Can I paint My Satellite Dish?

If you have a satellite dish that stands out like a saw thumb and you want to be able to disguise it, or whether you just wanted it in a new colour. Read this blog for helpful tips and advice.

You may or may not be aware that satellite dishes can be painted and I have seen this used to great effect to hide the dish, which are not necessarily the prettiest of things to look at. This is especially true with the larger ones. I have to confess types of paint and the painting of metals is not necessarily my area of expertise so you may want to do some more research before you take on this task. I will however provide you with some information below that you might to be able to easily find on the internet, like what parts to paint and whether this will affect the satellite signal.

What Paint Should I Use To Paint My Satellite Dish?

A non-metallic car paint is ideal for painting satellites dishes and can usually picked up at your local hardware store. In the UK if you’re near a Halfords a know this to be a good place to purchase a variety of colours which can be used for painting your satellite dish.

I recommend a non-metallic car paint because, it is intended to be used on cars which are outside for most of their time in all sorts of weather and are expected not to rust. Also I recommend a non-metallic paint because we do not want the light being reflected to the feed-horn of the LNB which usually made of plastic or has a plastic cover. I will come onto this more a bit later but with the light being reflected onto the LNB plastic feed-horn over time can cause the plastic to become brittle and break. Once this happens this can allow rainwater to enter which could cause your satellite dish to not work. This is especially true of white items which do not last as long as darker things when exposed to sunlight. For example, black coaxial cable will typically last longer when installed outside than a white one.

The car paints re purchased in the form of spray so you may need several coats to completely cover your Sky dish. Lots of thin coats are better than few thick ones.

Will Painting The Satellite Dish Affect The Satellite Signal?

Painting the satellite dish should not affect the satellite signal being received. It’s not to say that it won’t however. I strongly advise not the paint the satellite LNB. This is the part of the satellite dish in which the coax cables connect into. There are a few reasons for this. You do not want to cover the feed-horn of the LNB with paint and this could block some of the signals being reflected from the main back reflector and could cause a weak satellite signal. I would also not painting the LNB and the paint spray could penetrate to unwanted places, especially as this could be coming from an odd angle when compared to rainfall. If this was to get into one of the F connectors on the satellite cable that is connecting into the dish this could create a cable short which will stop that cable from working.

Also, you could also run into the risk of knocking the satellite dish offline accidentally when painting it. In which case you may need to call a professional out to come align the satellite dish for you.

Should I Paint The LNB Also?

No, I would advise to not paint the LNB. If you really must because you want it to match the rest of the satellite dish colour I advise being very careful with it for reasons already given. You may want to use a brush instead a spray for this part as this will help prevent the spray from getting into parts of the LNB that it shouldn’t. Again I advise not to paint the feedhorn of the LNB as this could block some of the satellite signals.

Can I Paint The Dish While Its Still On The Wall?

Yes the dish can be while it is still on the wall. Personally,I would take the dish off completely and remove to all it’s component parts and paint these individually so that the paint covers all of the metal which is likely to help prevent it from rusting over time. Once it is all dry, probably after a few coats of paint I would put back up on the wall. I would also be careful when tightening the bolts to not scratch of removing paint with the aligning of the dish and moving/ tightening of the bolts.

I appreciate removing the dish may not be an option for you as the dish alignments can be tricky if you do not have the appropriate equipment and you may need a professional to do this for you. You are also likely going to have to do without satellite TV or your Sky subscription for a day or two whilst the dish is off the wall. If you have brought the dish new however you could spray it before it’s installed to the wall. If you’re doing it whilst on the wall a couple tips:

Check the weather forecast – The last thing you want is to paint the dish and then it rain as this could undo or ruin or your hard work. Aim for a period of clear skies and sun. Also remember the paint is likely to dry quicker in summertime than it will do in the winter. 

Prepare the area – The last thing you want is to spray over the walls/ windows etc. This may be difficult to remove afterwards and could land you in some trouble with the spouse.

Be careful – If you are going up a ladder to get to your dish make sure you are taking appropriate safety precautions. The lovely new colour that your dish has will not be worth breaking your leg so be careful.

If you lose the signal whilst you are in the process of painting the dish, it could just be that you or the access equipment that you have installed to get near the satellite dish is temporarily blocking the signal.This is very common with scaffolds.

Painting Sky Dishes

Sky style mini-dishes that are used for Sky and Freesat in the UK are a dark greyish/ blue type colour and are nothing more than just painted steel. As the satellite dish main reflector – this is the large round/ elliptical part is a mesh rather than a solid metal and is nothing more than painted steel. These do not tend to last very long when installed in coastal towns or near the seaside. The mesh allows many points for rainwater to sit and enter and once the paint fails the dish will quickly rust. If you’re immediately near the sea like on the seafront you will be lucky to get a few years use out of your dish before it rusts and falls apart.

Giving the Sky dish a few coats of paint could help prolong the life of the dish. You may want to put in in your schedule to spray it once a year. If you want to limit satellite dish rust altogether you may want to consider installing an aluminum or fibreglass dish instead. These could a bit more but could actually save you money in the long run.

Satellite Dishes In Different Colours

You may have trouble finding dishes in different colours In the trade pretty much 90% on the dishes we install tend to be a greyish/ blue like used for Sky dishes or a white/ cream colour. If you wanted something like a red satellite dish or a green satellite dish you may find this hard to come by. I’m sure that you can find something online as everything can pretty much be found these days but you may also find yourself paying a bit more than is necessary and you may also find that the choice of colours on offer may not be absolutely right for you. For example, the wrong shade of green. By painting your own satellite dish you can have it in whatever colour you wanted it.

Questions Painting Sky Dishes – In The Blog Comments Section Only Please

If you have any questions about painting your Sky/ Freesat or satellite dish I will be delighted to help where I can provided that you post your questions in the blog comments section directly beneath this blog. By doing this it:

-         Helps me know what blog your question has come from

-         Provides me a central location to answer all the questions we are asked

-         Gives everyone the benefit of the question asked and the answer given

-         Stops me having to answer the same questions in private

-         It’s good for the blog!

Please DO NOT CALL OUR TELEPHONE LINES these are intended for CUSTOMERS ONLY. We are only a small company operating the south east of the UK and do not have the staff to help you. We also do not parts for TV aerial/satellite systems. Please also DO NOT E-MAIL OR FILL IN THE WEBSITE CONTACT FORMS,again these are intended for customers only and you a very likely to not receive a response or receive one asking you to post your comment in the blog comments section. All that being said I will try and help where I can provided that you put your questions in the blog comment section below.