Preventing Water Sloushing Out Of Ribs of 12 Foot Dish

[jsattv]

Yesterday I finally removed my non operating 5 wire Actuator Dish Mover on my 12 foot mesh Dish see picture # 1, which had been pointed at Galaxy 25 / 97.0W for the last 2 months. The Dish moved when the Actuator was removed and I was extremely surprised to see an huge shower of water (we have had a lot of rain this spring), which just missed me & hit the ground running into my garden from the Dish!! It looks like the Ribs on the Dish which has no Middle Plate were full of water. I am wondering if this likely explains why this winter when temps went down to 30 degrees below zero the dish quit moving - twice.

Question:
What I am wondering is if I transfer the Middle Plate from the 7.6 Foot Mesh Dish See pic # 2, that I recently recovered, and install it on my 12 footer, will that prevent a lot of water from collecting in the 12 Foot Dish again? Any replies would be appreciated.

 

[phlatwound]

I think I would try to plug up the open end of the ribs, and/or drill some small (1/4"?) drain holes in the lower end of the ribs.

A center plate would probably help, but if you dont eliminate the holes where the water enters you're going to need a drain hole to get it out.

 

[rv1pop]

There will be condensation also, so drain holes are needed unless the tube are really sealed. The one 6 foot dish I got that was badly damaged, at least half of the damage, and as I think about it, maybe all of the damage,was from freezing water in the bottom of the ribs and the lower part of the ring...
POP

 

[jsattv]

I think I would try to plug up the open end of the ribs, and/or drill some small (1/4"?) drain holes in the lower end of the ribs.

A center plate would probably help, but if you dont eliminate the holes where the water enters you're going to need a drain hole to get it out.

Thanks Phlatwound, guess I could try the centre plate and drill the 1/4 inch holes for drainage. I'll have to reroute my LNB Coax wires & hope that drilling the drain holes won't weaken the overall dish structure??

 

[Anole]

I was going to suggest 1/8th inch drain holes, not quarter.
And you'd want to inspect them once a year, check for bugs, and poke each hole with a toothpick to clear it.
Oh, and don't forget to paint 'em, too.
. . . . probably only on the lower half of the dish . . . ?

Is the rib hollow from the center of the dish all the way to the outside rim?
If there is a joint in the rib that prevents water running all the way from center to rim, then you need to drill the holes just before that blockage.
I'm sure you can tell by inspection, where the best place would be.
And, if uncapping the ends or drilling the rim is called for, then that's easy.

Hadn't heard of anyone having this problem before.
Must not be too uncommon, so I'm surprised nobody with personal experience has jumped in to this thread.

 

[jsattv]

Anole, now I'm not so sure the water was in the Ribs..... it may have been in the setup I made to keep the coax cable from rubbing and being cut on the Dish's ribs. I used some plastic edging from some small landscape bordering and closed it up and the water may have collected inside of it. I likely created my own problem. I am going to remove the routing of the Coax LNB leads thru that middle of the Dish and see if I can install with (help from my neighbor) the Plate from the 7.6 Unimesh Dish I recently collected then reroute the LNB Coax to my DisEQc switch on the Dish Pole.

 

[jsattv]

It poured rain for about 3 times again yesterday and I had removed all wiring from the middle of the Dish. Soon as I moved it water came pouring out again!! The diameter of the 12 Foot Dish's middle gap or hole is only about 6.5 inches and is much too small for the 7.6 Ft Dish Plate mounting screw holes. The 7.6 Ft Dish plate is around 10 inches in diameter. Guess I'll have to figure something else out or drill the holes in the bottom of the 12 Ft Dish Ribs for drainage as was previously suggested by Rv1pop and Phlatwound.