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01/18/12, 07:49 AM
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Living the dream.
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Morganton, NC
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Electric fence Problems
My fence is not producing the power that it once did. At one point, it would jump a 3/16" gap with a loud pop. Now I just get a little snap that will not even really jump a gap. I am using a Saco 50 mile charger on 4 acres of 6 strand high tensile. I have four ground rods 10' apart and we have had ample rain over the past months. I have checked all the insulators and for any grounds, the fence is clean of weeds. I just replaced the lead wires to the fence and ground rods, cleaned all the contacts and applied anti-corrosion compound to the connections. If I use a little jumper wire between the terminals on my charger I get a nice arc so I don't think there is a problem with it. Do ground rods go bad over time? Any other ideas? My lambs are getting out...
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01/18/12, 07:58 AM
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Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Eastern North Carolina
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Shorts can be hard to find sometimes, and wires can corrode, especially if underground
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01/18/12, 08:04 AM
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Living the dream.
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Join Date: Oct 2005
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No underground wires...
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01/18/12, 08:51 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Midwest
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How deep are your ground rods? I put another rod real deep, connected it to the old one and now have great zapping power.
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01/18/12, 09:08 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay
How deep are your ground rods? I put another rod real deep, connected it to the old one and now have great zapping power.
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8 ft rods with about 6-8 inches of rod sticking out of the ground to clamp to...
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01/18/12, 09:10 AM
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: South Carolina
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It may have gotten zapped by lightning and isn't functioning property. Mine did that. It would work, but not well or consistantly. I sent it off for repairs and they fixed it for less than half of what a new one would cost. I sent it here.... http://fencechargerrepair.com/home.html Call the guy...maybe he can tell you what may be wrong with it.
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01/18/12, 09:25 AM
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Join Date: May 2003
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I realize that it is expensive but everyone with an electric fence needs a Stafix fence compass. Here is the lowest priced that I am aware of http://www.kencove.com/fence/detail.php?code=VPX Your current charger is only a 2 joule unit and with animals with heavy hair coats not less than 6 joules would be my choice. The voltage on the Saco is advertised to be 16000 but that is an overstatement when it is connected to a fence. The legal limit for energizers in the USA is 10000 volts. Couple the low joule output and the fact that we have had rain and most things are wet I can readily understand why the output could be bleeding off to ground. You could readily locate the problem with the fence compass as well as read the voltage output. If I had sheep I would get a ParMak 6 joule charger and the fence compass to manage the fence. Jeffers usually has the best price on the ParMak units.
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If they can do it,
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01/18/12, 09:27 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: North East Indiana
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Silvercreek:
It sounds like you have adequate ground. Do you have a tester to check the exact voltage? That might tell you something about possible lightning strike. Also, can you disconnect the wires and test them individually? I've walked miles sometimes trying to find a dead ground and it can be a stray wire at a corner post or something coming in contact with the hot wire.
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01/18/12, 10:02 AM
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Join Date: Sep 2004
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Testers are an absolute must to detect issues.
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LaMancha & Nubian goats
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01/18/12, 10:22 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by agmantoo
I realize that it is expensive but everyone with an electric fence needs a Stafix fence compass. Here is the lowest priced that I am aware of http://www.kencove.com/fence/detail.php?code=VPX Your current charger is only a 2 joule unit and with animals with heavy hair coats not less than 6 joules would be my choice. The voltage on the Saco is advertised to be 16000 but that is an overstatement when it is connected to a fence. The legal limit for energizers in the USA is 10000 volts. Couple the low joule output and the fact that we have had rain and most things are wet I can readily understand why the output could be bleeding off to ground. You could readily locate the problem with the fence compass as well as read the voltage output. If I had sheep I would get a ParMak 6 joule charger and the fence compass to manage the fence. Jeffers usually has the best price on the ParMak units. |
Yeah, I used to have a nice Parmak 50 mile charger (although it looks like it was only rated at 3.5 joules, even what appears to be their largest unit is only rated at 4.5?) until it got hit by lightening after the warranty period was up. I got the Saco because it had a 2 year warranty and they will repair it at the feedstore without having to ship it off (already had it repaired once) and it seemed plenty hot when I installed it. (which is what really gets me) I would have another Parmak, but I just have trouble spending $120+ on something that will need to be replaced every 18 months or so, for my small acreage I could have just field fenced the entire property and used a cheap charger to keep the animals from rubbing on it and probably come out better in the long run. I guess I'll check the fence one more time and try to isolate different wires. Thanks for the link to the compass, I've never seen one before...
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01/18/12, 11:12 AM
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Join Date: May 2003
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It is roughly 65 miles from your place to mine. I will loan my Stafix fence compass to you for a couple of weeks if you want to drive down here and pick it up.
