So far I have had one back mounted, one sandwiched and two front mounted HotShot dish heaters over the last 17 years. All have either been lost due to a antenna change or failed electrically, so I looked for a simpler, cheaper and transferable solution.
I recommend this ONLY for properly GROUNDED metal dishes. Critical! Use on non-metallic and/or non grounded dishes could produce a shock and fire hazard.
After weeks of searching I found the following solution that, so far, has worked nicely:
First, go to Lowes and Staples and buy the following:
1 - 12 foot EasyHeat Tape for pipe heating $27.94 at Lowes.
1 - package of 1/2" Flexrings (20 Pack) $4.98 at Lowes electrical department.
1 - package of Binder Clips (15 Pack) $5.00 at Staples.
1 - package of 1" 3M automotive double sided tape about $5.00 almost anywhere.
1 - small bottle of GooGone.
When you get home soak the Flexrings in GooGone and remove the crap tape they use... if you skip this step you'll be back! Wash and dry them thoroughly and a apply a 1" square piece of 3M tape.
Then go to your dish and route the heat tape however you want concentrating most of the tape (and heat) at the bottom where most of the snow will accumulate. Here is what I did for my second iteration (there may be a third and fourth after the next snowfall).
Then place the binder clips and Flexrings as appropriate for your routing of the heat tape. Make sure the thermal switch near the plug end of the heat tape is in contact with the metal part of the dish. Note: Be careful to place the heat tape in the empty space at the flat side (closest to the camera) of the binder clip so that the heat tape is captured, but not pinched. Critical!
When you are happy with the results after a snowfall or two remove the arms of the binder clips (silvery parts) by squeezing them together.
Connect to the 120v line and place the plug and socket in an inverted plastic bag, tywrap securely and remember to connect it ONLY to a GFI protected outlet! (critical)
I recommend this ONLY for properly GROUNDED metal dishes. Critical! Use on non-metallic and/or non grounded dishes could produce a shock and fire hazard.
After weeks of searching I found the following solution that, so far, has worked nicely:
First, go to Lowes and Staples and buy the following:
1 - 12 foot EasyHeat Tape for pipe heating $27.94 at Lowes.
1 - package of 1/2" Flexrings (20 Pack) $4.98 at Lowes electrical department.
1 - package of Binder Clips (15 Pack) $5.00 at Staples.
1 - package of 1" 3M automotive double sided tape about $5.00 almost anywhere.
1 - small bottle of GooGone.
When you get home soak the Flexrings in GooGone and remove the crap tape they use... if you skip this step you'll be back! Wash and dry them thoroughly and a apply a 1" square piece of 3M tape.
Then go to your dish and route the heat tape however you want concentrating most of the tape (and heat) at the bottom where most of the snow will accumulate. Here is what I did for my second iteration (there may be a third and fourth after the next snowfall).
Then place the binder clips and Flexrings as appropriate for your routing of the heat tape. Make sure the thermal switch near the plug end of the heat tape is in contact with the metal part of the dish. Note: Be careful to place the heat tape in the empty space at the flat side (closest to the camera) of the binder clip so that the heat tape is captured, but not pinched. Critical!
When you are happy with the results after a snowfall or two remove the arms of the binder clips (silvery parts) by squeezing them together.
Connect to the 120v line and place the plug and socket in an inverted plastic bag, tywrap securely and remember to connect it ONLY to a GFI protected outlet! (critical)
