Panels Coming Apart

[StarScan]

Today I noticed the fiberglass panels coming apart at the bolts. I found the piece that came off and did the best I could to put it back in place. I'll pick up some new bolts tomorrow and drill new holes. Any way I could make this repair better and prevent this from happening again later on? The last picture shows the next one that's wanting to break. We always have strong winds so I'm guessing that is a big part of the problem.

 

[(((Garyd)))]

Wow, don't know what to say but good luck, when they were the big new thing, no one even thought about how long they would have to last

 

[StarScan]

Looks like I should get a replacement dish going before this thing totally falls apart. I have a 10' Unimesh and a 10' Winegard Pinnacle. Which one would be best?

 

[waylew]

As I have one,,PINNACLE .
I would say it is past time to turn the glass dish into pie shaped birdbaths

 

[beavs2112]

Any way I could make this repair better and prevent this from happening again later on? The last picture shows the next one that's wanting to break.

Sorry to see your dish damaged. it looks from the last pic like you may have a significant gap between the panels which suggests to me the bolts aren't tight .......that might cause the problem you're experiencing. Also it might not hurt to put extra bolts in where the panels come together. I rescued a old Channel Master 10 foot fiberglass dish that when I put it back up it had some cracks and tears like you have. I repaired them with fiberglass matt and resin. Mind you I had plans to repaint the dish so the less than stellar looking repair doesn't look so bad. Some food for thought.

 

[DK_Sat]

JP Weld makes a kid for repairing for fiberglass

 

[gabshere]

often i thought of what i would do if i recovered a big old fiberglass dish like this . I had it planned to place metal strips on both sides of the backside fins that bolted together. aiding in supporting the dish sections . I still think its possible with this one, then just fiberglass repair the damage after its reinforced .

 

[FaT Air]

To do a proper repair, on that's going to last a long time, would require taking it apart. Grinding out all damage and replacing with cloth and resin. Not a quick and easy proposition. Appears that the mesh is showing - it's getting tired.
I 'd say it's time to retire it. Especially that you have 'backups'. I'd go with the Pinnacle.

 

[Magic Static]

Looks like I should get a replacement dish going before this thing totally falls apart. I have a 10' Unimesh and a 10' Winegard Pinnacle. Which one would be best?

I have a Pinnacle on an AJAK .287F/D ratio I want to get a Uni-Mesh on an AJAK .40 F/D ratio that I spotted and been plotting a way to secure it and replace the Pinnacle.

 

[StarScan]

I'll try getting the fiberglass dish taken down this weekend because its been nothing but problems lately. Hopefully I can also get the backup up and running. The first Pinnacle and stripped threads on the azimuth bolts and the second Pinnacle fell off the trailer going 60mph down hwy. The first Uni-Mesh has a weak actuator motor (JGS) with a single polarity Norsat Titan LNB. The second Uni-Mesh is missing a servo motor and has no actuator. I was going to take the actuator off the fiberglass dish for it which is missing the end cap for wiring and has a bad sensor (Super Sensor II). What are the pros and cons for the Pinnacle and Uni-Mesh?

 

[Magic Static]

Is the Unimesh a perf? Unimesh makes a great perf. I like using the Bullseye II feedhorn. That is not really made for a deep dish like the Pinnacle, so I get better results with a .40 F/D ratio dish. I also have a Channel Master perf, very much like the Unimesh.