FTA switches...indoors or outdoors??

[Mr Tony]

Just a goofy question....and I guess a poll too

Do you have your switches (Diseqc, 22k, multiswitches) for your FTA system indoors or outdoors?

-all are indoors
-all are outdoors
-most are indoors
-most are outdoors

 

[Lak7]

Inside:
1 DiSEqC

Outside:
1 DiSEqC
1 22KHz

 

[Mr Tony]

after having 2 switches have a port seize up in the cold I decided to bring them indoors.

And since it was nice out (45F today) I decided to do a project. Redid the dish farm a little bit and reran some cables. I ran 8 cables into the house through the hole where my a/c pipes & stuff run (there were 4 there already) and 4 that were mounted in a wall plate were already there.

So now all my switches (except one) is indoors in the suspended ceiling in my basement. And I noticed on the computer room setup my signal went up a few pints because the cable from the switch to the receiver is now only 50 feet instead of 80

My 4x4 multiswitch is still outside mounted by the motorized. But that is covered up with plastic wrap to keep moisture out

 

[voomvoom]

I voted for "most are outdoors"
but, that being said, some are in an old well house, and some are in a Wooden Box, I made to keep them out of the weather, but it doesn't have a door on it, and neither does the well house.

 

[Mr Tony]

I guess where it stays warm most of the year can also be a reason

 

[toucan-man]

after having 2 switches have a port seize up in the cold I decided to bring them indoors.

My DiSEqC seems to get stuck on port 1 much below minus 20F. It is sluggish at best. At minus 30F it would not budge off of port 1. As soon as the temperature would warm up it returned to normal operation. I may run cables indoors, or put an insulated box with a small lightbulb as a heater for the switch for those few days a year when it is that cold. I'm guessing it only needs about minus 10F to function reliably.

Others said recently that cold does not affect switches, maybe this is brand specific problem?

 

[Mr Tony]

toucan-man

I had one stay stuck on port 2 which was the last sat I was at before it got cold. This was when it was -26F out one morning. So its possible

I looked at the deck now and it looks weird. I use to have 8 cables running across the deck railing and now they're gone with the overhaul
(the cables ran across to under the table where the C-band dish sites and where the switches were)

 

[toucan-man]

I had one stay stuck on port 2 which was the last sat I was at before it got cold. This was when it was -26F out one morning. So its possible

I'm thinking the same, that it's whatever port you leave it on is where it gets stuck.

Temperature operating range is a design factor with semiconductors. Automotive electronic circuits work just fine at -40F because they have been designed to. Not sure what operating range the makers of my switch had in mind when they designed it.

 

[skewed]

Mine are outdoors but where I live cold is 35 degrees. All we have to worry about is the rain and salt air. I have messed up 2 switches by not turning off the box when I was making changes. I use a product called TWEEK that you put on the threads as a lube and also it helps with the connection loss. I was a former electrical tech for 11 years so I kind of know how much loss you can get from each split. Its just a force of habbit to use that much like others will use neversieze on nuts and bolts Also as a side note WD40 will also disperse mosisture and help with conductivity. For those of you that has ameter that reads in MEGS you can see an immedate difference when spraying the connections with tweek or wd 40. I use to rebuild lemos and transducers for monitor while drilling equipment this has saved my butt more than a few times with trying to get to the tolerences required for baker hughes. Now I spray everything, force of habbit I guess.

 

[Tron]

For now, everything is outdoors. This is necessary to keep cabling to a minimum and to have the switch where it is supposed to be (between the LNBF and the motor). In the future, once I expand the farm a bit with my T-90, some switches will probably be inside, adjacent to and under the dish farm in the attic.

