Sump drain line frozen

[bucolic_frolic]

under a 16" of snow. Pump just spins til it overheats. Any ideas?

[Atticus]

1. Can you pour boiling water down it and then immediately use the longest flexible steel

sewer snake you can find?

[magicarpet]

2. Access a portable sub-pump that allows a garden hose to attach then run the garden hose out a,....

.... cellar window then bring the hose back inside so that does not freeze too.

[OneBlueDotBama]

3. try running another line out till the ground...

& pipe thaws. In the spring, dig up the drain hose & install a water pipe warmer cable. Cover with styrofoam SM.

Been there done that...never froze again. We also installed a battery operated pump for when the power went out. Power outages usually occurred with heavy rainfall.

[thucythucy]

4. It's happened to me and unfortunately

there is only one solution I know of for sure, and it's dependent upon the type of drain.

Mine feeds through the basement wall and through a hose out a good distance into the yard. This means I can go out and pound on the hose with a rubber mallet to clear the ice. If your drain isn't accessible then this of course isn't an option.

I'm guessing you have power since the pump continues to run. The other thought would be to boil some water and pour it into the well. The hot water should theoretically circulate and free up the ice.

If neither of these are an option it's best to just turn off the pump, since it'll burn out eventually if you don't.

I doubt this is helpful but it's the best I can do. Best wishes.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. THanks to all

Last edited Wed Feb 17, 2021, 05:22 PM - Edit history (1)

I outside line runs about 40 feet to opening. I think I will dig the snow away from the buried line which will allow it to thaw when it's 35. If a flood ensues will feed into garden hose via drain fitting and into laundry tub pump and drain. I think this happened years ago and I waited it out until warmer weather. I don't think I have that luxury this time.

Update: Poured boiling water along the highest point of the line - nearest to the surface, after the surface dig. There is slight movement of water in the pipe after running the pump. So will do that for awhile and see if I get a full thaw.

I think a solution is to dig in a few feet of parallel pipe along the high point on both sides, put an underground mini-dry well and leave the other high end of the pipes facing up with a cap on them. This is low tech but would allow pouring boiling water into the side pipes for warmth in the winter.