[Fallguy]

Want to wax dish to assist in keeping ice off this winter. Dont want to do wd40, pam etc as they leave oily residue.

Wax would not have an effect on signal by causing rain to bead would it ?

I dont even thing the rain would bead too much as it would be on a mostly verticle suface.

Newcomer to dish, dont enen know if ice will cause problems to signal but guess the extra weight could push the dish out of alignment with wind to boot. Wax would help keep the ice to a minimum for sure.

Regards,

 

[BattleZone]

In the end, the only thing that you'll find to be effective at fighting snow/ice signal loss is a dish heater. Surface coatings really don't do anything, and some will actually harm the LNBs. IMO, either leave it alone and be prepared to use a broom to remove the snow, or get a dish heater.

 

[levibluewa]

a Super-Soaker squirt gun filled with hot water works as well.

 

[jerry downing]

Waxing may make your dish shiny. If the dish surface is shiny, it will reflect the suns rays into the LNB. That would be bad.

 

[kstuart]

a Super-Soaker squirt gun filled with hot water works as well.

Except that means that you have to set your alarm for 3 a.m. to go outside in the pouring snow to squirt the dish before that movie starts, the one you have been waiting to see for several years.

Some months ago there was an ebay auction for dish heaters for $16 - looked like a clearance of overstock.

 

[Fallguy]

Waxing may make your dish shiny. If the dish surface is shiny, it will reflect the suns rays into the LNB. That would be bad.

The dish is focused to a particualr point in space, it wouldnt increase it that much would it.

Understand heat tapes, but will see if I even have a problem at all this winter as this is my first time with a dish ever. Just thought a coat of wax could help keep the ice frome sticking and make quite a bit of difference, but do not want any neg effects.

 

[Nick]

The dish is focused to a particualr point in space, it wouldnt increase it that much would it...?

Your dish is aimed toward a particular point in space, but due to its
parabolic shape, the focal point of your dish is always the LNB.

 

[Fallguy]

Your dish is aimed toward a particular point in space, but due to its parabolic shape, the focal point of your dish is the LNB.

Nick, thanks for the info but my dish is not aimed at and tracking the sun directly so it wouldnt be that much of an increase would it.

Thanks

 

[armophob]

rain-x?

 

[dahenny]

Nick, thanks for the info but my dish is not aimed at and tracking the sun directly so it wouldnt be that much of an increase would it.

Thanks

As far as I know, only for a few days during the fall and spring equinox would the sun EVER affect an LNBF, and am not convinced that a waxed dish would increase the "damage" factor. Come to think of it, aren't the dishes sort of powder coated anyway, making it difficult to wax?

 

[Richard King]

Nick, thanks for the info but my dish is not aimed at and tracking the sun directly so it wouldnt be that much of an increase would it.

Thanks

When I lived in Minnesnowta I got a call to do a service call for a little rock star. This fellow had a cband dish that was painted with a high gloss light purple paint. The rock star said that he was getting no signal. I stopped by and checked out the dish and noticed that the LNB feed horn cover housing had a hole in it. I got up at the dish and took down the feed horn to check it out. Further examination revealed that the feed horn had melted. This a couple of days after Fall solar fade. The sun reflected off the dish and melted the probe of the feed horn. I replaced the feed horn and told him that if he didn't want that to happen again he should repaint the dish in a paint that wasn't quite so reflective. I don't know if he ever did. :lol: I doubt that a standard DBS dish would reflect enough to do the same though, so I don't think there's anything to worry about there. The standard DBS dish (Dish or Directv) is not reflective enough to sunlight and the surface isn't large enough that suffient heat would be developed at the feed horn.

 

[blooker68]

Is there a site that has the exact dates/times per location for the equinoxes?

 

[Richard King]

It's not an equinox, but this one seems to have what you are looking for: http://www.satellite-calculations.com/SUNcalc/SUNcalc.htm Enter your Long. and Lat. Enter the satellite location. Tell it to use the computer clock. It then fills in a chart with the data.

 

[blooker68]

Great site.
I'm using 30 inch reflectors and worry about possible extra heat.

 

[Schizm]

rain-x?

I am thinking the same thing. But being a Floridian, I've literally seen snow once in my life, so this might not work.

 

[Bobham]

Waxing the front surface of the dish should not affect its performance, and I doubt there is any potential for damage to the LNB. How about attaching a "heat tape" to the back of your dish? Not sure if it would work, but they are thermostatically controlled to come on near freezing temperatures. The metal dish should conduct the heat.

 

[pbrown]

I used Rain-X when I lived in a snowy climate with good results.

 

[BattleZone]

Waxing the front surface of the dish should not affect its performance, and I doubt there is any potential for damage to the LNB. How about attaching a "heat tape" to the back of your dish? Not sure if it would work, but they are thermostatically controlled to come on near freezing temperatures. The metal dish should conduct the heat.

That would work, but it's kludgy, especially when there are DISH HEATERS designed specifically for the purpose of keeping snow and ice build-up off the dish. Check out the HOT SHOT models.

Given how easy they are to install, and how well they work, using anything else makes no sense. Especially since most other "home brew" remedies (waxing/RainX) don't make any real difference to snow/ice.

Here's an example. The heating element is shown on the front of the dish here for illustration purposes, but it is designed to be installed on the back. There are models for all DirecTV and DishNetwork dishes.

 

[mw1597]

A few more ideas…
Paint the DISH flat black to help melt the snow better. An oil based paint using a thin coat (for some reason latex is not recommended).
Spray a light coating of electrical grade silicone lubricant on the dish so the snow will slide off easy.