Rush wrote:
>
> Eric@megageek.com wrote:
>
>> OK, in the northeast, we can't leave our hoses out all year or they will
>> freeze.
>
>
> Thanks for the reminder <leaves to go disconnect his hose as it might
> fall below freezing tonight>
Actually, those "deep ball valves" that people are chatting about
have the worst failure mode if they freeze.
These are the ones that look normal from the outside, but the knob is
actually connected to a long rod, so the "guts" of the valve are inside
the house where it's warm and it doesn't freeze.
However, if you forget and leave the outside hose on, all bets are
off. The water gets shut off, but the hose keeps water in the "outside"
part of the valve as well.
It freezes and breaks the tube, and nothing happens, at first.
Except then in the spring, you attach your hose, turn the knob, and
start washing your car. Except there is a split in the tube that goes
through your wall, and it starts gushing water inside your walls, while
you are blissfully unaware outside.
In my case, it happened twice. One was like that when we moved in,
and we kind of wondered why the outside tap was off. So we turned it on,
and started to use it on and off for a summer.
Then we noticed the basement carpet in that corner of the house was
drenched, and it took a long time to make the connection to where the
water was coming from.
Then it happened to us again, our fault, at another valve on a
different wall. At least this one we diagnosed quickly.
Now we pretty much disconnect the outside hoses between uses any time
after September. Too easy to forget.
--
Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
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