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Subject - frozen conduits
karlwayne A friend of mine called and wanted to know what to do with four 4" pvc with the pull strings frozen in. I didn't have an answer for him, the only thing that came to mind was wait till spring.

xfmr pad is about 12 - 15 feet outside the building with 50 feet under the floor.

any ideas?
Scott Vickrey Methanol Method
What about pouring some methanol in it? Methanol melts ice on contact. Methanol is used to keep the gas flowing in natural gas lines in cold areas during winter. Just don't get it on you. If you do get it on you, you'll need to drink some beer because alcohol is the antidote for methanol poisining. You will have to get the methanol out before pulling wires. Also methanol in flamable. DO NOT USE A VACUUM CLEANER.
Heater Method(recommended over methanol)
Another and safer method would be to put some sort of heater at one end like a blow dryer and a vacume at the other end to draw the warm air through the run.
Alfred Scott:
Some time ago we tried this trick on a conduit that had ice in it and was frozen in the winter time. We used apple cider vinegar with a blow dryer. After a couple of days the ice was melted and we were able to vacumn out the excess water. Not sure that this will work in your case but it's worth a try. I know it will work on brick mortor.
ShortCircuit