 

[Skyscanner]

All are outside simply because I only had 2 coax runs into the house to start. When I got hooked on FTA and expanded to the 5 dishes [some with multiple LNBs] that I have now, I was faced with a choice to add a new coax run every time I added to the farm, or mount my switches outside. In my situation, this works OK, but I would rather have everything inside. I have an ice cream bucket screwed upside down to a wooden post. I cut a hole in the lid, ran all cables inside, hooked up the switches, stuffed them up inside the bucket, and snapped the lid on to keep them out of the weather. When fall came, I had to keep taking the lid off to evict all the non-paying tenants that moved inside...ladybugs!

 

[guapoharry]

Here at 32°N it seldom gets down to below freezing and rarely goes below the teens.

However, I am planning on deploying powered SAM-4803 multiswitches outside. The Zinwell site said they are OK up to 140°F. So as long as they are in the shade, they should probably be OK. The power supplies will have to be indoors, though.

 

[guapoharry]

Where do you put your grounding blocks? Does it matter?

Currently, my switches are out next to the dishes. The coax grounds are inline between the switches and the receivers.

 

[Tron]

Grounding blocks are supposed to be as close to the point where the cables enter the building as possible. In practice, it is usually not possible (or feasible) to put them too close to that point

 

[gillham]

Currently I have a few DiSEQc switches outside, but later when I setup a couple fixed dishes with multiple LNBFs, I will use multi-switches in the garage and just ground blocks outside.

 

[ACRadio]

All are indoors (well, if you consider the basement indoors). After observing deterioration of the back cover on some switches because of moisture and humidity I brought everything inside...most were inside anyway.

 

[Anole]

I prefer the big stuff inside.

After observing deterioration of the back cover on some switches because of moisture and humidity....

Yea, I've seen this , too.
Before I'd do a major install outside, I'd certainly paint or spray the back side of the switches.
Probably not necessary, but having 'em rust back there just torq's me off! -

Right now, I put some small items up under the eaves, out of the traffic and weather.
We don't have snow, humidity, nor significant rain here, so that's good enough.

If I had to remote-locate switches out in the yard, I'd get something to use as covers.
There have been many creative ideas on the forum, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Hopefully, I won't run up against powered switches.
But, I do prefer my multiswitches powered.
If it comes down to using those, they may wind up close to home (inside).

 

[walrus1957]

All my swithes are outside, but in a weather proof cover. It surprises me to hear so many say they have problems with the cold. Usually electronic components fail with heat not cold temperatures. But it may be the result of engineering specs when they selected the components. Apparently the choose components and design parameters to withstand the heat.

However I have experineced - 30 F degrees with no adverse effects. But we should now list what type or brand are failing more often. I use the old Dishnet SW21 legacy switches, and the DMS 4x1 diseqcs with no problems. Never had any luck with 22 khz switches, had several fail.

 

[toucan-man]

...It surprises me to hear so many say they have problems with the cold. Usually electronic components fail with heat not cold temperatures. But it may be the result of engineering specs when they selected the components....

However I have experineced - 30 F degrees with no adverse effects. But we should now list what type or brand are failing more often. I use the old Dishnet SW21 legacy switches, and the DMS 4x1 diseqcs with no problems. Never had any luck with 22 khz switches, had several fail.

Mine is a DMS DiSEqC. Cold shouldn't be an issue, my guess is that operating range of the components, or design of the circuit to compensate for the cold, wasn't considered by the maker of the switch I have.

 

[lownote2]

I've always had mine outside and not had any problems. Get's pretty cold here in Missouri, but not as severe as farther north. Use a good quality compression fitting and torque it to 30lbs and you will pretty much never have an issue with moisture. Of course I don't use a torque wrench, I just twist it until its finger tight and then take a 7/16 and give it about another 1/4 turn or so really snug, but not too tight to break it. I do think it's a good idea to use a good quality switch versus some of the cheap ones out there that come with receivers or are really cheap. Generally I use the zinwell switches that Direct tv uses and have never had an issue yet.
If you have unused ports, cover them up somehow. I use caps, but you can take a piece of old wire that has a compression fitting already on it and just cut the fitting off and use it for a cap too. Just need something to keep out moisture.