# Will Rain-X keep dish clear of snow?



## johnp37 (Sep 14, 2006)

Snowing heavily here in central NJ and lost my signal due to build up on the dish. Will spraying Rain-X on it help keep it clear of snow?


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## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

It's a mental placebo. Get a dish heater, or use some mechanical means to sweep the dish off when the accumulation gets to be too much.


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## tcusta00 (Dec 31, 2007)

The only thing I've found that works relatively well is silicone spray. Even then it just allows the snow and ice to slide off more easily once the dish heats up a bit in the sun. Hit it with some warm water or a broom.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

JeffBowser said:


> It's a mental placebo. Get a dish heater, or use some mechanical means to sweep the dish off when the accumulation gets to be too much.


Agree 100%!

If you are in an area where wet, heavy snow is rare, then deal with it manually or wait for it to melt. If it's a more regular thing, then the correct solution is a dish heater. Chemicals of any kind will do just about nothing, except make the dish nasty.


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## bpratt (Nov 24, 2005)

You can get a dish heater that works well with DirecTV dishes here:

http://www.cyberestore.com/satellit...-kit-for-24-to-30-inch-elliptical-dishes.html


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## 2dogz (Jun 14, 2008)

bpratt said:


> You can get a dish heater that works well with DirecTV dishes here:
> 
> http://www.cyberestore.com/satellit...-kit-for-24-to-30-inch-elliptical-dishes.html


Hmmm. It's the claim that it reduces rain fade by 75% that make me wonder. :nono2:


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

During visits to Alaska, I saw black plastic cones on those dishes include pretty big (1M ?). I'm wonder if it use solar radiation for self-cleanup or manufactured as heated.


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## ATARI (May 10, 2007)

Talking from personal experience -- I used RainX in the fall of 2007 and 2008 and had no issues with snow fade or snow build-up. I forgot to do it this fall and now twice this winter I've had to get the broom out to remove snow.
Lesson learned for me -- I will be back up on the roof in October this year to apply a coat or two of RainX.

YMMV


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## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

It's the Rain-X, and not any correlation to the historic weather patterns this year? If you knew how Rain-X actually worked, you'd understand why it would have no effect on the dishes reflector.

It's a mental placebo 



ATARI said:


> Talking from personal experience -- I used RainX in the fall of 2007 and 2008 and had no issues with snow fade or snow build-up. I forgot to do it this fall and now twice this winter I've had to get the broom out to remove snow.
> Lesson learned for me -- I will be back up on the roof in October this year to apply a coat or two of RainX.
> 
> YMMV


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

A Super Soaker works very well. It's also simple, fun and guaranteed to make your neighbors wonder what the hell you are up to in the middle of winter!


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

I connect a garden hose to my laundry room sink (uses a quick disconnect), drag the hose up 4 steps to the kitchen, turn on the hot water, open the window and blast it. This is the first time in 7 years I have ever had "sticky snow" in NJ.


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

Athlon646464 said:


>

















Venga Boys - We Like To Party - Actual Video

Everytime I see your avitar, I can't help but hear this damn song...

The Venga Bus is coming!
And everybody's jumpin'!
New York to San Francisco,
An interestate free disco!

The wheels of steel are turnin'
And traffic lights are burnin',
So if you like to party,
Get on and move your body.

We like to party!
We like, we like to party!
We like to party!
We like, we like to party!

Damn Six Flags ads...


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

2dogz said:


> Hmmm. It's the claim that it reduces rain fade by 75% that make me wonder. :nono2:


Living in a hurricane state, I can tell you that rain fade is not due to dish coverage. It is due to sky blockage because of rain or storm cloud density. With more emphasis on the clouds as apposed to the rain itself. I get my most HD blockage and pixelation, 5-10 minutes before the storm hits due to the angle of the dish through the storm clouds.


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

BattleZone said:


> Everytime I see your avitar, I can't help but hear this damn song...
> 
> The Venga Bus is coming!
> And everybody's jumpin'!
> ...


:lol:


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## ATARI (May 10, 2007)

JeffBowser said:


> It's the Rain-X, and not any correlation to the historic weather patterns this year? If you knew how Rain-X actually worked, you'd understand why it would have no effect on the dishes reflector.
> 
> It's a mental placebo


I'm not going to argue with you, just stating my observations.

And in December of 2007, we had over 60 inches of snow and a lot of it was the wet, sticky kind, and it slid off of my RainX-ed dish.

