# Ritchie is frozen?



## deadmoose

Cows looked a lil funny arou d the waterer today. I check and it is empty. First thought is stuck valve. Nope. Now I gotta get going so I found a hose and am filling up the stock tank. Tomorrow is forecasted warmer so I will start with opening side cover then. Any suggestions? I sure hope not water line. Made it through last winter, although minimal snow so far this year. 6 feet deep the whole way.

Fun way to spend new years day. Off to buy a tank heater and hair dryer before work.


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## 8350HiTech

That's when we would start carrying hot water from the house in five gallon buckets and pouring on, in, and around until it thawed. Then after that we got insulated waterers.


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## Bgriffin856

Not familar with Ritchie but we have a behlen (sp?) And we have had the heating element go out before and a couple thermostats in the 12 years we've had it. Usually never noticed till it got cold and iced over. Its in the heifer barn so heat coming out of the ground via the 4in drain tile we run the water and electric through

Hope its something simple. Good luck


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## Tim/South

We only had to use heaters one time. I am thankful thawing water that is not a task we have to contend with here often.


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## Bonfire

Is this a Thrifty King? Is your incoming supply pipe coming up through a heat sink tube?


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## swmnhay

Check the element first.I've had line freeze between ground level and the float also.Couple gallons of hot water usually does the trick.If roze below ground level disconnect line in drinker so you can shove a 1/4 hose down the line using a 2-3 gallon hand sprayer to melt threw the ice.I doubt you would have issues at 6' this early in the winter.


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## barnrope

Its probably frozen under the waterer. Like Cy said, check the element. It may have just been freak thing that caused it to freeze too. Best way to thaw is take the lid off and if you have a hand sprayer put very hot water in it and spray from the valve on down as far as you can reach. Chances are it is frozen near the top or at the valve. Frozen waterers seem to be pretty common, I have had more than my share of experience with them, especially when we were raising a couple thousand head of pigs where they had water outside on concrete floors. Cattle waterers are easier to access and work on than hog waterers and you don't have pigs chewing on you the whole time you are working on them...


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## Grateful11

We've got 2 Ritchie's waterers a WaterMatic 150 and a 300. The 300 has a heater in it but decided not to put one in the shorter 150 and so far the only ice I've seen is a very thin skim at 14˚ F. The old Ritchie that was here some time ago was all metal, don't think they even make those anymore.

https://ritchiefount.com/product/watermatic-150/

https://ritchiefount.com/product/watermatic-300/


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## Lostin55

We went to Cobett stock waterers 2 years ago. No power and so far no problems. Break ice in the A.M. and good all day. They are made, or at least were designed, up north. Some folks don't like having to pop ice every day but everyone should check any water tank at least that often.


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## deadmoose

swmnhay said:


> Check the element first.I've had line freeze between ground level and the float also.Couple gallons of hot water usually does the trick.If roze below ground level disconnect line in drinker so you can shove a 1/4 hose down the line using a 2-3 gallon hand sprayer to melt threw the ice.I doubt you would have issues at 6' this early in the winter.


I am leaning towards the element. Basically a rope heater on supply line. Little water that was still in pan wasn't frozen nor hot. I think that heater is doing its job. Gal at work said she had similar element go out twice. I called local coop that carries the line. Closed before 430.

I went to Target tonight. About the only thing open. (I don't count wally mart). Tomorrow gonna use my new blow dryer and see what happens.


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## deadmoose

I cant remember how accessible my power supply is under there. Another thought for a temp fix if I deem that the problem is wiring up a light and leaving it on until I can get a new heater. 60 watts might just be enough heat.


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## deadmoose

I was just thinking... I was in such a rush to get something to help me out tomorrow and at the last resort store.....that I forgot to ask for my tax exempt form. I wonder how that would go buying a hair dryer? Or if they could get a form for that matter...

Happy New Year all. Cheers to 2015.


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## swmnhay

deadmoose said:


> I cant remember how accessible my power supply is under there. Another thought for a temp fix if I deem that the problem is wiring up a light and leaving it on until I can get a new heater. 60 watts might just be enough heat.


i just did just that in the horse drinker.There is not enough water flow from 1 horse drinking so it freezes the pipe below the drinker pan.

And no I'm not getting more horses to get more water flow!!


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## mlappin

Always heard good things about the Ritchies, next fews years I need to replace a waterer, most likely go with a Omni 3.


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## swmnhay

mlappin said:


> Always heard good things about the Ritchies, next fews years I need to replace a waterer, most likely go with a Omni 3.


the new plastic ones are pretty nice.I went with a miraffont they were a little less money.We had the old metal Richies and I still have nightmares about them esp the hog drinkers.


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## deadmoose

I found the cable heater that wraps the supply line online. It looked funny as I didn't remember wrappig the supply line. Memory was correct-I didnt wrap it. Oops.

