Problem with Electric Fence

Dusty87

right,
the uncles electric fence is gone funny. It runs from the house around the whole farm. I got one of them fence testers and its reading 5000 volts everywhere but from his house to about 50 yards along the fence its giving no shock (even though its reading 5000volts). It gets stronger the further away from house. The battery is in his house. we cant seem to figure out whats wrong. Some of the wire is thinner than other parts but this dosnt explain why it isnt shocking at the house. He thinks it could be the weather, im not so sure. Any advice greatly appreciated

itsallaboutheL

Dusty87 wrote: »

right,
the uncles electric fence is gone funny. It runs from the house around the whole farm. I got one of them fence testers and its reading 5000 volts everywhere but from his house to about 50 yards along the fence its giving no shock (even though its reading 5000volts). It gets stronger the further away from house. The battery is in his house. we cant seem to figure out whats wrong. Some of the wire is thinner than other parts but this dosnt explain why it isnt shocking at the house. He thinks it could be the weather, im not so sure. Any advice greatly appreciated

i'm assuming the wire from his house is insulated........ if its shocking everywhere else it has to mean that the circuit isn't broken like, on a side note most of those shock testers aren't worth a fcuk!

Is there something on the ground that is preventing a contact?
How far away is this point from the earth?

Dusty87

The battery is in the back kitchen and the wire is insulated for about twenty feet then its attached to just the usual bare wire. I should have said this is up months and no problem. I walked around all fields with a slashers yesterday so its ok everywhere. Its not broken anywhere ut is it possible where a thinner wire connects to a bigger wire it may be a problem. Although this wouldnt explain it not shockin at the house to 50yards and then gettin stronger the further away. Two of us are stumped. Hes old and he only has 5 bullocks left but still ya know yourself

emaherx

Dusty87 wrote: »

The battery is in the back kitchen and the wire is insulated for about twenty feet then its attached to just the usual bare wire. I should have said this is up months and no problem. I walked around all fields with a slashers yesterday so its ok everywhere. Its not broken anywhere ut is it possible where a thinner wire connects to a bigger wire it may be a problem. Although this wouldnt explain it not shockin at the house to 50yards and then gettin stronger the further away. Two of us are stumped. Hes old and he only has 5 bullocks left but still ya know yourself

sounds like a problem with the earth. You possibly need a larger earth rod. The smaller rod may work fine during wetter weather but have strange results in dry weather. Try soaking the ground around the earth rod with a couple of buckets of water or even a hose. If it works better then you know you will know you need a bigger one.

Earth rods supplied with battery units are usualy next to useless.

Dusty87

emaherx wrote: »

sounds like a problem with the earth. You possibly need a larger earth rod. The smaller rod may work fine during wetter weather but have strange results in dry weather. Try soaking the ground around the earth rod with a couple of buckets of water or even a hose. If it works better then you know you will know you need a bigger one.

Earth rods supplied with battery units are usualy next to useless.

Thanks very much, will try this and let you know. It has only been happening since the fine weather.
Still open to other suggestions as well

emaherx

no problem.
moving the rod further away from the house may also help. into wetter soil if possible