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My walk-in freezer's drain line froze up last Tuesday night
I thought it was a quick fix, maybe an hour with a shop vac and some hot water. Ended up being a full clog in the line under the floor slab. Had to pull the evaporator unit to get to the cleanout, and the whole thing took me almost nine hours into the morning prep shift. Lost a case of duck breasts and a whole hotel pan of demi because the temp spiked. What's your go-to method for preventing this mess when the humidity gets wild? I'm not doing that again.
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dixon.james2mo ago
Ugh that's the worst kind of night. Honestly, I just pour a little hot water down the drain every single night before I lock up. Like a small coffee pot's worth. It's cheap and it keeps things moving. If I know a big humidity spike is coming, I'll hit it with the shop vac first to pull out any sludge, then do the hot water. It adds two minutes to closing and saves a nine hour nightmare.
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juliarodriguez8m ago
Oh man, the hot water trick is solid but you gotta be careful with that. The water from a coffee pot is usually not hot enough to really melt any built up grease or sludge, especially if it's been sitting in a cold line for hours. You really need it near boiling to break that stuff down, otherwise you're just pushing warm water through a cold pipe and it could freeze before it even does anything. I've seen people do the same thing and end up with a bigger clog because the warm water just made the fat congeal further down the line.
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charles212mo ago
That hotel pan of demi is a real gut punch. I run a small line of food grade RV antifreeze down my drain once a week. Just a cup. It's cheap and stays liquid way below freezing to keep things clear. @dixon.james has the right idea with nightly hot water, but the antifreeze is my backup for when I forget. Also, make sure your drain line has a proper slope all the way out. A flat spot under the slab will always collect water and freeze solid.
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