a better way to water proof your connections

[gopher2]

i use mostly snap and seals which are supposed to be weather resistant, however they are not perfect.
first i got some heat shrink from harbor freight, and a 30$ heat gun from home depot. (they have 2 there, get the one in the paint department, not the tool department)
starting with the cable freshly cut,
cut a piece of heat shink, flare the connector side with a needle nose pliers and slide it down the coax
then i strip the coax and put the connector on, then screw it into what ever its going on.
slide the heat shrink back up the cable push it up as far is it will go.
then use a heat gun to seal it all up
im sure a slightly bigger size heat shrink would not require flaring for the connector side, and i think they make heat shrink with a gel-adhesive specificaly designed for waterproofing.
but im happy how it turned out and i thought i would share it with you

gopher

 

[guapoharry]

Looks good.

Pic looks like the bottom of an Invacom LNB.

How hard or easy is it to remove the heat shrink?

Was there a reason you got a heat gun from HD rather than HFT? Seems like a Harbor Freight heat gun would cost less.

What about Coax-Seal? How good / bad is that stuff? Anyone?

Other threads...

http://www.satelliteguys.us/free-air-fta-discussion/115045-goop-gunk-what.html

http://www.satelliteguys.us/general-cabletv-satellite-forum/4980-waterproofing-connections.html

 

[gopher2]

Yes invacom is right great little lnb

to remove i would carefully slice it off with a razor blade

a heat gun is the last thing i would want to buy frm HF. I try to stay away from their tools. while you can get some good deals, their safety and reliability is questionable.

i seen coax seal, looks like a MESS, but i never used it..

 

[Gray1]

You all are high class. I just smear silicone on them.

 

[skysurfer]

My secret is now out!

I use shrink wrap for cable labeling, though (tougher and lasts longer than using paper labels that dry out and fall off or paper labels with tape over it that suffer the same fate).

I never thought to use it outside to seal up my f-conn's so you get props for that.
I use electrical tape to wrap from the top of the LNB body to past the connector a ways and never had an issue with the adhesive drying and the tape falling off or coax connections that are rusted.

to answer someone else: as for removal, it's pretty easy, IMHO. use a knife between the shrink and the coax outer sheath and carefully slice it away.

 

[GrumpyGuy]

I've had great luck with rubber mastic tape - sticky, stretchy rubber - unlike other sorts of tape there is no adhesive layer. It is made of the same stuff all the way through.

I'm still using hex-crimp coax connectors. This stuff seals them up airtight. A bit of a pain in the butt to work with as it likes to stick to itself. Keep it warm for best workability. Wrap it clockwise around the connector so you tend to tighten rather than loosen the nut as you wrap. Start at the bottom and work up so the layers lap like shingles on a roof.

It forms a monolithic blob that is however easily cut away should the need arise. I have a couple of examples of connections using this stuff that have held up for 15+ years.

 

[migold]

I usually do like Gray1, and smear the silicone. The shrink tubing with adhesive lining is available from Tyco, use part # DWP-125-3/4-0-STK for 3/4" size. It will shrink as small as 1/4". It is distributed by Mouser Electronics and sold in 4 ft lengths. It is designed to cover and seal between connectors and cables.

 

[gopher2]

migold: Thanks for the info, digikey has it, it is kind of expensive, but i will go that route when i get my setup 'permanently installed' ( Like that ever happens )

 

[zaxxon]

I cut the main telephone line in front of my house with my tractor

I called the repair man and he spliced the lines togeather, got a foam coffee cup out of his truck, pushed the lines through the bottom of the coffee cup and filled the cup with spray foam. The kind of foam you seal around windows with.

Thats how I seal my connections now.

 

[B.J.]

