The grip of winter.... Literally!!!

[skyhog]

Well this is a new one on me! 

The obsy has been up and running about 17 years. Its a roll off roof design, pretty common fare. Yesterday I looked at the forecast and planned to pop out. Went out about 7pm. Great session until just after midnight. Little weather station showing - 6C. Parked scope, turned everything off, just needed to pull roof back over. Frozen solid😳... Spent a good while before I could get it moving again. Not very pleasant I can tell you, never happened before but the conditions were such that the frost came on very quickly through the time I was out there. Must remember to move the roof occasionally in future.. 😏

[F15Rules]

That must have been scary!

I don't have an obsy but went out to our recycling bin last night to out some cardboard in it..frozen solid, and almost ripped my fingernails trying to wrestle it open!

We'll have to start carrying cans of anti freeze around with us if this cold snap continues!

Dave

[JamesF]

In my little backwater of Nowheresville it is forecast to get quite a bit warmer from tomorrow.  For the last week daytime temperatures have been struggling to get above 2C, but the forecast from tomorrow is at least 7C.

My observatory roof is more likely to corrode permanently closed given the lack of clear sky over the last six months :(

James

[mikeDnight]

I had a similar problem last week, when the rubber skirt around the roll off roof froze to the guttering that surrounds the building. Once unlatched, I managed to lift the heavy roof slightly and the roof did roll on its 5" wheels with gentle persuasion. I think it was the snow on the roof that had started to melt but then refroze that was the problem. I do have a heater in the observatory that would have got things moving eventually, but after a little brute force and ignorance it wasn't necessary. It's ten years old in April and this is the first freezing issue I've experienced so far.

 

[jonathan]

With a thick layer of sleet / slush over everything that has then frozen solid and remained so for the past few days, I've only been venturing out during daylight hours.  The society domes are hybernating at the moment, they live in the forest and when it's freezing like this it can be dangerous just trying to drive to them, let alone try to open the sliding roof hatch or turn the dome top half.  Typically the flat concrete area they sit on is wet and freezes over like a pond quite easily, making it even deadlier.  No thanks, I'll wait for some slightly less freezing conditions before going up there.

At least you weren't dumb enough to try to lick the door hinges!

Edited January 10, 2021 by jonathan

[LukeSkywatcher]

A sprinkle of snow on Tues/Wed turned into a  sheet of ice over the next few days/nights because of -4C, -8C. Today is the first time it thawed. Its a balmy 4C today. Lornas car was frozen solid. Couldn't get the doors open for ages.

Bins frozen shut too. 

 

Edited January 10, 2021 by LukeSkywatcher

[Peter Drew]

3" of snow at the Astronomy Centre so no access unless you have AWD.  Have had to give the car door lock the "kiss of life" each morning before I can even start to wrestle with the door.     🙂

[Tiny Clanger]

1 minute ago, Peter Drew said:

3" of snow at the Astronomy Centre so no access unless you have AWD.  Have had to give the car door lock the "kiss of life" each morning before I can even start to wrestle with the door.     🙂

Relieved that you put  "kiss of life" in quotes , don't want anyone taking it literally ....

Heather

[Rusted]

11 hours ago, Tiny Clanger said:

Relieved that you put  "kiss of life" in quotes , don't want anyone taking it literally ....

Heather

There's an opening here for a mobile "kiss of life" service.
You could have your own App and become White Van Man..

[maw lod qan]

Wow, reading this really makes me cringe!

One day this week we had 4°C and I thought it was bad!

Yesterday was out working in the garden plot in short sleeves!

[JOC]

Frozen padlocks and catches on gates here too.  Where possible the solution is to warm them in gloved hands for a few minutes.  A one off solution is to tip hot water over them, but you have to be mindful that this then adds water to the situation esp. padlocks which can potentiate the situation the next morning.  Mind you a good squirt with WD40 or similar water resisting oil does help a lot and is a good protection measure.  If you can keep a surface of water from forming on catches or in padlocks then things won't freeze solid.  W.r.t. car doors, although there is a school of thought which suggests that the addition of oil type residues can affect ultimate their longevity, it is usually water in the door seals which freezes car doors solid.  Some cars like MKIII Octavias! are more prone to getting water in their door seals than others, but as a one off solution every now and then I do treat my door seals with something to expel the water.  Things like a rub with silicone gel, a squirt with silicone aerosol, a tiny amount of vaseline, etc. might all be worth investigation in your own situations as all might help prevent car doors seals from freezing.  The trouble is once frozen you can exert a great deal of pressure when opening a car door and if you rip a frozen seal they be awkward and costly to fix.  I hope these ideas help.

[Cyril]

My back garden rises steeply upwards to become level for about 20 yards, -4 and getting to that level patch is really a no no, the steps even in summer are always damp so a prolonged winter's freeze makes it a tempting low grade winter climb, crampons and axes though are retired on the shed wall, guess where the shed is, up the back.

WD40 has kept my shed padlock free every winter since the shed was built, 1996, if I spray the steps????????

[Rusted]

6 hours ago, Cyril said:

My back garden rises steeply upwards to become level for about 20 yards, -4 and getting to that level patch is really a no no, the steps even in summer are always damp so a prolonged winter's freeze makes it a tempting low grade winter climb, crampons and axes though are retired on the shed wall, guess where the shed is, up the back.

WD40 has kept my shed padlock free every winter since the shed was built, 1996, if I spray the steps????????

Wooden steps with chicken wire netting applied to the treads?