JPSouth
Well-Known Member
I just got back from a customer call, good folks to work for. And I'm stumped twice now. Short and sweet:
New Woodford Y34 hydrant install, May '17, T'd into a 1" poly line passing thru to 2 horse waterers, something I've done a lot of. River run/light sand, easy digging, bucket compaction for backfilling - nothing complicated. December comes, lots of cold/snow and she freezes, but the water line passing through is fine, waterers working well, everything used daily. Owners are old ranch hands, we worked on it for a good day when it was warmer, no luck, let it ride the winter. I'm not happy - only one I've ever done that froze, my installations are solid and lines 7' deep.
First end of April frost comes out, it breaks loose, dig it up and go in stages to see if I can see any problems. Test hydrant with material removed, it works fine, drains fine, drainfield and buttress for backfilling intact and doing it's job. No leaks, no seepage and a full drainout when the valve is shut. Remove, inspect, nothing out of whack. Go ahead and install new one on the chance that it might be a manufacturing defect. Take extra care with everything about the install. Wrap feed pipe with tape just for extra cold barrier. Wait for 1/2 day for pressure test, check again, and backfill. Make sure I can hear water coming up the pipe, so drain function is working.
This last December rolls in, we've had a warm, open winter, moderate temps, about a foot of frost, very little snow. It freezes within a week or two of when the last one did. Same thing, waterers okay, hydrant froze so hard it cannot be disassembled. I called Woodford and asked if there was something I was overlooking (I knew there wasn't, as I've got almost 2 dozen of these in the ground and working fine, plus numerous stock waterers). We went down the list, Larry and I hadn't missed anything in trying to t-shoot. Y34 pressure limit 125psi, their lines run @ 60psi. No hoses ever hooked up in winter, so that eliminated the obvious problem.
I'm puzzled big-time...know what has to be happening, but why? If anyone's got any ideas, I'm all ears. I could buy once, but not twice, within a couple weeks of each other, and on two widely different kinds of winters. If I didn't have so many around (3 on my place alone), I'd be feeling like there was something I'd missed.
New Woodford Y34 hydrant install, May '17, T'd into a 1" poly line passing thru to 2 horse waterers, something I've done a lot of. River run/light sand, easy digging, bucket compaction for backfilling - nothing complicated. December comes, lots of cold/snow and she freezes, but the water line passing through is fine, waterers working well, everything used daily. Owners are old ranch hands, we worked on it for a good day when it was warmer, no luck, let it ride the winter. I'm not happy - only one I've ever done that froze, my installations are solid and lines 7' deep.
First end of April frost comes out, it breaks loose, dig it up and go in stages to see if I can see any problems. Test hydrant with material removed, it works fine, drains fine, drainfield and buttress for backfilling intact and doing it's job. No leaks, no seepage and a full drainout when the valve is shut. Remove, inspect, nothing out of whack. Go ahead and install new one on the chance that it might be a manufacturing defect. Take extra care with everything about the install. Wrap feed pipe with tape just for extra cold barrier. Wait for 1/2 day for pressure test, check again, and backfill. Make sure I can hear water coming up the pipe, so drain function is working.
This last December rolls in, we've had a warm, open winter, moderate temps, about a foot of frost, very little snow. It freezes within a week or two of when the last one did. Same thing, waterers okay, hydrant froze so hard it cannot be disassembled. I called Woodford and asked if there was something I was overlooking (I knew there wasn't, as I've got almost 2 dozen of these in the ground and working fine, plus numerous stock waterers). We went down the list, Larry and I hadn't missed anything in trying to t-shoot. Y34 pressure limit 125psi, their lines run @ 60psi. No hoses ever hooked up in winter, so that eliminated the obvious problem.
I'm puzzled big-time...know what has to be happening, but why? If anyone's got any ideas, I'm all ears. I could buy once, but not twice, within a couple weeks of each other, and on two widely different kinds of winters. If I didn't have so many around (3 on my place alone), I'd be feeling like there was something I'd missed.
