When I first set up my electric fencing several years ago I used rebar as ground rods. The charge was always weak but it wasn’t a concern. I’ve got a high strung horse scheduled to move in in a few months so it’s time to switch to proper ground rods to get a bit more zap out of the fence. I’ve also run utilities out to the barn since setting up the fencing so the new ground rods will have to be set up 75 feet away from the utilities. I would like to leave the charger where it is because it is convenient to switch on and off at the gate. So that would mean the charger would be approximately 80 feet from the first ground rod.
I’m wondering if I can connect the first ground rod to the bottom strand of fence, then connect the charger to the bottom strand of fence and that would act as a lead out cable to the ground? Or do I need to run an actual lead out cable? I would then connect the charger to a different strand to bring the charge to the fence.
Hubby said grab 3 star pickets and pound them under the ground. I don’t realky know why you can’t do that near where the charger is.
He said you can put the switch to turn it on and off anywhere you like.
He is gone so I can’t really question what he meant by that, he did say power wire or ground wire and that you need moisture to get to the ground rods.
Thanks for this advice, SuzieQ. I’ve heard of the switches for electric fences so I’ll look into how they work. I read on the Gallagher site that ground rods need to be 75 feet from any waterlines or utility lines. I’m not sure why but I don’t like to mess with electricity so I’ll go with that instruction.
that is assuming the water line is metallic, if PVC there should be no issue with a closer placement… or it the soil is low conductive such as very dry or having a high sand content
You do not want to have the fence charger the electrical panel ground rods any closer than ten feet
I never heard about ground rods and utilities… someone educate me please. I have ground rods well within 75’ of my main electric underground line…?? Never had problems??
If the grounding rod for a fence charger is placed too close to the ground rod of the electrical service there is the potential of a cross feed primarily from the fence charger to the electrical service. The concern is if the fence is hit by an electrical surge it would be fed directly into the service panel. The surge could be from a near or direct lightening strike or if an overhead power cable was fall onto the fence.
When we did work on airports we had to ground the fence with a bonded grounding cable every 500 feet or if the fence made a turn.
You might have to just water the ground rods every day or two in dry weather. It’s rocky here & I always seem to be in a hurry building fences – I drive 3-4 pieces of rebar 3’ into the ground & hook them together.
This is very helpful. The ground rods for the electricity are nowhere near the charger, it’s just that the cable passes under the charger (underground). So it sounds like I should continue to be ok with the first ground rod 10 feet away from the utility trench.
There was an instructor who thought very highly of her knowledge. She went out to fix the electric fence one day. I offered to unplug it because the box was under a deck. She said no several times. Her friend told her that when you unhook the gate it turns the electricity off so you can’t get a shock.
You can make your own switches and have as many as you like. You grab a bit of rubber hose and make a loop and have the rubber on the loop and give it a long tail or you can simply thread it through an insulator and give it a long tail. You then wrap the tail around the electric fence and it must reach to the next piece of electric fence. When it is wrapped around both wires both sides are live. By grabbing the hose or insulator you unwrap and now the electricity stops there.
You can put the switch on the end of an insulated piece of wire. You can bury the inslated wire under a gate, which then attaches to the gate and the rest of the fence and have a switch on this side so it turns off the gate and the rest of the fence. Or put the switch on the other side so the gate is still live and the fence is not.
There are two types of testers. One is very cheap you poke one bit in the ground, the other you touch to the live wire. It will light up to how strong it is. You start near the charge box and go to the next switch. You turn the switch off and test again. It will test higher if the short is past it. If it drops you have missed the short. You will want a lot of switches!
The more expensive tester, you do not need to get off your horse or quad. You place it on the wire and it tells you how high it is testing. You press a button and it tells you how much is being shorted out and in which direction.
It is too expensive to buy if you lose things. I keep a backpack with electric fencing pliars. The handles are insulated so you can use them on a live fence. I actually prefer the ones shaped like a hammer. Warning: the insulation wears through eventually. You can get them cheap as well. They are also easily lost so it is cheaper to have a supply of cheap ones that the insulation will last a year. In there I have a packet of insulators and a special pocket for the fancy tester. I take wire with me were the fence has snapped with rusting from flood water.
And they sell you thousands of $'s to put electricity through your car to stop rust. Explain that to me!
We also had a contradition high up on a post that was supposed to be if the fence was hit by lightning. When a short happened up too high hubby said it was too high to get to even with our ladders so we have now bypassed it at a lower height.
The 75 foot separation requirement is for the utility ground rod. Doesn’t matter for any under ground wire. (It’s insulated) As you’ve discovered, make shift ground rods don’t last. I have a 25 year old ground system that still performs well. It’s three 8 foot copper clad rods 10 feet apart, driven below the surface (no trip hazard) in the drip line of a shed roof. They are daisy chain connected to the charger by #8 solid copper wire.(also buried) There are no splices. The wire is connected to the rods with UL listed direct burial rod clamps. Some fence companies recommend galvanized ground rods. I don’t nor do many electrical contractors see*
