frost heat trace headache.

[dawg25g]

Have anyone had any problems with self regulating heat cable. I installed frost protection cable on to a water pipe that was feeding water troughs in a slatted cow shed. The customer went nuts when the water pipe burst. The tee joint that i had installed had failed and disintegrated, must have been arcing across the conductors. I dont know how this happened, i was sure that the joints were done correctly using bn thermal tee joint heat shrink kits. The cable is in a really ****ty damp enviroment, my thought is that dampness is the cause. I have now redone the joints and used compression tape to seal them. The cable manufacture say they have not had any failures so im thinking its my handiwork to blame.

 

[Marvo]

Sounds like there was a problem with the joint. I've used heat shrink with a little silicone sealant inside before it's shrunk, then a quick wrap of non-drip tape around the joint and around the whole pipe if necessary.

 

[MarkieSparkie]

Did a cow chew it or kick it?

 

[Rockingit]

Markie - was going to say exactly the same thing. My outlaws have an enormous dairy farm down here and last winter spent days on end defrosting pipes - but they wont have trace heating installed as the cows just chew at it.

Trivia: ONE dairy cow drinks in excess of 8 gallons of water a day. That's why frozen pipes are such a big deal.