The dirty little secret of satellite installation.

[lcaillo]

I really hope that this is not an issue in other areas, but in Gainesville and nearby, I have repeatedly seen how sat installers do not ground their installations properly. There certainly are some professional, well trained, and thorough installers, but they are few around here. Every consumer needs to know that there are very specific codes that govern these installations and that failure to follow them may seriously compromise any protection in your system and present hazards in the event of a direct or nearby lightning strike. This is far more significant here, where we have more lightning than just about anywhere in the USA. But no matter where you are, you need to be sure that your installation is done according to electrical codes and the requirements of the manufacturers of the equipment.

The codes can get rather hard to understand for someone not used to following them. It can be summarized by saying that the dish itself must be grounded from the mast to the electrical service ground for the home. Also, the coax must be grounded using a ground block, at or near the entrance to the home, back to the electrical service ground. Your electrical service is grounded, typically using an electrode (rod) into the ground about 8 ft long, at the meter where the service enters the home. Any class 2 wiring (that includes cable, phone, and satellite lines) entering the home MUST have its ground line or shield connected to that ground electrode.

Some installers will drive another ground rod for the dish itself when the dish is mounted quite a distance from the house. This is ok, but ONLY if that ground rod is bonded to the ground at the electrical service entrance with a heavy gauge wire. We see installations all the time that are not grounded from the dish and mast, nor grounded with a ground block on the coax at the entrance. These installations do not me code.

A dish is not a serious threat for a direct strike, being a round bodied object. It is, however, still an antenna, and with nearby strikes, a large electrostatic charge is produced. Without proper grounding, the dish may present a significant problem for the system. We see them damaged all the time when they are ungrounded. We rarely see damage on properly installed systems. The bad news is that when damage does occur, the rest of the system may be compromised as well.

The solution? Check to be sure that there is a heavy copper wire from the dish and from a ground block at the entry to the home going back to the electrical service entrance by your meter. If not, call the satellite company and notify them that the installation does not meet code and that it needs to be done correctly. They will likely take care of it. If not, contact the local or state inspector for electrical contractors and notify them that installations are being done that do not meet code and who it is that is doing it. They will likely correct the situation and it will not be pleasant for the installation company. Here in FL a low voltage electrical contractor's license is required to do these installations. Installers who are not licensed or not following code can be shut down or fined.

Also, check the integrity of the ground on the electrical service periodically. The clamps on the ground rod should be clean and tight. Corrosion or loose fits can make even the best surge protection less effective.

There is more info here:
http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...html#post62267

[Cap'n Preshoot]

There's no limit to the shortcuts these installers will take. Remember, they are not paid by the hour, they are paid by the number of installations they do per day - - AND - - they have a minimum quota, which I believe is four.

In our case the Dish (Dish Network) is a pole mount about 60' away from the electrical service entrance. The installer did install a ground block at the coax entry point, but since there was no nearby ground he had to drive his own ground rod..

He pulls out a copper-clad rod from the back of his truck and proceeds to use a hacksaw to cut off a ONE FOOT piece and drives that into the ground at his ground block.

There is no bonding wire to connect "his ground" back to the electrical service ground.

There is no ground on the dish. Okay, it's a pole mount. Is that a ground? Not according to the National Electrical Code.

Another shortcut these clowns are notorious for is failure to install the supporting mast pipe (whether pole mount or otherwise) in a firmly rigid manner that is precisely dead-level plumb. Succinctly stated, it is humanly impossible to achieve accurate and precise alignment of a multi-sat dish unless the mast pipe is absolutely, positively, perfectly plumb. Both Dish Network and DirecTV installers omit this little detail on almost every installation.

You will also find (if you haven't already) that most satellite system installers have extremely little technical knowledge about what they're doing.

[salvasol]

There's a lot of "lack of knowledge", "lazzyness", "lack of supervision/inspections", etc.

If consumers are informed about this requirements, I'm sure they will complaint if installation is not done properly; and if the installers are well informed about it ... I'm sure they will follow the requirements too; specially knowing that there will be an inspection and they could be fined

Maybe the installer knows about the grounding ... but is lazy and don't want to do the job or will not do it properly (as Cap'n Preshoot wrote) instead of using the 8ft rod, he cut it to just 1ft; because is easy to insert it into the ground (I installed one (8') for my roof antenna ... it took some time but I did it).

I don't recall exactly if the Dish installer asked me or if he checked for the properly grounded cable or antenna when he did the installation (9 yrs ago) ... but I just know that I have the rod and ground block because I also installed myself.

Every city, State, County has different requirements (but I'm sure similar)... I don't know exactly how is has to be done here in CA, but I know that the two rods I have are not connected with the electrical ground, because I haven't bothered to check .

[lcaillo]

Regardless of the differences between states and local governments, all installations must conform to the NEC in the US. Some areas have additional requirements. In Florida, you have to have low voltage contractor's license to do installs. Many do not. I find about 90% of sat installs here with problems, usually improper grounding, if any.

A simple call to Dish or DirecTV will resolve the issue in most cases. They know well that they have great liability if they do not ground the system properly or could potentially have their installation operation in an area shut down if compliance agencies get involved. Once you let them know that you understand what is required, they get it fixed rather quickly, at least here.

[salvasol]

lcaillo wrote:

A simple call to Dish or DirecTV will resolve the issue in most cases. They know well that they have great liability if they do not ground the system properly or could potentially have their installation operation in an area shut down if compliance agencies get involved. ....

That's why I mentioned "lack of knowledge" ... most companies (specially installers) take advantage of the customers lack of knowledge; I'm sure that if you mention them during the installation the regulations, they will do a job properly to avoid any complaint/fine

Another reason that I can think, is that some people don't really care ... but, I'm sure that if they learn the hard way, they'll demand a better job