How to Install Heat Tape in your Manufactured Home
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- Watch a fire chief and electrician correctly install heat tape to keep water pipes from freezing in manufactured or mobile homes. Guides and more available at cleanenergyresourceteams.org/home
this is by a wide margin, the best demonstration of how to heat tape. i just bought an old trailer, and you just made me alot less nervous about freezing pipes.
Installing heat tape is not rocket science, and this video is an excellent how-to. I've done many, many jobs like this as an electrician, and there are just a few important things to remember, like keeping that thermostat 'button' firmly against the pipe. Here in central British Columbia, Canada we run the heat tape in a long spiral, about one turn every foot, to put more wattage on each foot of pipe. The manufacturers clearly warn you should not do this, but in the real world of the Great White North it works well, without any fire hazard. Just be sure to never cross the heat tape over itself, as that does create a hot spot. This firefighter did mention that. Two more things: contrary to the advice in the comments below, foam insulation is absolutely fine; it's treated with fire retardant. Fiberglass is great, but only if it's kept absolutely dry. Second, you do not need a 20A circuit and heavy conductors; this tape typically draws six to nine watts per foot, so we're talking about a very light load. Don't over-think this.
Great advice.
Is it safe to put heat tape on Pex Pipe & then insulate it?
PEX is considered freeze damage resistant. It will swell up and possibly burst. But it's best to replace it if it does that. If u can even notice that is... I imagine the heat tape would work just fine on the PEX considering it doesn't melt the PEX, which is heat resistant as well.😊 PEX is awesome.
And a GFEP
Like what you said about wrapping the pipe instead of running the length , but one small correction , manufacturers say to run length up too 1” pipe any bigger pipe wrap spiral , depending on the situation i do the same as you wrap .
This vid is probably the most informative i have came across trying to rectify my main water line freezing up every year
I purchased a mobile home 2 years ago and have experienced frozen pipes each winter. Thankfully I was able to unfreeze the pipes without or before devastating results . I'm so grate I came across this very informative demonstration . I appreciate your expertise. Thank you for sharing your expertise with us viewers . Also thank you for your service.
This has many good tips and no so good tips.
When using fiberglass insulation you need to do a vapor wrap as well.
Yes, it is necessary to DRIP H20 when below certain temperatures sir. Been living in them all my life. Experience is the harshest teacher
Exactly! The four or five days a year I might have to drip my faucets is definitely cheaper than replacing all my plumbing
I found this video out of pure frustration . We have heat tape under our mobile home , but now that I've seen all of this great information , I think we've done it wrong this whole time ! Thank you for doing this !
Thank you so very much! I realize you made this awhile ago already but you did a wonderful job and I feel comfortable accepting your advice knowing your professional background. I'm not sure I was even aware how little I trusted most online advice until now. Thank you again, sir. I appreciate your hard work
Great Information - Thank you for sharing it. We just moved from South Florida to Montana so this is all new to me. We have a unheated walk in utility basement that has all of the water lines that supply the house attached to the floor joists. We know that one of the copper lines burst last winter and flooded the basement (it didnt have heat tape on it) The previous owner did not have the thermostats attached to the pipes they are just hanging in the air near the plug. I think it is time to replace the heat tape and insulation correctly since I don't know the age of the current heat tape. Thaks again for the great information and your service to your online followers and local community. !!!!!
FYI, pex is type of water pipe that isn't easily damaged by freezing
Thanks. I've been scouring the internet for "how to" videos. This was the best I've seen.
Thank you chief for the extra effort and the useful practical information.
I was thinking about getting a mobile home but I’m not sure cause the only thing I worry about is frozen pipes and thank you for your service and your presentation Great video.
Just put mine on today for this great Texas freeze 🥶 we are encountering more often ! MH froze last year and burst the pipes….texas isn’t used to this! I think we are too light in the load and need to be prepared better from now on! Please please work! 🤲 We are at 18 and the wind is whipping at 30 miles an hour! our norm in January is 40s at night and 70s during the day! 🙏 heat tape works! I followed your directions! Let you know! We are back to 70 next week!
I’m glad I found this channel
Thank you .good stuff.
Demo model and live model was a nice touch . outstanding
The video was very helpful. I pressed the Dislike button just to see what would happen, SORRY. I never pressed one before. Tried to undo it by pressing it again and it just registered another dislike. Please ignore them.