I used to use that black tar like coax seal on all my connections, but it's really difficult to take off, particularly in the winter, and I'm changing coaxes so often for testing, that I gave that up, except for a few that I seldom touch.
I then started using a plastic box (actually a military box that a nerve gas detector kit came in that I picked up when I worked for the Army). Drilled holes in the bottom, and the wires came in and out through the bottom, but I could access them through the lid to change. This has worked fairly well on my BUD coaxes, however I only had one of those boxes, and all the connections on my Fortec and Primestar dishes are pretty much exposed to the weather. I've tried putting them inside of plastic zip lock bags, and I even put those bags around the lnbfs, but it doesn't work very well.
I did have an inverted plastic container that I put my diseqC switch inside, and it worked fairly well when I was using a switch with all the connections on one side, but when I switched to a switch with connections on both sides, it didn't fit.
Bottom line is that every time it rains, my reception gets poor for a couple days until the connections dry out again.

 

[zamar23]

A guy is selling on EBay a pretty good weather box for DiSEqC Switch (item # 310131862458). I bought one of those - its well designed, made in Vietnam that surprised me - and fits my Chieta switch pretty well. Some European made LNBs like Invacom, GT and such not only have outstanding specs, but also a plastic weather jacket to cover F-connectors. Digiwave sells a bigger plastic weather box that can fit several switches at once - of a standard size usually placed by prof. installers.

 

[dougbrown]

When I installed my dish 20+ years ago I had to splice my direct bury coax ribbon. Radio Shack provided the extension and a "splice" kit, which was basically a PVC tube and a can of polyurethane foam. It has been buried in my back yard all these years and I still get a good signal on C-band. KU was working up to about a year ago. But I don't know if the splice is the problem or not. I rather think not.

 

[guapoharry]

A guy is selling on EBay a pretty good weather box for DiSEqC Switch (item # 310131862458). ...

What I don't follow about that listing are the photos above where it says

DiSEqc Switch Water Proof & Weather Resistance Case ONLY

(Switch and Grounding Block Sold Separately)


The pic shows a grounding block for four cables. (each with two female F connectiors) The weatherproof case has five pass throughs for cables to go inside.

Guess you can only use the block for two cables to pass through. the third cable can go inside and stop..

Also, the product comes with a “DOA” Dead On Arrival warranty against any defect. Return product within 60 days without question asks.

That's nice to know...

 

[zamar23]

I got one, and its actually much better weather tight than you would expect. Nice little box, I think the guy designed himself. Never seen anything like this short of big pro boxes. Many people use just one DiSEqC switch, so this box is all they need. You're right about grounding option, but I guess that's not its primary purpose. LOL about DOA, but in fact its hard to open its cover, as it sits tight. Its good to complement it with rubber Weather Boots like this (EBay item # 400045338846) to cover F-Connector ends attached to LNBFs and the Motor.

 

[GreatFTA]

You all are high class. I just smear silicone on them.

Several years ago while I was doing C band satellites systems I read in one if the satellite systems magazines that using silicone on connectors is a no-no. It does something to the connectors. I can't remember if it corrodes the metal...
I never used it.

 

[melgarga]

I've had great luck with rubber mastic tape - sticky, stretchy rubber - unlike other sorts of tape there is no adhesive layer. It is made of the same stuff all the way through.

I'm still using hex-crimp coax connectors. This stuff seals them up airtight. A bit of a pain in the butt to work with as it likes to stick to itself. Keep it warm for best workability. Wrap it clockwise around the connector so you tend to tighten rather than loosen the nut as you wrap. Start at the bottom and work up so the layers lap like shingles on a roof.

It forms a monolithic blob that is however easily cut away should the need arise. I have a couple of examples of connections using this stuff that have held up for 15+ years.

If you wrap a layer of vinyl (Scotch 33, 88 or equiv.) backwards on the area to seal then use the rubber self fusing tape (Scotch 130C or equiv.) for the outside (sealing) layer you can split the installation with a sharp knife etc and peel it open if/when you need access to the connectors with little to no self fusing tape residue on the equipment. This is a part of a standard termination proceedure for low and med voltage (>600v rms) wire to wire motor terminations.

 

[GrumpyGuy]

wrap a layer of vinyl (Scotch 33, 88 or equiv.)

I'll give that a try, but I think I will only wrap the nut with vinyl. That way the nut will not get gummed up, but I'll still have mastic in direct contact with the threads and the coax. Thanks.