Viasat Satellite → [general] Snow and Ice on dish. Whats the best solution

I know this was discussed before, but not under our own WB heading. My dish is down this am, so I went to work and that is where I am typing from. I have lots of snow and ice on the dish that hopefully my wonderful wife is scraping off....

Anyway, here are 2 questions for discussion:

1. What is the best way to PREVENT snow and ice from accumulating on a dish? - I used PAM on my DishNetwork dish in the past and it worked OK, but would love to know if there is something better.

2. Once you have ice and snow on the dish, whats the best way to remove it and not scratch the crap out of the dish? I though about windshield de-icer, etc. but would love to hear some ideas.

Let the discussion begin....

HDMan

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Has anyone tried any form of ski or snowboard wax?
'been wondering the same thing.
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Boondocks
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HOT WATER! Don't let her scrape anything on the feedhorn...just throw some hot water and wipe.
Pam seems to be the choice, but frankly when it snows, stuff happens...I've also heard of folks successfully using a hair dryer if you have an extension cord long enough.
Mainly need to remove ice/snow from feed assembly...some snow on the dish won't hurt much.

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Note quite...install dish on 5' pole adjacent to a house window...open window...have kids use the hair dryer.
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Piece of cake;)
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DUH...It might be a tad late for that solution JAB

There are commercial preparations available, but usually in minimum quantities that make it infeasible for home use. The only cost effective ice preventative I've found for satellite dishes and feedhorn windows is ICE-X.

It was on WalMart shelves till last year, but is no longer readily available around here. I'm going to have to resupply from an etailer I guess. Made by the Blue Coral/Slick 50/Rain-X folks, it puts a slippery coat on the dish - to which ice finds it difficult to adhere. Make sure it's their part #RX47017. They've got another one that is more of a conventional aerosol de-icer with some residual preventative affect (RX47014 I think): not the same thing as the full out preventative product. I put Ice-X on a clean dish in the fall, maybe twice again before spring. Hot water in a bucket in between.

//greg//

Last time i took out the yard stick and tapped the dish, TV went back up. Not sure if it'll work for wild blue. Please Note For snow build up snowballs work good Real good.

In response to HDMan's two questions... prevention and removal of ice and snow.

My WB installer told me that if snow and ice was a problem on the dish, they sell an electric dish heater. It sounds much like heat tape used to prevent water pipes from freezing. That should take care of the prevention and removal issue on the dish. But that doesn't solve the problem on the feedhorn.

I have not had a snow/ice problem with my WB system yet, but I certainly did with DW last winter. My dish is mounted on a tower about 15 feet above the ground. I bought an "extension handle" for a paint roller and found a soft brush that would screw on to the handle. It worked great to gently remove the snow from the whole assembly. The DW assembly seemed a little more durable than the WB, so I am a little concerned with that method with the WB dish.I agree with that. I found that a small amount of ice (1/4") was a problem. But sometimes with 4" of snow, the signal strength was lower, but everything worked.

A fortunate thing is that the dishes are pointed to the south, with a good angle to catch the heat from the sun (whenever it breaks through). With the black WB dish, it seems like it will collect solar heat better than the white or gray DW dishes.

That guy is more salesman that technician. Sounds to me like his prior installation experience may have been limited to ROTV.

I've always maintained that the trade-off is not worth it. There's enough interference generated by a dish heater to screw up your already low powered transmit signal. You'll end up with a dish that is 100% clean of snow and ice, but might not be able to even get a signal to the satellite once the heater kicks on.

Nor do I recommend dish covers. That said, there are probably some locations where weather extremes justify the trade off - to get at least some part time communications. But if only for the convenience of keeping your fingers and toes warm, forget heaters and covers.

//greg//

hdman

Get the wildblue electric dish heater and save your self a lot of trouble.

I have 2 of the dish heaters on a direcway and starband dish with the direcway heater on for 3 years with no problems and no lose of transmit signal.

If i shut off the heater and get snow on the dish is when i lose signal, turn heater on snows melts back online even with heater left on all the time.

These heaters have been tested and approved for use by direcway and starband.

These heaters have been tested and approved for use by the people that sell them

//greg//

I would love to use an electric dish heater, but, the dish is some 75' from the house....by the road. No outlet, and I have a personal issue with extension cords.

I would rather spray something on the dish, and have it work for as long as possible.

I must say, I do agree with the statement about the color of the dish. My DishNetwork dish STILL has some ice and snow on it, but my black WB dish is a clean as can be. Must get warm enough to melt...even though we haven't seen 20F in days....maybe this weekend we MAY hit 32F....heat wave...

HDMan

Rock Salt works great on my Dads walk way in NY.... It will even melt a hole in the snow if you put it in a little pile on top...

You need no outlet by the dish in plugs in your house outlet, and the wire they use is a low voltage no extension cord.

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DIRECWAY Dish Surface Heater & De-Icer
Fully automatic de-icing and snow removal system. The only product tested and approved by DIRECWAY that totally eliminates signal outages due to ice and snow buildup. Durable All-Weather material. Quick and easy installation. Shipping Included.

And if wildblue offers one a heater that tells you it works without losing your signal.

Shades of PT Barnum Lance. More like "the only product tested and approved" by Direcway Belize.

