Road Train Member

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    they do make electric valve heaters that bolt on before the valve
     
    x1Heavy and rabbiporkchop Thank this.
  5. misc

    misc Light Load Member

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    If you think it might freeze, put a cap on it, and leave the valve open.

    When you get on site, use the pump to hold the water in the tank while you chisel the ice out. You don't need much, just a hole big enough for water to flow. The "warm" water in the tank will remove the rest of the ice while off-loading.

    I carried a two foot piece of rebar specifically for this purpose. It was angle cut on one end to chisel with, and it had a cross bar welded on the other end to keep it from getting sucked into the tank when I punched through the ice.
     
  6. row684

    row684 Bobtail Member

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    Yeah I know they make the electric heater, I just have a cheap boss...

    thanks for the tip on clearing it out.
     
  7. Ezrider_48501

    Ezrider_48501 Road Train Member

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    i always left my valves open and caped it empty, never had too much trouble freezing up loaded unless i waited a really long time or a real long haul with cold fresh on and even then just hooking up your hoses and lightly wiggling your valve back and forth would get it open as soon as a little water moves threw it will quickly clear out the rest of the ice. i would not put enough faith in the cap to leave the valve open loaded. i always liked a little map gas torch like you would use for soldering pipes better than a weed burner for fresh water. insulating your valves even without a heater helps but makes it harder to heat your valve if you must.
     
  8. JPenn

    JPenn Road Train Member

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    Frozen valves are an occupational hazard, but they don't have to be. The electric heaters I've come across are nearly worthless...the ones to have (yeah, the expensive, difficult to install ones) are those that pipe engine coolant into a collar behind the valve flange. 180 degree engine coolant makes short work of any frozen valves, especially if insulated properly.

    Carrying a small torch is all well and good, but be really careful where you fire that thing up. On a lot of the sites I go to, that'd either be a very dangerous idea, or at the minimum, require a hot-work permit and fire watch.
     
  9. gogogo

    gogogo Bobtail Member

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    As a rookie at -15 degrees I managed to freeze both load valves and the entire load hose all at once. "Dirty" water was just fresh water they wanted moved out of a workover rig. I had already taken one load out and returned for my second. The valve was partially frozen but with the hose off it was sucking some air so not completely frozen. As soon as I started loading it froze solid and there was nothing I could do. Chiseling didn't work. Ended up capping the hose and going back to shop haha. Got a new sight glass out of it! It was against company policy to use a torch not to mention a dirty vac. No way I'm putting a flame near that thing.
     
  10. Ezrider_48501

    Ezrider_48501 Road Train Member

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    must not have completely unloaded. if there is no water left there is no water to freeze. and a smaller volume of water will freeze faster than a larger volume of water
     
  11. SVanSoelen

    SVanSoelen Bobtail Member

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    I am wondering where I can get my hands on those engine coolant valve heaters. I have had a very hard time finding them.

    Thank you!
     
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