Electric fence help

Moorlands · Jun 16, 2021

Installed this Rutland unit this spring and seemed to get everything working well now it’s showing no output and there’s very little to feel on the fences

I installed 7 m long galv earth rods and linked them together and to unit with lead out wire, have just poked around at them and got a little tingle off the earth rod!

holwellcourtfarm · Jun 16, 2021

Moorlands said:
Installed this Rutland unit this spring and seemed to get everything working well now it’s showing no output and there’s very little to feel on the fences
I installed 7 m long galv earth rods and linked them together and to unit with lead out wire, have just poked around at them and got a little tingle off the earth rod!

The earth isn't working enough then if you get a tingle off it.

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This is a useful guide too: https://pel.co.nz/sites/default/files/PEL Electric Fencing Manual.pdf

Bill dog · Jun 16, 2021

Is the ground round the earth stakes very dry ?
Not always possible, but getting the stakes into a wet bit/ pond/ ditch etc will work better !

holwellcourtfarm · Jun 16, 2021

Bill dog said:
Is the ground round the earth stakes very dry ?
Not always possible, but getting the stakes into a wet bit/ pond/ ditch etc will work better !

Our pour lots of water round them. Only a temporary fix though.

Dry Rot · Jun 16, 2021

Test the output from the energiser first. They can stop working!

tepapa · Jun 16, 2021

I'd guess ground around the earth rods is to dry.
Quick fix is pour some water around the rods, but to cure the problem you may need to move the earth to some where damp

Moorlands · Jun 16, 2021

Got hose pipe running over earth rods now and still no improvement!
if I turn the box on the light shoots up into green and the output reads 10.2 for a second then it drops back to 0.0

Moorlands · Jun 16, 2021

Just put fence volt tester on output 0!
And when I put it on earth it shoots up to 10000!!

Bill dog · Jun 16, 2021

Is it as simple as the earth connection to the box is loose?

Moorlands · Jun 16, 2021

Bill dog said:
Is it as simple as the earth connection to the box is loose?

Had it undone and tightened wasn’t slack though.

holwellcourtfarm · Jun 16, 2021

This guide is what I was looking for earlier;

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...Vaw28VU-tRFVyI6hQrzT0oBOB&cshid=1623878860088

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Moorlands · Jun 17, 2021

I’m getting to think it must be the unit that has developed a fault! It was new in spring!!

holwellcourtfarm · Jun 17, 2021

Moorlands said:
I’m getting to think it must be the unit that has developed a fault! It was new in spring!!

Even new things occasionally fail. Follow the checks in the Gallagher document then, if it looks like the energiser, take it back.

Paddington · Jun 17, 2021

I have had a Rutland mains energiser go down twice over the years with no output. First time it was repaired by Rutland out of warranty at cost (£70), second time they gave me advice over the phone but seemed reluctant to take it back. I got it repaired locally by a chap recommended on the forum, he didn't have a very good opinion of newer Rutland kit.
As you say you bought it recently, they should replace it. FOC

Dry Rot · Jun 17, 2021

My electric shepherd stopped working after at least a decade (or two). So I did a Google and found a Youtube video of a repair on the exact same model. The fault turned out to be 2p resistor that had failed.

I learnt a lot about electric fencers from that search and that the older ones are better and easier to repair than the new flash ones. You don't need half the stuff they try to sell you. Some of the new ones are just the same circuitry as the old but with the circuitry embedded so you can't replace components! Built in obsolescence!

I think I saw that the OP's model has a long warranty. If they won't repair or replace, Trading Standards and name and shame. Don't electrical goods have a statutory 12 months guarantee anyway?

Pan mixer · Jun 17, 2021

It isn't something as daft as the wire round the field is touching a gate or something?

bluebell · Jun 18, 2021

ive owned a rutland mains powered electric fencer for over 20 years? closer tomaybe 30? best piece of livestock kit i ever bought for the price? before that the fuss with batteries etc ? installed in a dry barn up high with a galvanised earth post banged in the ground behind the barn with earth cable from the energiser connected to it, the lead out cable comes down the outside wall and is connected to a galvanised wire that we have run around the fence boundary with offset insulators, off of this we either connect with crocodile insulated wire with crocodile clips both ends to electric polywire on reels that we can change quickly with the use of plastic electric fence posts, we also use alot of bungee electric fencing gates, these are so much easier and cheaper quicker to modif change and the cattle so get use to them, my rule such as last night when moving setting up a new grazing paddock is once crocodile clips on to liven up reel fence is always have a fence line voltage checker the one you have with a probe you push in the ground then touch the line with voltage checker to see the lights pulse and see the power ?

Paddington · Jun 18, 2021

Noticed a weaner chewing on a polywire when waiting for his breakfast the other morning. I assumed the fence was down, but not when I touched it ! Got the tester out and all three strands showed at least 5kv near the leadout connection. After going along the strand he'd been chewing I found no voltage half way along it, so will need to replace the strand which has been there for several years. In the meantime I crossed the live middle strand to the bottom strand position which he'd been chewing. This will keep you in I thought but blow me, he went straight to the now dead middle strand and started chewing on it. Intelligent animals, pigs.

Old Tup · Jun 18, 2021

First thought would be a larger fault on the live wire than the Earth can defeat….
Dead Short via something metal etc….or a stream etc.
Find Fault and increase Earthing capacity.
Second thought internal fault on unit.
Is there not something built into the units now to reduce the power so if there is a continuous fault….I.e. rambler stuck half way over and receiving 10,000 volts every few seconds. the power is reduced?
Most effective way of increasing the earthing capacity is to have a dead wire nearest the ground on the fence line connected to the Earth wire.….join it up under gates etc….then effectively the distance from an animal touching the fence to the nearest earthing point is at the most a metre…
Always use crimped joints to make connections …wire knots and wrapping wires around each other eventually leads to corrosion and arcing…..power transmission is dramatically reduced.

Dry weather is the enemy of Electric fencing!

Electric fence help

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