Odd problem with barbed wire fencing???

[ckbrownla]

Hello everyone,

I have an issue where the fenced area that I maintain is
developing problems in the barbed wire fencing side. :?: The fence is a
wood post anchors/ painted metal t-posts construction. The wiring is
barbed wire on one side of the t-posts and electric fence on the other side.
The fence has held up well for quite a while since I assisted in the installation
of the electric fence portion in 2011. I have maintained the electric fence
since then. The problem is that the barbed wire has developed rust
problems to the point of danger of breaking the wire. :help: The rust seems
to start on the wire along the flat surface of the the t-posts. Anyone
have any experience with this problem? We are located in the north-east
corner of Louisiana in West Monroe, LA.

Please message me back with any questions that you may have.
I am not that experienced with barbed wire.

Thanks in advance for your assistance,
ckbrownla

 

[backhoeboogie]

4 years shouldn't be enough time to degrade the wire that much. Sounds almost like a dialectic corrosion issue.

 

[regolith]

That's trouble, because the first time one of the wires breaks your whole electric fence will be shorted into the ground through those steel posts. Then the next bit will go, and the next...

I don't know anything about barb either. Any time a rusted wire (high tensile) breaks here I replace the whole rusted out section with new wire. Don't bother doing it pre-emptively, just wait for it to break first & it'll only break once.

Look to the coating on that barb wire & is the T-post rubbing through it? If it's relatively new wire it might not have the best coating for your area, or a plastic spacer might protect it better.

 

[Hook]

4 years shouldn't be enough time to degrade the wire that much. Sounds almost like a dialectic corrosion issue.

Bhb is likely right. Sounds like you have stray current

 

[branguscowgirl]

I think the OP is stating that there is an older barb wire fence that he/she put hot wire opposite of in 2011. If I am reading correctly, hot fence on one side if the T-post and barb wire on the other.

 

[bird dog]

It may be just cheap import wire with a thin galv. coating. The fence clips are loose enough where the post scrapes back and forth against the t post. The rust starts there. Tall grass and vines make the problem a whole lot worse.

 

[greybeard]

Even older barbed wire should hold up shiny if it has enough zinc galvanize in it, but there was a lot of really cheap imported wire some years ago, trying to compete with the red brand 12 1/2 ga that would turn to rust in in a couple years. It looked good and stretched good, but rusted quickly and often nearly thru.

But, Surface rust on wire doesn't neccessarily mean anything tho--I have some rusty stuff that's been up 40 years that's still hard to cut with good fence pliers.

The cheap Bekaert Gaucho 15.5 ga will stay shiny for 10 years or more here in east Texas, but I know it is made in Ky, USA.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Exactly. Which is why it seems like dialectic corrosion. Nothing else makes sense. Dialectic will eat it up. Quick.

 

[Ouachita]

Exactly. Which is why it seems like dialectic corrosion. Nothing else makes sense. Dialectic will eat it up. Quick.

I agree. I know a little bit about this, but not enough to explain it (like many other things in life).
It could be the "T" post or the wire, or in combo. I remember my dad got a really good deal on T post he bought at Lowes in Fort Smith, AR. This was about 2006. We planted them in the ground on one quarter mile fence line. I had found a good deal on T post at a place near Wister, OK on the same day he bought his. We had extra post. We noticed his post were smaller in every dimension except length, and they weighed less; noticeably less. Since we had extras we doubled up in some places; low wet spots, steep hills/valleys and etc. In other words, these post were staggered in some places; mine, then his, then mine, then his........... Etc......
Today I am replacing those post he bought at Lowes. They rot out about 2" to 6" below ground level. You can walk up and push on them and bend them over. When you try to use a T post puller, about half of them break under surface. The rest are useless even to try to drive for tomatoe stakes.
I don't know if this has anything to do with your problem, as we only use the high grade Red Brand barb wire. I haven't noticed any dissimilar metal corrosion/rust from the post dad bought or the ones I bought (on the post itself where the barb wire contacts).
Off topic, I did notice that any/all electric fence clips would not fit the cheaper post that dad bought (we put an electric wire on them about a year later). We put them on and then had to wrap baling wire around them to hold them tight to the cheap post.
Although it was bad choice on his part, we both learned a valuable lesson; Don't cheap out on fencing materials. Your time is very valuable and if you ever put pencil to the Big Cheif tablet, it's cheaper to spend the money up front and do it right the first time.

