My electric fence box will be popping, and flashing (usually between 11 and 12.5), and then suddenly it will go dead. If you unplug it for a few minutes it will come back on when you plug it in. I am convenienced it's not the ground. I know it's dry out, but I have an 8 ft copper ground rod driven in by my frost proof hydrant. I also have a 5 gallon bucket with a pin hole in the bottom of it. I fill the bucket every morning and every night to moisten the ground around the rod. I have remade the ground connection a couple of times at the box, and ground rod. Something must be over heating in side the box. That's all I can figure. Someone here has had the same issue. I hate to buy a new box. This is going to be an unprofitable year anyway.
Electric fence box ?
- Thread starter Bigfoot
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jsm
Well-known member
You probably have a component inside the box that is going out and has developed a heat sensitivity (maybe a capacitor?). Does it also do this in a no-load situation (i.e. fence and ground disconnected)?
jsm
Well-known member
Sounds like it must do some load sensing, then shut it off if there is nothing connected. To narrow it down to a heat sensitivity to an internal component, try this. Let it sit overnight to completely cool down. Then hook it up to you fence and record the time it takes to die out. Then, disconnect it and put it in the freezer for several hours and take it out and reconnect it and turn it back on. If the run time before fail is longer this time, then you definitely have an internal component going out.
If that turns out to be the case, you could let it sit overnight to make sure all the capacitors have discharged, then pull the cover off and look for bulging/leaking capacitors. Most of the time when they fail, they bulge and/or leak. If you find one, you could google and order the part off the internet and replace it if it just has wires with connectors to it.
If it is something else like a control board, then I would say it it time to order a new one.
If that turns out to be the case, you could let it sit overnight to make sure all the capacitors have discharged, then pull the cover off and look for bulging/leaking capacitors. Most of the time when they fail, they bulge and/or leak. If you find one, you could google and order the part off the internet and replace it if it just has wires with connectors to it.
If it is something else like a control board, then I would say it it time to order a new one.
OP
OP
Bigfoot
Well-known member
I think your on to something with the heating up. I've sent my son to the barn a few times tonight to check it, and it's working. It's also been cooler this evening than the previous few nights. Are these capacitors hard to change?
jsm
Well-known member
If they are just the plug in types, then, yes, they are easy to change. It could be a variety of things wrong with it, I am just guessing maybe a capacitor because they tend to show heat sensitive failures sometimes and they are usually easy to spot if they are going out. You might want to make sure that if the unit has any vents, that they are not obstructed in any way.
When anything electrical satrts to act up around here the first thing I do is open them up and clean the ants out of them. I've never figured out how something that is basicaly sealed can still get ants inside of it.
jsm
Well-known member
Sorry I couldn't help more. Years ago those things used to be designed simpler (like everything else) and could be diagnosed/worked on easier.......
OP
OP
Bigfoot
Well-known member
I think manufacturers want us to dispose of things at the first sign of trouble. They make more money on a new sale than parts. I remember those two brothers on swamp people saying"They don't make parts for old motors. They make parts new motors. New motors don't need parts". In their own backwards way they summed it up.
pdfangus
Well-known member
capacitors can knock the crap out of you even when the unit is unplugged, unless they are discharged.......
Yup! I have a scar on the heal of my hand and one on my elbow where they can discharge through. 6 of them about the size of 2 lb coffee cans that had the bleeders removed.pdfangus":1ez7szq3 said:
And I can attest (from what I was told) that you do speak gibberish for a while afterwards
