Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1913-01-23
How Pipes Can Be Tl,sse d.

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How Pipes Can Be Tll,ss.ed
The Ogden s.al.d,;.sa sass:
Thaw your p'pss with Ok ciiI,
city. This is the advice wi.
lam Altman, the fl fi,', iGt5
North Hudson avel.u., q
day last week. Mr. ~ inys;..
before moving to Cgi's {, li9s d
in Manitowoc, Wis, Nivis. ~
the dead OF winter sha a4id
wind of last week IN laif,n
would be welcom d IS q sg)Gyg
zephyr, so much colder is be
lake region When tie Pipes
froze in his htna civ liisra
was no making Of flss to lliaw
the ground, no eXcavatis g, no
uncertainties. Instead Of serd-
ing for the plumber, they cell
ed an electrician, who with a
small satchel might be mistak
en- for a doctor. An electric
current from the big feed wires
was connected up with the fau-
Get at one end and TIE street
valve at the other. 70 complete
the circuit, and within 9 few
minutes the visitor III, ught
happiness to the distressed.
No one had a chance TO lose
his temper or get grimy with
SCOT. The task was Q pleasant
one and the cost but sight.
Since the talk With Mr.. Alt.
man we have been Informed
that the same method has be n
employed within the last two
days in Salt Lake City, an &C
count of which fellows:
"By attaching wires to tie
primary service wires of the
Utah Light & Railway comparv
and connecting up with TIE
water pipes both inside ard
outside the houses, Thereby
causing the frozen pipe to form
a part of the circuit, electric
currents were sent over tie
frozan portions, effectively re
ducing the frost within Is min
utes without so much as q sho-
vel being raised for excavation
work.
"The device IVES tried vi h
great success. Four homes
we're relieved of water famine
in little more than an hour Fl
ter the apparatus was put into
operation.
Twenty kilowatts trans
formers were used for the ap-
paratus and thu 1000 voltage
from the light cosapany's pri-
mary lines was r'''ic.a to 1l5
volts, which YVES fvll ID to be
best ad opted 20 tho purpose.
It was possible tn g =. rate suf-
ficient heat alons s:as l;.ya to
dispel the frost. Tie heat wss
produced after aanaa manner in
which an electric ron b. comes
hot or an e!ec..--c light glofe
warns up.
"No resistance c il is used.
The necessary elect cal opposi-
tion is Offered by h. pipes a
water rehostat. corsi ing OF a
barrel of sal, wat.,r containing
two plates with wir s attached
is used AS q cnnirMliine arpara-
tus. The closer h" = ties the
stronger the current and vica
versa By keeping the 1letes
sufficiently separated and al
lowing the current to PASS
the water he reduction f. %
1000 to 115 volts is accomplish
ed"
Men were digging throuph
the frosted ground in all parts;
of Ogden yesterday and they
still are at work in the slow
process Of urcoverlng the pipes
to locate the seat of trnnh'e.
Holes were opened which dis
closed no frost near he rires
and then new openings had to
be made. Mary found. after
'renching many feet, that the
freeze up was within the
house or at the lead connection
with the mains. What a relief
they all would have felt If the
man with the electric "ju;ca'
had been "onto his job and
had given them a demonstra
ton of heating frozen water
pipes by the simple process 81
shooting streak OF .ect,ie
fire through the trouble zore!
We are informed that t',',
process of thawing does Of
cause breaks in the pipes Why
not try the electric heater?