Keeping snow off dish

jchonig

Member
Original poster
Nov 13, 2012
5
0
Ithaca, NY
I've had Dish for many years (17?) here in Central NY and today is the first time I've ever had a problem with snow. At least I hope it is. I have no signal on any of the transponders of my 1000.4. Have I just been lucky? We had a bunch of wet snow today. I'll know for sure when I get a chance to clean it off tomorrow, but it does not look like there is a lot of snow on it. It must be in just the wrong place.

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I found the covers to be worse than no cover. They form a pocket when the snow hits them and when the pocket fills with snow, it is worse than no cover. I just moved my dish to ground level and it is easy to clean off other than getting dressed to go out.
 
How about attaching any lamp to the back of the dish using it as a heater? Lamps are convenient as they come in various wattages and sizes. There must be some waterproof enclosure you could find to conduct the heat to the dish. Lead the power cord out to a switch or timer.
-Ken
 
Super soaker with hot water works ;) .

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This or even just connect the water hose for a few seconds to spray it down. Crystallized snow will block the signal but clear ice really won't harm it much even if its 1 inch thick. Far too many times have I been asked if spraying PAM on it will prevent this mostly from those older customers and I flat out scream NO!!!! You spray pam on it to prevent things from sticky but keep in mind it has a texture that will basically build up from floating particles or dust then gradually knock out the signal till you go scrub and I mean scrub it off hard!

I either suggest the water gun, water hose or even a direct stream spray of de-icer you can get for door locks does the trick.
 

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There are lots of de-icing gadgets on the market. For example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-Shot-Satellite-Dish-Heater-24-30-Dishes-Slimline-Exede-Hughesnet-Wildblue-/271101786294?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f1eecf8b6 Of course, depends what kind of dish should be de-iced.

I'm about to install one myself and the instructions say to place on the front of the dish. Does it really matter? Aesthetically it would look better on the back, but would it still be effective there?
 
Especially wet snow blocks the signal far easier than regular snow. On my WA that's what it takes, it has to be very heavy wet and stick well, otherwise I do not lose signal even with snow on it. EA however does lose signal sometimes even with regular snow.
 
instructions say to place on the front of the dish. Does it really matter?
If instructions say that than they are wrong. Such a heater, installed on the "face" of dish will block signal. All heaters have to be mounted on back side of dish; heating dish and melting snow.
 
If instructions say that than they are wrong. Such a heater, installed on the "face" of dish will block signal. All heaters have to be mounted on back side of dish; heating dish and melting snow.

That is how all the photos are shown with heaters on the dish. The heater does have a reflective material on it.

And yes, snow frequently blocks signal here. It is an EA dish located down wind of Lake Ontario. It is very common to wake up to a fresh foot of snow overnight. Sometimes the snow literally sticks to everything due to the static charge of the snow.
 
That is how all the photos are shown with heaters on the dish. The heater does have a reflective material on it.
Could you show some picture with heater on surface of the dish. Just wondering.
I have 3 dishes with heaters, and all of them have them back-mounted. There are also rain/snow sensor, which suppose to turn on heat automatically when needed.
 
I've had the front-mounted dish heater for about three years... it works just fine on EA. The only problem that I have had, recently, is that the thermostat has failed to an "open" condition... no heat. I spoke to the tech guy at the supplier and he said I could hook up the power supply to the lead for the optional dish arm heater. That works fine but is in the "always on" state, not a big problem here with $0.055/ KWH electricity. I suspect the failure occurred due to the UV exposure, but that's just a guess. I would put the heater on the back if you can.
 
Being in this business 15 years, the first snow we get everyone gets this bug that they suddenly need dish heaters.

I order then for people as a favor, then by the time I get them in, it gets warm and nobody wants them had I end up selling them for less than what I pay for them.

I don't think the heaters are necessary. If you got a snow or ice issue put your dish on the ground or at broom stick height.
 
I'm north of you in Wayne county. It's only the heVY WET SNOW THAT IS THE PROBLEM. Once it gets cold, normal winter snow will jyst blow off. I think the longest I've ever lost signal is a couple of hours. All these recommendations assume your dish is easy to reach. Mine isn't. It on the roof 2 stories up. I just let nature take it's course.
 
Being in this business 15 years, the first snow we get everyone gets this bug that they suddenly need dish heaters. I order then for people as a favor, then by the time I get them in, it gets warm and nobody wants them had I end up selling them for less than what I pay for them. I don't think the heaters are necessary. If you got a snow or ice issue put your dish on the ground or at broom stick height.

A broom is what has been used in past winters, however this is for a person with a heart condition and trudging through the snow to get to the dish isn't an option nor is waiting on someone to come over and clean it either. This is an area that sees 200" or more of snow per season, and yes the snow does accumulate on the dish very easily. We'll see how well it works!
 
I have to climb up on my roof using a ladder then trudge through sometimes waist deep snow to the dish mounted near the peak of my roof. Only has to be done for the heavy wet stuff and generally only a couple times a winter. The thought of a dish heater does at times sound appealing.

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