Fence Charger Not Working

[BigBear56]

So My feeders are walking right through my temp galvanized fence and getting in with the brood cows. None are getting out of the perimeter but it's been annoying to say the least. I walked the entire fence line and found nothing touching a hot wire. Now it's been really dry here lately so I added another 8' galvanized ground rod about 12' from the other 8' ground rod (2 total). I have a 2 joule charger. The charger snaps but the light doesn't flash. I tried 2 different chargers I have with the same result. Power from the outlet is good. I know I'm probably short a ground rod (should have 3 8' rods total 10' apart) but this has not happened in the 6 years I've had my charger hooked up. It has to be a grounding issue right? Should I be twisting together the jumpers from rod to rod? What am I missing?!?!?

 

[JW IN VA]

If the ground is dry,you may have to add a second wire to your fence and make it grounded to a good steel post or rod driven as deep as you can get it.
Try pouring five gallons of water around your other ground rods,too.
A good fence tester should give a reading on the fence.Try it at the charger with the fence unhooked and hooked.See how much difference there is.If you have access to a fault finder,it may point you in the right direction if you have an unseen ground.Insulators sometimes develop cracks we can't see.
I know ground moisture helps.I have a short electric setup across a wet area and the river beside it.With a fully charged 12Volt solar and a single ground driven into very wet soil,it was showing 9,800 volts on the other side.

 

[sstterry]

So My feeders are walking right through my temp galvanized fence and getting in with the brood cows. None are getting out of the perimeter but it's been annoying to say the least. I walked the entire fence line and found nothing touching a hot wire. Now it's been really dry here lately so I added another 8' galvanized ground rod about 12' from the other 8' ground rod (2 total). I have a 2 joule charger. The charger snaps but the light doesn't flash. I tried 2 different chargers I have with the same result. Power from the outlet is good. I know I'm probably short a ground rod (should have 3 8' rods total 10' apart) but this has not happened in the 6 years I've had my charger hooked up. It has to be a grounding issue right? Should I be twisting together the jumpers from rod to rod? What am I missing?!?!?

Two Joules is not very much for a charger. For a cow, it is like touching your tounge to a 9v battery.

 

[BigBear56]

If the ground is dry,you may have to add a second wire to your fence and make it grounded to a good steel post or rod driven as deep as you can get it.
Try pouring five gallons of water around your other ground rods,too.
A good fence tester should give a reading on the fence.Try it at the charger with the fence unhooked and hooked.See how much difference there is.If you have access to a fault finder,it may point you in the right direction if you have an unseen ground.Insulators sometimes develop cracks we can't see.
I know ground moisture helps.I have a short electric setup across a wet area and the river beside it.With a fully charged 12Volt solar and a single ground driven into very wet soil,it was showing 9,800 volts on the other side.

We just so happen to be taking down our small pool so I dumped 250 gallons of water in the vicinity of the ground rods thinking that may help. Nope. I will dump another 500 gallons tomorrow and see what happens

 

[BigBear56]

So My feeders are walking right through my temp galvanized fence and getting in with the brood cows. None are getting out of the perimeter but it's been annoying to say the least. I walked the entire fence line and found nothing touching a hot wire. Now it's been really dry here lately so I added another 8' galvanized ground rod about 12' from the other 8' ground rod (2 total). I have a 2 joule charger. The charger snaps but the light doesn't flash. I tried 2 different chargers I have with the same result. Power from the outlet is good. I know I'm probably short a ground rod (should have 3 8' rods total 10' apart) but this has not happened in the 6 years I've had my charger hooked up. It has to be a grounding issue right? Should I be twisting together the jumpers from rod to rod? What am I missing?!?!?

Two Joules is not very much for a charger. For a cow, it is like touching your tounge to a 9v battery.

No it's not a lot. But it's only 10 acres

 

[SBMF 2015]

Sounds like a dead ground. Those can be a pistol to find. Like JW said unhook your fence and see what the fencer says. If it lights up like it should, then you know there is a problem along the wire somewhere.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Good tips above. If they do not work, then start checking connections. Sometimes they get loose or dirty. Having a fault finder is priceless at times like this.

Lowering the fence wire will reduce the odds of calves walking under it. But if you have low voltage and they have a bad habit - - shock therapy is now required. :cowboy:

 

[MurraysMutts]

https://cattletoday.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=122754

 

[JMJ Farms]

You're gonna need a tester or either be wiling to touch it. Unhook the fence at the charger and make sure the box is working without the wire hooked up. After that it's time to check all connections, corner insulators, and any other components. If that's all good you will need to check individual insulators very well. As mentioned above, it sounds like a dead short or a bad box.

