Anyone know anything about electric fences?

[Flatsbroke]

Not in the garage but the fence surrounding my garage:

I added an electric fence to an existing t-post fence and have managed to electrify the whole fence, i have walked the perimeter probably 5 times and cannot find anywhere that the wires are touching the existing fence.

its t-post construction with 2 rows of 14 gauge e-fence wire (about 3/4 mile of wire in total), 5" t-post extender insulators, 5 mile solar controller, 3 copper grounding rods 10' apart. There is one row of wire at the top of the fence and one at the bottom (probably 6" off the ground) there is some light brush/grass contact in some spots but from my understanding this will only lessen the voltage and isnt causing this issue.

Thoughts or things to check on what is causing the whole fence to charge and not just the two electric fence wires???

 

[jumbojak]

What type of insulators did you use?

 

[510ebl]

Anyone know anything about electric fences?

I know better than to urinate on one...




Seriously though...is it possible for an inductive charge to be present in the "dead" wires?

How many volts are we talking here? How far apart are the wires? Are the "dead" wires grounded? If not, what happens if you ground them? ( I realize you are using T posts here.)

 

[nadogail]

If all of your ideas don't lead to a solution, drop back and read whatever instructions came with your Fence Charger.

 

[jubilee]

How’s the battery?

 

[jubilee]

Whoops didn’t read whole post. Disregard

 

[Captain Spaulding]

Get a fence tester. Gallagher Smart Fix is the one I’d recommend.

 

[bob15]

Are you going under high voltage power lines? Stray voltage?

Never experienced lesser voltage due to weeds. It usually would cause them just not work.

Are your insulators like this?

 

[plout99]

Check it in the dark to see if you are arcing to the original fence.

 

[KEH]

Checking for arcing at night is a good idea. As a last resort, cut the power off and walk the fence with one hand lightly gripping the wire. You should be able to feel an obstruction. They can be difficult to find.

KEH

 

[isb cornbinder]

My Dad had electric fencing on his farm. I learned to dance, at an early age, when I grabbed the fence.

 

[TractorJeff]

If I remember right, there are 2 types of Fence Chargers, one will burn off the grass touching it, the other won't. I would disconnect the bottom wire to see if the top wire goes hot. If it does, then its not the Charger. Eliminate the grass and brush touching the bottom wire. Round Up works good for that or a Weed Wacker. After a rain you can sometimes hear the arc between the wire and the spot where its shorting to ground.

 

[Ray-CA]

Try doing this.....

 

[Bert_]

3/4 mile is a long way for a solar fencer. The weeds will definitely ground it out. A wire 6" high is going to be a constant problem unless you spray under it or mow it.

The 12v solar fencers do a lot better than the 6v ones. The good solar fencers are about $300 new, don't waste time with the cheap ones. If you have power nearby just get a good 120v fencer.

 

[Flatsbroke]

I’m using the correct yellow insulators. It is not near any other power source. Power at both wires is fine, it’s just jumping to the existing fence somehow, which I just can’t seem to solve.

 

[BukitCase]

Does the existing fence have insulators (guessing NOT) also, are the two INTENDED hot wires running PARALLEL to the other fence wires for any distance? Also, is the new fence actually HOT or is it being grounded out?

Any and all details may help... Steve

 

[McFarmer]

You have the fence and ground wires correct ?

 

[Lassen Forge]

Make sure you don't have a "transient ground", like a wire too close to your T stakes, or a bad insulator - it only takes one.

Also make sure your bottom conductor has plenty of clear space between it and whatever is below it... Weeds, grass, hair from the dog, etc...

Finally, make sure you have a good ground - we ended up pounding in 3 6' ground stakes and cross wiring them together, as one puny stake was not enough, especially over a long run of fence.

 

[ard]

a "5 mile' charger isnt very strong. FWIW.


I also dont know how you can 'electrify' a metal fence that is pounded into the dirt...every T post is a ground rod. All are tied together... How can can this be electrified?

How are you determining that the whole metal fence is, in fact, electrified????

 

[dfiler2]

It doesn't take much brush to ground it out, I would start there. Why do you have a wire 6 inches off of the ground? What are you trying keep fenced in?

 

[BigGarage]

I know that when 3 of your cousins tell you it's an electric fence to keep the cows in don't ignore them and then try to disprove them by grabbing it.

Happened in 1970 or so and I still feel it.

Dennis

 

[johnehr]

I’ve had insulators shorted to posts by bird droppings more than once. Can usually hear the arcing when you get close enough.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[larry_g]

For us poor folks with out any good testing tools you have to start by eliminating sections of wire.

First electrically separate the two wires being charged and only charge one at a time.

Does the problem only exist on one wire? Probably.

On the 'bad' wire and go half its length and open it electrically.Now charge it up. Still have a problem? Then the problem is on the charged section, no problem, it is in the disconnected section.

Keep halving the wire till you get to a manageable length to inspect visually. Halving the problem quickly isolates the bad section. When running e-fence on the farm we used a lot of insulated gate connectors to make it easy to isolate sections of fence to find problems, most were deer running into the wire and breaking or knocking it into grounded wire.

Good luck

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Mattlt]

I will echo what Larry is saying above. Break it into small pieces and you should quickly find the problem. Try charging only one wire at a time.

Another thing I'll throw out there. Does your fence wire form a complete circle? (Do both ends touch each other.) I have had much better luck running the fence in a straight line, even if it forms a circle, just that the ends don't touch. If that makes sense? Connect the wire on one side of the gate, run it around the pasture, terminating at the other side of the gate. A simple fence tester walking around the fence should show you where it's going bad.

I've had insulators go bad quite often. Usually a quick walk-around will point you to the bad one. As mentioned, any weeds touching a wire are bad news. Also can start grass fires under dry conditions.

Seems to me there is even a trick that can be done using an AM radio. I might have to look that one up...

Also, not trying to sound like a smart a$$, but have you verified that you don't have the ground and hot leads reversed? Borrowing a fencer from a neighbor temporarily might help pin down the problem too.