How many volt on the fence is enough

[SteveO]

OK So i went and bought a 50 mile Zareba charger I have 4 wires strug 2 hot and 2 not. There is only 2000lf of fence. I am only getting 1400volts at the end.
So the question is that enough?
or is the problem the dead end I did connect the hot together at the end?
OR you fill in the blank???
10 days until animals
sign me confused???

[agmantoo]

3500 volts are needed in order not to create a future problem with containing cattle. Insufficient voltage on the fence will allow the animals to develop the habit of testing the fence. Then they will start escaping. Without giving it a lot of thought I do not think connecting the 2 hots at the end would create a problem.

[SteveO]

Is the charger to small or the grounding not good enough or?

[unregistered41671]

You are only charging 4000 LF of wire. The charger should be plenty. How much ground do you have? What type rods. How deep? How many? How far apart from each other? What kind of wire form the grounds to the charger? What kind of wire are you charging and how big is it? What kind of posts. Where are the grounds for the two ground wires on the fence located in relationship to your charger ground system?

[nchobbyfarm]

My guess is the ground. Take the hot wire off and leave the ground attached and see what you get then against the manufactures specs.

[genebo]

Disconnect the fence from the charger and measure the voltage between the hot and the ground connectors. That will tell you what the charger is capable of with no load. If it's low with no load, it's defective.

Now connect your fence and check it the same way. The drop in voltage is due to the load your fence is putting on it. If the drop is excessive, you need to check your fence.

You didn't say what type of tester you are using or where you are testing it. Readings do vary.

Connecting your two hots together is fine. Make sure you aren't accidently connecting a hot to a ground.

The two wires you say are "not" hot should actually be connected to the ground connector of the charger. If they are not, and you are testing from the hot to the not, it's surprizing you'd get any reading at all.

In your arrangement, you should have a ground set-up at the charger consisting of three 8' long copper coated rods driven fully into the ground at 10' spacing, all three in a row. This provides a complete circuit for the electricity to follow: From the charger out through the hot wire, through an animal's body into the earth, back through the earth to the ground rods and back to the charger.

Sometimes the earth is too dry for good conductivity, so you'll get low readings between the hot wire and the earth.

That's what the "not" hot wires are for. They provide a direct return path to the charger. testing between a hot wire and one of your not hot wires should show you almost as high a reading as when you had the fence unhooked. Any animal that touches a hot wire and a ground (not hot) wire at the same time gets a full load!

So, if your system is connected properly, you have two different ways for an animal to get a shock: The weaker way of hot wire to the earth and the strong way of hot wire to ground wire. Each way will give different readings.

[unregistered41671]

Originally Posted by genebo

disconnect the fence from the charger and measure the voltage between the hot and the ground connectors. That will tell you what the charger is capable of with no load. If it's low with no load, it's defective.

Now connect your fence and check it the same way. The drop in voltage is due to the load your fence is putting on it. If the drop is excessive, you need to check your fence.

You didn't say what type of tester you are using or where you are testing it. Readings do vary.

Connecting your two hots together is fine. Make sure you aren't accidently connecting a hot to a ground.

The two wires you say are "not" hot should actually be connected to the ground connector of the charger. If they are not, and you are testing from the hot to the not, it's surprizing you'd get any reading at all.

In your arrangement, you should have a ground set-up at the charger consisting of three 8' long copper coated rods driven fully into the ground at 10' spacing, all three in a row. This provides a complete circuit for the electricity to follow: From the charger out through the hot wire, through an animal's body into the earth, back through the earth to the ground rods and back to the charger.

Sometimes the earth is too dry for good conductivity, so you'll get low readings between the hot wire and the earth.

That's what the "not" hot wires are for. They provide a direct return path to the charger. Testing between a hot wire and one of your not hot wires should show you almost as high a reading as when you had the fence unhooked. Any animal that touches a hot wire and a ground (not hot) wire at the same time gets a full load!

So, if your system is connected properly, you have two different ways for an animal to get a shock: The weaker way of hot wire to the earth and the strong way of hot wire to ground wire. Each way will give different readings.

yep ^^^^^

[agmantoo]

SteveO

What is the gauge and the material of the hot wire?

