i just tried mine for the first time.......it was about 9 degrees this morning. the water was froze. it didn't work. Pointers please??
2080261
Hello, when it's really cold you need to start with completely thawed water, and mine will still freeze up to a few inches from the heater but the birds still get the little bit of water that they need. If you have colder weather than me you may need a more powerful heater? Hope that helps. Elizabeth
2080262
I have not had a problem with mine, but in extreme cold it does seem to freeze around the edges of my bird bath (tub). Perhaps a bird bath or container would do better if it was deeper. I use a small utility tub which is deeper than any of my bird baths. Hope that helps.
2080263
With the air temperature at about 11°F the water near the heater was at 42°F. I use an instrument called Kill-A-Watt to check the voltage at the outlet and the power drawn by an appliance. It seems your heater is not working or there is no power supplied to it.
2080264
I have mine in a shallow bird bath, probably about 4 inches of water. When it is really cold, there is just a small opening that does not freeze, probably about 6 inches which is fine with me as the birds can get a drink. I keep the heater over next to the edge and weigh it down. It is really cheap to operate because it doesn't thaw a larger area I guess, not enough heat? When the weather is not that cold, I have a much larger area available. I think you would probably have better luck if your water is not too deep. Hope this helps.
2080265
My measurements and calculations predict that the water around this 50 W heater will freeze at about 11°F. If you want to prevent freezing to lower temperatures, replace the heater with the 80W version, Model 9001. I would expect that one to work to -2°F.
2080266
We have not had temp that low yet but we did have a severely cold winter past and ours worked. It did not melt the ice all the way to the edge but it was enough to please the birds.
39488
Because mine never froze, they would float. Even the few I had that would freeze floated. Hope that helps.
967846
For me I just use a little battery operated pump , air it up till it feels moderately tight then go for it. Just a word of advice....be mindful that on a hot day they will get too tight and you should beach land it a relieve a little pressure. on a cold day I had it all pumped up, threw it on the trailer and headed to the lake, when I got there it was deflated considerably due to the cold. I pumped it up and away it goes. Its a awesome rig. Get U 1, FISH ON!
659680
I leave mine connect at night, the heater in the hose only works when it needs to stop the water from freezing. The temperature was 24 degrees last night and I had water in the coach
2193459
The water lines in the master loo are on an outside wall so in the winter I had the same concern. Water temps in the low 40's. After a couple of Wha Hoo's !! the first few times of using it my bum adapted and I've had no wha hoo's since..PS. Coffee is rather expensive these days and this thing will wake you up quite well cutting down on your coffee intake..
1796302
Ours has worked quite well with water. We haven't had any freezes yet, but I plan to empty before that happens...since water expands when it freezes, I don't want to rupture the seams.
773463
I had it running this weekend in arrowhead it was fine. The heater was on to the house. I would imagine if it was below 30 the motor may not like it. I would not assume that because the water is moving it will not freeze at a lower temp. But I am sure the motor is not designed for freezing. But it really moves the water.
1860635
Try this: Remove cover, empty out all the water and then fill it with fresh water. If that doesn't work, then try this: unplug it, remove cover, inside you will see sensor (it sticks up a little with a silver metal on top) touch the sensor with your finger. For some reason this works. I think the sensor gets stuck "thinking" the water level is low, so the unit doesn't go on.
46909
The article I read said the heat thermostat would turn itself on at 32 degrees but would not turn on if temperature was above that. I have not had to use it yet here in Oklahoma. I hope it works as advertised and only heats the water when temperatures hit freezing.
31062
Sorry. I purchased it but haven't installed it yet. Pool opens tomorrow. If I get it installed I will let you know but I really won't be able to test it right away. Way too cold and will need some time to clean up the water.
2019444
Water is still liquid at 35, so it will work just fine. My pump has not been out in freezing temps so far this year, but the literature says it has a thermal protection device to protect it. I will have to wait and see, but so far it works great.
1377473
We tried one last winter. It froze the first night we used it, so I sent it back. Didn't get a replacement so I don't know if we just got a bad one. It was so stiff it was difficult to handle. It just wasn't worth the hassle.
1555969
I also had that problem on both of the ones that I purchased. After trying for hours to repair/operate them, I finally found the solution. The damn things are absolutely worthless junk. Do what I did, walk to the closest body of water and give it a fling. It will make you feel better later.
862660
I've never had this style freeze; The heating element heats the area under the water pan and keeps the space under the pan warm. You would need to go below your freeze line and install a good tube....should work.
1874496
My never freezing up. But when it gets frozen over the top with hard snow. When I break the snow and ice off. The water is not frozen.
189717
I admit I thought the people who complained about the cold water was just being dramatic. I live in the midwest and I had to install mine with just the cold water until we could get a different size water line for the hot water. The cold water is really cold!! I didn't like it at all. Just adding a little bit of hot water makes all the difference in the world. I would highly recommend going for the warm water one.
410069
Mine has never frozen. I live in NH, Temps do drop to 0 but do not stay there for a long time. The waterer is in the coop not outside. I am going to purchase another one.