Electric fencer not working

Jdunn55

Member
Just after some thoughts I'm thinking it's the earthing?

So bought a brand new soeedrite 6000i electric fender which has been working well up until the past couple of weeks when the cows have started being naughty, I've redone a load of fencing with barbed wire so now it's mostly just the cow tracks that need electrifying so thought it should be man enough, but cows were still going through said fence.
Phones rappa (thought they were the distributor but actually just a dealer now) who said to take the fencer back under warranty and wynnstay have loaned me a replacement whilst mine gets repaired
The new fencer hasn't fixed the problem so I'm thinking it's probably not the fencer that's the issue?!

If you hold one of those tester things it says it is powered but when I grab the wire i don't get electrocuted and when i put the tester against the wire whilst I'm holding it, it says theres no power?!

If I hold the wire where the fencer first goes to theres a little bit of a kick from it but hardly enough to put you on your arse! And go round the corner and theres nothing at all!

Any ideas? Thanks
 

kill

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South West
Bucket of water on earth and try again.
A friend took a fencer back to mvf recently as apparently it wasn’t working but they said in dry weather a fencer needs a 3ft earth spike as it wasn’t the fencer at fault. Far easier to leave fencer near a water trough and keep a bucket there.
 

Jdunn55

Member
3 earth stakes I think, not sure if it's just gone too dry :/
What would happen if I attchect it to an earth stake that was submerged in the river?
How many earth stakes? Big fencers need quite a few, I have a couple of crash barriers bashed in with the post banger for a. Gallagher M800, which is a tiddler these days.
 

Kiwi Pete

Member
Livestock Farmer
Could be a dead short at the far end of the fence. Do you know anyone with a fault finder/ compass type of fence tester?

If you test the earth wire, should be no more than about 4-500V (½ kV) on that if the fence is OK, but a crook earth or dead short will make that read much higher, eg 2kV on our mains unit's earth indicates a good (metal-metal) type of short out there.
Dad reckoned you need a metre of earthing rod per joule for a good earth, which is about what we've got here (25)
 

tepapa

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
North Wales
I'd be looking for it earthing out somewhere, easier if you put cut off switches in the system to shut parts off, and also at the earth point.
Dry weather is perfect for showing up a poor earth spike. Unless you've gone and buried an old diesel tank, car chassis or driven in 3 or 4 crash barriers all connected together as your earth, preferably in a wet spot, I'd be looking to upgrade your earth too. Remember you need good connections on the earth side of the fencer too although if yours is a new system it is unlikely to be corrosion this time.
 
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Jdunn55

Member
Turns out I'm just an idiot 🙈

It was touching a load of stock netting that runs all the way round the slurry pit which was obviously taking all the energy straight into the ground! Annoying part is I checked 3/4 sides of that fence and risked the last side as it only goes across the corner of that side 😂
Thanks for all the advice though
 
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Jdunn55

Member
So long story short I'm unfortunately less of an idiot than I thought, got home last night to find, the cows out on the road, the calves galloping round the yard and any field they wish, the dry cows in with my sucklers and my sucklers in a completely different field to where they are meant to be and nearly in the river 🤬 got power to the yard and 1/4 of the way up the cow track but still none of the fields or the rest of the track 😭 cows were kept in last night and probably today as I literally cannot keep them in a field let alone inbetween a front and back fence

Earth rods are all good, dad was here last night helping me and hes tested them and said they're fine
 

sheepdogtrail

Member
Livestock Farmer
Can you post a picture of your energizer, hook up wires (going to ground and the fence). You should have 9 feet of ground rod with a 6000i. I have 5 of those units so I know them well. Your remote/falt finder should point you in the direction of the fault.

You are using insulated lead out and hookup wire rated above 600v are you not?
Green is ground. Red is fence. Black is earth/rod voltage. Yellow reduces output to 5 Joules/3000 volts.

Like others have said, the ground field is often the problem. You should have 10 feet between ground rod(s) if you do a series. Ground fields need to be wet at all times for best results. More than 500v on the last of the ground rods will tell you your ground field needs to be improved. You can drive your rods in at a shallow angle if you want to move them at some point in the future.

What type of fence is it hooked up to?

They do fail. But in 17 years of using that brand and model, I have had only 1 fail. I have had to replace the lugs on a 12000i that I also use. Parts are cheap, available and at least pre-covid where only a day away.

All that said, I always have a few backup's in a 300 series in the event I need to replace a energizer. It is cheap insurance.
 

Jdunn55

Member
Can you post a picture of your energizer, hook up wires (going to ground and the fence). You should have 9 feet of ground rod with a 6000i. I have 5 of those units so I know them well. Your remote/falt finder should point you in the direction of the fault.

You are using insulated lead out and hookup wire rated above 600v are you not?
Green is ground. Red is fence. Black is earth/rod voltage. Yellow reduces output to 5 Joules/3000 volts.

Like others have said, the ground field is often the problem. You should have 10 feet between ground rod(s) if you do a series. Ground fields need to be wet at all times for best results. More than 500v on the last of the ground rods will tell you your ground field needs to be improved. You can drive your rods in at a shallow angle if you want to move them at some point in the future.

What type of fence is it hooked up to?

They do fail. But in 17 years of using that brand and model, I have had only 1 fail. I have had to replace the lugs on a 12000i that I also use. Parts are cheap, available and at least pre-covid where only a day away.

All that said, I always have a few backup's in a 300 series in the event I need to replace a energizer. It is cheap insurance.
The fencerbis the loan one from wynnstay and is kicking really well around the yard but is struggling anywhere else? (I've been shocked more times in the past 24 hours than I care to remember)
 

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