I also pressed the Like button because the video was informative and very well done!
When you press the like button it reverses your dislike button press.
Lol this comment made me laugh 😂
I've been doing it all wrong. Thank you for the tutorial and tips. Maybe I will have better luck this winter.
Great info! I love the visual aid to demonstrate.
Don’t touch fiberglass insulation with your barehands. Always use gloves. Tiny glass particles will cut, and lodge into your skin. That is way your hands feel itchy if you touch your skin with fiberglass insulation.
Please check out the "black electrical tape" that you use. Purchase the tape meant for the use. Some electrical type of tapes have a specific use, and get the one meant for what you are using it for.
You could use an infrared thermometer to check if it is working. I use one around my house all of the time to see how warm the radiators get and look for cold spots in the winter.
Thanks for the information video! I have a really long run from the inlet from the ground, to where the plastic pipe is connected to the house pipe.
Thank you!
Good information. Thank you!
Thank you for the video and your service! ❤
Thank you.
Isn't it also true that you want the thermostat located at the coldest end of the pipe?
Excellent video !!! Keep it up learned some good info
All heat tapes made for mobile homes in my area specifically state NOT to put anything over the tape so as not to cause a fire.
I've seen instructions where they say to insulate the pipe with fiberglass, which is not flammable.
There are different kinds.
fiber insolation looks ugly, and i doubt how long it can last if it exposes to the rain
Super awesome showing ideal, then real!
Very helpful! Thank you!!
Don't forget gloves and mask for handling the fiberglass insulation.
does the sensor HAVE to be touching the pipe? my installer is older and he usually used heat tape that never had a sensor on it. so after install we figured air would just activate it. i dont see why open air wouldnt. its a pvc pipe running off a furnace pump and the pvc pipe is wrpaped in the tape and then the thing that looks like a noodle is over that. also ive read dont cover the sensor
I see that your not wrapping the sensor (thermocouple?) with tape directly around the back to keep it secure against the pipe. Is there any reason why you wouldn't want to do this? I see some videos securing the sensor this way, and in your demonstration you keep the tape to either side. Thanks for the informative video and I apologize if I just missed this somewhere.
I have two 1/2 inch copper pipes running throught my unconditioned attic that supply water to a shower/bathtub below. Each run is about 8 feet but passes through about 5 or six studs. Can I safely run heat tapes up, over and down each stud or do I need to be concerned about the wood studs catching fire? I hate to drill extra holes for the heat tape. I live in Central MA and do have blown insulation but I did have frozen pipes last year when the temps turned single digits. My house is a Colonial from the 1980s.😊
Probe to warm the heat pipe above the frost line not below the frost , it is not frozen
Thank you!!! do you only have to go up to the mobile home? then everything else will not freeze?
hi enjoyed the video i got some imformation from you so I would like to better inform you fibreglass is a disposable and not a first choice where there may be moisture present if it gets wet it will freeze or mold and will mold when it thaws mineral or rock wool is what any educated insulater would recommend where you are putting fibreglass if it gets wet it will freeze it can not mold because it is made of basalt rock so if it freezes it will still work fine when it thaws unlike the fibreglass the price difference is about 10 to 15 percent for a much higher quality product I am a Red Seal ticketed Journeyman Pipe Insulator Im from Alberta
theres a few things i want to note that ive learned the past few days. for one the booklet says dont cover the thermostat. also you cant use the thermostat on a drip line, like a furnace. these cables are made to read pipes that have constant water flow so it warms up and shuts off. with my furnace we didnt attach the thermostat to the pvc drip, and if we did according to instructions it wouldnt turn on anyways. the manufactuerer said the thermostat will turn on by air even if not attached but so far i havent seen it work. the thing is, if it turns on by air itll just stay on and eventually the tape/cable will malfunction. this will result in it either shutting off, or worse case scenario burning the insulation under it. i decided to unplug mine and not use it. i think my insulation will be enough to keep it warm hopefully.
I am surprised that a firefighter fails to address the fact that the manufacturers of the foam pipe insulation clearly state on their packages that the product is not to be used over heat tape.
