What you'll notice
Reception fails during or after rain and returns a day or two later once things dry out. Each cycle it takes longer to come back, until eventually it does not.
Why it happens
Water is entering the LNB housing or the F-connector, usually through a perished weatherproof boot, an unsealed connector, or a cable dressed so that water runs down it into the connection instead of away from it.
This is the most predictable failure in the whole system, and the most preventable. The intermittent, weather-linked pattern is close to a signature — few other faults come back when things dry out.
How the water gets in
Three routes, usually in combination. The rubber boot over the F-connector perishes after a few years of UV and stops sealing. The connector itself was twist-on rather than compression-fitted, leaving a path along the cable. And the cable was dressed straight into the LNB from above, so rain running down the cable arrives at the connection instead of dripping off below it.
Why it gets worse each time
Every wetting cycle corrodes a little more of the connection and the LNB's internals. Early on, drying out restores contact. Later, corrosion has eaten enough that it never fully recovers — and by then the LNB is beyond saving even if you seal it perfectly. Acting at the "comes back after a day" stage is genuinely cheaper than waiting.
The drip loop
It is a small thing that separates installations that last from ones that do not: the cable should approach the connector from below, in a gentle U, so water running along it falls off the bottom of the loop. It costs nothing, takes ten seconds, and an enormous number of installations do not have one.
How we fix it
We replace the LNB and the affected connector, compression-fit and seal the new one, and dress the cable with a proper drip loop so water is directed away from the entry point. Sealing the cause is what stops this recurring.
Still not working?
If the checks above haven't restored your lnb (low-noise block), this usually needs a technician. Our Smart LNB Installation service covers exactly this fault — from R750, quoted upfront.