ice on dish, no signal

[jkd61]

We had a terrible ice storm on Thursday night. I have at least 3/4" of ice on my dish, which is mounted on the roof. I haven't had a signal since since Thursday night.

How can I get the ice off the dish? The temp today is supposed to be around 30 with light snow, but tomorrow it's going to be below zero.

 

[Mr Tony]

super soaker and hot water

once the ice is off it doesnt matter how cold it is. I live in Minnesota where Tuesday morning it was -15 and the dish worked just fine.

I assume there is no way to get to the dish? Reason I say that is mine is on the roof too but I just climb on the stepladder off the deck (up maybe 10 feet)

 

[jkd61]

A supersoaker with hot water? I can stand on a ladder and kind of reach it with a broom handle. I thought about duct taping my hair dryer to the end of the broom handle and trying to melt the ice. Would that work? I'm not so sure I can find a supersoaker.

 

[Quantum]

Lowes has these little adapters for the kitchen faucet that let you attach a hose. (for waterbeds)

Hair dryer would take forever.

 

[dishjim]

I use a garden hose with nozzle hooked to the hot water in my garage and its ice free in a couple minutes. Cold water would take a little longer but would work.

 

[Mr Tony]

try the broom handle thingy....maybe lightly tap the dish to break the ice off

 

[jkd61]

Great, thanks for all of your help. I'll try to find a supersoaker at the Marts, if they don't have one, I'll just use the hose.

I have a lot of movies on the DVR, but they're the ones that you watch if you're really desperate for anything.

J

 

[jkd61]

Yesterday, I used the broom to knock (gently) the ice off the LNB (I think that's what that is). It wouldn't budge off the dish. I didn't hit it very hard though.

Eeek, middle aged woman on a step ladder in the middle of an ice storm. Fortunately, I only had one neighbor come over to see what I was doing.

 

[ckgrick]

I've had the same issue at times. You can buy a dish heater to prevent this from ever happening again providing you remember to plug it in when it might be needed. It happens so seldom where I live though, that I haven't bothered.

 

[superdorf]

I had the same problem last year. I tried the hair dryer thing... it was a waste of time. I have a tank sprayer I use to kill weeds. Filled it with hot water... same idea as a super soaker. Worked PERFECTLY!

 

[kstuart]

Search ebay for "dish heater" - should run about $50. (you don't need to pay the $100+ prices that some guy is asking).

The ones that use DC current and plugs into a transformer in the house are the most convenient. You can flip the switch in October and off in April.

PS biggest problem is that you cannot install it in this sort of weather. You need dry and above 50... worksaround would be to remove the dish pan (four bolts) and install the element inside your hosue... but that is also difficult in winter if you have a roof-mounted dish.

This is only one of several reasons that dishes should not be mounted on roofs, unless absolutely necessary to get line-of-sight to the satellites.

 

[Fitzie]

The hair dryer thing would work but would take a few minutes. If the back of the dish is clear of ice, you could try heating from the back--once the dish was warmed up, the ice should just slide off. If you had a tall neighbor with long arms to get on the ladder, that would be even better since he could just throw a few buckets of hot water on the dish... But if you did that and it worked, you'd then have to ask him in for a hot drink, and who knows where that might end up? Complications, ....

 

[bighick]

I just back my truck up to the house and use it so the ladde doesnt slip out on the ice.

 

[jkd61]

No supersoakers this time of year in the midwest. I ended up knocking the ice off the edge with the broom handle. I stuck a hair dryer in a shop vac attachment (the straight pieces) so I could reach the dish while standing on the ladder. It took forever, but it worked.

I have a huge ice dam in the gutter so I was afraid to spray any more water up on the roof. My neighbor suggested car de-icer, but I was afraid of that too.

No big ol hunky man came to my rescue except for you all. I really appreciate your help.

J

 

[Hemi 6.1]

A supersoaker with hot water? I'm not so sure I can find a supersoaker.

This Really does work, and it works good. But Yes will be hard to find a Supersoaker during the winter,But not impossible. Get one this summer for next winter.

 

[MikeinBaja]

No supersoakers this time of year in the midwest. I ended up knocking the ice off the edge with the broom handle. I stuck a hair dryer in a shop vac attachment (the straight pieces) so I could reach the dish while standing on the ladder. It took forever, but it worked.

I have a huge ice dam in the gutter so I was afraid to spray any more water up on the roof. My neighbor suggested car de-icer, but I was afraid of that too.

No big ol hunky man came to my rescue except for you all. I really appreciate your help.

J

Gee, things look like things changed since I moved from IL to San Diego!

 

[Butcha]

I have a magneic heater on mine. Plug it in when it starts to snow

 

[jerryez]

Move to the South, I don't have a problem with ice, but get lots of rain fade.

 

[nlk10010]

Yea, I've got this problem as well after the snow/ice in the NE over the last few days. First time it's ever happened to me in 9 years of having satellite. Fortunately, it appears that only certain transponders on 61.5 are out (e.g. Travel ChannelHD, BioHD) so given that the dishes are all the way up on my chimney I think I'll wait for the Spring thaw.

 

[ChiefIlliniwek]

Yea, I've got this problem as well after the snow/ice in the NE over the last few days. First time it's ever happened to me in 9 years of having satellite. Fortunately, it appears that only certain transponders on 61.5 are out (e.g. Travel ChannelHD, BioHD) so given that the dishes are all the way up on my chimney I think I'll wait for the Spring thaw.

Wow. Ironically, I am only able to get a weak signal on the 61.5 transponders since the Ice Storm came through west central Illinois FridayAM. The 110 and higher transponder signals are gone completely and only getting about a 48-50 signal on 61.5.

At least I can watch a few Dish channels (CNN, TWC, TCM, ComedyCh., History Ch.) now, but many of my favorite channels like ESPN, FoxNews, RFD-TV, AMC, and HBO-E are unavailable. FYI, I get all of my OTA channels through the turner in the VIP622 I have.

I was having some signal issues/pixalation before the storm and missed a couple of DVR recordings due to signal loss. I checked the 110 transponder a couple of days before the storm and only had a 68-69 signal then.