[SteveO]

Sorry for the late reply
I have 3 ground rods in 2 at the unit and 1 half way around
yes the not hots are connected to the ground rods ( I have one more that I will put in after it stops raining 3.5" so far) I might not even need a hammer
12.5 gauge galv wire on T post and wood posts all are insulated
Digital tester reads 9000 between the connection
WHen the rain stops I will take new readings to see if there is any change

Thanks
Steve

[SteveO]

A couple more answers
Grounding is with the same superinsulated wire as the hot 10gauge( i do have copper I could change it to) If needed.
new readings are 1.4 1.5kv even lower than before and that is right at the charger????
I will connect up the other rod tommorow good news it is wet down about a foot bad news after that it is still like concrete.
we had some nasty wind also I will walk the fence to check for downed branchs
Steve

[unregistered41671]

Originally Posted by SteveO

Sorry for the late reply
I have 3 ground rods in 2 at the unit and 1 half way around
yes the not hots are connected to the ground rods ( I have one more that I will put in after it stops raining 3.5" so far) I might not even need a hammer
12.5 gauge galv wire on T post and wood posts all are insulated
Digital tester reads 9000 between the connection
WHen the rain stops I will take new readings to see if there is any change

Thanks
Steve

How deep into the ground are the ground rods that run the charger? They should be at least 6 ft deep and 10 feet apart connected to the charger by a wire with no splices in it. Take the "not hots" loose from the ground rods at the charger. It is best if the "not hots" are connected to the ground "half way around" unless you know how to build a 'crows foot ground system'. If you put another ground at the other end, the "not hots" can be connected to it as well but not to the charger.

[SteveO]

thanks and I will get the other readings you asked for also before I take it apart
Steve

[SteveO]

latest update
I disconnected the no hots and itwent up to 2.8
I added the other ground rod and it went to 3.2
Last night I got another ground rod and will instal it today( is it possible since down about 4 ft I may have stone that I am not simpley get enough ground out of each rod. I can only drive a 8 ft 6ft in even at a angle?
I also traded up to a 100mile (gotta love tractor supply) I will install the new charger first and then add the rod.
I am getting closer I hope
Thanks
Steve

[agmantoo]

SteveO
Though expensive a Stafix fence compass is a great tool for those that have energized fences. kencove is the low cost supplier of the tool at this time. It is wet enough in Tn at this time that grounds should not be a major problem. The higher output charger and a verification that the hot wires are not shorted should correct your problem. If the problem persist go to the far end and disconnect the two hots that are tied together. Then at the charger connect the hot wires one at a time and verify the voltage with each hot as a single wire.

[SCRancher]

Originally Posted by agmantoo

SteveO
Though expensive a Stafix fence compass is a great tool

I have one - don't know how I would get along with out it!

I have a stafix charger also which works with the tool so I can turn the fence on and off from anywhere I can reach a wire (hot or ground).

If I lost mine today a new one would be on order today.

[SteveO]

At last the problem is solved
I put the new chaarger on and the voltage went to 3.5 so I added the other ground rod and no change.
SO now for the good part I walked the fence from the other direction and pruned some more bush and then I heard the zaping
When i cut the barbwire back a while ago one of the other wires curled up all 4 wires and grounded out the whole thing, after i left. So I guess the small charger did not have enough zap to shoot the gap.
So my new question is how much is to much 8,400 volts
I think I need to get some signs!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all the input
As for working the fence I did it with it on coat and good gloves. but i don't know if i will do that again.

Steve

[unregistered41671]

Steve, congrats to you. Glad it is going. If you can only get your 8' ground rods in 6 ' you can always bend them over with a pipe or big hammer and bury them which gives you more ground.

[oneokie]

Originally Posted by SteveO

At last the problem is solved
I put the new chaarger on and the voltage went to 3.5 so I added the other ground rod and no change.
SO now for the good part I walked the fence from the other direction and pruned some more bush and then I heard the zaping
When i cut the barbwire back a while ago one of the other wires curled up all 4 wires and grounded out the whole thing, after i left. So I guess the small charger did not have enough zap to shoot the gap.
So my new question is how much is to much 8,400 volts
I think I need to get some signs!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all the input
As for working the fence I did it with it on coat and good gloves. but i don't know if i will do that again.

Steve

An electric fence will attract any and all stray wire anywhere close to it. Don't ask how I know.

[unregistered41671]

Originally Posted by oneokie

An electric fence will attract any and all stray wire anywhere close to it. Don't ask how I know.

Yep, me too. I have walked a many a dark and quiet night looking and listening for that tiny spark or tic. Some chargers just don't have enough guts to show the problem sometimes. Cutoff switches at different intervals sure can help to pinpoint a problem. A wire from an old fence or one buried in the ground is like a magnet to an electric fence.

[nchobbyfarm]

Congrats. I wouldn't worry about signs for it being to hot. They won't touch it but once.