Restoring 10ft dish

[Andyboy90]

I got a sweet deal on a 10ft dish last year but due to personal reasons I was not able to get it set up then. I am ready to get this project going tomorrow. I have already applied for the digging permit and will be getting all the clearances in next 2-3 days. The dish I have is identical to the one ftageekyyc found here Bagging the 10 foot mesh, North of 53
I will be scraping of the rust and paint from the mount and will doing a complete restoration. The mesh reflector is in relatively good shape other than a few small tears which can be fixed very easily, however the paint on the dish is chipping off and I don't know about the right ways to remove the paint without damaging the dish. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

[FTA4PA]

I got a sweet deal on a 10ft dish last year but due to personal reasons I was not able to get it set up then. I am ready to get this project going tomorrow. I have already applied for the digging permit and will be getting all the clearances in next 2-3 days. The dish I have is identical to the one ftageekyyc found here Bagging the 10 foot mesh, North of 53
I will be scraping of the rust and paint from the mount and will doing a complete restoration. The mesh reflector is in relatively good shape other than a few small tears which can be fixed very easily, however the paint on the dish is chipping off and I don't know about the right ways to remove the paint without damaging the dish. Any feedback is appreciated.

Glad to hear you will be able to get your dish ready for service. I use wire wheels in a drill to get all the loose paint/rust deposits off the dish frame and mount. Some areas you just need to get in there using sandpaper and/or a wire brush by hand though. Hope we will see some pics of the restoration. Good luck!

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/search.html?q=wire wheel#!q=wire wheel

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/search.html?q=wire brush#!q=wire brush

 

[Andyboy90]

Glad to hear you will be able to get your dish ready for service. I use wire wheels in a drill to get all the loose paint/rust deposits off the dish frame and mount. Some areas you just need to get in there using sandpaper and/or a wire brush by hand though. Hope we will see some pics of the restoration. Good luck!

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/search.html?q=wire wheel#!q=wire wheel

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/search.html?q=wire brush#!q=wire brush

Thanks. I will get this stuff from my local homedepot today and start working

 

[FTA4PA]

Thanks. I will get this stuff from my local homedepot today and start working

Be sure to pick up some N95 breathing masks and some safety glasses as well - those wheels will throw a lot of stuff into the air.

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/search.html?q=N95 respirator#!q=N95 respirator

 

[primestar31]

Be careful with the "paint". Some dishes are powder coated paint (baked on) and you really are better off NOT removing it all and repainting from scratch. Unless it's all really that bad. Usually powder coated dishes aren't that bad. Some paint could flake off, but just remove it back to still good stuck-on paint, and paint the bare area by itself.

 

[Andyboy90]

I have a 36' Von Weise acme actuator which I will opening up and re-lubricating. Here in northern Alberta temperatures drop down to -45C (-49F). I found this grease Mystik Low Temperature Grease, 400-g | Canadian Tire which works down to -40C. Its calcium based, does anybody have any feedback or any other recommendations

 

[ftageekyyc]

Just got back into reading things on this site recently.

Thought I should jump in on this thread before you spend too much time sanding and painting...

I never did get that dish mounted, and it is still in my yard near Pigeon Lake. If you want to come pick it up, you might be able to save yourself some time. At the very least you will have spare parts.

 

[Magic Static]

Andyboy90 sounds like a perfect deal

 

[Andyboy90]

Just got back into reading things on this site recently.

Thought I should jump in on this thread before you spend too much time sanding and painting...

I never did get that dish mounted, and it is still in my yard near Pigeon Lake. If you want to come pick it up, you might be able to save yourself some time. At the very least you will have spare parts.

Talk about coincidence. I got mine from a guy’s cabin in Pigeon Lake. I will take you up on your offer and would like to keep that dish as a backup

 

[Andyboy90]

I have a question for all the experienced folk here. I have dug a 4ft deep hole to install my pole which is 3.5’ OD. The hole is 1 foot wide. I kept it narrow to save on concrete. The reason for skimping on concrete is because I don't have anybody to help me this week and I need to get this done asap and it would already be painful as it is to prepare concrete by myself so the less the better. Is a 1 foot hole wide enough to support a 10 foot dish. The pole is 12 ft long so it will sticking about 8 ft above ground. Next question is should I cut the pole about 2 ft to keep it short because a longer pole above ground equates to more torque applied to the dish during strong winds increasing the chances of pole shifting.

 

[tdti1]

Personally I like using like a 6" OD pipe then welding a 18" length or so reducer on it. Will never shake in the wind, Ever...

Remember to weld a flange on the bottom or bolt through to prevent spinning.

There use to be very good literature available online with pics and everything but I am not able to find any of the sites I used and my friends used in the past. If I find one I will post up. Have fun.

 

[mikekohl]

You really need to get the pipe below your worst winter frost line. I would say at least four feet down.
For proper balance, use a post hole digger to widen out the bottom to about 18 inches.
This bell shape will hold much better long term. The work is well worth it.

 

[Andyboy90]

Personally I like using like a 6" OD pipe then welding a 18" length or so reducer on it. Will never shake in the wind, Ever...

Remember to weld a flange on the bottom or bolt through to prevent spinning.

There use to be very good literature available online with pics and everything but I am not able to find any of the sites I used and my friends used in the past. If I find one I will post up. Have fun.

That would be perfect but I don't have the tools or know anybody with the tools to do that. And for the other part I will be using few U-bolts to make sure the pole doesn't spin

 

[RimaNTSS]

I prefer to do concrete block in the ground (about 50cm wide and 130cm deep) and then bolt piece of pipe on top of it. In this way you get system when it is always possible to insert any pipe inside and make plumb. Go to nearest metal workshop and ask them to make something like this.

 

[Andyboy90]

You really need to get the pipe below your worst winter frost line. I would say at least four feet down.
For proper balance, use a post hole digger to widen out the bottom to about 18 inches.
This bell shape will hold much better long term. The work is well worth it.

I stopped digging because the post hole digger wouldn’t clutch dirt because of the opening too narrow. Maybe I will make the hole oval so I can go deeper

 

[Brct203]

I stopped digging because the post hole digger wouldn’t clutch dirt because of the opening too narrow. Maybe I will make the hole oval so I can go deeper

a shop vac with a long hose make a handy accessory to the post digger... break the dirt with your post digger, but instead of using the post digger to scoop it out, vacuum it. Of course it works a lot better is the dirt is reasonably dry. It gets a bit difficult if there are many small rocks as those are heavier than the dirt...

I agree with others that you should go a bit deeper, I dug to 42 or 48 inches here in CT, and our winters usually don't get colder than -5F/-20C. Better to dig a bit deeper now than have to redo it all later

 

[Andyboy90]

I dug 4ft and then hit a rock. Can’t really go any deeper. Lets see how it goes. If needed be I will redo it next year

 

[Brct203]

I dug 4ft and then hit a rock. Can’t really go any deeper. Lets see how it goes. If needed be I will redo it next year

I wonder if it would make sense to dig a few holes in that rock and put some anchor bolts before pouring the concrete, this way your pole would be attached to the rock

 

[Andyboy90]

I wonder if it would make sense to dig a few holes in that rock and put some anchor bolts before pouring the concrete, this way your pole would be attached to the rock

Thats a really good idea. I will do that. Thanks

 

[Andyboy90]

Soon I will be proceeding to installation of panels on the mount. What is the best way of doing this. Should I join the 4 panels first then install them on the mount all together or install one panel at a time on the mount.