It sounds like the connectors on the LNB probably aren't sealed properly against ingress of water if the satellite man was able to remove and re-connect them easily.
Was it particularly wet weather when the problem appeared?
So I'll try to produce a rough time line of how everything worked below:Originally Posted by fat-tony
Early December 2019: Moved into refurbished house. As i didn't have a new satellite box I used my old Sky LNB when the builder asked how it needed to be setup as I didn't have a Unicable LNB at the time. New cable was used between from the LNB into the property. I didn't test anything at this point.
Late December 2019: Got a Gigablue 4k UHD Box, Unicable LNB and had this installed with the splitter using the cable that was fitted by the builder and had no issues. Everything was working perfectly.
Sunday just gone: Got an error message when changing to BBC 2 HD. Can't remember what it was at the top of my head, but it made me think that the channel may have moved frequency, so I did new scan and that is when I had this problem.
This may be the issue as rust was found in the cable that connected to the LNB. The cable was cut off here and I couldn't see any more rust, so thought this wouldn't cause an issue. I take it water may have got in throughout the whole cable, therefore it would need to be totally replaced?
We have had some rain over the last few days, but it's been quite light and on and off - nothing heavy
Last edited by KuchKuch; 21-10-20 at 22:13.
How much of it can you replace without being too destructive"?
If it's a water problem and the cable has the open hole dielectric then water entering at the top can flow down the whole length of the cable. The low point of the cable may be the bit under the floor with the end raised to come out of the floor to attach to the box. Any water may be in the bit under the floor and with a raised end it may not come out of the end. If the cable has a foam dielectric then water is unlikely to be a problem
If there was rust at the LNB end of the cable it just indicates that the installer failed to fit a waterproof boot, failed to pull down a water repelant cover on the LNB or failed to wrap the connector/join in self almagamating tape.
As a quick crude test the splitter could be removed and the downlead cable only connected to one tuner. Removing the splitter would almost double the input signal. If this perhaps cures some of the problems then suspect a signal level problem.
As a matter of interest was the new cable from the LNB continious all the way to the splitter or is there a join in the cable. If joined how was the join made?
Last edited by adm; 21-10-20 at 23:24.
Xtrend ET10K, 2 x satellite tuners 28.2 (Sky FTA), 2 x hybrid (UK Freeview), Zgemma H9S (satellite)
A meter has already been cut off when i noticed the rust and i think i have another 2 meters of cable spare lying on the roof before it would become too short.
From what you are saying I think I may need to cut off another meter as the dish is on a pole, which is about 1.5 meters high before the cable levels off on the roof floor which is flat.
The satellite engineer did install a boot, but there was no amalgamating tape and clearly water did get in somehow. Feel like a mug as the same engineer who installed the LNB came around on Monday - so he charged me for the initial installation and then another charge on Monday all created by him doing a botch job.
I already tried removing the splitter and seeing if things would improve with the one cable feeding into the box, but no luck.
Its one cable going from the dish up until it reaches the splitter in my lounge - There is no join.
Before you go any further cutting cables you would be wise to find out exactly what has failed. I find it strange that it suddenly stopped working - oxidising of copper is a gradual process and would have been noticeable on weaker transponders first before all channels failed. Get yourself rg6 cable and run it directly from the lnb to the receiver (through the window as a temporary test). You don't need an installer - any clown can put on a f connector. If it now works then you know for sure its the coax and/or splitter. If it still doesn't work then its either the lnb or receiver. Coax is cheap and would cost less than getting the installer out.
Zgemma H7S running OpenVIX 6.2, Darkmotor, Triax TD110 dish, Inverto Black Ultra dual lnb
LG 50UM7450 4K TV, Pioneer VSX-534 Atmos AVR , Panasonic UB820 region free 4K Bluray & a PS4.
If a waterproof boot over the connector was installed that should have been enough. Amalgamating tape is recommended in the absence of any other precaution to stop water entering the cable or corroding the F connectors. Cutting of a spare metre of cable at either end to fit new F connectors is valid and may have solved the problem if the connector was the problem.
No joins is good (I wouldn't trust a jobbing builder to join coax cables)
I assume that you have already turned the power off at the mains plug, waited a few minutes for any internal volatges to discharged and then switched on your box back on. This will give the box a clean cold boot which may/will not happen if you put teh box into standby. A cold boot may claer any crashed software.
Xtrend ET10K, 2 x satellite tuners 28.2 (Sky FTA), 2 x hybrid (UK Freeview), Zgemma H9S (satellite)
You've mentioned this a number of times before, is this really plausible, I find it difficult to believe.
Sorry - only seeing this now. As the guys are saying, the presence of rust definitely indicates water ingress on the cable. I always use amalgamating tape instead of the rubber boots but either should prevent water getting in if the cover on the LNB is pulled down correctly. It's possible that water could run down the outside of the cable and into the building if a proper drip loop wasn't formed in the cable where it enters. That shouldn't affect anything unless there is a join somewhere. You really should try the temporary solution of running some cable direct from the LNB through a window to the receiver to check. The original cable may well have corroded internally if it's showing signs of rust as cheap RG6 cable often uses aluminium foil and aluminium coated conductor instead of the copper used in proper CT100 or WF100. It's down to bad workmanship on the part of the installer in the first place.
Last edited by Joe_90; 22-10-20 at 12:20.
GB Quad Plus, Mut@nt HD51, AX HD61, 80cm dish and Supreme Dark motor. Sony STR-DN 1060, Sony UHP-H1 Bluray, Odroid N2+ (CoreElec), Monitor Audio Bronze 5.1 speakers
Thanks everyone for all your suggestions.
I have ordered some RG6 cable, which I should get tomorrow. This will allow me do a test and confirm whether the cable is the issue.
ronand (22-10-20)
You may even be lucky the builder may not have put any clips on the cable you may be able to attach new cable to old and pull cable through if it is installed under the floor.
I'll keep this in mind thanks.
I tried to remove the cable and replace it with a temporary RG6 cable and it didn't work as I think I may have moved the dish/lnb slightly. I'm not sure what to make of the screenshot below, but you cans see AGC is now very low compared to what it was previously in the thread (2% now compared to 98% before I did my changes). Thoughts?
screenshot_20201025111652.jpg
Also can confirm that the builder did use a copper wire (still not sure what type), but the "boot" that was used between the F Connector and LNB was made out of plastic. I thought these were always made of rubber for a tight fit? I presume there was a small gap that allowed the water to creep in.
@KuchKuch - ignore the AGC figure. What did you get when you pressed yellow or green in that menu? Did you get services? RG6 is often aluminium which is coated with copper. CT100 or WF100 uses solid copper core and copper braid and foil screen.
It's unlikely you have moved the dish unless you hit it with the ladder. The bolts are fairly good at holding the dish elevation and azimuth.
Last edited by Joe_90; 25-10-20 at 13:09.
GB Quad Plus, Mut@nt HD51, AX HD61, 80cm dish and Supreme Dark motor. Sony STR-DN 1060, Sony UHP-H1 Bluray, Odroid N2+ (CoreElec), Monitor Audio Bronze 5.1 speakers
Thanks for the confirmation - The new cable didn't pick any new channels when I tried to do a scan and I had the same problem as before.
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