i have copper pipe on hot and iron on cold (don‘t know why old owners did that-) how long should i leave on a one time? any help would be great. pipes have been frozen since last friday.
Open the faucets on those lines, and when the water starts to run you're done.
it could take a long time to thaw the pipes it would depend on how long they were frozen , how cold it is still and the amps you are using to thaw the pipes. i would suspect that if the pipes have been frozen for a week than you will have damaged pipes . so once you thaw them out you will have leak( s) . so be prepared to turn the water off than .
need more information really. is it like under a trailer house or inside a house. are they all frozen? the copper one i would think would be the one that would unthaw first. i would leave what ever you got to thaw them out on there until it thaws. if it is under like a trailer, you might want to get a propane torch and heat it up that way as i don't think the tape will unthaw it once it's froze, but will keep it unthawed if not frozen. with any luck none of your pipes will have to be replaced. frozen water expands and in a pipe has no where to go except to break through the pipe. good luck
