Time to winterize your dish

OK kids winter is just around the corner, its time to check that hardware.

Check all bolts and mounting hardware, if it’s been hot in your area then the metal has expanded with the heat and may get loose when it gets cold.

Check all outdoor connections for rust, corrosion or other things like cracked coax insulation.

Check your ground connections for rust or corrosion, if found then clean and use a No-loc compound for the electrical connections, do use this on the coax connections, there is special dielectric grease for this.

Check where the coax enters the house, use some duct seal to keep the water out.

One good way to keep the snow off the dish is to use a black heavy duty leaf bag over it and a drop light with a 25 watt bulb in it, keep the drop light out of the way of the LNB and use duct tape to seal it up, a thermostat can be used to turn it on and off when its not that cold, the thermostat can be found where they sell pipe heating tape.

sounds easier to just move south .

doing a few simple little checks is not easier then finding a new job, then selling your house, then buying a new house in the south and then moving everything you own, new school for kids. Not to mention the legalities of trying to even live in a new country....?:noidea:

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Originally Posted by dasher108

doing a few simple little checks is not easier then finding a new job, then selling your house, then buying a new house in the south and then moving everything you own, new school for kids. Not to mention the legalities of trying to even live in a new country....?:noidea:

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Originally Posted by Terryl

OK kids winter is just around the corner, its time to check that hardware.

Check all bolts and mounting hardware, if it’s been hot in your area then the metal has expanded with the heat and may get loose when it gets cold.

Check all outdoor connections for rust, corrosion or other things like cracked coax insulation.

Check your ground connections for rust or corrosion, if found then clean and use a No-loc compound for the electrical connections, do use this on the coax connections, there is special dielectric grease for this.

Check where the coax enters the house, use some duct seal to keep the water out.

One good way to keep the snow off the dish is to use a black heavy duty leaf bag over it and a drop light with a 25 watt bulb in it, keep the drop light out of the way of the LNB and use duct tape to seal it up, a thermostat can be used to turn it on and off when its not that cold, the thermostat can be found where they sell pipe heating tape.

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Thanks for the info Terry, I also greased up my actuator arms on my big boys as well.

For small dishes there is a spray on compound called (Dome Magic) that i've seen but I haven't used that supposedly makes rain water and even wet snow bead up and run off the dish face so that it doesn't freeze onto the dish surface as a sheet of ice that can make the signal fade.

Safe for plastic so it can be used on plastic sat dishes and LNB's and it's also used on weather radar domes on boats, etc. to make the rain bead and run off.

I'm not that a big a fan of spraying stuff on the dish, we tried all sorts of stuff on the big uplink dishes, some of the stuff only collected dirt and dust and caused signal problems, heated covers worked but were costly, then they came out with heated dishes, if you have snow accumulation problems and dont want to go up on the roof to clean and spray your dish every couple of weeks there are sites that sell heated dishes and heated LNB's.

But most think its the rain on the dish that causes the fadeouts, most of ther time it's not, it's the tons of water between the dish and the satellite that is the big problem, the signal coming down from the satellite is so weak that a flock of birds can cause a fadeout, the signal level is down around about -140 dBM to -180 dBM thats not very much, its like looking at a candle 100 miles away, put a big cloud full of rain in front and you can't see the candle, the same happens with a 12 GHz RF signal.

The only fix we found for signal fade was a bigger dish, but that can be impracticable in some areas.

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One good way to keep the snow off the dish is to use a black heavy duty leaf bag over it and a drop light with a 25 watt bulb in it, keep the drop light out of the way of the LNB and use duct tape to seal it up, a thermostat can be used to turn it on and off when its not that cold, the thermostat can be found where they sell pipe heating tape.

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Anyone has a picture of this?

Photo of what?
A dish with a bag on it?
Or the thermostat?

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Originally Posted by dasher108

doing a few simple little checks is not easier then finding a new job, then selling your house, then buying a new house in the south and then moving everything you own, new school for kids. Not to mention the legalities of trying to even live in a new country....?:noidea:

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......Sounds like it would be cheaper for you to hire one of the local kids to stay up and just sweep the snow of as it hits heheheehah

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Originally Posted by Terryl

Check all outdoor connections for rust, corrosion or other things like cracked coax insulation.

Check your ground connections for rust or corrosion, if found then clean and use a No-loc compound for the electrical connections, do use this on the coax connections, there is special dielectric grease for this.

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Good advice Terryl these connections will break down over a matter of time with the constant expanding and shrinking expecially if your not using solid copper centers in your rg6. Had an intermittent problem one time and checked and checked for the problem didnt know if the coax was bad, the lnb, the receiver or what. Finally found that a very small piece of the center conductor of the coax had broken off inside the grounding block. Had even put a new end on the coax to that side of the grounding block but was still getting intermittent signal because the new connector was hitting the broken piece of metal inside the grounding block shorting it out. Liked to of never found that problem until I replaced all the coax and had an extra grounding block laying around so decided to replace it and there it was. :tehe:

That's why I recommend using good compression connectors (Gilbert) throughout an installation. They do a better job at keeping the water out, but they're still not waterproof so they still need to be sealed with coax sealant.

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Originally Posted by satchick

That's why I recommend using good compression connectors (Gilbert) throughout an installation. They do a better job at keeping the water out, but they're still not waterproof so they still need to be sealed with coax sealant.

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Compression connectors are a must in my opinion Thomas Betts are my favorites. Rubber Boot Seals should also be used on any install where a coax is connected to waterproof the threads, these are a requirement of a DN install and should be checked for cracking also.

I use white teflon tape that you can buy at the hardware stores for where the coax threads onto the LNB output, it has worked for me so far.

Dielectric grease* is the only thing I have used for 40 years, put a dab in the connector and screw it in, water cant get in even under water. (with good connectors)

* Look here

Code:

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http://www.a1components.com/itemdisplayn.aspx?item=4428

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i just came across this thread and i was thinking after you seal up all your connectors why not use some sort of heat shrink that you would use say on a battary terminal for your cars "slip it over the connector prior to finishing " then blow dry it and bam no wanter around the connector and its easy to take off if you may need to,

I have used Duct Seal around connectors as it never hardens so it is easily removed, waterproof and can be painted if need be. Home Depot carries it and for $2.00 USD you get a one pound brick.

It is generally used where your service cable or other items enter your home.

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Originally Posted by x1ninerzx4

i just came across this thread and i was thinking after you seal up all your connectors why not use some sort of heat shrink that you would use say on a battary terminal for your cars "slip it over the connector prior to finishing " then blow dry it and bam no wanter around the connector and its easy to take off if you may need to,

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Good idea, but what if you have to get to those connections for some reason, the heat shrink is a bit hard to remove, (X-acto knife works the best) especially in tight places.

As regarding the snow on the dish, put the dish where you can get to it....

Why do folks think they need to put the dish up on the peek of a three story roof???? I don't get it:noidea:

As for me, I did move to a warmer climate, I haven't had to scrap ICE off the car windows for 3 years now.:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Tubbs

As regarding the snow on the dish, put the dish where you can get to it....

Why do folks think they need to put the dish up on the peek of a three story roof???? I don't get it:noidea:

As for me, I did move to a warmer climate, I haven't had to scrap ICE off the car windows for 3 years now.:thumbsup:

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cause some neighbours sue when you cut down a 45' maple...lol

Duct Seal can be found in the electrical section of most building centers, aisle 32 in many *RONA* stores. Dielectric grease in most Auto Supply stores (CTC). It's used on spark plug boots to keep water out and prevent rubber from bonding to the plugs.