Electric fences

[underpar12]

Had a call today from a golf club, wanting me to investigate a drop in voltage on there fences around the greens ,the fences are feed from a time clock back at the club house. I have not visited as of yet but could do with some useful info when I get there.

 

[trev]

My first question would be how do they know it's a volt drop issue?

 

[underpar12]

The green keepers have noticed that more cattle are getting past the fences then normal .

 

[Pete999]

The green keepers have noticed that more cattle are getting past the fences then normal .

Them cows have been on a 5 day course for safe isolation I reckon

 

[underpar12]

Ha ha ,the safest place on most golf courses is on the greens.

 

[Octopus]

My guess is that one or more of the fences is coming into contact with the "ground" which reduces their effectiveness massively.

I would recommend you visit when they are switched on and walk alongside them in silence and listen for "grounding".

Do the club have a "tester" that shows the effectiveness of the fence? This could help too.

 

[davesparks]

Walk the entire length of the fence to check for shorts to ground, anything down to a single blade of grass touching the fence will drag it down.

Check the the earth rod and it's connections are in good condition, check the Ra of the earth rod.

Get hold of an electric fence tester before go there so you can actually see what's going on, it will register the voltage of each pulse from the controller. Pulses should be somewhere between 5 and 10 KV

 

[Octopus]

Walk the entire length of the fence to check for shorts to ground, anything down to a single blade of grass touching the fence will drag it down.

Check the the earth rod and it's connections are in good condition, check the Ra of the earth rod.

Get hold of an electric fence tester before go there so you can actually see what's going on, it will register the voltage of each pulse from the controller. Pulses should be somewhere between 5 and 10 KV

My experience is with chickens - whats yours Andy?

 

[davesparks]

Horses playing at Houdini.

I posted a thread about it on t 'other forum at the time

 

[Octopus]

Horses playing at Houdini.

I posted a thread about it on t 'other forum at the time

Mine was Mr Fox coming for dinner on a regular basis!

 

[underpar12]

The green keepers uses a led tester and he said the fence is showing a lot less on the tester.
i will check the ropes for grounding ,anything else to look for.

 

[davesparks]

Eh? The controller should be grounded via an earth rod with a low Ra (you'll need a proper earth rod tester)

The tapes/wires or whatever need to be well insulated from the ground.

 

[guest119]

Ask Geordie, he has one to keep Tidy in the kitchen?????????

 

[Marvo]

Earthing. HV fences should be earth rodded every so many meters (see manufacturers instructions.) Also those multiple LED fence indicators aren't accurate you need something more like this http://www.instrumentsgroup.co.za/index_files/T+M/T+Mspecs/Scope-A-Fence.pdf

 

[JD6400]

If they are tapes , have a look at the inlaid wire strands to see if they are getting worn and broken , this is also applicable for the plastic wire version which is inlaid with thin wire strands as well .
A decent fence tester is a must to find the variations down the line .
I have seen it done with a blade of grass , with the change in the "crack" signifying the trouble spots , but the old boy doing it was a proper old timer farm hand .

Generally what ever Davesparks said , is spot on