Forum Discussion

tkranz's avatar
tkranz
Explorer
Sep 22, 2013

dew & ice on satellite dome

I have a Winegard dish with dome on my Winnebago. Have used it for about a year with generally good results. The usual rainy weather signal interuptions.

Recently I have experienced signal loss during heavy night time dew, and especially when dew forms on the dome and frost. I went up on the roof this morning and cleaned the dome well, and immediately got good signal back.

Question: Do any of you folks use "rain-ex" or other products on your domes to minimize rain or dew clinging to the dome? Or just a wax job?
  • WoodGlue wrote:
    Rustoleum NeverWet shows a Satellite Dish on it's packaging:

    Yes, it shows a DISH which is painted metal, but not a DOME which is plastic. Under the pictures it says concrete and wood, but the text under the dish is cut off. Other product pictures show the word "metal" under that picture.

    The product information says it's compatible with "most plastics." It would be interesting to know what kind of plastic is used for the OP's dome, and whether NeverWet is compatible with it.

    I don't know what kind of plastic is used by KingDome, but I know that when I used KindDome's treatment on my KingDome dome, it made the plastic look and feel terrible: it looked like the treatment actually attacked and softened the plastic.
  • WoodGlue wrote:
    Rustoleum NeverWet shows a Satellite Dish on it's packaging:



    WoodGlue


    I have a pluger made by Rubbermaid with this same coating. I can tell you that it works as advertised. Nothing sticks to it (including #2). I think that it would be something very cool to try on the dome. Before I try it though I am going to find out how much a replacement dome is, just in case the worst happens and it ruins the dome.
  • Rustoleum NeverWet shows a Satellite Dish on it's packaging:



    WoodGlue
  • katoomer wrote:
    we got rid of the dome and put a Motosat dish on. Best thing we could have done.

    I did the same thing, but went with the Wingard Trav'ler. I agree, best thing I've done. Solved all of my dome issues, but then I had more issues than just rain fade.

    I tried the KingDome rain fade treatment product and was less than impressed. I thought it would make the dome slick so that water beads and runs off, but if anything it made the dome rough and sticky. I never bought more of that pricey stuff. I gave up on the dome (for many reasons) before I tried other solutions.
  • Don't use Rainex on plastic. I made that mistake not long after it came on the market.
    I put it on the headlights and it turned them kinda gray blue and they didn't do that great afterwards. After about a year maybe they sorta cleared up.
  • I used to use Rain-ex on my Kingdome and it seemed to help somewhat. But living in the Pacific Northwest where it rains a lot and when it rains is the time we would watch tv, we got rid of the dome and put a Motosat dish on. Best thing we could have done. If the DW wants to watch TV while we are driving, she watches programs recorded earlier.
  • Kingdome makes a product to repel water from its domes. I don't know if its any better than RainX or wax. Seems to me that a good wax would bead the water as well or better than anything else....frost??? thats another problem I would think.