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No hot water, frozen water lines

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 3:48 am
by the_trots
Hello,

Today my wife called me and said there is no hot water. I went home from work and checked it out myself. The cold water is fine all throughout the house, plenty of flow. I have no hot water, nothing in the entire house.

I assume my hot water line at the hot water heater is frozen. I don't know much about mobile homes but from a previous job in apartment maintenance if a water heater goes bad the hot water is just cold so I don't think the water heater is bad. Since I don't have hot water anywhere in the house I don't think my hot water lines under the house are frozen.

Tomorrow I am going to buy a heat gun and try to thaw my lines; it is 9* outside. Just wanted to see if I am missing something.

Thank you

Kevin

Re: No hot water, frozen water lines

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 9:36 am
by joedirt63
Hello, I would check the hot water heater valves. if you have them. dosen't make sense frozen line no hot water. but plenty of cold water. sounds like a restriction. How old is the water heater,may have rusted out tank and cause a blockage. there should be a drain valve on the bottom see if any water comes out when you open it.should have some pressure. just make sure you turn off the breaker to the water heater if it is an electric . befor you open the valve . If there is pressure ,you know the tank is filling up , find the pipe that exits and check for flow there ,and follow it back to the closest spiket that dosen't work. I would check the water supply line comeing into the house from the ground. check to see if it has a heat tape on it and the it is wrapped around thewater supply. and also check that it's plugged in!!!!. some types have an indicator like that lets you know thats there's power to it. if you don't have one you should get one a.s.a.p. this tape uses electric to heat wires.like a heat grid to keep the temp of the water in the pipe above freezing. it should have an insulteing cover or wrap over it. another thing to check is make sure the skirting around the home is all intact and in place. . I'm sure others will join in. Greg! where you at???? he's one of our cold wheather experts. lol

Re: No hot water, frozen water lines

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:59 am
by the_trots
The water heater is gas and it is 7 months old. I was also told the pilot light is out but I'm not sure how that would give me no water at all. I am going to see what is going on.

Re: No hot water, frozen water lines

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 5:17 pm
by Greg
Kevin, by "No hot water" are you saying that you have water coming out of the hot side that is not hot, or that you have no water at all?
If you have no water at all, than I would bet on a frozen line near the heater. I would look for an exposed line or one with little insulation around it. 99% of the time hot water freezes before cold water so it is not uncommon. You may be able to thaw it by running the furnace and if possible leave the heater closet open to allow warm air to reach it. Since it was replaced during warm weather, look for a line that got shifted or moved during the change over.

Greg

Re: No hot water, frozen water lines

Posted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:19 pm
by 1987Commodore
Real common for hot water lines to freeze but still have cold. Mine froze repeatedly, right below the tank. I would bet there is a hole in the belly and/or thin insulation there. I could thaw mine in about 10 minutes using a salamander. What I did to fix mine was to thoroughly wrap the pipes with 6 inch fiberglass, which I then wrapped with plastic, making sure all places where air could infiltrate were sealed. ***There probably is an air intake for combustion air for the heater, don't seal that!*** You need to stop air movement around the pipes.
As to the pilot being out, has it been windy? Wind can come down the exhaust vent and blow out the pilot. The fix for that is to extend the roof vent up two or three feet, to get above the roof peak.