Any experience with the IceZapper® dish heater?

[johnm356]

I have a 5LNB Slimline mounted on the roof of my two story house.
Getting to it requires two ladders (ground to porch, then porch to roof).
Needless to say, clearing ice & snow is a chore, not to mention dangerous given the conditions.

I've seen all kinds of suggestions here, ranging from dish covers to SuperSoakers filled with windshield fluid. The SuperSoaker idea sounded interesting until I remembered that the dish is located directly above my electrical service splices - and shooting a stream of water at an exposed 240V connection while ankle deep in snow doesn't seem like such a good idea...

Has anyone had any experience with the IceZapper® dish heater? [ Link>> Ice Zapper Dish Heater ]
It looks like it might be just the ticket. I have 120V outlet located directly the dish on my front porch, all that would be required would be a short extension cord.
Specifically I'm curious about it's construction & how well it holds up. From the diagrams on their website, it appears there's only a thin copper foil connection between the two pads. Can anyone verify?
TIA...

 

[Sadoun]

That will help. But I would recommend maybe a PV solar powered heater or a low voltage alternative tied up to your coaxial line ( I haven't tried that. A 3rd opinion is welcome.) There is always voltage going to the LNBF, you could use a splitter to provide voltage to the heating element. However, total amperage should be less or equal to what the receiver can provide. Usually that is 500mA MAX. If it goes higher than that, the receiver will shut down to protect the circuitry.

I am not sure what's the wattage of the IceZapper®. If it is high, you may want to consider an ON/OFF switch. You can turn it on when you see Snow on the dish. Once melted, turn it off.

 

[Jimbo]

That will help. But I would recommend maybe a PV solar powered heater or a low voltage alternative tied up to your coaxial line ( I haven't tried that. A 3rd opinion is welcome.) There is always voltage going to the LNBF, you could use a splitter to provide voltage to the heating element. However, total amperage should be less or equal to what the receiver can provide. Usually that is 500mA MAX. If it goes higher than that, the receiver will shut down to protect the circuitry.

I am not sure what's the wattage of the IceZapper®. If it is high, you may want to consider an ON/OFF switch. You can turn it on when you see Snow on the dish. Once melted, turn it off.

I too have been looking into the dish heaters ...
Do you have a link to the options that you have ?
I did a search on your site and came up empty, but thought that I have seen them on there before.

Jimbo

 

[Sadoun]

Jimbo,

Sorry we don't carry any of the above. It was only suggestions for discussion sake. We could get some of these in stock if you guys can recommend it or have positive experience with it.

 

[Jimbo]

Jimbo,

Sorry we don't carry any of the above. It was only suggestions for discussion sake. We could get some of these in stock if you guys can recommend it or have positive experience with it.

I think they would work well, they need one with a simple on/off switch on the ones that have a thermostat, as I would not want it to go on at 35* and off at 55* if there was no snow, ice going on as it would be wasting money when activated during normal weather under 35* .... I guess I could just plug it in and unplug it when I don't need it
Thats the negative about them, I would already have the Ice Zapper if I had bad weather more often than I do.
I only typically need such an item maybe 2-3 times a year, (just north of you in Toledo, Ohio), but on those occasional times when I have to climb out on the roof to clear it off....

I would prefer the ones that go on the back of the dish, vs the style that cover the front of the dish, as it would stand to figure that you would lose some signal.

I have seen these two that I am looking into,
Ice Zapper Universal Satellite Dish Antenna Heater and heating system for satellite television, satellite internet, wifi and other metal dish systems.

Hot Shot Satellite Dish Antenna Heater for DirecTV Slimline Dish

however I think they are priced very high for the larger one, considering the amount of usage I would get out of it.
Maybe those in Cleveland , Buffalo and other snowy areas can chime ion on what they think as well.

No, I would NOT pay $ 159. for one.

Jimbo

 

[johnm356]

I am not sure what's the wattage of the IceZapper®. If it is high, you may want to consider an ON/OFF switch. You can turn it on when you see Snow on the dish. Once melted, turn it off.

It's only 120W. You could just use a simple plug-in timer to kick off after xx minutes.
Since the IceZapper comes in two models (with or w/o a thermostat) I'd prefer the model without the thermostat anyway as stats tend to fail over time, especially since theirs is an inline, and harder to fix or replace.

