I have a satellite dish and the RG-6 coax cable, shorted and looked like it burnt up around the couplings at the wall plate going inside of the house. I put on a new "F" connector and connected it to a new coupling on the wall plate. I could not figure out why it was burning up. The RG-6 cable runs directly from the dish to the cable box. I found out later that the ground wire broke off the dish itself and I re-attached it. So far I havn't had any problems. I am curious how the wire burned up because CATV doesn't carry voltage. Before I attached the ground back to the dish, I checked to make sure there was no voltage leaking out of the CATV box with a volt meter. I could not get any reading. Again, I am curious why the cable burned up. Did anyone have an incident similar to mine or have any ideas why this occurred? Thank you.
CATV wire
- Thread starter Ken 6789
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Rampage_Rick
Senior Member
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- British Columbia, Canada
Coax to a dish will carry DC voltage to power the amplifier and switching logic in the LNBF. Genereally speaking the voltage will be 13-18v and between 500-1000mA. You can get a poke while connecting the cable if the center conductor mates and your damp fingers contact between the shield on the plug and jack. You might also toast the electronics, though it's never happened to me in 10 years.
There are different grades for F connectors, my personal choice is Snap-N-Seal. There are also different grades of F81 'couplers.' The better ones have a center contact that surrounds the conductor. Up here they usually have blue inserts.
In theory you could have a ground loop between 2 receivers. Many receivers aren't grounded to start with. However in your case I'm thinking it was just a bad connection. There's enough power there to get tiny arcs.
There are different grades for F connectors, my personal choice is Snap-N-Seal. There are also different grades of F81 'couplers.' The better ones have a center contact that surrounds the conductor. Up here they usually have blue inserts.
In theory you could have a ground loop between 2 receivers. Many receivers aren't grounded to start with. However in your case I'm thinking it was just a bad connection. There's enough power there to get tiny arcs.
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hbiss
EC, Westchester, New York NEC: 2014
- Location
- Hawthorne, New York NEC: 2014
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- EC
I am curious how the wire burned up
Lightning.
-Hal
Lightning.
-Hal
I am as well. The power supplies for the LNA is power limited and should be designed so it can be shorted out right on the back of the unit without damage. So there should NOT be enough power, or watts available to do any type of damge to the cable or wiring.hbiss said:
With that said I would first examine the bonding and grounding of the SATV system. For example is the SATV grounding system bonded to something other than the electrical service ground like a seperate ground rod that is not part of the service ground.
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VoltageTek
Member
I have looked at most of the posts and many are valid. However, after installing satellite dish since 1976, I can tell you that the simple problem is moisture in the F connectors. The combination of electric and water is producing a corrosion from the Positive Center pin to the negitive outer shielding. This shorts out the voltage to ground.
Cut back the wire, redo with a new connector (perferably water-tite) and seal by adding a non conductive silicone grease, available at most auto supply stores. I have normally also put grease inside the connector to coax joint also.
Cut back the wire, redo with a new connector (perferably water-tite) and seal by adding a non conductive silicone grease, available at most auto supply stores. I have normally also put grease inside the connector to coax joint also.
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