Stray Voltage causing anything metal near fence charger to be electrified...ideas?

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

We are moving my pony to my mother’s farm and she needs a 8000V and up charge on the wire to stay put. My mother’s current fencer only gets the wire to 2000V. So we hooked up my super powered charger and the fence works great…except now everything on the front of the barn to the right of the charger (follows along fence wire line) is shocking at 3000V. To test if it was my box I hooked her low charge box back up and sure enough, the metal is still electrified but only at 1000V so you can’t really feel it on the metal unless you hold on tight and really pay attention. Then you can feel a slight pulse. So it’s very possible this has been going on forever but no one noticed.

The charger is on the left side of the barn door. The ground rod is 5 feet from the charger and directly underneath the barn door. The ground rod is only 1 foot deep and laid sideways because the bedrock is covering the whole farm and that’s as deep as it can go. There is only one ground rod. The wire for the fence leaves the charger, goes up over the barn door and come back down to attach to the fence which starts at that end of the barn (about 20 feet from charger and 15 feet from ground rod.)

Here’s what we tried today.

1. Plugged in box not attached to anything: No voltage on metal
2. Plugged in box and only hooked up to ground. No voltage on metal.
3. Plugin box as normal. Voltage on all metal that runs along where the fence wire travels through the barn to get to the fence. On the opposite side of the charger NOT where wire runs there is no voltage on the metal.
4. Ran a wire directly from the box to the fence, skipping the wire that goes through the barn, and we still had voltage on metal. We made sure to disconnect the wire that goes back through the barn to ensure it wasn’t just sending electricity back.

SO! Where do we start? We are planning on redoing the wire that goes from the box through the barn to the fence just to be safe. Not sure if it’s plain electrical wire or 20,000V fence wire so we will start there. Then, what would your next recommendation be as to find the source or restructure the setup? I’m a complete moron when it comes to electricity so Amy ideas, large or small, would be welcome! Thanks so much!

[digihorse]

Do you have the wire on insulators? Not just bare to a post? 'cause that would be a problem.

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

Yes. Wire is all properly hooked up on insulators on the T-Posts. We triple walked the whole property today checking every single one and nothing is touching anywhere.

[hosspuller]

All the wire from the charger to the fence must be high voltage fence wire. If not, it’ll leak power to anything metal… (as you’ve found) Best to run "underground " fence wire in plastic conduit. Or even black plastic water pipe ! The “underground” wire is rated to 20,000 volts. The charger is producing 10,000… The plastic conduit maintains that rating against mice, wear, and the sun.

underground wire … http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/zareba-50-ft-underground-insulated-hookup-wire

Also, you can connect multiple ground rods together. One 5 foot rod isn’t much of a ground. Use solid bare copper wire from the fencer to all the rods. If you have a tractor, use it to dig three parallel trenches a few feet apart, deep as you can. lay the 3 rods, connected together… and you now have a ground plane. Don’t forget to bury the wire too…

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

Thank you! I just got off the phone with my mother’s husband who confirmed it is only regular wire, not fencing wire. I will get that ordered immediately! Should we run the “underground” wire actually under the ground or should we wire it back up through the barn? We can do either. Also, should we move that initial ground that is directly under the door with the metal away from metal/the barn of just run some more grounds off of that and leave it where it is? Thanks so much!

[hosspuller]

Keg-o-bacchus … The fence wire can be underground or through the barn. The important point is to run it inside something to protect it from the elements and such. The wire manufacture says it can be buried directly in the ground. My and many other’s experience say put it in something protective. You don’t need actual conduit or fittings since this is not something a building inspector checks.

You can leave the initial ground rod in place, but understand that buried connections are the first spot to fail. (and then you’re back where you started from) Use bare SOLID copper wire and UL listed ground rod connectors.
Anything less is future trouble. As using regular wire for a high voltage fencer did for you.

use these … http://www.lowes.com/pd_74585-15527-49163___?productId=1099921&pl=1&Ntt=ground+rod+connector

PS … remove all the “regular” wire connecting the fence. You likely missed a spot that tied the fence to the barn when you did test number four in the OP.

[Keg-A-Bacchus]

Thank you! I’m ordering the goods and I’ll report back in and let you know if we solved the problem! Appreciate the advice!