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If they can do it,
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Last edited by agmantoo; 01/18/12 at 11:27 AM.
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01/18/12, 11:22 AM
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Join Date: May 2003
Location: Zone 7
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I have gotten decent service from this model but you need to use a surge protector and you need to buy a lot of fuses as it uses 2 for protection and the fuses will get knocked out frequently. http://www.qcsupply.com/50242-parmak...energizer.html
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01/18/12, 12:17 PM
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Are you using any insulators that have a metal core? I have screw-in ring terminal insulators on some of my wood fence posts and recently a batch that I bought started shorting through the plastic ring to the metal bolt underneath during wet weather. Had to remove them and toss em and get some of a different brand. I think the casting that company was using didn't have enough plastic covering the bolt and it was arcing through. During that time the juice on my fence was pretty low. Now it's brain-fryingly hot again.
Is there any place where the wire crosses near mesh fence? Sometimes the mesh fence gets bowed out (especially due to grazing pressure against the bottom) and touches the wire. You'd think you'd hear it arcing but sometimes - especially if there is a long area of contact - it doesn't make the popping sound.
You said you cleaned the contacts... does that include the contacts on the grouding rods clamps AND on the zapper?
I feel you. Fence issues are obnoxious to track down sometimes.
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01/18/12, 12:21 PM
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Join Date: Oct 2005
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Quote:
Originally Posted by agmantoo
It is roughly 65 miles from your place to mine. I will loan my Stafix fence compass to you for a couple of weeks if you want to drive down here and pick it up.
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Thanks for the generous offer agman. I might take you up on it if I can't get it figured out. It'd be fun to swap some local practices too! That Parmak you linked to was the one I had. Was not too bad if you touched it while wearing heavy boots, but one time I got it while kneeling down, felt like someone punched me! Never had any problem with fuses (despite not having a surge protector) until the lightening got it, then they shattered! Probably saved some stuff in the house although there was still enough juice to pop the breaker despite the fuses burning out. There were also black scorch marks on (and in) the charger. I actually saw the bolt that hit the fence, it was less than 50 yards away from the house and probably 20 from the charger.
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01/18/12, 12:25 PM
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Living the dream.
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Join Date: Oct 2005
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jennigrey
You said you cleaned the contacts... does that include the contacts on the grouding rods clamps AND on the zapper?
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yep
Brain-Frying: Thats what I am looking for!
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01/22/12, 11:30 AM
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Living the dream.
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So I have isolated every wire and get the same result on each one, weak current. The fence is spotless. The only thing I can think of is that my corner post insulators are bad. I have these type  and perhaps the wires have rubbed through the inside of them. I think I am going to try furring them out with some sort of rubber and see if that helps...
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01/22/12, 12:05 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Eastern N.C.
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Have you checked the Line vs the Ground at the charger to make sure its leaving the charger hot? Just take a piece of insulated wire,remove a little insulation on each end and use it as a jumper starting at the charger and work down the fence just past any possible leak,a connection,a post,an insulator nailed in a tree.Once you lose the good spark,solve your problem by replacing that last insulator,or anything that could be shorting current to ground.Just last week mine had gotten weak.I have insulated copper wire leaving the charger then on the ground to the fence.Where it was wired to the fence had become a little corroded.I cleaned it and re wired it and I was back in business.
Now that I have come to my senses and actually READ the thread,please disregard my belated info 
Last edited by EDDIE BUCK; 01/22/12 at 12:55 PM.
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01/22/12, 12:06 PM
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Join Date: May 2002
Location: Now in Virginia
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How many grounding rods?
The Parmak 50 mile charger.. have run that on every place I have owned.
One place was sand, and needed 8 grounding rods to get it to work right.
Place with the Oregon clay, I needed 5 grounding rods, but had to water them in the summer when it got dry. (Should of put a couple more rods in)
Here in VA, it is clay kind'a... weird stuff, water table is very high.
So far getting away with only using 3 grounding rods, 8" tall, 6" above ground, 10' apart, using grounding rod clamps and insulated wire to connect.
You also want to make sure the fencing grounding rods are at least 50' away from your house's grounding rod or a water line. Can cause lots of issues if you have them close.
If you haven't replaced the fuses yet, might be time to do so. A bad fuse can also cause a weak current.
Isn't hot wire fun?! Always something to do. ;O)
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01/22/12, 12:19 PM
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Silvercreek Farmer
I went to a neighbors a while back to help with his fence issues. If you have any of the ceramic lightning devices that you affix to the fence posts some of those are defective and will pass power to ground and you will not realize to fault. The rough filler material in back of the ceramic housing is not sealed and water will penetrate and short the electrical charge to ground.
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01/22/12, 12:20 PM
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Join Date: May 2004
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Is it dry there right now? If so I'd soak the ground around the ground rods with water.
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