![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
My water input consists of a vertical 1" black plastic riser inside a 4" white plastic culvert. The culvert is 10' long with 3' above ground and 7' below. Department store (orange and black) constant wattage heat tape is attached to the riser all the way up and down.
Christmas day I was heading out to see the family. When I turned on the water, nada.
![Sad :(](./images/smilies/icon_sad.gif)
My concern is with the quality of the department store heat tape. The original tape lasted only two months. What I didn't include above was that one of the replacements I bought on Boxing Day also failed cold. I was careful as I could be handling the replacement tape but this tape must be of the lowest quality possible. I pulled both failed units apart and noticed that the crimps between the nichrome heating wire and the "normal" wire were the sources of failure. The nichrome wire, despite being hair thin, was always intact.
My intention is find and buy the best quality heat tape possible and hang in down the culvert in place of the orange and black junk currently heating the culvert. Any suggestions to this end?