DishTV - Silicone Dielectric - Y/N/AN ??

[TG2]

Silicone Dielectric, Yes? No? Absolutely Not?

I just finished updating my wiring, during the process I had an exposed end, while attached to a hopper w/sling at the other end. In about 24 hours, with it contacting slightly damp area, at basement cinder block wall, and saw I had a corroded center lead.

I replaced it with a new PPC Belkin Outdoor compression connector on freshly cut RG6 about 4 inches from corroded end.

My current set-up (not yet cable tacked) is indoors, so no "weathered" exposure any more. Should I use Silicone Dielectric Grease?

Is there reason to, reason not to?

All of my own inside wiring is made with the PPC Belkin outdoor connectors, the only un-changed connectors at this point are on the cable too/from the dish, and 1 leg to my basement hopper which also services a single node, with a joey at the end.

(I did search the forums found 14 posts from 2008 ~ 2011, mostly in FTA threads)

(red box was where badly made cables had too short of a lead)

There's the cinder block wall ... one cable, that was to my 3rd hopper, wasn't attached while I was trouble shooting, it was in direct contact with the cinder block for about 24 hours. It was freshly made, and in 24 hrs the head was corroded.

and *no, it was not "in" water... the best capture I could manage quickly, the center is pitted, and had an arc corroded lead with electrically attracted (?) deposited gunk, rust-like particles. You can see the inside threads of the head with discolored areas, so obviously the 12v / 19v ? power from the 3rd hopper was making its presence felt.

THANK YOU !!

 

[Jim S.]

None of my self-made outdoor coax connections have ever corroded, that I know of.

Now as to the question: The local satellite installer always uses silicone. I never had any problems with their connections. I had to have a Dish guy come out one time for a flaky receiver and he checked all the connections to be sure it was really the receiver. He was absolutely horrified, and said Dish never uses it.

 

[Titanium]

Have used silicone dielectric in nearly every outdoor and crawl space connector for the past 35+ years.

The corrosion problem seems excessive. Sounds like moisture is getting into the coax and flowing down hill. Drip loops on all connectors? Nick the coax jacket?

Found a problem at a customer's home a few years ago where the sprinklers were hitting the siding and water entered the coax through a nick caused by a pinched jacket of a nail on cable clip. The receiver shorted out via the coax port connector due to water entering the tuner. Disconnected and water was actually dripping out of the f-fitting at about 1 drip every few seconds.

 

[dishdude]

Found a problem at a customer's home a few years ago where the sprinklers were hitting the siding and water entered the coax through a nick caused by a pinched jacket of a nail on cable clip. The receiver shorted out via the coax port connector due to water entering the tuner. Disconnected and water was actually dripping out of the f-fitting at about 1 drip every few seconds.

I've seen that too. Dielectric grease on indoor connectors won't hurt anything, but won't help either. Totally unnecessary. Kind of like opening an umbrella indoors!

 

[TG2]

The corrosion problem seems excessive. Sounds like moisture is getting into the coax and flowing down hill. Drip loops on all connectors? Nick the coax jacket?

No no, while I was working to solve the wiring / switch issue, I had left the new room un-connected and unprotected at my switch port side. It was dangling there for about 16 to 24 hours. It was directly touching the cinder block wall, and the corrosion (this case) is simply a fact of leaving the cable connected and hot at the other end.

Remember these boxes (the actual dish receivers) put out 15 or so volts with current behind it to power the bits (lnb's, duo & single nodes, etc) Its the simple electrolysis caused by V+A+moisture. And that's what got me thinking even though tightening to (thought I saw) 30 lbs/ft which is supposed to make the connector water tight ... would the silicone dielectric even further arrest and protect from any moisture issues?

 

[Titanium]

Not going to damage anything by using silicone dielectric in the f-fitting. The f-fitting on the tuner is not moisture proof, so the dielectric is only protecting the contact points and is a displacement in any void. My concern would be more with operating electronics in these conditions rather than if the fitting needs silicone dielectric.

 

[Almighty1]

Shouldn't the outside F Compression connectors have a weather seal or a boot added?

I noticed this is what's used by Comcast and DISH and D*TV:

AquaTight EX Series 6 & 59 compression connector | PPC Broadband

and

SignalTight Aqua Drop Connector | PPC Broadband

As far as corrosion goes, I always apply Caig Labs DeOxit D5 to all electronic connectors and jacks before installation and for maintenance.

Contact cleaner Deoxit d-series-3, rejuvenator and protector. Cleans and improves conductivity

 

[EatMyVolts]

You might want to consider Stabilant 22 http://www.stabilant.com/ rather than silicone grease. Good stuff, I've even seen it make old Italian car electrical connections reliable.

 

[Almighty1]

Stabilant 22 I think is basically the same as what was sold as Tweek... That actually causes more problems than it's worth.

 

[pattykay]

... the best capture I could manage quickly, the center is pitted, and had an arc corroded lead with electrically attracted (?) deposited gunk, rust-like particles. You can see the inside threads of the head with discolored areas, so obviously the 12v / 19v ? power from the 3rd hopper was making its presence felt.

To clean off the corrosion, just dip a paper towel in cola and use that to wipe off the gunk. Make sure the cable is disconnected from any source of electricity first!

 

[TG2]

Sorry been a bit busy the past couple of weeks (72 hrs in 1 week and only 60 in the other two)

Time was short .. as to cleaning that head .. half to 1 dollar 2 inches of cable .. just snipped & snapped new head. Lesson learned about not leaving dangling cables, while the other side is energized.

Other than that issue, we had left a leg to the far side of the house set-up with a single node 'splitter' to one DVR & Joey. That seem to have problems allowing the joey to connect to the other two DVRs and seemed to cause a channel conflict.. eg: while watching on joey, the DVR it was was connected to started a recording and no other channel could be watched. replaced that leg with two cables, one for the hopper, one for the moca client (joey). Haven't seen that problem come back..