Electric fence problem

JohnGalway

Member
Livestock Farmer
I'm new to electric fencing. Have a battery Hotshock A50 energiser. I'm using 6 and 15 strand polywire on reels and Gallagher Vario temporary posts. I get mostly 10kv power readings though sometimes get 11kv and once 12kv.

The problem is everything seems to have power in it, particularly my temporary posts. Is this normal? I thought the posts weren't supposed to carry current.

Got this reading today


This is a different post, it's hot too

20200522_174036.jpg


I'm running 3 hot wires with a non energised 4th on the lowest rung. Except that is energised too, the only way I can see power getting to it is from the posts themselves.

Getting lots of shocks ⚡⚡⚡⚡

Any ideas as to why this is happening?
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Is it your tester? What make is it:unsure: is it highly sensitive....
Mine will show abit of a reading as you get very close to the wire...


If you are getting shocks is it jumping to you or maybe Static .....from the post
 

JohnGalway

Member
Livestock Farmer
It can only be some sort of coating on the posts carrying the current. I've never seen that before. Salt water perhaps?

Could be, been very windy today which is coming in off the sea. Would they shock if it was normal showers, non salty?

Windscreen of the van was filthy so there's something in the air.

One post would shock me at the top but no current down low on it now that I think ?
 

Bury the Trash

Member
Mixed Farmer
Forcefield I think. But the shocks are very real as I've been shocked.
one reason I dont use md polyethylene water pipe for insulators (as some pp do) is because it s not that good an insulator ime, well on a high powered energiser anyway,
...but one would think that Gallagher plastic fencing post would be ok .
 

Dry Rot

Member
Livestock Farmer
You can definitely get salt spray off the sea quite a way inland. This was demonstrated to me by some forestry bods who visited experimental forestry plots on the Scottish Outer Isles. They had me tasting pine shoots to prove the point and they definitely tasted of salt!

I have also detected electric current in ordinary (non-electrified) stock fencing that had a single electrified wire running beside it on offsets. That would have been induced voltage. But I can't say either of these would necessarily have been enough to produce a shock. But they might. I'm not one to go around touching suff just to see if I get a shock!:eek: Maybe wash a post in clean fresh water and see if it still shocks? (Rather you than me!).
 

JohnGalway

Member
Livestock Farmer
one reason I dont use md polyethylene water pipe for insulators (as some pp do) is because it s not that good an insulator ime, well on a high powered energiser anyway,
...but one would think that Gallagher plastic fencing post would be ok .

The name is why I bought them tbh ?‍♂️

You can get induction from high power Energizer's that make gates and none live wires "live" but don't see how that should make an insulated post "live" unless it's a big induction field.

This is a bit beyond my knowledge, I'll have to do some Googling.

You can definitely get salt spray off the sea quite a way inland. This was demonstrated to me by some forestry bods who visited experimental forestry plots on the Scottish Outer Isles. They had me tasting pine shoots to prove the point and they definitely tasted of salt!

I have also detected electric current in ordinary (non-electrified) stock fencing that had a single electrified wire running beside it on offsets. That would have been induced voltage. But I can't say either of these would necessarily have been enough to produce a shock. But they might. I'm not one to go around touching suff just to see if I get a shock!:eek: Maybe wash a post in clean fresh water and see if it still shocks? (Rather you than me!).

The shocks I've been getting have been nasty, no tickles. I'm going to find a hot post tomorrow and wash it as you suggest ?

1590182724312.png
Is this your energiser?
If so, I assume you've connected the black terminal to your earth stake and the red to your fence wires?

That's the one. Pretty sure I did, I'll double check tomorrow.

Try connecting live wire to low power setting. 12kv is a hell of a lot. As said at that high a kv you will get leakage to everything.

You also need a very good earth for energizes chucking out that much...

The earth is good, 1 meter galvanised angle iron into a wet spot where the energiser is housed in an electrified box on an insulated stake. I have 2 more earth posts driven in, just waiting on connecting wires to arrive.