I overdo all my grounding systems. I have (4) 8' rods of 2500' of fence.

On another I have (6) 8' rods on 6000' foot of 3 strand (2 hot and one ground) on 35 acres with (3) of the rods spaced along the fence and tied to the ground wire. It's a pain and takes time to do all of this, but my fences always average 8000 volts minimum and with good moisture will get close to 12000 volts. Sure makes the cows respect them. It will make a audible pop from 100 yards away when a new animal tests it or when I get too close. I hate being shocked

 

[1982vett]

So My feeders are walking right through my temp galvanized fence and getting in with the brood cows. None are getting out of the perimeter but it's been annoying to say the least. I walked the entire fence line and found nothing touching a hot wire. Now it's been really dry here lately so I added another 8' galvanized ground rod about 12' from the other 8' ground rod (2 total). I have a 2 joule charger. The charger snaps but the light doesn't flash. I tried 2 different chargers I have with the same result. Power from the outlet is good. I know I'm probably short a ground rod (should have 3 8' rods total 10' apart) but this has not happened in the 6 years I've had my charger hooked up. It has to be a grounding issue right? Should I be twisting together the jumpers from rod to rod? What am I missing?!?!?

Two Joules is not very much for a charger. For a cow, it is like touching your tounge to a 9v battery.

Oh come on now....i say if you can't hold em with 2 you need different cows.

 

[Allenw]

check the fence after dark sometimes you can see the spark where it's jumping at. Porcelain corner insulators will crack sometimes and short through that can be hard to find.

 

[sstterry]

So My feeders are walking right through my temp galvanized fence and getting in with the brood cows. None are getting out of the perimeter but it's been annoying to say the least. I walked the entire fence line and found nothing touching a hot wire. Now it's been really dry here lately so I added another 8' galvanized ground rod about 12' from the other 8' ground rod (2 total). I have a 2 joule charger. The charger snaps but the light doesn't flash. I tried 2 different chargers I have with the same result. Power from the outlet is good. I know I'm probably short a ground rod (should have 3 8' rods total 10' apart) but this has not happened in the 6 years I've had my charger hooked up. It has to be a grounding issue right? Should I be twisting together the jumpers from rod to rod? What am I missing?!?!?

Two Joules is not very much for a charger. For a cow, it is like touching your tounge to a 9v battery.

Oh come on now....i say if you can't hold em with 2 you need different cows.

Only if they are trained properly.

 

[BigBear56]

Golly I'm ashamed to tell y'all this but it was a corral panel pushed against a hot wire. No idea how I missed it. But I walked the fence again this afternoon and found 2 ground sleeves that were slid over and hot wires were against the wood posts. All is right with the world for now. Sorry to waste your time!

 

[kenny thomas]

Golly I'm ashamed to tell y'all this but it was a corral panel pushed against a hot wire. No idea how I missed it. But I walked the fence again this afternoon and found 2 ground sleeves that were slid over and hot wires were against the wood posts. All is right with the world for now. Sorry to waste your time!

We have all done just that. I will go all the way around it sometimes 2-3 trips and all of a sudden there it is

 

[sstterry]

Golly I'm ashamed to tell y'all this but it was a corral panel pushed against a hot wire. No idea how I missed it. But I walked the fence again this afternoon and found 2 ground sleeves that were slid over and hot wires were against the wood posts. All is right with the world for now. Sorry to waste your time!

LOL I am glad I am not the only one!!

 

[JW IN VA]

Not a waste of time.

 

[Allenw]

A good discussion is never a waste of time.

 

[JW IN VA]

A good discussion is never a waste of time.

Who knows? Maye some of us older ones can learn some things,too.I always told my children that there were only two kinds of people who couldn't learn something. An idiot and a dead man.And,they weren't either of those.

 

[MurraysMutts]

Golly I'm ashamed to tell y'all this but it was a corral panel pushed against a hot wire. No idea how I missed it. But I walked the fence again this afternoon and found 2 ground sleeves that were slid over and hot wires were against the wood posts. All is right with the world for now. Sorry to waste your time!

Nice!
That's what I love about that little tester in the link I posted. Takes ya right to it!
Glad ya got it fixed. Sometimes just a break and getting back at it again does the trick!

Thanks for the update. Always nice to know what the solution was.

 

[JMJ Farms]

Glad you found it and it was an easy fix. Murphy's Law.