Frozen Conduits

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George Stolz

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Location
Windsor, CO NEC: 2017
Occupation
Service Manager
I had some ice in a 3" conduit once (give or take). I chipped at it with a fish tape, put a vacuum on and after some chipping, airflow was established. It occurred to me that, since my electrical room was heated to 65 degrees, over time this heated air would be sucked by the vacuum through the conduit and gently thaw the ice.

I had a desire to expedite this process, so I put a chunk of large flex into the propane heater, dropped it down into the pipe, and taped the end so that all air drawn into the underground would be sucked out of the heater.

I watched my handiwork with pride for a moment, and then left the room for a minute to attend to something else.

My buddy Frank walked up to me on my way back to the electrical room, and proceeded to gripe at me because he walked in, saw the flex sticking out of the heater and instinctively grabbed it with his bare hand. He had stripes on his hand for a couple days after that...

Even if something works, safety first. Even the smartest of us do something stupid every now and then.
 
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