Electric fence question

[ga. prime]

What does it mean when you get shocked by touching the earth ground wire?

 

[jerry27150]

means you are shorting out somewhere or you don't have a good ground, have mine grounded to the cattle panels around my corral & if i get a dead short i hear it snapping if i touch panels with anything metal

 

[ga. prime]

I don't think there's a short, so must be ground problem. I have 1 copper-clad ground post driven six feet into the earth. Guess I'll try another one. Does the fact that the ground wire shocks you mean that current is being drawn constantly by the system?

 

[dun]

Inadequate ground. In most areas, at least three rods six foot ddep are recommended. I don;t like copper/brass for groundrods because of the verdegris (green stuff) that builds up and causes them to become poor conductors. I use strictly 1/2" galvanized rods with all of the rods daisy chained together.

dun

 

[MrBilly]

I agree with Dun, three is the minimum number of ground rods. I also used galvanized and have no problems.

Billy

 

[Dave]

I agree with the others about the ground. But if there is power in your ground there is a short somewhere in the system. Where else would the power be coming from?
Dave

 

[dun]

I agree with the others about the ground. But if there is power in your ground there is a short somewhere in the system. Where else would the power be coming from?
Dave

It can be as simple as the difference between the gound potential and the chargers ground requirements. Can't explain it betteer, don;t have the scientific knowledge. All I know is that a better ground gets rid of the problem. Except once when we had a underground 110v wire have the insulation partly eaten off by a gopher.

http://gallagherusa.com/usa/documents/36641_us_can_brochure.pdf
This is for the Gallagher fencing manual and may be handy

dun

 

[Farmhand]

Think there is something wrong with the fencer.

 

[dun]

Think there is something wrong with the fencer.

What would make you think that?

dun

 

[Farmhand]

A ground wire should never tickle you. The fencer is allowing the current to go the wrong direction. Any problem with the ground will cause the fence to not be charge.

 

[ollie]

A ground wire should never tickle you. The fencer is allowing the current to go the wrong direction. Any problem with the ground will cause the fence to not be charge.

It depends on where your touching the ground. If the path through you is a better path back to the ground on the charger then the charge will deviate from the wire back to ground etc.and onto you, thus the tingle. I am a believer in all ground steel fence. Everywhere there is a post in the ground there is a ground and all wires lead home. My only trouble is insulating going around or through posts. My charger burns through/around insulators or wire jackets.

 

[dun]

A ground wire should never tickle you. The fencer is allowing the current to go the wrong direction. Any problem with the ground will cause the fence to not be charge.

Correct, the problem is the ground, not necesarrily the charger. Have a neighbor that kept getting stronger and stronger chargers because he didn't have much voltage on the fence. After several chargers he put in a couple of additional ground rods and now you can knock yourself silly at the furthest point from the charger, 1/2 mile, with the first charger he had.

dun

 

[ga. prime]

Appreciate all the replies and recomendations. I think it's a ground problem and will try dun's recomendation for alleviation of the problem. It'll probably be a week or two before I have time for this, but I will get back to you on the outcome.

 

[jerry27150]

played with these all my life, if you have any barbwire or any wire on steel posts just hook your ground wire to it & you will have more ground than any ground rods in tandem. once had a ground rod inside a shed & it got to dry & we had to pour water on ground to make it work. never yet seen where extra ground rods would help. still think you have a dead short somewhere. they can be very hard to find sometimes plastic insulators sometimes cut thru, porcelain sometimes get a crack you can't see, small wire or a piece of barb touching it somewhere you can't see good. i usually keep cutting off a section at a time til things work ok & then i know what section the short is on. what kind of fencer do you have & do you still light all the lights on the new low-impedance tester. also if you have a tester like that you can check fence in different places & the lights will get less near the short. good luck

 

[ga. prime]

I think the fencer is a raco. I've tested the voltage from one end to the other and it tests 2000 volts everywhere. That's why I don't think there's a short. Everytime I've had a short before you get 0 volts.

 

[jerry27150]

if it is the ground try hooking it to a fence on steel posts if you have one & it should work

 

[frenchie]

I think the fencer is a raco. I've tested the voltage from one end to the other and it tests 2000 volts everywhere. That's why I don't think there's a short. Everytime I've had a short before you get 0 volts.

Unhook your fence wire leads and ground and test the voltage coming right off the fencer.I too have wetted down my fence ground rods in dry weather.

 

[dun]

i usually keep cutting off a section at a time til things work ok & then i know what section the short is on.

That what the digital direction finding testers work so well for. If you have a short to ground it will point in the direction of the problem.

dun

 

[moonshiner]

I use an International 5000 fence box. Instead of wire, I use polywire. Cattle can see it a lot better and its a lot easier to move around. Just unhook it everywhere and wrap it around the bumper and take off. Or hook a spool to a cordless drill and just stand there and wind it up.

I have two problems though. About every two years I have to replace the polywire because it gets dead spots in sections of the fence and they are hard to find. The second is not really a problem but a question. It is about a mile around my farm. It is fenced in pretty much a cirlce. The wire is hooked up at both ends. My theory is if a deer runs through it and breaks it somewhere in the middle, then at least it will still be hot coming from both directions. Now I'm stumped because a neighbor said thats probably why I have places in the fence that are not hot. He said the electric needs to go all one way. Which is right?

 

[Bama]

If you have it grounded at one post, and the loop is at the same potential ( tied to the same post ) on the other post. It can break in one spot and still work from both ends. Hope this makes sense.