Either way, I can order an IceZapper directly from them for $69, whereas the HotShot is more than double that. Obviously it's a better unit but, I'm not sure that even with the weather here in Pgh. that I would use it enough to justify that kind of $$.

 

[jjnemoiii]

That will help. But I would recommend maybe a PV solar powered heater

I just took off ice and snow manually for the first time in 11 years. Any idea where I can get a Pv heater? I'll give it a shot...

 

[NutFlush920]

I too, just went outside to clean my dish. I have never had a problem in the past. What gives? All this talk about dish heaters jinxed me.

My dish is mounted on my roof of a 1 story ranch style home but, I still don't want to be out brushing off my dish. I can't see paying a lot for a heater. How often would I actually need it? Like I said this is the first time ever (and I have had DTV for years) that I have had a problem. This is however, my first year with SWM LNB. Could that be a SWM drawback somehow?

I know of one other person I work with that that just upgraded to a SWM LNB Slimline from a 3 LNB (has had DTV for many years too) and they said they are without TV for the first time ever too. Their dish is on a 2 story home though and can't clean it off like I can. DTV is coming out to their home Saturday to investigate and gave them $10 credit for 6 months for the trouble.

 

[Jimbo]

I too, just went outside to clean my dish. I have never had a problem in the past. What gives? All this talk about dish heaters jinxed me.

My dish is mounted on my roof of a 1 story ranch style home but, I still don't want to be out brushing off my dish. I can't see paying a lot for a heater. How often would I actually need it? Like I said this is the first time ever (and I have had DTV for years) that I have had a problem. This is however, my first year with SWM LNB. Could that be a SWM drawback somehow?

I know of one other person I work with that that just upgraded to a SWM LNB Slimline from a 3 LNB (has had DTV for many years too) and they said they are without TV for the first time ever too. Their dish is on a 2 story home though and can't clean it off like I can. DTV is coming out to their home Saturday to investigate and gave them $10 credit for 6 months for the trouble.

I would suggest to them to see if D* can locate the dish in a better place than 2 stories up while they are there.

Jimbo

 

[NutFlush920]

I would suggest to them to see if D* can locate the dish in a better place than 2 stories up while they are there.

Jimbo

I'll let them worry about the problem. DTV installed the SWM LNB Slimline for them in the same place the old dish was though.

I just don't understand why all these problems this year. Winter just started too. Neither of us have ever had these kind of problems until now. It is just odd to me.

I don't know how the weather is in OH is but, here in WI we got 5" of light fluffy snow today. Nothing major and nothing uncommon for WI winter. Last year was our worst winter since the 80's and I never lost signal, not even once.

The snow on my dish tonight was very little, just on the bottom of the dish and on the arm. The LNB was clear as could be. It blows my mind how that little bit would make this much fuss. My dish is peaked very high last time I checked right before winter (was being proactive).

 

[HammerHead001]

I just put my ice zapper on last week. There was nothing to it - simple install. I spent $75 for mine. I got the one that is "always on" vs the thermostatically controlled option that was more expensive.

We have had 1 light snow and it worked fine. Beats loading my super soaker with hot water, standing on my deck and blasting the snow off!

I have heard of people putting PAM or other spray greases with some success.

 

[jjnemoiii]

I too, just went outside to clean my dish. I have never had a problem in the past. What gives? All this talk about dish heaters jinxed me.

This is however, my first year with SWM LNB. Could that be a SWM drawback somehow?

NutFlush, Same for me. I think its the slimline dish. I had Dish Network for 10 years, no problem. I think the ice helped hold my snow on. a quick brush off with a broom and all was back to normal.

 

[Jimbo]

I'll let them worry about the problem. DTV installed the SWM LNB Slimline for them in the same place the old dish was though.

I just don't understand why all these problems this year. Winter just started too. Neither of us have ever had these kind of problems until now. It is just odd to me.

I don't know how the weather is in OH is but, here in WI we got 5" of light fluffy snow today. Nothing major and nothing uncommon for WI winter. Last year was our worst winter since the 80's and I never lost signal, not even once.

The snow on my dish tonight was very little, just on the bottom of the dish and on the arm. The LNB was clear as could be. It blows my mind how that little bit would make this much fuss. My dish is peaked very high last time I checked right before winter (was being proactive).