Now, I will say that my dish was only 6 months old at the time and now it is 2 1/2 years old, so perhaps the dish itself has become less slippery with age (the D* logo sure has faded). This next winter will be the test to see if it is just "all in my head".


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## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

Just trying to save you some money. It works by filling microscopic pores in your windshield with a polymer that weakly bonds to glass. Given your dish surface is vastly more rough than a windshield, with no microscopic glass pores to fill (not glass at all), it's not going to be able to adhere. Maybe it will work by sliding off the dish along with the first load of snow that gets heavy enough. In that case, it's a one-shot deal.



ATARI said:


> I'm not going to argue with you, just stating my observations.
> 
> And in December of 2007, we had over 60 inches of snow and a lot of it was the wet, sticky kind, and it slid off of my RainX-ed dish.
> 
> Now, I will say that my dish was only 6 months old at the time and now it is 2 1/2 years old, so perhaps the dish itself has become less slippery with age (the D* logo sure has faded). This next winter will be the test to see if it is just "all in my head".


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## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

JeffBowser said:


> It's a mental placebo. Get a dish heater, or use some mechanical means to sweep the dish off when the accumulation gets to be too much.


...says the person living in SE Florida.... :grin:

The person who lives in NY (me) says Rain-X works, but silicone spray is even better. Spraying once in late fall lasts the whole winter. It's not a placebo. Next year, I'll have to spray one half of the dish and take photos.

Rain-X doesn't just bond to glass, it bonds to the car paint too (I found out by spilling some on the hood). The bonds are weak (temporary), which is why you have to reapply.

Having said that, if this is a once-in-a-decade snow event, just brush the snow off the dish.


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## ATARI (May 10, 2007)

JeffBowser said:


> Just trying to save you some money. It works by filling microscopic pores in your windshield with a polymer that weakly bonds to glass. Given your dish surface is vastly more rough than a windshield, with no microscopic glass pores to fill (not glass at all), it's not going to be able to adhere. Maybe it will work by sliding off the dish along with the first load of snow that gets heavy enough. In that case, it's a one-shot deal.


Maybe I should just give the dish a good cleaning with some automotive detergent?


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## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

Touche :lol: The chemistry doesn't make sense for it to work, is what I'm saying, but push comes to shove, I have to defer to those who have actually dealt with snow.



bobcamp1 said:


> ...says the person living in SE Florida.... :grin:
> 
> The person who lives in NY (me) says Rain-X works, but silicone spray is even better. Spraying once in late fall lasts the whole winter. It's not a placebo. Next year, I'll have to spray one half of the dish and take photos.
> 
> Having said that, if this is a once-in-a-decade snow event, just brush the snow off the dish.


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## Throckmorton (Dec 7, 2007)

There is also the angle of the dish to consider.

In SE Florida your dish is pointing much higher in the sky than those further North. Your dish is a bird bath.

Those in the North are pointing much lower so the surface is at a much steeper angle facilitating stuff sliding much more easily.


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## JeffBowser (Dec 21, 2006)

My dish points nowhere near that high, but..... it is covered in parrot crap.



Throckmorton said:


> There is also the angle of the dish to consider.
> 
> In SE Florida your dish is pointing much higher in the sky than those further North. Your dish is a bird bath.
> 
> Those in the North are pointing much lower so the surface is at a much steeper angle facilitating stuff sliding much more easily.


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## flogduh (Nov 4, 2005)

Just get out a spray can of Pam....











j/k


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

The Pam suppose to work with high temperature ... How it would help at freezing and below ?


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## DLLindsay (Apr 3, 2008)

I'm with Atari, I put Rain-X on mine last year and forgot to this year. This year I'm getting some fade. Of course, we've had record snowfall here in WV .
That's what I like about this board. Everyone brainstorming. What about using the automotive Rain-X treatment windshield deicer in the Super Soaker.

Thanks everyone,

Dennis


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## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

P Smith said:


> The Pam suppose to work with high temperature ... How it would help at freezing and below ?


It's the liquid water in the snow that's blocking the signal. It's also the liquid that helps it cling to the dish.

The type of snow that falls when it's well below freezing has very little water in it. It's light and fluffy. It doesn't block the signal, and furthermore a gust of wind will blow it right off. Rain-X doesn't work well here, but it doesn't need to.