It's nothing but an overpriced 38 inch HotShot for goodness sake.

Since you've apparently got a lot of time on your hands - try and find any other retailer that even suggests the HS38N might be "approved by Direcway (USA)"

//greg//

I just found one that works very well. I am using the Rain-X De-Icer. It is meant to de-ice a windshield AND it leaves behind the Rain-X compound. With the last round of wet snow we had, I sprayed it right on the snow on the dish and it ALL fell off. I actually tried it on the Dish TV dish first and the snow fell off, so I did it to the WB dish as well. Now, as it snows more, the snow simply falls right off the dish. I will treat every month or so, but so far its working.

$4.00 for 2 cans at the local Menard's store...(like a Lowes or Home Depot).

HDMan

PS: Is it considered NORMAL for one to start a thread by asking a question, then actually replying to ones own thread? I just did that here...next there will be voices in my head I'm certain.....;)

What you did is called "consideration". Too many folks start a thread, then are never heard from again. It's great that you're among those that actually follow up

//greg//

Thanks for sharing your experience. Please keep us posted as to how often you need to treat it during storms and how well it works to prevent icing on the dish.

I found that ice on my DW dish was more of a problem than a little snow. Even with a couple of inches of snow on it, it still worked, but with a degraded signal. But with WB, almost any amount of snow on the dish kills it. I haven't had an icing situation since I have had WB, so I can't speak to that issue with WB.

Anyone else have a similar experience?

Living in the Great White North as I am, I am very interested in this topic. My Internet Satellite dish is mounted on a steel pole in my back yard and doesn't suffer from fade-out - ever. However, I do have a TV satellite system as well and the dish is mounted on the chimney. When there is a snow fall, it tends to fade out regularly. The last time I tried to climb up on the roof to sweep it off, I ended up sliding down and off the roof and landing very hard on my butt bone. It took about a week to get back to normal.

So, from what I have read in this forum the best idea I could find was to get a Soaker type water shooter and fill it with Rain-X winter windshield fluid. I just purchased a Xenon Aqua Master and it is a nasty-looking bugger indeed! It shoots nearly 50 ft. and should make it to the dish as long as I get up to roof level on a ladder.

I can hardly wait for the next snow blizzard so I can get up there and blast the stuff on my dish to smithereens! Hay-Yah!

Now I am sounding more like a pre-teen then a man approaching 70!  ;)

Geezer

Actually, what you are doing would be more of a preventative measure. The product I used is an aerosol can of Rain-X Windshield De-Icer. It MELTS what is already there AND it adds the Rain-X compound for future water/snow freezing. This stuff sprays about 15-20 feet which may work for you. You could try to spary this stuff in a big squirt gun first, but I would be afraid of what the alchohol in the can would do to the plastic stuff in the gun. Its up to you, but I would see if you can hit the dish from the ladder with just this spray can. I do advise you to keep the can indoors when you are not using it so that it is warm when you use it.....keeps the pressure higher...

Take care.

HDMan

Actually I need about 50ft to arch a stream over the peak of the roof and onto the surface of the dish. The Windshield washer solution comes in gallon jugs and is supposed to be poured into the (plastic) tank in your car from which it is pumped through plastic tubes to the nozzles. So I am not too worried about it damaging the plastic of the gun or the dish surface.

When the roof is free of snow, I might just go up and spray it with the RainX ice melter (concentrated) that I have in a pump sprayer (the aerosol variety does not seem to be available in Canada).

But here is the ultimate for your viewing amusement:

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Now, there are some guys with a drastic solution!

Geezer

Hey - has anyone looked in to some kind of solar square
that may heat the dish up enough to warm it?
I know, I know - during a snow storm how much solar power will hit the solar square?

Off track a bit here ... but I've been thinking about some type of solar thing to warm up the bin where we keep the sand for the driveway. It is hard as a rock - so basically useless.

Any ideas?

hdman,

I just went out and bought a bottle of Rain-X De-Icer (It is sold in the pump spray bottle format in Canada.)

But when I read the cautions on the label it says not to spray on plastic windows or plastic headlight covers. So, are you sure it is safe for the plastic/foil surface of the satellite dish?

jg

Wrong stuff. Review my post of 12-15. It says Ice-X (RX47014). But at least you can use that Rain-X stuff on your windscreen

//greg//

Thanks for the tip lance49726. Didn't even know they made dish heaters. Co-op guy installed ours yesterday so now I don't have to argue with the old lady to get her to go out and scrape off the dish. The old lady says thanks too!

Your welcome.

And let the people know here who doesnt use them how well they work without losing signal or anything else.

Bad news, I’m afraid.

I just Googled for Ice-X and used both part numbers RX47014 and RX47017 and they all come up empty. Even on the Rain-X web site these searches come up empty. I guess the product is no longer being made.

All they seem to offer now is Rain-X De-icer aerosol spray with the product number: RX44014.

Oh well, I will give the present system a workout during our next winter storm: My new Badass soaker gun filled with Rain-X windshield fluid.

Geezer

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To The Geezer -

I think this is the post grohgreg meant

»Re: [general] Snow and Ice on dish. Whats the bes

Boondocks
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This works just fine on a 5' pole mount.

Rain-X Ice-X Windshield Washer Fluid
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