Shop vac to drain water line?

[bigroncolemanz]

If I have water pipes on an exterior wall with a shutoff ball valve (but no bleeder), can I use a shop/wet vac to clear the line of water sucking from the open spigot? The spigot is higher than the supply piping, so I can't see any other way to actually get the water out.

 

[sarg]

I think the answer is yes ................... but also suspect you need to shut off the water main (entry) and then open a faucet farthest away to minimize the chance of vacuum pressure damage in your system.

 

[RS]

It might work, but compressed air works a lot better, but you need an accumulator tank somewhere in the system. We have wells, so there's a pressure tank, so there is a nice surge of air to blow the lines free. If you're on municipal water that's a different story, you need a place to get the air into the system close to the supply shut-off.

 

[Twowaxhack]

You don’t have to get all the water out of the pipe, just enough that it can’t expand enough to break.