Waterlogged C1W-PLL

[pacificrim]

My minibud LNB - C1W-PLL filled with water from the insane amount of rain we got yesterday. When it was at my house over the years I had the conical scalar covered in plastic to keep rain out but that didn't get put back when I put it on my workshop.

Anyway, it is the most serviceable LNB out there - I took off the heat sink and poured it out, sprayed it with contact cleaner and air-canned it dry. It was back on very soon after.

All the channels I watch on my 1.2 minibud are all vertical (coincidence) and that is now the vertical side is dead, but I rotated it 90 deg and set my receiver to 18v and wammo - all good. I've now covered the conical scalar like I should have. If the heat sink hadn't been so easily removable it would be scrap. Thanks Titanium!

 

[primestar31]

Using canned air can actually ZAP the micro circuits due to it causing static electricity as the air blows across the board. So, shaking it out and blotting it if you can get in there, and then placing it on a cloth towel to air dry by itself a few days is a much better way to go.

 

[pacificrim]

Using canned air can actually ZAP the micro circuits due to it causing static electricity as the air blows across the board. So, shaking it out and blotting it if you can get in there, and then placing it on a cloth towel to air dry by itself a few days is a much better way to go.

Thanks - Good to know.

 

[Titanium]

On offset reflectors with the often upward facing feedhorn opening, I have drilled holes in the bottom rear of the feedhorn to drain out excess water.

We are implementing a change on Titanium Satellite LNBFs to provide a better solution for minimizing rainwater collection on offset design installs. The C1-PLL and C1W-PLL LNBFs now are shipped with flat caps without breather holes. The new cap design does not create an airtight seal, so it does not build-up condensation, allows moisture evaporation while shedding water. Rain is more likely to run off the face of the flat cap rather than collecting in a recessed cap and enter the feedhorn cavity through a breather hole.

The C2W-PLL and C1W-PLL lite models will also be transitioned to flat feedhorn caps during the next production run (likely Q3 / Q4, 2018). No, we do not have replacement flat caps at this time, but will order additional flat caps to ship with an upcoming order this spring.

 

[danristheman]

Use a Nestle Toll house lid and glue it that helps keeps the water out.

 

[Titanium]

If gluing, don't make it air tight. This will trap condensation. Just a few dabs of silicon will hold it in place.

 

[sgs]

I once had a bad LNBF that got waterlogged with an 1.2m offset dish (mini-BUD)... it wouldn't function, and no wonder, there was about an inch of water collected in it.

A friend took it apart and got rid of the bulk water, then put the board in the oven at ~175 degrees for about 15 minutes... we put it back in service and it ran for about 5 years, until I got some Titanium replacements.

I recall drilling a small hole at the base to act as a drain, once I figured out the orientation while mounted in the fixed-position offset dish. Then I zip-tied a couple milk bags over the whole LNBF, which worked well, but did require replacement each year or two.

sgs