Electric fence earth problem

20silkcut

I have the fence plugged in the milking parlour (dis-used) and all the steel sliding doors and cattle crush and galvanised roof are live and I can hear the spark out in the yard.
I have the earth rod connected through a hole in the wall outside and there does not appear to be any stripped wire. What am I missing?

Muckit

Would it not be more a problem with the wire bringing the current to the fence, than an earth problem?

More of an 'earthing' problem.

Just use a process of elimination, undo the live wire being used presently to bring current to the fence (both at the fence and the fencer side) and use a new length of insulated one. This has to be it.

If this doesn't fix the problem, it must be an earth problem. It doesn't help that you've located the energiser in a shed full of metal pipes!!

If needs be, relocate fencer to another shed where the fence runs close nearby. In all fairness they're not the most complicated pieces of equipment to set up. Shouldn't take more than an hour to get it sorted

snowman707

20silkcut wrote: »

I have the fence plugged in the milking parlour (dis-used) and all the steel sliding doors and cattle crush and galvanised roof are live and I can hear the spark out in the yard.
I have the earth rod connected through a hole in the wall outside and there does not appear to be any stripped wire. What am I missing?

about 5 more earth rods I guess . 1 rod is useless if you have any length of draw on the fencer , we use 5 bonded and each rod about 5 metres apart

pakalasa

Check the earth bar for the mains supply too. That might not be working right.

Bizzum

+1 to the above.

If you can hear the spark, it's likely the problem is there.

20silkcut

The fence is about 1500 metres long I have a few in-calf heifers strip grazing right at the end of the line well out of sight.Have a jersey cow which seems to instinctively know when the current is off so that's why I am hesitant about turning the power off for a few hours to fix it properly. Thanks for the advice though . I may get a new wire between the box and the fence and shove a few more earth rods in the ground.

hoseman

the earth bar works in a circle 5mt radius so make sure the second bar is outside this and the third bar outside the second etc.shorten the feed line to approx 10 mts put an iron bar on the feed line to shorten it then go to the earth line and take a reading must be under 500 volts if not the earth system is not good enough so add another earth bar.only use galvanise insuated war on both feeds do not use copper wire as this reduces carrying the shock ,you need a mininium of 3000 volts on the line to hold cattle.also is the earth system on dry ground.

Bruthal

Lack of earth rods is more likely to just cause the fence to not be as effective.

More likely the cause here is a contact problem between the actual fence wire and the metal which is being accidently electrified, or the insulated wire going ot to the fence wire having damaged insulation and either touching some metal part of the parlour shed, or discharging onto it through damaged insulation..

Tora Bora

robbie7730 wrote: »

Lack of earth rods is more likely to just cause the fence to not be as effective.

More likely the cause here is a contact problem between the actual fence wire and the metal which is being accidently electrified, or the insulated wire going ot to the fence wire having damaged insulation and either touching some metal part of the parlour shed, or discharging onto it through damaged insulation..

Exactly. The metal in the shed is live, according to the OP. Therefore there must be contact with the live wire from the fence. Should be a very quick fix. Trace the live from the fence, both inside the shed and in close proximate outside.5 minutes max I would say.

blue5000

20silkcut wrote: »

I have the fence plugged in the milking parlour (dis-used) and all the steel sliding doors and cattle crush and galvanised roof are live and I can hear the spark out in the yard.
I have the earth rod connected through a hole in the wall outside and there does not appear to be any stripped wire. What am I missing?

Would agree with Tora on this one. Re lay the cable going from the fencer to the fence.
1.Maybe buy a roll of underground fencer cable, run a fishline through a 3/4 inch hydradare pipe.
2. easiest way to put the fishline in is with a compressor. If no compressor available tie a small bar/bolt to the fishline and feed it through the pipe.
3.Tie the fishline to the cable and pull the cable through the pipe.

Hope it works

du6linjoe

20silkcut wrote: »

I have the fence plugged in the milking parlour (dis-used) and all the steel sliding doors and cattle crush and galvanised roof are live and I can hear the spark out in the yard.
I have the earth rod connected through a hole in the wall outside and there does not appear to be any stripped wire. What am I missing?

Fence is making contact with steel some where & by the sounds of things its noth earthed properly Id also give the fence its own circuit direct from the fuse/mcb board. But for now Id disconnect fence & make sure the steel isant live when the fence is turned off

Bruthal

du6linjoe wrote: »

Fence is making contact with steel some where & by the sounds of things its noth earthed properly

Yea the metal accidently becoming electrified by the fence is not earthed properly by the look of it. But even if it was, some shock may be felt between it if accidently electrified by the fence and the actual earth due to the actual soil/earth impedence.

Id also give the fence its own circuit direct from the fuse/mcb board.

Why?

Muckit

blue5000 wrote: »

easiest way to put the fishline in is with a compressor

Now there's brains for ya;) Nice tip. Thanks for sharing blue

Muckit

There seems to be alot of confusion here. OP perhaps you can clear it up.

When you say the pipework is 'live', are you referring to the the shock from the energiser or the mains electricity supplying it? ie if you turn off the fencer, do you still recieve a shock from the pipework? in other words, is it an electric fence problem par say, or an electrical fault??

blue5000

Muckit wrote: »

Now there's brains for ya;) Nice tip. Thanks for sharing blue

Thanx muckit, but I have to 'fess up that I read about it over on bff first:o

Dupont

blue5000 wrote: »

easiest way to put the fishline in is with a compressor.

Hope it works

Muckit wrote: »

Now there's brains for ya;) Nice tip. Thanks for sharing blue

or use a hoover and suck it true;)