Electric fence installation / doesn't work

[GoodValley]

Hello. I'm a hobby farmer, new to the business, with two black angus cows on 4 acres. There are three pastures, each with wood fencing and an existing network of electric fencing wire. When I purchased this property a year ago, the electric fence worked fine but the owner took away the electric fence energizer. I purchased a Gallagher "Wrangler" fence energizier, it can energize up to 30 acres. I followed the instructions and connected the wires (red to fence, green to ground). Plug in the Gallagher and it started clicking. The fence, for some reason, is not working. I walked all over the pasture and do not see any problems with the wire. Any suggestions on how to get this working? If there is one point in the whole network of wires that's not connected, does it disable the whole fence? I can not get power even 10 feet from the unit. Thanks for any advice!

 

[Caustic Burno]

Check the ground rod I have had more trouble from grounding that anything else.

 

[jerry27150]

sure wires are hooked right, one hooked to ground rod connected good? no rust, scape it clean & wrap wire around it & clamp, let us know if this helps

 

[ollie]

Sounds like the charged wire is grounded somewhere.

 

[GoodValley]

Hi, thanks for the responses.

You think the fence wire may be grounded somewhere, that is a good suggestion, and I think the ground rods may be a bit rusty so I will wire brush them and get a good connection.

How may I search for a grounded fence wire?

I have a basic electrical tester and if I touch one to the fence wire and one to the ground wire, just a few feet away from the unit as it comes out of my barn, my guage shows a pulse of electricity.

Thanks!

 

[Bez]

Disconnect the fencer from the fence. You have some work to do.

First - pound at least three 8 foot aluminum or copper ground rods into the ground. Place them at least 10 feet apart. Place the closest rod at least 10 feet from the fencer - more is better.

Buy some connectors from your supply store - ask for ground rod connectors. The supply clerk - if s/he is any good will immediately now what you are looking for. Get the copper ones if you can - I believe them to be the best. Connect up all of these with one long piece of wire and then connect to the fencer.

Second. Go buy a bucket full of insulators. I use what are called Black Widow insulators - but any good quality insulator will work. Use a 4" nail to hold them to the wooden posts. Get some T-post insulators if you need them - once again the supply clerk will know and help you.

Now, it is time to go for a walk.

Those old insulators that are holding the existing fence wire are not always going to prevent shorts. I look at them real close and if I have any doubt I yank them off and replace them. Be darned sure to pick up any old wire pieces, nails, screws and old insulators that you drop on the ground - do not need any animals catching the dreaded hardware disease.

String the wire. Make darned sure nothing is touching that wire that might short out the electrical current. A couple of small pieces of grass or such can cause you a great deal of grief unless you get a fencer that can push current through foliage. Your dealer will know. I strictly use the "heavy brush" models because of the terrain we pasture.

Hook up the fence and turn it on.

I use my hand to test - if there is no bite, take off your boot and stand in your socks - now it should bite.

If not, you have a short. Time for a walk again. Listen and look. Shorts will make a snapping sound. See where the wire is touching something and fix it by not letting it touch. You might want to mark the spot until you have a chance to go back and turn the power off.

Walk the entire fence line and test the fence for power. Listen and mark any shorts. Fix them all.

Oh, if you do not want to test by grabbing with your hand, you can use your "fence tester" - it does the same trick.

If this does not work - then you might want to test the fencer - I have bought duds upon ocaission. Not often, but it does happen.

If I have missed anything, there will be someone to let us know. Good luck.

Bez

 

[TheBullLady]

When we have a short we can't find, we start out at the fencer. Take the wires off and make sure you're getting a charge from just the fencer. Then add the wires. If there's a way you can disconnect the entire fence at different points, you can test a smaller distance at a time. That will help narrow down where the problem is.

 

[Tod Dague]

What kind of current do you run on your fence Bez. Mine is about 9000 volts and I'm half scared of it.

 

[GoodValley]

Thanks a lot for all the help!

I'd like to use the ground rods that are already in place, as I know they worked before and we have good damp soil here. Maybe I will just start by cleaning them up?

About the shorts, I didn't know grass can short the wire. There are some weeds and thick grass all over the wire in some spots. So I will get out my walk-behind weed whacker and clean up the entire fence line and follow the rest of your suggestions. Great help, thanks!!

By the way, I know my tester works because I walked over to my neighbors fence and it lit up when I put it on his.

 

[susie]

We had a similar experience. For us it ended up being the plug in receiver it was plugged into had a piece of dirt or gravel in it, so the full amount of juice wasn't reaching the energizer.
We originally had a fence tester that just recorded that there was some output on the fence. I bought a model that shows how much juice is running on the wire, so we could see that there was only a small amount of current in the fence, and coming out of the fencer. we narrowed it down to the plug-in receptacle after we tried a different outlet.
Now our fence runs 5000 volts and that seems to be enough- haven't tested it myself fortunately!
Susie

 

[frenchie]

Sounds like a ground problem.Is your wire in good shape?

