Abstract
DURING the recent cold spell, serious inconvenience has been caused in many households by the freezing of water services. In the Electrical Review of February 2, a letter from Mr. C. W. Salt, the city electrical engineer to Carlisle, is published describing an effective and 'easily applied method of thawing frozen water services, when a public A.C. supply is available. In Carlisle, where the voltage is 230, a double-wound single-phase transformer is used, the ratio being 230/12, with a regulating resistance on the primary side and an ammeter scaled 0–250 on the secondary side. The primary is plugged into a 15 amp. radiator socket and the secondary leads are attached to a tap or pipe inside the house and to the stopcock of a neighbouring house. The regulating resistance is adjusted until the secondary current flows through the frozen pipe at about 150 amp. It is found that the normal ½-in. lead service pipe thaws out in five to seven minutes. Mr. Salt says that in cases of sickness where there is no water supply and consequently no kitchen fire or other means of providing hot water, this remedy has been much appreciated.
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Electrical Thawing. Nature 145, 218–219 (1940). https://doi.org/10.1038/145218d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/145218d0