Reason for the 12kv energiser is I have wooly untrained blackface & cheviot sheep. Paddocks are new to them as well, they're used to being set stocked. So far so good in keeping them in, apart from one lady who strolls through as she pleases (just need to catch and separate her now).
 

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
The earth is good, 1 meter galvanised angle iron into a wet spot where the energiser is housed in an electrified box on an insulated stake.
This may be the source of your problem.
We have an electrified box and the earth has to be wired just right for it to work OK.
Check the insulation between the box (and the fencer in it) and the mounting stake and how your fencer is connected to your earth.
As has been said above, you'regenerating a lot of power (and it's in a metal box), so all sorts of 'induction stuff' could be going on.
 

bitwrx

Member
We wiped out internet for everyone downstream of us when we ran a leadout wire along below the telephone cables on our road boundary. The induced current in the telephone wire buggered around with the broadband signal and people started complaining.

Could it be that current is being induced in your tester (by proximity to the wire) and touching it on the post just gets a low enough resistance between the terminals for the circuit to be completed, giving a reading on the tester?

Very much doubt the dielectric nature of the poly post has broken down. I bet if you stand very close to the fence and put your finger across the terminals of your tester it'll register a voltage (like it does on the bottom wire).

If you've got one, try an old fashioned tester where you have to put a spike in the ground. That might give a different answer.
 

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
We wiped out internet for everyone downstream of us when we ran a leadout wire along below the telephone cables on our road boundary. The induced current in the telephone wire buggered around with the broadband signal and people started complaining.

Could it be that current is being induced in your tester (by proximity to the wire) and touching it on the post just gets a low enough resistance between the terminals for the circuit to be completed, giving a reading on the tester?

Very much doubt the dielectric nature of the poly post has broken down. I bet if you stand very close to the fence and put your finger across the terminals of your tester it'll register a voltage (like it does on the bottom wire).

If you've got one, try an old fashioned tester where you have to put a spike in the ground. That might give a different answer.
Yeah, but as far as I understand it, he's also getting a physical shock off the posts if he touches them.

I guess he's not so much bothered about the physics, more about getting a belt off the stakes when he goes over the fence :woot:
 

Al R

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
West Wales
If you have a lot of energy are the wires too close and you are getting induction across them? Is the earth OK as if you put enough electricity into a system then it has to find a way to earth eventually so anything will heat up. . Getting a big shock off plastic does not make sense if all wired OK and voltage set correctly.
Could be earthing? I put a 1000litre IBC ontop of my earth posts on a run the other day. I just use any old metal object I can sledge in and plain wire to connect earth posts and none of the proper stuff.
906E5535-5A79-46E4-AD6F-513022A6EA9C.png

By the way, I don’t think it’s the sea air making the posts live, I have 10,000metres of wire out all winter all within 1 mile from the coast and never had a shock from the posts or anything and quite often I’ll adjust a line of posts while it’s still on.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
@Kiwi Pete Ever come across this?
Yes, basically the same principle that's behind an electrical transformer is what's putting voltage onto the 'dead wire' - because they are parallel for quite a distance, the electrical field around the hotwire is picked up by the one next to it; similar in some ways to how radio travels through the air.

This electrical field actually flows "around" the wire as much as through the wire, which is why coated wire is better for electric fence over long runs - again, similar to radio waves (and why UHF stuff is full of silver-plated parts).

Back to the tester getting all excited and giving readings off the posts, again it's probably just down to approaching that electrical field and being pretty dry.
Your own body mass "earths" the tester without actually requiring you to complete the circuit (or you would get a wallop off your tester) and so the modern ones are really pretty sensitive to humidity/dryness of hands and footwear, to give repeatable readings. (y)
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
Focus on earthing, earthing, earthing, especially with high output energisers.

A decent earth stake (ideally galvanised or copper) 1.5 metres in the ground is a start. Then use your tester to measure the voltage between the earth stake and a point in the ground 2 metres away. If you get a reading you need another stake at least that distance away connected up. Keep going until you have no reading. We are on 3 stakes with our 12kv unit.
 


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