Could it be that THIS year we are all watching from the 99 and 103 sats vs the 101, 110 and 119, different technology Mpeg4 vs Mpeg2 on the new sats, much smaller window, thus were being affected more this year ... ka vs ku ???

Jimbo

 

[Jimbo]

I just put my ice zapper on last week. There was nothing to it - simple install. I spent $75 for mine. I got the one that is "always on" vs the thermostatically controlled option that was more expensive.

We have had 1 light snow and it worked fine. Beats loading my super soaker with hot water, standing on my deck and blasting the snow off!

I have heard of people putting PAM or other spray greases with some success.

Welcome to the site !

Are you using the Slimline and the Ice Zapper is the two strips on the back of the dish, right ?

Where did you order it from and how long did it take to get, I've been debating for awhile now.
Where are you at?

I tried Pam one year with NO success ... she refused to go out after the first time !

Jimbo

 

[jtwex]

I tried Pam one year with NO success ... she refused to go out after the first time !
Jimbo

Good one Jim, she's just being difficult again.

The acclimation process is the most difficult time of the year for the dishes. As someone who has had their dish 40ft above the house attached to the chimney I can tell you that the first snow fall is the worst. The 99/103 window is indeed more susceptible to snow/rain fade; either use a dish heater or a spotlight adjacent to the dish (pug in as necessary). I find a nice silicone spray helps but since many others report no benefit I'd stick with a heater.

 

[mikegreen]

So all last year - including the 13" of snow in March - I never had a problem with my dish... Today I get home after being gone 3 days and it is horrible... bad signals..
I am in Dayton.

Does anyone else think this is a satellite issue and not an individual dish issue? I looked at my dish and cannot see any ice or stuff on the LNBs - cant see the bottom 1/3rd of the dish, however.

 

[jtwex]

cant see the bottom 1/3rd of the dish, however.

 

[NutFlush920]

Could it be that THIS year we are all watching from the 99 and 103 sats vs the 101, 110 and 119, different technology Mpeg4 vs Mpeg2 on the new sats, much smaller window, thus were being affected more this year ... ka vs ku ???

Jimbo

This is very possible. Now the question is, what is going to be done about it? This many people having this many problems. I don't think each individual person should be held responsible for their own fix just to enjoy the service. This is a wide spread issue that needs to be looked at closer by DirecTV I think. There are a lot of subscribers in "snow" climates that are going to be really upset about this issue that the MPEG4 channels go out much more easily. I am a die hard DirecTV fan and have had it for many many years but, this is not acceptable to me.

 

[Jimbo]

This is very possible. Now the question is, what is going to be done about it? This many people having this many problems. I don't think each individual person should be held responsible for their own fix just to enjoy the service. This is a wide spread issue that needs to be looked at closer by DirecTV I think. There are a lot of subscribers in "snow" climates that are going to be really upset about this issue that the MPEG4 channels go out much more easily. I am a die hard DirecTV fan and have had it for many many years but, this is not acceptable to me.

Well, has anyone started a D* email campain to discuss this issue directly with the ones in the know at D* yet ?

Jimbo

 

[jtwex]

Perhaps an email campaign will persuade them to mass produce some heaters that would otherwise be cost prohibitive. I will say that I always was surprised that I was reporting problems with snow fade (in Chicago) while others were saying, meh..maybe once a year. I had the AT9 from day one (three years ago?) and absolutely had snow fade issues; I attributed my problem to having a dish located high above the chimney where weather tended to affect it more. Maybe it just took time for everyone to climb aboard the Slimline series for complaints to pile up among the masses.

Just to clarify, the initial bad weather (i.e. the first time it snows & crosses the 32 degree threshold) tends to be the worst it gets. Maybe it's the metal on the dish acclimating to the temperature change, I don't really know.

I have found that silicone or (gasp Magic Dome) does help but others have said that hasn't helped.

Around the holidays I use a spotlight for our chimney wreath & a second spotlight (either regular or heat-lamp type) adjacent to the the Slimline. The heat from either type will melt any snow from within 3ft of the dish.

I will snap a picture of the setup when I get the wreath hung.

edit: it was actually purely by accident last year that I noticed the melted snow near the lights beam.