How to tell where drain pipe is frozen?

[jiggypiggy]

Hi there. I have a lot of drain pipe under my mobile home. I have a bathroom at each end of my home, pipe runs to middle, then out to septic tank. I believe it froze some where as I have water coming back up my tub and toilet. I dont think its just a clog of gunk as it was working fine until we went away for a few days, came back, used some water, then everything started backing up.

Anyway, anyone know of tricks to telling which part is frozen? I heard there could be frost on pipe, but dont see any. I read on another site that if you wipe the pipe with a warm, wet cloth, you will see where its frozen. Thing is, I dont know what I am looking for. Anyone else ever hear of that method that could explain more?

[1987Commodore]

Just guessing, but maybe the water film left by the damp rag would freeze faster over the frozen part of the pipe. Do you have any dips or low areas in the drain? I have never had a drain freeze myself. When I installed mine, I made sure it had a decent slope, with no dips to collect water. Then I wrapped it with fiberglass insulation, and wrapped over that with plastic to keep any air movement off the pipe.
Like me, you have a bathroom at both ends. Is the water coming up in one, or both bathrooms?
I am assuming your drain lines are above the belly wrap until the drop point at the center. The part of mine below the belly runs from the center back to the rear, about 30 feet.

[joedirt63]

if it's frozen and not clogged would you be able to thaw it out with runnig hot water from the tubs down the drain? do you have a ceptic or seware system? maybe the drain to the ceptic is frozen, drains in our park where set about 16 inches under, and the !@#$%^& contractor has been here repeatedly to fix blockages and water leaks. the park looks like a mine field, gave up on growing grass in the yard

[jiggypiggy]

k, starting to think it might be the septic tank. Running warm water down drains does not appear to work, water starts backing up, in both bathrooms after about 1 min of running the water.

Shoveled off the snow off the septic tank, took of little hole thingy, about 5, 6 inches in diameter, about 2 feet down is liquid. Also, a lot of pics I have seen of septic tanks show there are 2 access points from on top, pretty sure mine only has the one. Going to try and attach a picture of what I am seeing, hope it explains better.

Any idea where the clog might be, or how far down the drain pipe to the rest of the home plumbing joint thing would be? Going to get my self an auger and try and poke around from this end but need to know where the access hole would be. Thanks in advance!

Ha, just noticed you can see me taking the pic reflecting off the liquid. Think that might be my new facebook profile pic. In that pic (coveroff) what is that metal curved thing to the left side?

coveron.jpg

coveroff.jpg

[Greg]

I would get some heat under the home, A Salamander (or Nibco depending on where you are) type heater should thaw things out in a few hours. DO NOT LEAVE THE HEATER UNATTENDED!!!

Once it is warm and you are sure it is not frozen, then I would look at the tank. It seems strange to that that the problem started when you were away if it were the tank. Greg

[Greg S]

If you have a leaking tap that would explain why it froze during a period of non use. Usually in a case like that it would freeze where it is first exposed to the cold and usually at a elbow where the water slows or splashes. Assuming the entire drain system is backing up the blockage would be where everything comes together or beyond.
Usually, but not always there is a access point where the pipe enters the ground. If there is you could snake from there to the septic to confirm if it is blocked. If not you will need to snake from inside the house to find the point of blockage but you will still need to thaw it.

If it is under ground it does not make sense that it is frozen nor does it make sense it would block while not in use so most likely if frozen it is above ground.

[jiggypiggy]

Just wanted to say thanks to all the responses. I ended up having to completely dissassemble my drain, bring it into my sunroom, thaw the pipes there, then crawl back under and put it back together. Anyway, works fine now. Just working on putting in more insulation and pipe wrap. Thanks again!

[Greg]

Try adding more pitch to the pipe, there should be no liquid in the pipe to freeze unless you have a faucet or toilet leaking. Greg