satellite dish de-icer? In the bag!

[Karl]

The trash bag works great! We just had a pretty heavy snowfall
which lasted for a couple days. All the right conditions to test
the effectiveness of placing a trash bag over the dish.

Our local Home Depot does not stock the Dupont RZ-50 that was
recommended. But as it turns out, I don't believe it is all that
necessary. The bag all by itself prevented the snow from piling
up on the dish very much, certainly not to the point of causing
much deterioration or loss of the satellite signal. And the few
little bits of ice and snow that were barely sticking to the
plastic bag were easily brushed away with a gentle sweep of the
hand the next day. I mean it's amazing. The totally hard-frozen
ice popped right off the bag!

Thanks again to " Dirtydan <***@satelliteguys.us> "
who suggested using the trash bag, and the RZ-50, although I
haven't had the chance to try the latter. But now that I know
the bag works so well, I'll definitely keep my eye out for the
RZ-50. You're the man, Dan!

--
Karl

[Karl]

Post by Karl
The trash bag works great! We just had a pretty heavy snowfall
which lasted for a couple days. All the right conditions to test
the effectiveness of placing a trash bag over the dish.

Gosh, snowfall... Where on earth might that be?

As Clint Eastwood said: "It snows in the mountains."

Anyway, I think this is a very good idea. It seems effective, doesn't cost
much and I suppose it will also protect the dish against corrosion.

It's especially helpful in situations where seasonal
snowfalls are common and the dish is not easy to reach.

I'm using a common tall white kitchen bag, which is
draped loosely over the dish and secured with a bit of
duct tape, but not too tight so that any wind or breeze
can get into the bag and "rattle" it from time to time.
I suspect that's what helps keep snow and ice from
building up on it, that, and the bag acts like "teflon"
or something against the freezing moisture. The most
amazing part is that the bag does not interfere at all
with the microwave satellite signals.

Who'd a thunk it? The cheapest and easiest solution
is the best solution. I would imagine the RZ-50 stuff,
http://www.rz-50.com/, might help it to stay ice-free?
But as it is, the bag by itself does the trick.

--
Karl

[Timothy Daniels]

Post by Karl
I'm using a common tall white kitchen bag, which is
draped loosely over the dish and secured with a bit of
duct tape, but not too tight so that any wind or breeze
can get into the bag and "rattle" it from time to time.
I suspect that's what helps keep snow and ice from
building up on it, that, and the bag acts like "teflon"
or something against the freezing moisture. The most
amazing part is that the bag does not interfere at all
with the microwave satellite signals.
Who'd a thunk it? The cheapest and easiest solution
is the best solution. I would imagine the RZ-50 stuff,
http://www.rz-50.com/, might help it to stay ice-free?
But as it is, the bag by itself does the trick.

And of course, black absorbs heat (and radiates it
as well) better than white. It would be interesting to
see if there was a difference in efficacy between black
bags and white bags. I would suspect that the air temp
in the dish covered by the black bag might be a little
more torid.

*TimDaniels*

[Karl]

Post by Timothy Daniels

Post by Karl
I'm using a common tall white kitchen bag, which is
draped loosely over the dish and secured with a bit of
duct tape, but not too tight so that any wind or breeze
can get into the bag and "rattle" it from time to time.
I suspect that's what helps keep snow and ice from
building up on it, that, and the bag acts like "teflon"
or something against the freezing moisture. The most
amazing part is that the bag does not interfere at all
with the microwave satellite signals.
Who'd a thunk it? The cheapest and easiest solution
is the best solution. I would imagine the RZ-50 stuff,
http://www.rz-50.com/, might help it to stay ice-free?
But as it is, the bag by itself does the trick.

And of course, black absorbs heat (and radiates it
as well) better than white. It would be interesting to
see if there was a difference in efficacy between black
bags and white bags. I would suspect that the air temp
in the dish covered by the black bag might be a little
more torid.
*TimDaniels*

I might try using a black bag at some point, but so far
the white bag is doing the job "swimmingly." The elevation
angle on the dish (Dish 500) is 43 degrees, and that seems
to be sufficient to help the snow to slide off the bag. And
a black bag might warm it slightly under the daytime sun so
that the snow would likely melt on it as it started to fall
and form a layer of ice on the bag which would allow the snow
to build up on it as our late fall, winter, and early spring
(primetime television) evening temperatures dip below 32F.

So the black bag might not be ideal after all. All I know
for sure is that the white bag works, and what little bits of
ice and snow do build up on it only slightly degrade and
never interrupt the satellite signal strength, and are
brushed or shaken off easily the next day. The little ice
crystals pop off the plastic bag like magic. And once the
temperatures drop well below freezing, nothing sticks to the
bag. Out of habit, I trudged up the hill through the deep
snow to clean off the dish, and it was already clean, that is
totally devoid of snow or ice.

Before I started using the bag, the snow and ice would
cling to the dish and build up quickly, causing me to have to
run up to the top of the rocky and snowy hill (120' away) and
clean off the dish several times during primetime television
viewing hours. And that makes me wish that I had found out
about this trash bag solution years ago when we first
subscribed to satellite tv service. Better late than never.

--
Karl

[Timothy Daniels]

Thanks for sharing the results of your experiment with us.
Its nice to have another solution "in the bag".

*TimDaniels*

[Karl]

Post by Timothy Daniels
Thanks for sharing the results of your experiment with us.
Its nice to have another solution "in the bag".
*TimDaniels*

I'm really glad that it works. And it's dirt cheap, very easy
to install, and is practically maintenance-free. If and when
I ever change the bag for a new one, I will simply use it as a
kitchen trash bag (assuming it has no rips in it by then).

What's wierd about it, is that because I haven't had any problems
with signal strength during snow storms, I had already forgotten
that the bag was over the dish until I read this reply you sent.
It's like that old Cheech & Chong skit where a completely stoned
Chong lethargically proclaims "I forgot where I was, man." ~:D

--
Karl

[c***@gmail.com]

I put a trash bag on my satellite internet dish in the fall of 2018. It's worked beautifully keeping the snow and ice off the dish and my internet running so I can monitor my cabin temps and my motion cameras. My cabin is off-grid high in the Colorado Rockies (10,200 ft) and we've had a LOT of snow this season. Thanks to the folks who pioneered this idea--it works and the cost is the price of a large lawn & leaf bag.