Another First For Me

[Beemerboy]

As some of you know I had some new stuff arrive over the weekend and decided to wash both cars on Sunday AM.

We have been in a cold snap here in CA 20`s at night and into the 40`s day time, so I waited for the weather to warm up to about 40 before attacking the cars. At about 11 AM I decided to get everything out, put it in the driveway, get the bucket with warm water, added the new soap, head out get the hose turn on get right to the first wheel. Crank open the nozzle and NOTHING! the water in the hose was frozen solid!

Having lived in CA all my life we don`t have this problem nor can I remember this happening. Anyway I can feel for you guys in the states that have this every year for months on end.

I ended up and the hand held car wash and finished up the cars with S&W

[jsfofec]

As some of you know I had some new stuff arrive over the weekend and decided to wash both cars on Sunday AM.

We have been in a cold snap here in CA 20`s at night and into the 40`s day time, so I waited for the weather to warm up to about 40 before attacking the cars. At about 11 AM I decided to get everything out, put it in the driveway, get the bucket with warm water, added the new soap, head out get the hose turn on get right to the first wheel. Crank open the nozzle and NOTHING! the water in the hose was frozen solid!

Having lived in CA all my life we don`t have this problem nor can I remember this happening. Anyway I can feel for you guys in the states that have this every year for months on end.

I ended up and the hand held car wash and finished up the cars with S&W

That is too funny. Same thing happened to me. I wasn`t going to wash the car, but water some potted plants. Turned on the water and nothing happened. My hoses were all frozen solid.

[Stephan]

As a person from one of those states that experiences winter for normally 4months (although this winter has been great) I may make a suggestion. If you see its going to be cold, below freezing you should un-hook your hose from the faucet and let it drain, if the water freezes back in your pipes in can cause the pipe to burst. Then when you go and turn on you water and wonder why the pressure is low its because its emptying into your basement.

[jsfofec]

As a person from one of those states that experiences winter for normally 4months (although this winter has been great) I may make a suggestion. If you see its going to be cold, below freezing you should un-hook your hose from the faucet and let it drain, if the water freezes back in your pipes in can cause the pipe to burst. Then when you go and turn on you water and wonder why the pressure is low its because its emptying into your basement.

pipes bursting...oh-oh, good thing I don`t have a basement (guess I`m not still not safe)...it`s been in the 20`s for the last 4 or 5 days...while I`m sitting here at work, I`m wondering what`s going on at home :eek:

[Beemerboy]

As a person from one of those states that experiences winter for normally 4months (although this winter has been great) I may make a suggestion. If you see its going to be cold, below freezing you should un-hook your hose from the faucet and let it drain, if the water freezes back in your pipes in can cause the pipe to burst. Then when you go and turn on you water and wonder why the pressure is low its because its emptying into your basement.


Thanks I took the hose off the faucet and laid it on the sidewalk in the sun, took about 2 hours or so and the water drained out, then I ran water threw it to make sure that it was clear, drained again, and rolled up on the side of the house on the hose rack (off the ground)

I`m sure that the neighbors where laughing at me as I was the only one in a driveway doing anything on a car that day

[Stephan]

What I did and this might be over kill for people who normally don`t experience long bouts of cold is I installed a shut of ball valve on the inside of the house in my basement. What I then do is close that, go outside un do the hose and then turn on the faucet, this allows any of the remaining water to drain out of the faucet and keeps it dry. Again, this maybe overkill but take it from me, I have had a pipe burst, luckily it only drained water when I turned on the outside faucet, but it sucked to fix.

[CharlesW]

If you see its going to be cold, below freezing you should un-hook your hose from the faucet and let it drain, if the water freezes back in your pipes in can cause the pipe to burst.
Note Stephan`s statement, "Unhook your hose from the faucet and let it drain".
What you want to do is drain the faucet itself. The shutoff on an outside hose bib is actually inside the house and leaving the hose on can trap water in the faucet which can freeze and break.

The following is a copy & paste from another site and says it better than I did.

