ground rods for elec. fence?

[Beeman]

I just bought a new charger and was going to install 3-8' ground rods like the instructions say. I noticed they sell copper clad and zinc clad ground rods. Which ones have you used with success? Of course the copper is twice the price.

[stanb999]

Well I cheat a little. I send the ground out every other wire so I just use all the T posts as grounds. It works really well. I bet you could get away with just the copper clad. Make sure you get it down to where it's always wet. That really makes a big difference.

[fordy]

Originally Posted by Beeman

I just bought a new charger and was going to install 3-8' ground rods like the instructions say. I noticed they sell copper clad and zinc clad ground rods. Which ones have you used with success? Of course the copper is twice the price.

..............Buy 1 copper and 1 "other" . Drive the copper at the fartherest point of the three , then drive the other in #2 position , then check the voltage at each point . Voltage should become lower the farther you move Away from the charger , due to increasing resistance , variations in soil moisture content and soil conductivity . I'd use all copper . I'd also put atleast 1 copper rod at the very end of the fence . , fordy...

[YuccaFlatsRanch]

I have too much rock to get down more than about 18 inches. Am looking to take a 20 foot long piece of twisted copper wire (like 000 gauge) and dig a trench as deep as I can go and lay it in the trench. Hopefully that will give me an acceptable ground.

[Beeman]

This charger is indoor rated which isn't a problem as it's going inside a shed. The instructions say not to use regular insulated wire to go thru the wall, they say to use wire rated for 15,000 volts. In the past I've just used romex or other insulated wire, but then again I probably never read the instructions or had a new charger either.
What type of wire do you use to connect to the fence if you chrger is not right at the fence?

[agmantoo]

Buy no copper! When you send electricity through two different types of materials you start an undesireable process that is detrimental to the conduction. Now someone is going to tell me that electricians use both copper and aluminum wiring in breaker boxes. That is true but the buss bars are alloyed to accept this and good electrcians use a dielectric grease to reduce problems. Use galvanized ground rods and use the galvanized high tensile wire and galvanized clamps to secure the wire to the rods. A hammer drill with the chuck tightenen to the ground rod will drive the ground rod full length into the soil.

[rambler]

Copper rod is good for grounding your electrical system.

I read that the zinc rod is prefered for the electric fencer. Something to do with the low amps but very high amps.

Romex is good for 200 volts or so and a lot of amps.

The special wire sold next to the fencers in the ag store is designed with thich insulation that handles the thousands of volts.

Most of us will use what we find too, and it works - ok.

But if you do want it right, you need the supplies that are designed for very high volts, and real low amps. It's a little different than regular house current, needs a little different supplies.

The ground rod works best if you can sink it deep to get a lot of contact with moist dirt. Shallow trenches often don't work well. Real dry areas often don't work well either - the critters are standinmg on such dry dirt they don't ground out. In these cases, alternating hot & grounded wires might be a better idea - in addition to the best ground you can get in shallow soil.

--->Paul

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by agmantoo

Buy no copper! When you send electricity through two different types of materials you start an undesireable process that is detrimental to the conduction. Now someone is going to tell me that electricians use both copper and aluminum wiring in breaker boxes. That is true but the buss bars are alloyed to accept this and good electrcians use a dielectric grease to reduce problems. Use galvanized ground rods and use the galvanized high tensile wire and galvanized clamps to secure the wire to the rods. A hammer drill with the chuck tightenen to the ground rod will drive the ground rod full length into the soil.

This is what I was trying to find the words to say....but you said it so much better. This is what I was told by the electric fencing experts so I did not use copper grounding rods.
Put your grounding rods in deep.

[Beeman]

Cool idea about the hammer drill, I was trying to think how I could use my air chisel. Easier to run an extension cord then air hoses that far.

After reading the instructions again they say to use the copper ground rod.
As stated we've always done with whatever and got by, I've used rebar for ground in the past but would like to do it right if possible and affordable.

[rambler]

I'd go all-zinc if that is what your wire is going to be. The earth will ground to either if you go deep.

If you end up using copper wire to go to the rod, then it should be copper. Wherever you change from zinc to copper you need special grease/ clamps or there can be issues in 5 years as Agman says.

--->Paul

[fordy]

.....................Even Very small wire will carry very high voltage ! Think about the old style 13.2 volt ignition coil which will put out close too 20,000 volts , but alMost NO current . The level of current and voltage , collectively , is what dictates the size of wire rather the voltage level by itself . That is why very high voltages can be utilized for electric fences using something around 16 ga to 20 ga wire . The downside is that , without adequate grounding , the voltage will drop significantly the longer the fence becomes .
......................Remember the old VanDe graff generator where you touch the static sphere and your Hair stands straight UP , LOL ? It's all voltage and NO current , and it won't work with me now cause my hair dunn fell out , lol!!! , fordy...

[tinknal]

I just use whatever is handy. Steel rod, fencepost etc. Anyone doubts this works is welcome to come piddle on my fence...........

In very dry weather I water the area around the ground rod. Don't know if it helps but it makes me feel better............LOL!

[agmantoo]

With the ground for an electric fence the desire is to get the resistance to the absolute minimum. The larger the outer surface of the conductor the less the resistance. Where we use large copper wire to conduct power for home and industrial use if we were able to use tubing without colapse we could substitute tubing since the conduction occurs on the outer surface. Copper clad steel wire is used for the main wires on diodes (I knew everyone wanted to know this)

[RedHogs]

What about well casing???

[FreeRanger]

Never use your well casing. This can cause your water source (hose to stock tank) to have a potential charge which would zap your livestock when they go to drink water.

My charger is located where there is very little topsoil and hard limestone bedrock. So I am cheating and using 500ft of woven wire fencing with t-post as the "ground" for my system.

One season I used a portable battery operated charger from Premier1 with electronet fencing. Rather than pound grounding rods all over my pasture/hay field, I used a cattle panel just laying in the grass as the ground. Worked pretty good as long as the grass was green and growing.

[watcher]

I ground my charger by wiring it to my main fence. Several hundred feet of fence in contact to the earth along with many, many steel post has always given me plenty of ground.

[Beeman]

My ground rods are laughing at my hammer drill, and I mean a 2 hands to lift it hammer drill! I've got them in but it was easier to build the feance then to put the ground rods in. The rock around here is a real pain. I pulled one out 3 times and kept trying a different spot to finally get it in. My T post driver worked the best and then a 10lb sledge to finish them.

[mtman]

all i used was a 5 foot piece of rebar never had a problem

[arabian knight]

I have 2 8' 3/4 inch Cooper Rods the Same rods that are used to ground the electric service boxes at that poll. And To get the wire through the wall and over to my fence I just have a regular Extension cord. like 12 ga. and this has worked fine now for many years. I use both wires for the connection. and when I put my tester on the fence at the furthest spot it still hits 8 to 10K volts. Puts the light on the ga all the way to the top. And the extension wire has not leaked or shorted through yet.