Earthing Mains Fencer

[Jerry]

Got my act together this year so planning on a mains energiser to run the fences on stubble turnips for the ewes. Set out all the first blocks of poly wire today ready.

Mains unit is located in a shipping container with 25m of lead out wire to 200m of wire to get to the starting point of the fencing. Fencing is approx 1.5km in total of 3 strand poly wire that will be moved as required.

Currently the fencer is earthed to the shipping container but wondered if this is good enough?

 

[JWL]

Dig a hole and bury a substantial lump of metal in the ground with a decent wire back to the fencer. You'll be happy in the dry years when it's a job to get a decent output of the fencer

 

[multi power]

Dig a hole and bury a substantial lump of metal in the ground with a decent wire back to the fencer. You'll be happy in the dry years when it's a job to get a decent output of the fencer

And not just any metal, copper is ideal

 

[Old Boar]

You need the earth to go down to damp earth to get a really good circuit. An old buck rake tine hammered in to the last foot does the job here, as it is unlikely to rust through in my lifetime.

 

[Bury the Trash]

yep the clue is in the word,........... earth


clipex posts are good,

and yes copper is the best that's why the pro's use it

 

[Suffolk Serf]

Mine is earthed to the steel liner of a borehole, which is over 100 feet deep. Probably slight overkill but it works!

 

[wr.]

We used the post knocker to hammer in a length of Armco crash barrier years ago. Everlasting

 

[Kiwi Pete]

If you can find a big old radiator core that's brass or copper cored, they are pretty much ideal.
Guess those moving-folk will have seen most of them?
If you bury it in a reasonably damp spot close-by, or under a drip.. then it keeps the ground resistance low over summer.
If you're going to have it any distance from the energiser it can pay to have thicker or double cable to it, as my one runs about 37 amps if shorted out

 

[M-J-G]

I buried a galvanised gate, it works very well, out of the 3 energisers that are on the farm this one is by far the most effective.

If possible connect to a rylock fence and earth at the far end of the fence too.

 

[Jerry]

I buried a galvanised gate, it works very well, out of the 3 energisers that are on the farm this one is by far the most effective.

If possible connect to a rylock fence and earth at the far end of the fence too.

Ive bashed in a 3m glavanised pole right by a down pipe this morning so it will always be damp, took some knocking in though.

So a second earth at the far end as well then?

Ive tested the fence all along the length of it and its knocking out a fair wack.

 

[Bury the Trash]

now put the tester on the earth to how many v are being lost ...
cut and paste................
Testing an Earth System

• Testing an earth system without the fencing shorted out is a waste of time. You must create a flow of electrons to load the earth system before testing it.
• Also testing the earth by holding the last earth pipe can be a waste of time if the wire between it and the energiser is broken.
• To test the earth system, first short the fence out with steel rods at least 100 metres from the earth system. Then use a digital voltmeter to measure the voltage between the energiser earth terminal and an independent earth wire. This should be pushed as far as possible (about one metre) into damp ground in a position handy to the energizer and several metres away from any other earth peg.
• To lower the voltage on the earth system add more earth pipes and/or connect the earth wire to the bottom wire of a conventional fence.
• Never use your water supply, bore or well as a ground or allow a charger ground wire to touch them or any part of buildings. It can cause shocks in the water and stop animals from drinking, and buildings can become a transmitting aerial for radio and phone interference.
• Double insulated underground cable should be used for the ground as well as the live wire. Unused bore pipes or steel well liners are usually good grounds.

• The lower the voltage on the ground the better it is. But with high-power energizers, it can be difficult to get the voltage below 200 volts, which figure is acceptable (provided it was measured when the fence was shorted (grounded) a few hundred metres from the energizer).
  • Test your earth by thoroughly shorting out the fence at least 100 metres (330 feet) away from the energiser with steel standards. Doing this creates the maximum current flow so puts a load on the earth system. If your earth pipes can't handle the flow you'll get a voltage reading at the energizer terminals. If there is no voltage, then your earthing system is satisfactory.
  • You should have a digital voltmeter, then install an earth monitoring point by pushing a piece of 4-mm (8-gauge) wire into the ground handy to the energiser and measure between it and the energiser earth terminal. Don't check the last earth pipe because there could be a break in the wire to it, in which case you'll think the earth is OK, but it may not be.
  • With the fence shorted out, there should be no more than 200 volts, although no voltage reading is best. The more voltage you read flowing to your earth, the less power you will have on your fence because it indicates that the earth is inadequate and needs more pipe

• You need the earth to go down to damp earth to get a really good circuit. An old buck rake tine hammered in to the last foot does the job here, as it is unlikely to rust through in my lifetime.

  rust is a poor conductor
  
  

 

[Al R]

If you've got a pond/stream/river etc nearby, get a length of leadout or heavy duty electric earthing wire and wrap the wire around a subsoiler leg/heavy arse bit of metal which is big in size ( an old mouldboard will do) and chuck it in the water. I used a subsoiler foot once in a pond and with a 35 year old mains fencer achieved 7000v all of the way around 1400 metres, and it was triple stranded.

 

[M-J-G]

Ive bashed in a 3m glavanised pole right by a down pipe this morning so it will always be damp, took some knocking in though.

So a second earth at the far end as well then?

Ive tested the fence all along the length of it and its knocking out a fair wack.

The more spread around the earth points are the better a shock the livestock will get.

 

[Penmoel]

Mine is earthed to the steel liner of a borehole, which is over 100 feet deep. Probably slight overkill but it works!

Testing an Earth System

• Never use your water supply, bore or well as a ground or allow a charger ground wire to touch them or any part of buildings. It can cause shocks in the water and stop animals from drinking, and buildings can become a transmitting aerial for radio and phone interference.
• Double insulated underground cable should be used for the ground as well as the live wire. Unused bore pipes or steel well liners are usually good grounds.

 

[Al R]

I have heard a house phone line going crack every time the Fencer sent a kick out. We found out later that BT put a underground cable into the same pond we had a subsoiler leg, the pond was only 20' across so they'd crossed signals lol

 

[Bury the Trash]

And not just any metal, copper is ideal

theory is to use same metals.so if copper rods used ideally should be copper leadout cable back the energiser,

 

[multi power]

theory is to use same metals.so if copper rods used ideally should be copper leadout cable back the energiser,

That makes sense

 

[TripleSix]

An earth rod kit from the electrical factors isn't much money.

It's a big copper coated steel rod.

Or buy a length of copper water pipe...

 

[JD-Kid]

not only the earth but the cable going to it make sure it's a good lead and clamped well
damp areas work well dry clay is crap and even with a good earth can lead to probs
in bad areas a larger earth hooking to a fence with alot of steel posts helps alot as earth is a bigger area
yep don't hook to water pipes animals will pick up a slight leak in volts not wanting to go into sheds etc

 

[dannewhouse]

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00UMZ8D8E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

invest in one of these! I have 1 and think its the best buy this year
whenever I want to change a fence just ring up, it turns off, sort fence ring up it turns on simple 1 man operation finding faults no more getting someone to turn on and off nor trailing all the way back!

for £22 next day delivery (ebay £17 but 1 month delivers from china)
+ £5 asda sim card its not a deer gadget just remember to text it 1ce per 6 month to keep sim active ( I wrote mine on calendar when its to do 4 month jus to be safe)