Somehow it made it the past two winters. A few minutes with my new hair dryer pointing down the tube and water was flowing. And the herd knew it. So I closed up shop and let them drink. I will have to buy and install new heater cord another day. Hopefully this time correctly.


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## Grateful11

mlappin said:


> Always heard good things about the Ritchies, next fews years I need to replace a waterer, most likely go with a Omni 3.


The Omni 3 should be much easier to clean with the stainless trough.


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## Bonfire

swmnhay said:


> the new plastic ones are pretty nice.I went with a miraffont they were a little less money.We had the old metal Richies and I still have nightmares about them esp the hog drinkers.


I have several Ritchie Thrifty Kings. They're nice and haven't had a bit of trouble with them. I also have a Mira Fount. What I really like about the MF is that the floating caps are blue balls (he, he, he). You can drive by the drinker, see the balls (vs an unseen disc in the Ritchie) sticking out the top and know there's water in the tank.

Biggest thing here is leaving a gap between the floating cap and the tank/seal to avoid freezing the cap to the tank.


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## IHCman

We've got three of the older metal Ritchie waterers and one concrete waterer (think the brand is blue river). We've added extra insulation under the metal ones and have an outlet wired under them so we can run a light under them all winter. One seems to be a bigger PITA than the others but its more out in the open so gets hit with wind harder too. I plan to replace all the the Ritchie waterers in due time with concrete waterers.

When they freeze up we generally use a hairdryer to blow hot air down the heat riser to thaw them out.


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## mlappin

Grateful11 said:


> The Omni 3 should be much easier to clean with the stainless trough.


I built a guard around the one we have now out of a couple of hoop free stalls and anchored them to the cement, figured with the stainless trough, the rest being plastic and the guard around it should be a long long time before I have to think about replacing it again.

Any other waterers out there that use the earths heat to keep from freezing up? I have another lot I plan on using in the future for heifers but it doesn't have electric to it, not a real convenient way to get any there either. I have to bust the concrete up anyways to fix a leak.


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## Bonfire

Bury a 12" diameter piece of corragated culvert pipe vertically from below your frost line to the top of the cement pad. Bring your supply line up through the center of the pipe and hook it up to your drinker. Key thing here is to have a good seal at the bottom of the drinker against the cement pad to keep out wind and water. My drinkers came with a foam gasket you put around the outside perimeter of the base of the drinker. When you anchor bolt and tighten the drinker down, that will smash the foam gasket out creating a good seal. This type of installation allows the heat to come up through the corragated pipe to keep all of your plumbing from freezing. Don't allow the supply water pipe coming up through the corragated pipe to touch anywhere.


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## Ritchie Industries

deadmoose said:


> I found the cable heater that wraps the supply line online. It looked funny as I didn't remember wrappig the supply line. Memory was correct-I didnt wrap it. Oops.
> 
> Somehow it made it the past two winters. A few minutes with my new hair dryer pointing down the tube and water was flowing. And the herd knew it. So I closed up shop and let them drink. I will have to buy and install new heater cord another day. Hopefully this time correctly.


Glad to hear that you got it working. We are in the office today if you have any questions so you can be up and running this weekend.


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## Ritchie Industries

deadmoose said:


> I cant remember how accessible my power supply is under there. Another thought for a temp fix if I deem that the problem is wiring up a light and leaving it on until I can get a new heater. 60 watts might just be enough heat.


We do advise against a light bulb under the unit. While this practice could be done on the metal units, the light bulbs tend to get too hot under our plastic units and could potentially damage them. We are happy to help answer any questions that you may have.


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## Vol

Bonfire said:


> Bury a 12" diameter piece of corragated culvert pipe vertically from below your frost line to the top of the cement pad. Bring your supply line up through the center of the pipe and hook it up to your drinker.


That is the same technique I used to mount Nelson Manufacturing horse waterers back in the early eighties..... but I used a 48"concrete tile buried 36" and the waterer sat down in the joint lip. I finally sold them 3 years ago and they worked like clockwork.

Regards, Mike


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## Gearclash

What Ritchie Industries says about light bulb heat is true. Been there, melted that.


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## Bonfire

In hindsight, the only thing I would do differently with my Ritchie drinkers is get Hokie colors vs these ISU ones.


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## Lostin55

mlappin said:


> I built a guard around the one we have now out of a couple of hoop free stalls and anchored them to the cement, figured with the stainless trough, the rest being plastic and the guard around it should be a long long time before I have to think about replacing it again.
> 
> Any other waterers out there that use the earths heat to keep from freezing up? I have another lot I plan on using in the future for heifers but it doesn't have electric to it, not a real convenient way to get any there either. I have to bust the concrete up anyways to fix a leak.


cobett.com We have had tremendous luck with them. We have had Ritchie waterers in places that we had power to and they make a great product. Our current set of corrals doesnt have power and we put in 4 of the cobett waterers. Every morning we pop the ice in them, usually about 1/2 to 1", and as advertised they stay open most days. I was doubtful at 1st, my brother had them for a couple of years before we tried them. They are just a little higher priced than the powered ones but with no monthly power bill, they pay for themselves. One thing that I should note, unless the wind is howling they stay ice free down to about zero degrees.


