Fence problem

[John in WI]

I have a five strand high-tensile fence electrified on 2 of the wires. My problem is that I'm getting a small charge on the wires that are supposed to be cold. I've walked the fence line several times and cannot find the problem. Has anyone dealt with this and figured out the cause? I'd love to hear any ideas on a soultion.
Thanks!

 

[Bez>]

I have a five strand high-tensile fence electrified on 2 of the wires. My problem is that I'm getting a small charge on the wires that are supposed to be cold. I've walked the fence line several times and cannot find the problem. Has anyone dealt with this and figured out the cause? I'd love to hear any ideas on a soultion.
Thanks!

While you may not believe this - your problem is very likely a lousy ground and possibly some poor connections - to connect wires use proper coppper clamps - aluminum will also work.

Insulators may also have a factor in this - if plastic they may not be in good enough condition to withhold the charge from hitting a post or two - and you may not get a snapping sound to locate.

But I still suspect you need to fix your ground.

There is a pile of info here - do a word search on these boards - then read for a week on how to fence.

Then go out and put in about 5 grounding rods - all a minimum of 6 feet deep and about 5 - 10 foot spacing.

You can also get a meter and follow the charge down the fence line to see if there is any leakage.

Hook it up and turn the system on.

I would bet the cold wires would be good and the live wires would be real hot.

I dare you to touch the hot wire then!

One final thought - be sure there is no possible problem with "live / cold" wire proximity. There is a chance of electrical transfer if there are wires too close together - even if not touching - however I usually hear the snap when this happens.

Good luck.

Regards,

Bez>

 

[John in WI]

Thanks Bez,
I should clarify. Speaking from personal experience, I can verify that the two hot strands work well. Using a one-to-five blinking tester, they run about a four. If I put my tester on the "cold" wire(s), I get about a one. Also, sometimes I'll feel a slight tingle when I open the gate. The wires are on wood posts with only the hot wires insulated. I double checked the connecting wires from the charger and they appear in order and on the correct wires.
Could I still have a grounding issue?

 

[cfpinz]

I'll second the grounding issues, but just for my curiosity what type of battens are you using, if any? Have very little experience with H-T but those old wooden battens just look like trouble to me, always used the plastic ones but they are made kind of cheap.

cfpinz

 

[badaxemoo]

I have a five strand high-tensile fence electrified on 2 of the wires. My problem is that I'm getting a small charge on the wires that are supposed to be cold. I've walked the fence line several times and cannot find the problem. Has anyone dealt with this and figured out the cause? I'd love to hear any ideas on a soultion.
Thanks!

If you've got a high-joule low impedance fencer that throws a lot of volts, I've been told it's normal for the field created by the hot wires to put some charge onto the cold wires.

I have a four strand with two hot strands, and when no vegetation is on any of the hot strands and the fence is running at over 7,000 volts, I can get a couple hundred volts on the cold wires. I've got two 5' ground rods in moist ground, so I think it's grounded pretty well.

I wouldn't worry about it too much as long as your hot wires are hot.

 

[Bez>]

Thanks Bez,
I should clarify. Speaking from personal experience, I can verify that the two hot strands work well. Using a one-to-five blinking tester, they run about a four. If I put my tester on the "cold" wire(s), I get about a one. Also, sometimes I'll feel a slight tingle when I open the gate. The wires are on wood posts with only the hot wires insulated. I double checked the connecting wires from the charger and they appear in order and on the correct wires.
Could I still have a grounding issue?

Well, I do not have a lot of time - so I would say the following - the ground is still likely your prob. We run 5 strand HT and braided cable everywhere - in fact quite a few miles of it. Probably close to 25 and maybe more.

All run from one fencer that goes through all types of brush and stuff - you do not want to touch any of the top four wires.

Light systems for fencer detecting - in my opinion are a stop gap only - get something that gives you real information and remember that a cow needs - my opinion and in my fields - a minimum of 5-6000 volts to truly keep them on their toes. I prefer more for the winter - snow and long hair provides an insulating effect.

We crimp all our wire and use an insulator called "Black Widow".

All connections to grounds are completed with copper clamps.

I for sure would like to know how your grounding system is set up.

And finally - I completely agree with badaxemoo's closing comment.

Bez>

 

[Txwalt]

If you get shocked just once and it doesn't happen again right away its just induction bleeding off the hot wires and getting picked up by the cold ones. Bez mentioned the proximity thing. If you ground the cold ones that should fix the problem. If they are already grounded then my theory is all wrong.

Walt

 

[Brute 23]

Induced Voltage...

 

[dun]

Induced Voltage...

Yup, that would be my geuss.

dun

 

[John in WI]

Induced voltage, - as in a power/telephone line that runs next to a 500 ft section?

 

[dun]

Induced voltage, - as in a power/telephone line that runs next to a 500 ft section?

No, induced voltage from the high voltage of the powered wires of the fence.

dun

 

[Earl Thigpen]

Yea, what Brute and Dun said. :shock:

Seriously, you must have a good ground system. This is the heart of the problem.