Liability, then. But who wants to waste that heat? I demo'd a job where the heat tape was wrapped OUTSIDE the insulation 😮
my cold and hot water pipes lay next to the floor. I would like to use the pipe warming tape but i don't think i can move the pipe without fear of it snapping. Can I attach the pipe warmer on the top of the pipe. I am retired firefighter from Canada. Also thank you for your service Chief.
I'm no expert but my educated guess is that underneath would be more safe and more effective. Hear rises, as he mentioned, so the heat tape under the pipe would do more in service of keeping the actual pipe warm. Also, I'm not positive but I think that the type of insulation generally used is used because it's flange retardant. My concern would be building heat beneath your (possibly) more flammable flooring. Especially if you've got any kind of flooring glue just above for vinyl or something. I may be way off base though.
Did you try heat tape underneath? How'd is it going?
Do you have to do all the pipes under the mobile home or just where the pipe comes into the house?
Only the pipes you don't want to break. 😂
Use a 20amp arc fault circuit breaker and a 20amp ground fault outlet on its own dedicated circuit using 10/2 gauge wire... That's your first step in keeping the fire department from showing up with hoses and axes... Also use 12g exterior extension cords and tape the ends together to keep water out.... I Use Raychem products steer away from the box store frost king junk it will work but it's something we wouldn't look at living on the Canadian border... I like the layout in this video it's great for 1970 everything is true, but it wouldn't be allowed by code anywhere except places that have no code inforcement or use code newer than a mid 1970's to 80's code rules...
I always was under the impression that 12/2 wire is for 20 amp circuits. Or do you say 10/2 for more safety margin? Also how many feet can you run on 20 amp circuit?
While I appreciate that you're clearly informed and experienced, I'm not sure what good it does to just spout off relatively esoteric information like that as if everyone could or should go wiring their own homes up. We get it, you're smart, you're cool. Being a dick doesn't always have to follow k bud
That's ridiculous advice, Jason. 20A? #10 conductors? Sure, it will work, but it's expensive overkill. Would you do the same with your run to the fridge, or the lighting? Of course not, even though they are much larger loads.
I read that your not suppose to use insulation tube with spit down center
you see that nice water leak under there?
Do yourself a favor and buy a cheap thermal camera and you can see if it's working. That's what i did.
Looks like a fire hazard! The heat tape should be wrapped in fiberglass insulation than wrap with cellophane, than use the foam wrap!!!!
The heat tape could cause that black foam to catch fire!!! Fiberglass will not catch fire! This guy works for the fire department??!!
Exactly what I was thinking who the hell would do it in a reverse fashion every thing was backwards this a how not to do it fr
@@MichaelBell22 Interesting to note.
6:26
To people making videos, get to the point without a lot of other nonsense
The water pipe in the last example was clearly leaking water
Heat tape instructions that come with the packaging literally say to wrap the tape around the pipe, not to string it along like in this video. Someone got this wrong.
Depends on the heat tape, mine says NOT to wrap but to go along in parallel on the bottom! (Frost king IIRC)
The Easy Heat tape says to run it in a straight line.
Stick to fighting fires Chief. Terrible presentation, sorry but you're fumbling for words and pausing while thinking was difficult to listen to. Further and more importantly this is titled as how to install the heat tape. You didn't install it correctly nor did you mention that you need to keep the heat tape flat against the pipe and not twisted as you tape it to the pipe. The biggest incorrect thing you did was that little trick where you inverted the orange power cord towards the top and looped the black heating wire down and around the elbow and back up the other side of the pipe going past the thermostat. You should never do that and only install everything in a straight line along the pipe from beginning to end. The problem with doing it the way you did and looping it around that pipe is that you effectively have double the amount of heating Cable in that short section of pipe which is right by the thermostat. That double section of heating cable will heat that section of pipe twice as fast as the rest of the 5 ft long section of pipe that only has one black heating cable underneath it. When that beginning section by the thermostat heats up quicker it will cycle the thermostat off and the remaining part of the pipe that doesn't have the double cable on it will be a lot colder and possibly freeze. So I would follow the instructions and keep the heat cable in a single row under the piping and not double it like you did to cover that extra area of pipe that is exposed. I'm sorry but by worrying about that little bit of pipe and doubling the black heat cable around it like that you now risk the entire length of the rest of that pipe becoming frozen.
Most automatic heat tapes turn on at about 38°F and the insulated pipe needs to hit 38 so it will take more than just a chill in the air to turn these on.