The frost free hose bibbs actually shut off 8-12" in from the outside wall. This then allows the section of pipe from where it shuts off to the outside to drain and the pipe which is exposed to freezing temperatures has no water in it to freeze. If you do not disconnect the hose from the hose bibb there is no way to be sure it has drained. If water remains in that section it can freeze and will burst the section of pipe going through the wall. The faucet will then leak whenever you turn it on. The only way to fix this leak will be replacement of the frost free hose bibb.

Charles

[PhaRO]

I have to treat my hose in the truck to keep them from freezing overnight. Some times I forget and that is a pain in the neck to wake up and find it frozen. The hose I use at home is in garage by the door. Only one time did it freeze and boy was that a shock. Another time I cleaned a car and had some icing but nothing major. Drove to the next appointment and my hose froze in my truck bed. Not exactly sure how that happened but guessing the air moving over it while driving had something to do with it.

[Mr. Clean]

...The following is a copy & paste from another site and says it better than I did.

The frost free hose bibbs actually shut off 8-12" in from the outside wall. This then allows the section of pipe from where it shuts off to the outside to drain and the pipe which is exposed to freezing temperatures has no water in it to freeze. If you do not disconnect the hose from the hose bibb there is no way to be sure it has drained. If water remains in that section it can freeze and will burst the section of pipe going through the wall. The faucet will then leak whenever you turn it on. The only way to fix this leak will be replacement of the frost free hose bibb.


I think that must be an option that is only offered in those areas that experience really cold weather. I do put these styrofoam covers on my outside faucets during the really cold weather, but no draining of the faucet itself.

Beemerboy, hats off to you for even considering a hose wash at 40 degrees :eek: Anything below the mid-50s is just too cold for me, oh and don`t let there be a northerly wind, or that threshold rises significantly :)

[Beemerboy]

I think that must be an option that is only offered in those areas that experience really cold weather. I do put these styrofoam covers on my outside faucets during the really cold weather, but no draining of the faucet itself.

Beemerboy, hats off to you for even considering a hose wash at 40 degrees :eek: Anything below the mid-50s is just too cold for me, oh and don`t let there be a northerly wind, or that threshold rises significantly :)

It was clear and sunny with no wind, and I was dressed for it.

The water hose wasn`t

[CharlesW]

I think that must be an option that is only offered in those areas that experience really cold weather.Since at 4:00 PM it`s 10 degrees, that`s us. :D It did make it up to 13 today though. (I think my hose is frozen. :))

Charles

[Mr. Clean]

Yep, being dressed for it is a plus. For years I duck hunted down here in freezing and even sub-freezing temps. This of course included wading out into the water to set out decoys. And yet I still can`t face a hose wash out temps that range far above those temps. Now a self (wand) wash is somehow different...go figure.

[Beemerboy]

Yep, being dressed for it is a plus. For years I duck hunted down here in freezing and even sub-freezing temps. This of course included wading out into the water to set out decoys. And yet I still can`t face a hose wash out temps that range far above those temps. Now a self (wand) wash is somehow different...go figure.

That`s where I ended up with the S&W the cars where not that bad I just wanted to use the new soap was all

[Mr. Clean]

Since at 4:00 PM it`s 10 degrees, that`s us. :D It did make it up to 13 today though. (I think my hose is frozen. :))

Charles

Yup, that`s cold. It is in the upper 20s here today, and with the wind and moisture in the air, it is pretty close to miserable for me. I drove the Wife into her office today because of the lingering icey conditions, and just went out to S&W the glass on her car and dang it I nearly froze. I`d laugh, but I`m still shaking while drinking my cup of hot tea. :)

[Mr. Clean]

That`s where I ended up with the S&W the cars where not that bad I just wanted to use the new soap was all

I have found that combination (self wash and S&W or some of the rinseless washes) to be an above average option during the fairly short (thank goodness) stints of cold weather we get. I still prefer the traditional multi-bucket/hose wash by a significant margin.