 

[Bez]

Tod

My tester only goes to 8000 and it lights up all the way - right to the end of the line. Just grab on and let it hit. If it gets up to your elbow before you can let go it is working well. Electro therapy is supposed to be good for arthritus - do not have any so I either have good genes or the therapy is working.

I like to train the young cows by hanging a couple of those aluminum pie plates from the wire in the small pen. They just HAVE to go and sniff them!

Wife tests in her socks with a blade of green grass. Daughters use the tester. I am always forgetting the darned thing in the shop - so I went bio a couple of years ago. Yeah, I still jump when I get hit.

Do not pee on the wire!!

Our fencers - 3 of them - are mostly 100 milers - made by Red Snap'r. I have a couple of battery powered jobs - cannot remember their names for the rental properties, but the home place is 5 strands of electric. I hate baby sitting batteries. All in all there is probably more than a 100 miles of wire on our pastures - but we break it up into 10 mile "total wire" sections to keep the power up. Everything is set so we can power up or power down sections as required.

Winter pastures have alternating ground wires and hot wires. When they try to stick their heads through the fence they are zapped.

Straight hot wires do not work well in our winter because frozen ground and snow does not always allow a decent ground through the cows feet.

Bez

 

[joe]

My father used to set the radio on the old truck to static on AM (I can't remember hi or lo channel, or if that matters) then just drive ariound the fence. If it's shorted the radio starts a popping snapping noise and you jump out there and fix it and hop in and keep driving. Neighbors have a short on the gravel road fence bothers my radio every time. Good luck with your fence. I have to agree with most here the ground rods are usually my problem, unless a deer went through the fence somewhere and cought the wire. I always pound in abour 6 copper rods atlest 5-6 ft long, and atleast 4 feet apart. Has helped tremendously. It's a pain, but ALOT easier then rounding up cattle constantly!

 

[Bez]

Goodvalley -

By the way, I know my tester works because I walked over to my neighbors fence and it lit up when I put it on his.

Great - but do not forget to check your FENCER. They can sometimes be flawed and put out low power.

joe:

Sounds like your father and I learned at the same school - I wrote about this technique on another fencer thread - it works well.

Bez

 

[msscamp]

We, too, use Red Snapper. It must be a good one, because the last time I got against it I instantly felt like I had been kicked right square in the chest by a damn mule! :shock: Actually, I never got against it, the chain from the gate did, but I was holding the chain. Took me a minute to figure out what had just happened. That sucker bites!

 

[Tod Dague]

Tod

My tester only goes to 8000 and it lights up all the way - right to the end of the line. Just grab on and let it hit. If it gets up to your elbow before you can let go it is working well. Electro therapy is supposed to be good for arthritus - do not have any so I either have good genes or the therapy is working.

I like to train the young cows by hanging a couple of those aluminum pie plates from the wire in the small pen. They just HAVE to go and sniff them!

Wife tests in her socks with a blade of green grass. Daughters use the tester. I am always forgetting the darned thing in the shop - so I went bio a couple of years ago. Yeah, I still jump when I get hit.

Do not pee on the wire!!

Our fencers - 3 of them - are mostly 100 milers - made by Red Snap'r. I have a couple of battery powered jobs - cannot remember their names for the rental properties, but the home place is 5 strands of electric. I hate baby sitting batteries. All in all there is probably more than a 100 miles of wire on our pastures - but we break it up into 10 mile "total wire" sections to keep the power up. Everything is set so we can power up or power down sections as required.

Winter pastures have alternating ground wires and hot wires. When they try to stick their heads through the fence they are zapped.

Straight hot wires do not work well in our winter because frozen ground and snow does not always allow a decent ground through the cows feet.

Bez

Well I guess that puts me about as tuff as your Dtrs (maybe if I'm lucky). I prefer the AM stations around here. It will work on the non-static stations as well.

 

[Bez]

Tod

as tuff as your Dtrs

Nah, you're just smarter than this old guy!

Bez

 

[Utah]

Hi, I installed my electric fence several weeks ago. I got a 4-D Cell Battery powered unit and I couldn't get it to work. ha!

I followed the instructions, set an extra ground rod, thought I had connected it right, but when I touched the wires nothing happened. The wire did not shock me like I had expected.

After fiddling with it for a bit and checkign all my lines and connections, I decided maybe my boots were insulating me from a full cycle.

Well, I tried holding onto a "T-post" with my other hand and then test the hot wire ...

ZAP !! Yep, I got the shock of a lifetime because it was set for max current. Feels like your heart wants to explode!! Something I won't soon forget.

Maybe your charger is working after all.

 

[msscamp]

ZAP !! Yep, I got the shock of a lifetime because it was set for max current. Feels like your heart wants to explode!! Something I won't soon forget.

Maybe your charger is working after all.

Yeppers, that's the feeling! :shock: I now avoid the electric fence (when it's on) whenever possible! Call me a wimp if you like. I don't care!

 

[Bama]

I'd have to vote with the ground rod fault crew. It ain't the voltage that shocks its the amps carried by the voltage. Without proper grounding this will not take place. One of the best things to put on a fence is one of those little flashing lights at the end of the run. You can see it a long way in the dark. Also spray the weeds underneath, it will save you some headaches in the future.