Earthing a long electric fence

ihatewinter

Hey not sure how to do it properly. I want to put up a 1km fence with about 3 strands of polytape to keep sheep in. It's only temporary maybe 1 year. I have rent of it for year for nothing. It's about 6 areas.

My question is how earth a fence properly.

I'm have a 5 joule energiser wihich takes12 v battery

Thanks

Farmer Pudsey

With sheep the idea thing id to earth a middle strand of the fence so that when animal touches two strands it will get a good shock. Not sure if polytape will be good enough I did it a few times with tying wire. Other issue is keeping bottom strand from earthing on high grass or scrub along a wall.

ihatewinter

But how do you actually earth an electric fence

Farmer Pudsey

ihatewinter wrote: »

But how do you actually earth an electric fence

If it is the fencer it self you drive an earth bar and attach it by wire to fencer. if it is the middle strand as above then again you drive a few earth bars and connect middle wire tape etc to these like you connect a fencer to the fence.

ihatewinter

So if I put in 3 earth wires, do I need to connect them to each other back to the energizer

Farmer Pudsey

ihatewinter wrote: »

So if I put in 3 earth wires, do I need to connect them to each other back to the energizer

No connect to each other and then to energiser

rangler1

Farmer Pudsey wrote: »

No connect to each other and then to energiser

It's also supposed to be important to have at least 2 mtrs between the earth bars

onyerbikepat

Getting down into the water table must be the best earth of all.

_Brian

If your looking at a very long run and worried about grounding the fence to get best results I'd recommend something like this.

You ground the fence itself with grounding bars AND ground the middle strand of wire also.

As you can see the middle strand of wire can be grounded at points along its length to improve performance.

It is imperative to ensure briars and scrub is kept back from the live strands as these bleed off the power from the system.

When grounding the fence unit directly the recommendation is 3 1m long stakes at least 1m distance from each other.

Copper wire is never to be used for connecting a fence unit, use proper double insulated steel wire.

ihatewinter

Great thanks for the information. Finally understand it

I got all pegs and polytape up today so will try and earth it tomorrow when it stops raining.

:D:D

Muckit

Step 7: Turn on fencer full pelt.

Step 8: Take off your socks and wellies and stand in a puddle of water next to the fence line.

Step 9: Grab the electric fence.

Step 10: Marvel and at the same time curse the effectiveness of your work while a friend runs for a defibrillator.

onyerbikepat

Spare a thought for the poor calf that touches it with his wet nose and his 4 legs standing in a pool of water.:D

_Brian

Interesting the best way to check the earthing if your fence is effective is to place your hand on the earth stakes.

If the are 100% earthed and working correctly then you feel nothing. If they're not then you'll quickly know they need further work.

Placent is very important. It's tempting to place them along a wall or ditch but this the worst idea as the sheltered nature and dry ground reduce their effectiveness.

frazzledhome

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=exyW-vmVnQo

RightTurnClyde

frazzledhome wrote: »

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=exyW-vmVnQo

Lol :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

cj maxx

Hijacking the thread a bit but ive a very long single strand battery fence ( 500+m) earthed to the energiser once at the unit
To earth it better do i drive another bar and connect to earth terminal on energiser

Muckit

No need. Just connect it to the other earth bar with a bit of underground fence cable.