 

[greybeard]

I do agree, that not all Tee posts are equal. I've had some Tee post that would bend, and others, that would snap right in two with the same force that bent others into a hairpin shape. I assume it is a difference in the amount of carbon in the steel.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Dissimilar metals with an electric current. Even friction current can induce dialectic corrosion. Seen it in pipes. A lot. Put plastic sleeves over flange bolts and a gasket in. Stops it. She has an ale trig wire. Wind. Rain. Anything to cause a current leak. Nothing else makes sense to me. Even cheap galvanized wire lasts five years.

 

[ANAZAZI]

Like branguscowgirl I beleive it is the electrical part of the fence that is put up in 2011 and that the barbed wire is way older.

 

[MudHog]

Galvanic Corrosion is the real term. As backhoe mentioned, galvanic corrosion is the presence of two dissimilar metals with an electrical current. Think of a lead acid battery and you have galvanic corrosion. The Anode is the metal that corrodes the fastest with the metal leaving the anode and going to the cathode. The further apart the two metals are on the galvanic scale, the faster the corrosion takes place.

Galvanic corrosion is the reason outboard motors have small anodes on them. The many different metals and the presence of an electrical current would corrode the metals. The water the outboard motor is in is what completes the electrical circuit and is how the corroded metal travels from the anode to the cathode. In the battery, the acid is what completes the electrical circuit. The anode on an outboard is galvanized aluminum and in most cases is the torque tab just above the prop. Some of the bigger outboard motors have anodes in the cavitation plate.

The electric fence is causing the electrical current, so it is a matter of isolating the current.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Yes. The problem is at the T posts. Not at the wooden posts. (read the post again) Put up brand new wire of any brand and it will get degraded. Dialectric shielding will stop it.

Some call it galvanic corrosion indeed. But it happens in all dissimilar metals if current can pass through.

 

[Bigfoot]

Under ground power line anywhere near these post?

 

[fitz]

Galvanic Corrosion is the real term. As backhoe mentioned, galvanic corrosion is the presence of two dissimilar metals with an electrical current. Think of a lead acid battery and you have galvanic corrosion. The Anode is the metal that corrodes the fastest with the metal leaving the anode and going to the cathode. The further apart the two metals are on the galvanic scale, the faster the corrosion takes place.

Galvanic corrosion is the reason outboard motors have small anodes on them. The many different metals and the presence of an electrical current would corrode the metals. The water the outboard motor is in is what completes the electrical circuit and is how the corroded metal travels from the anode to the cathode. In the battery, the acid is what completes the electrical circuit. The anode on an outboard is galvanized aluminum and in most cases is the torque tab just above the prop. Some of the bigger outboard motors have anodes in the cavitation plate.

The electric fence is causing the electrical current, so it is a matter of isolating the current.

That's right MudHog. In the mechanical/plumbing fields to avoid that issue when connecting pipe of dissimilar metal you would incorporate dielectric fittings.

 

[lavacarancher]

I believe several folks have hit on the answer of dielectric corrosion and I don't think it has anything to do with the electric fence wires unless stray currents through induction. Any dissimilar metals will set up small dielectric currents. You have at least three dissimilar metals involved, the metal in the T-post, the zinc in the galvanizing on the wire and the base metal of the wire. There could be other things like chemicals in the air that are giving the metals a kick start but I believe the root cause is galvanic corrosion. My wires always corrode where they come in contact with the T posts and any foliage that touches the wire however the wire usually lasts (me) for many years. I use Gaucho wire which seems to have very good galvanizing. You say you're from West Monroe, La? Do they still have a very healthy and active pulp wood industry up there? Might check to see what they are releasing into the air just to see what you're up against.

 

[backhoeboogie]

Wind across the wire is all it takes.

 

[Hook]

Put a multimeter on the fence. All it takes is milliamperes to start the galvanic corrosion. It will eat up the less noble metal first. Usually zinc, which also just happens to be what is used to coat metal with when it's galvanized.

 

[lavacarancher]

You are absolutely correct BHB.