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## deadmoose

Bonfire said:


> Bury a 12" diameter piece of corragated culvert pipe vertically from below your frost line to the top of the cement pad. Bring your supply line up through the center of the pipe and hook it up to your drinker. Key thing here is to have a good seal at the bottom of the drinker against the cement pad to keep out wind and water. My drinkers came with a foam gasket you put around the outside perimeter of the base of the drinker. When you anchor bolt and tighten the drinker down, that will smash the foam gasket out creating a good seal. This type of installation allows the heat to come up through the corragated pipe to keep all of your plumbing from freezing. Don't allow the supply water pipe coming up through the corragated pipe to touch anywhere.


I have the recommended ritchie tube. I am surprised as I never properly wrapped the supply line that I had no problem before. My theory is lack of snow this year to stop any drafts. I have the gasket but never put concrete. It sits on a wood frame buried with 4 foot 4x4s. About time to pour some concrete this summer.


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## deadmoose

Ritchie Industries said:


> Glad to hear that you got it working. We are in the office today if you have any questions so you can be up and running this weekend.


I wish everyone had this kind of customer service. Too many places "your call is very important to us..."

Thanks for the offer. I bought the heater coil in stock at the local dealer today. I hope to install tomorrow. In the meantime after pointing my new Revlon down the thermal tube for a few minutes all has been well.


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## Bonfire

deadmoose said:


> I wish everyone had this kind of customer service. Too many places "your call is very important to us..."
> 
> Thanks for the offer. I bought the heater coil in stock at the local dealer today. I hope to install tomorrow. In the meantime after pointing my new Revlon down the thermal tube for a few minutes all has been well.


I talked to the Ritchie folks at the Farm Show in Raleigh some years ago. The booth guy told me "go to this dealer, they're closest, tell them to give you X amount of discount. Tell them I sent you. Any questions, have them call me." If I remember correctly, that made them a little cheaper than the Mira Fount's. Soon after, the Ecofont drinkers went into a rebate program. Bought one for the horses. The animal watering problems on this farm ended at that point. Damn breaking ice in the winter and broken tank floats and an over flowing tanks in the summer.


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## Bonfire

As a side note, I also keep gold fish in my Thrifty King's and Mira Fount drinkers. One set of 7-8 fish that live in the drinker the cows are on. When the cows move pastures, I grab a bucket and catch my fish and move them with the cows to the next drinker. They keep the inside of the drinker pretty clean. All my drinkers are gravity fed from a pond. No pumps. No electric to deal with.


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## bluefarmer

I have two of the bar bar A drinker, nearly 10 years an never have touched them


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## mlappin

I checked the Cobett site out, pretty impressive.

http://cobett.com/index.html


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## Supa Dexta

-25*c here today and was just checking on mine






All's good with the frost free nose pump!


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## deadmoose

Supa Dexta said:


> -25*c here today and was just checking on mine
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> All's good with the frost free nose pump!


Whats the cost for that?


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## Supa Dexta

deadmoose said:


> Whats the cost for that?


 pump itself was nearing 1500, you need the culvert and excavate the hole, and make the lid for the pump to set on. And then decide if you want concrete around it now or later.

So likely 2000-2500 to get it in up and running just to start with. But it's been well worth it for me. No more worrying about them having water, cutting the pond open or them falling thru the ice. No power requirements, or even maintenance on it really either. Just put it in and it works.

The area I have it in there now is a new cleared spot Im working on and letting them winter there, I can always dig it back out and move it, or simply drop another culvert in somewhere else and just move the pump. It's never froze on me yet - been down into the -30s *c and supports up to 50+ pairs, although I only use it with mature cows at this time..

Just to note, if there is other easily accessed water, they tend to go drink it first, rather than work for their own pumping. If it fills with rain water and then freezes when the weather turns cold, just take a rubber mallet to the side and free it up, once the weather stays frozen its really handy.


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## deadmoose

Fingers are crossed. New heater is now installed. It is not the same nor wired the same as the heater that came with it. Hopefully all works well. Running a blow dryer after work for half an hour is no fun. Neither is watering with a hose from my basement. Nor the combination of both.


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## treymo

Here in feedlot country we carry around 4" PVC pipe in the pickups so we can pull beside a frozen waterer and pump hot exhaust into the compartment below the waterer to thaw the pipes. Some guys use propane blow torches.

Trey


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## aawhite

We kept a plastic tool box full of Ritchie parts. Had over 30 of them on the dairy at one time. Good waterers for the most part. We eventually replaced most of them with Mirafont, left the weaneed calf barn and some of the maternity pens on Ritchies.


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