!!Electric Fence Help!!

[Bully]

Copper grounding rod $15.95... Electric fence tester $7.95.... to see a groan barefoot man jump 6.5 feet in the middle of his field...Priceless..

 

[Poncho]

I'd definately recommend 3 ground rods. I put in 3 of the 8 footers about 8' apart and ran the ground wire to all 3. Drove them about a 1' beneath ground level.

 

[kensfarm]

I just put up some 1/4 inch braid rope too.. but got the 10 mile solar fencer from TSC.

I ran 3 strands.. I pulled back the braiding on the rope to expose the 6 wires.. this allows you to directly connect the wires for the next strand.

I only put 2 short 4 ft groundrods in. (I'm going to put in longer ones)

My observations: Once the temp got in the 20's or below.. the "shock" was barely noticeable(ground rods probably not deep enough.. or the cold affecting the battery?)

On a mild temp. day.. it more than bites.. you can feel the jolt jump through your ankles!

 

[cowboydoc]

To do alot of good a ground rod should be at least 6-8' into the ground.

 

[Charolais]

I use one ground rod per 1,000 volts 10 foot apart. Found that out with the 5 years of drought we had here. Ground rods will need to be replaced about every 3-5 years depending on soil type and size of the fence chargers. I just replaced 11 ground rods that were put in back in 1992.

Another note: I have had problems with the ground clamps in the past. Have to take them off and clean to make a good connection. This last bunch of rods, I drilled and taped 1/4-20 in the top of the rod. Made up some lugs and crimped a #6 copper wire to the lugs. Then bolted the lugs to the top of the ground rods. Painted with insulating paint. That ought to keep a good connection for a long time. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif Since I found I have to replace the rods I started leaving about 8 inches above the ground level. It makes it easier to pull up the old rod and replace with a new one.

1. Parmak Range Master 12 joule
1. Gallagher 800 6 joule
1. Zareba A100LI 6 joule 10 stored

Gonna add one more charger before spring. Gotta keep those volts up. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Never grab the wire with a Range Master connected. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Insulated shoes or not.

 

[tomnky]

Cadweld in Solon, Ohio makes the crucible in a kit where You can actually bond the # 6 soft drawn to a 5/16 ground rod.


An electrical supply may be able to get them.

 

[Charolais]

tomnky, that crossed my mind. I have access to a cadweld kit. But after I found that the rods need to be changed out I decided to drill and tap. That insulating paint is a pretty good product. Where I work we use it on 4160 connections. Cuts down on a lot of 3M rubber tape use and seals in a good connection.

 

[tomnky]

Do You actually use a ground rod megger on these? Or How did You determine the rods needed changing out?

 

[kensfarm]

Yesterday when I was at TSC.. I saw that they had "solar chargers" for the 6 volt batteries in the solar fencers.. $20 so I bought one.. thinking along the lines that a full charge wouldn't hurt for the battery's lifespan.

 

[Charolais]

I don't use a megger but use the fence voltage tester. Here's a good guide for testing the ground system.
TESTING YOUR GROUND EARTH RETURN

Create a dead short by placing enough steel stakes against the fenceline to reduce the voltage to 1000 volts or less. These stakes should be at least 330ft from the ground system.
Connect one clip from your Stafix Digital Voltmeter to the last ground rod. Connect the other clip to a small stake placed in the ground at least 3ft from any other ground rods.
The reading on the Voltmeter should be 0.3 kV or less. If it is greater than this, the ground system is inadequate and more ground rods will need to be added.

I started looking deeper into the grounding after I bought the Range Master charger. Couldn't get the voltage up to what I thought it should be unless I disconnected about 2/3 rds of that run of wire. I have a digital fault direction finder and couldn't find anything on the fence. So I started reading about the ground rods. I first pulled up a rod and replaced it with a new rod. Voltage climbed about 800 volts on the first rod.And this was after cleaning up all the clamp connections. Knew I was on to something then. Before changing the rods I had a lot of voltage going back to earth. Close to 1,500 volts.