When it's near freezing (or above), the snow that falls has lots of water in it. This water helps the snow stick really well to certain water-like surfaces such as glass (via hydrogen bonding) or other surfaces (adhesion, probably van der Waals forces). Rain-X (or silicone) prevents the heavy snow from sticking to the dish the same way it prevents liquid water (a.k.a. rain) from sticking. How it does that I have no idea.


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

As I'm observed my windshield, Rain-X increase surface force of H2O and it collecting into small balls; but the question was about Pam's effect (if it exist).


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## laramr (Oct 21, 2005)

I used to have a Gore-Tex cover for my old 18" round dish that worked great. Anyone know if they make them for the new dish?


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## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

P Smith said:


> As I'm observed my windshield, Rain-X increase surface force of H2O and it collecting into small balls; but the question was about Pam's effect (if it exist).


Rain-X doesn't increase the surface force, it decreases the other forces that make water stick to glass. The result is that the cohesive force becomes the dominant force, so you see the water bead up. But what's really happening is there is a lack of adhesive force with the glass.

Glass is silicone dioxide. Water is dihydrogen monoxide. Hydrogen bonding occurs between the glass and the water as the water's hydrogen atoms are attracted to the oxygen molecules in the glass. I suppose Rain-X prevents that somehow while still being transparent.

Grease and oil (and car wax) are things like CH3, CH4, etc. Very different from water. No hydrogen bonding occurs. Water simply rolls off. Of course, you can't smear grease all over your windshield -- you wouldn't be able to see. But you can smear it all over your dish.


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## Athlon646464 (Feb 23, 2007)

bobcamp1 said:


> Rain-X doesn't increase the surface force, it decreases the other forces that make water stick to glass. The result is that the cohesive force becomes the dominant force, so you see the water bead up. But what's really happening is there is a lack of adhesive force with the glass.
> 
> Glass is silicone dioxide. Water is dihydrogen monoxide. Hydrogen bonding occurs between the glass and the water as the water's hydrogen atoms are attracted to the oxygen molecules in the glass. I suppose Rain-X prevents that somehow while still being transparent.
> 
> Grease and oil (and car wax) are things like CH3, CH4, etc. Very different from water. No hydrogen bonding occurs. Water simply rolls off. Of course, you can't smear grease all over your windshield -- you wouldn't be able to see. But you can smear it all over your dish.


So maybe put peanut oil in my Super Soaker? :hurah:


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Or goose fat.


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## rotohead (Nov 29, 2007)

I live in a very high snow area (Lake Tahoe) and can tell you from experience that the covers for the slimline dish don't work that great since it results in a large flat area on top for the snow to accumulate. The only thing I've found to work w/o making a mess or using a broom (you can bump the dish out of alignment if you're not careful) is a dish heater. I've had one now for about three winters (large snow acumulation area) and it's good money spent. Try to find the additional heat strip that goes on the arm. With light wind snowfall the arm can hold a surprising amount of snow tall enough to block the signal. It can be plugged into the harness easy or spliced into existing power feed (it's only 24vac).


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## NOLANSKI (Apr 4, 2007)

2dogz said:


> Hmmm. It's the claim that it reduces rain fade by 75% that make me wonder. :nono2:


As far as rain fade goes I have never experienced it here in Vancouver WA where we are very wet from Sept. to sometimes into May....JMTC

I must be closer to the bird!


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## thekobk (Dec 14, 2006)

If you spray your dish with water and it warps from the sudden temperature change I will and have closed out the service call as customer caused. You will get charged $50 even if you have the dpp.


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## crawdad62 (Jul 16, 2008)

I would think that if you had a dish in an area that you could apply/spray various stuff on it would be just as easy to wipe off the accumulated snow/ice. I live in central Indiana and there's times we don't get any snow or times when we get dumped on. This winter we had a big wet snow and it did affect reception. Mine's on the ground so it's not a big deal but I think in the last 15 years I've had satellite I've done it a total of twice.


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## Avder (Feb 6, 2010)

thekobk said:


> If you spray your dish with water and it warps from the sudden temperature change I will and have closed out the service call as customer caused. You will get charged $50 even if you have the dpp.


A friend of mine once told me about a neighbor who tried to de-ice her windshield with near boiling water in 25 below weather... :lol:


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## ATARI (May 10, 2007)

What's fun at -10 or lower (about the only thing that's fun at that temp), is to take a cup of near boiling water and toss it into the air.

POOF!!

Instant cloud!


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