geez, i can't give away all my tricks... this is my livelihood.
for that situation, the best thing is really to just put a compression valve on it and tell the municipality to come fix their shit. solder a fresh valve in afterwards.
however, if you've got to get it done here's a few things that can be tried (in no particular order). obviously exact location, how the pipe runs, and just how bad the meter is leaking will affect these working and/or determine which one might work best.
1. go back down the pipe a foot or two and heat it well. this can boil out/evaporate enough water to make the joint. after you heat a spot down a ways, run the torch back up to the end of the pipe a few times at a medium pace... this helps push the boiling water out.
2. take a smaller length of pipe, a straw, or whatever and stick it down the pipe. hold your finger over the end to capture the water, and pull out as much as you can. you can also try rigging something up to a shop vac or air compressor to siphon/blow water out.
3. stuff something down the pipe to absorb the water like some bread, paper towel, piece of a sponge, etc. you can blow it out easily with the water pressure when you're done or hook it with a piece of wire or a coat hanger.
4. crack open the mechanical connection at the meter if you can get to it and let the water bleed off. a lot of meters even have boiler drains already tapped into them you can open. many have a check valve for preventing backflow that can be dismantled also. just be careful you don't lose the spring and check. some guys will tap in a saddle valve to get similar results like is used for an icemaker or dishwasher, but to me that's not really any better than using a compression fitting.
that's about your best "free" options and the ones that are the most successful. there are also tools called "jet swet" that are specifically made for doing this. they're a little expensive for a one time repair, but worth it if you think you'll be doing similar repairs in the future. i haven't priced them in a long while, but i think i payed about $200 or so for my full kit a few years ago. it does everything from 1/2"-2". however, i believe individual sizes are only $30-40 and they also sell smaller combination kits. all you really need for your "average" residential stuff is 1/2" and 3/4". a clever wheeler might even be able to fabricate his own similar tool with some all thread, nuts, washers, and a rubber bushing. there might even be some cheap china made knock off out there too that would be good enough for diy work.
there's also the freezing machines you mentioned, but they are definitely not in the budget for a homeowner at $2k+. plus, they're more for situations where you can't or don't want to cut the water off at all. for example, if you need to cut in a valve to isolate a certain area of an office building, but don't want to shut the whole building down. keeps all the people happy, keeps the flush valves happy, the health department, etc.
hope this helps, please pm your address for the bill.
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