Electric Fence energizer and Earth Wire

HillLuing · May 2, 2020

We recently installed a new large electric energizer that is going to have to do alot of Km's!

How important is it having an insulated cable from the earth terminal to the earth rods??

We currently just have a plain wire between but it does run along the top of a concrete wall, along the ground and through a fence before it is connected to the earth rods!

Will this affect the performance alot or does it not matter overly much???

som farmer · May 2, 2020

the better the earth, the better the fencer, our big fencer, has 4 stainless steel pipes, 1 metre apart, and 5 foot deep, into damp ground, fencer works a treat, under heavy load

neilo · May 2, 2020

HillLuing said:
We recently installed a new large electric energizer that is going to have to do alot of Km's!

How important is it having an insulated cable from the earth terminal to the earth rods??

We currently just have a plain wire between but it does run along the top of a concrete wall, along the ground and through a fence before it is connected to the earth rods!

Will this affect the performance alot or does it not matter overly much???

I really can’t see that it would make any difference whether the earth wire was insulated or not. You do need a good conductor, so any big wire(s) will do I would have thought. The worst it can do without an insulator is to connect to earth better.
We used to use a couple of lengths of spring steel wire between the mains fencer, over a wall, to the 3 earth stakes pushed into the ground with a telehandler.

kill · May 2, 2020

som farmer said:
the better the earth, the better the fencer, our big fencer, has 4 stainless steel pipes, 1 metre apart, and 5 foot deep, into damp ground, fencer works a treat, under heavy load

My earth for the mains fencer is a steel post internally in a shed into concrete and Christ the fencer has some belt

milkloss · May 2, 2020

Bit of scaff tube boshed in the ground here. I think one of the important points, certainly with anything other than copper, is the bonding of the earth wire to the earth rod.

som farmer · May 2, 2020

when you get it right, those mains fencers are sheer evil. With them, I can't really see how the portable/battery ones, work as well as they do. Apparently, you are not meant to earth them on a barns girders, we have 3 mains fencers, one of them is attached to 26 barn uprights, and the roof joins them together, that one is evil to.

Sid · May 3, 2020

som farmer said:
when you get it right, those mains fencers are sheer evil. With them, I can't really see how the portable/battery ones, work as well as they do. Apparently, you are not meant to earth them on a barns girders, we have 3 mains fencers, one of them is attached to 26 barn uprights, and the roof joins them together, that one is evil to.

But why not to a shed?

The energiser earth cable must not touch buildings, which can act as a broadcast aerial. Use double insulated (HTG) cable or run the wire to earth using HOTLINE insulators.

milkloss · May 3, 2020

Sid said:
But why not to a shed?

The energiser earth cable must not touch buildings, which can act as a broadcast aerial. Use double insulated (HTG) cable or run the wire to earth using HOTLINE insulators.

I would guess interference... telecoms, wifi and maybe upsetting sensitive electrical component.

som farmer · May 3, 2020

nobodies complained, been doing it for 50 yrs, but always been told a no-no, likewise elec fence following under elec wires

milkloss · May 3, 2020

som farmer said:
nobodies complained, been doing it for 50 yrs, but always been told a no-no, likewise elec fence following under elec wires

managed to wean brother of pornhub when we ran 100m of leccy with a short under his telephone wire!

digger64 · May 3, 2020

HillLuing said:
We recently installed a new large electric energizer that is going to have to do alot of Km's!

How important is it having an insulated cable from the earth terminal to the earth rods??

We currently just have a plain wire between but it does run along the top of a concrete wall, along the ground and through a fence before it is connected to the earth rods!

Will this affect the performance alot or does it not matter overly much???

Might if you have a "nearly " live short (cracked insultion )near the bare earth wire , if a cow ,you or damp drizzle complete the circuit through say a wall or drippy join on alkathene pipe then get a live water tank or stantion (which may not affect you in wellies but you will wonder why the cows dont drink at that trough though)in say wet damp weather power always takes the shortest route , would stop power going out to the fence further away , I have walked miles to find the problem 25 ft from the energiser whilst the fence was being pushed over half a mile away ! We had taken on this system installed with 2nd hand electricians /BT wires it was really frustrating hard work for a couple of years - the proper stuff is very cheap IMHO .

Al R · May 3, 2020

Sid said:
But why not to a shed?

The energiser earth cable must not touch buildings, which can act as a broadcast aerial. Use double insulated (HTG) cable or run the wire to earth using HOTLINE insulators.

I’m guessing lightening strike?

steveR · May 3, 2020

som farmer said:
the better the earth, the better the fencer, our big fencer, has 4 stainless steel pipes, 1 metre apart, and 5 foot deep, into damp ground, fencer works a treat, under heavy load

Serious earthing!

I use Power Co earthing rods with a copper core and pukka clamps. Provided by "an aquaintance"... Seem to work well.

Al R · May 3, 2020

The best I’ve heard is 4x 20’ motorway barriers knocked in full depth with a post banger. Only once I’ve used a mains and it wasn’t very good ( I could tie steel wire back together when it broke) the earth for that was a subsoiler leg thrown in the pond by the field.

som farmer · May 3, 2020

Al R said:
The best I’ve heard is 4x 20’ motorway barriers knocked in full depth with a post banger. Only once I’ve used a mains and it wasn’t very good ( I could tie steel wire back together when it broke) the earth for that was a subsoiler leg thrown in the pond by the field.

you should have thrown it deeper ! Would quite like you to come and rejoin ours ! Any short outs on the line, are usually audible or see-able. If not, something has come down on the line. The days of cattle going through fences, pretty well gone, everything born till 1st jan, is behind elec, soon be training this springs calves. But we do move 3 or 4 fences a day.

Treecreeper · May 11, 2020

Not wishing to hijack this thread but I would like some info as well. I currently have a mains unit running lots of km's and would like to add a considerable extra run for which the existing one would struggle. The question is how close to the existing earth could I add an additional unit without compromising one or both?
Thanks.

Gulli · May 12, 2020

As an additional hijack I got a hellish shock off the earth on our mains fencer the other day. What's going on there?

som farmer · May 12, 2020

Gulli said:
As an additional hijack I got a hellish shock off the earth on our mains fencer the other day. What's going on there?

just checking you were alive and kicking, or should I say jumping!

Poorbuthappy · May 12, 2020

Gulli said:
As an additional hijack I got a hellish shock off the earth on our mains fencer the other day. What's going on there?

I understood that meant the earth wasn't good enough?

som farmer · May 12, 2020

when we did our earth, we kept putting ss earth rods in, till they stopped earthing, or when you couldn't hear the snick, or see the flash.

Electric Fence energizer and Earth Wire

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