Mains fence ,best way to earth

mahoney_j

As title says tips on best way to earth mains fence please ,I've 3 earth bars .all advice greatly accepted ,for an outfarm ive recently leased ,over 3000 meters fence around bounds

Muckit

Space the rods 2m apart and daisy chain them together with lead out cable and back to your ground. Place them in a damp spot is preferable. You don't have to have your earth rods beside the fence unit. I brought a second wire 8" under the live wire on fence stakes and connected lead out cable from earth rods to this and on the far end to lead put cable to the ground on fence unit.

I earthed a fencer for that length of fence with a galvanised neck rail from cubicles. Drove it 8foot into the ground with a digger. Some wallop off it, so it's doing the trick.

_Brian

Aways dish the earth round The earth bars so they gather water and stay moist.

Test earth bars by placing hand on ground and hand on earth bar, if you get a shock it's not right. If you get no shock them the earth is good enough.

tellmeabit

Using one of the uprights in slatted unit for earth this year. Some wallop of fencer now.

_Brian

tellmeabit wrote: »

Using one of the uprights in slatted unit for earth this year. Some wallop of fencer now.

Presume there are no stock in shed. It's seriously not recommended to do this.

Fencers produce up to 13k volts and it's very easy for stray voltage to get into the steelwork and affect stock, I've come across this on a number of dairy farms with serious SSC problems.

pedigree 6

tellmeabit wrote: »

Using one of the uprights in slatted unit for earth this year. Some wallop of fencer now.

Big no no.

tellmeabit

Oh, didn't know this. No stock in there while it's on, have to change around again if animals get out of shed this year.

pedigree 6

The best conductors would be copper earth rods.
But then your cable going to the rods needs to be copper too.
Then the rolls Royce of a job would be Bentonite used in a trench and covered over between the rods too.

https://www.donedeal.ie/buildingmaterials-for-sale/bentonite-clay/9718928

_Brian

pedigree 6 wrote: »

The best conductors would be copper earth rods.
But then your cable going to the rods needs to be copper too.
Then the rolls Royce of a job would be Bentonite used in a trench and covered over between the rods too.

https://www.donedeal.ie/buildingmaterials-for-sale/bentonite-clay/9718928

Steel all the way lads..

The copper and the terminals on the fencer will then be made of different metals, different metals, electric current, moisture and you have serious oxidation, the oxidation happens between the metals and causes an insulating layer to build up so reducing the effect of the fencer..

Also most lads would be using domestic styled copper wire designed for 220v, then start throwing 10's of thousands of volts through the wire and it literally can't conduct that sort of potential.

Steel double insulated wire is your only man from the fencer to the earth and fence itself.

Placing an earth is difficult, the temptation is to keep it close to a building or hedge, but there are poor locations for an earth as they are sheltered and dry resulting in poor earths particularly in dry weather over the summer just when you need the fence at its best..

I don't like the idea of totally burying an earth either, you have no way of checking it to determine if the connection is still good in a few years..

pedigree 6

_Brian wrote: »

Steel all the way lads..

The copper and the terminals on the fencer will then be made of different metals, different metals, electric current, moisture and you have serious oxidation, the oxidation happens between the metals and causes an insulating layer to build up so reducing the effect of the fencer..

Also most lads would be using domestic styled copper wire designed for 220v, then start throwing 10's of thousands of volts through the wire and it literally can't conduct that sort of potential.

Steel double insulated wire is your only man from the fencer to the earth and fence itself.

Placing an earth is difficult, the temptation is to keep it close to a building or hedge, but there are poor locations for an earth as they are sheltered and dry resulting in poor earths particularly in dry weather over the summer just when you need the fence at its best..

I don't like the idea of totally burying an earth either, you have no way of checking it to determine if the connection is still good in a few years..

Check out the farming forum website.
The galvanise lasts no length on the earths and then you have to replace.

I meant put the bentonite in a trench between the posts and cover with a layer of soil. But not covering the clamps and cable between the posts.

patsy_mccabe

On low lying land with a high water table, I just place a length of the high tensile wire in the trench. Nothing better than water to create an earth.

Jack the Stripper

Do the earth the way the esb do it, too much girl talk.

End of thread.

Muckit

And what way is that?

_Brian

Jack the Stripper wrote: »

Do the earth the way the esb do it, too much girl talk.

End of thread.

End of nothin, what a muppet post !!

You have to understand that because the voltages running about in a fencing system it must be given proper pathways to travel. a typical ESB installation is 220v, where fences run at 10's of thousands of volts. This higher potential voltage will drive power through insulators and needs proper conductors to travel on.

Jack the Stripper

Tens of thousands of volts lol Brian you havent a clue. There is only one muppet post creator here.

Buford T. Justice XIX

_Brian wrote: »

End of nothin, what a muppet post !!

You have to understand that because the voltages running about in a fencing system it must be given proper pathways to travel. a typical ESB installation is 220v, where fences run at 10's of thousands of volts. This higher potential voltage will drive power through insulators and needs proper conductors to travel on.

Jack the Stripper wrote: »

Tens of thousands of volts lol Brian you havent a clue. There is only one muppet post creator here.

Mod Note: Easy, boys.

Tone it down a notch or two and keep it civil.

I have a ban hammer just itching to get the wrapping taken off!

BTJ.

Nekarsulm

I heard of a fellow who soldered the earth wire to a hillman hunter car, and then buried the whole lot.........

_Brian

Jack the Stripper wrote: »

Tens of thousands of volts lol Brian you havent a clue. There is only one muppet post creator here.

From what I remember older fencers were putting out about 25-30kv.. not sure what the current max is but I think it was reduced a few years ago to ~13kv

We used to sell a unit that would sense to load and actively increase the voltages applied as a result, these larger units are truly "shocking". It was handy to combat ongoing vegetation growth during the season but that model isnt allowed any more.

A simple ESB earth as you suggested would be totally inefficient for these fencers, there is no point buying a fencer and then limiting its potential by a sub-standard earth..

The recommended is three 2m steel steaks, min 1m apart, linked together with double insulated steel wire and same wire back to the fencer. good idea to form clay into a dish around them to ensure they collect rain to keep ground moist. Sometimes in dry spells we have to run a hose round the earths at home to keep good conductance.

patsy_mccabe

Jack, I was going to say 'Stick to the day job' but in your case, the night job.

Jack the Stripper

Go personal with the insults when youre on the loosing front. Classy. Good man Patsy.

mahoney_j

Thanks for the constructive posts a lot have posted ,all duly noted ,as for some other posts well just leave it at that ......

Buford T. Justice XIX

_Brian wrote: »

From what I remember older fencers were putting out about 25-30kv.. not sure what the current max is but I think it was reduced a few years ago to ~13kv

We used to sell a unit that would sense to load and actively increase the voltages applied as a result, these larger units are truly "shocking". It was handy to combat ongoing vegetation growth during the season but that model isnt allowed any more.

A simple ESB earth as you suggested would be totally inefficient for these fencers, there is no point buying a fencer and then limiting its potential by a sub-standard earth..

The recommended is three 2m steel steaks, min 1m apart, linked together with double insulated steel wire and same wire back to the fencer. good idea to form clay into a dish around them to ensure they collect rain to keep ground moist. Sometimes in dry spells we have to run a hose round the earths at home to keep good conductance.

The number of earth bars depends on the output of the fencer as well. I have a Pel 836 and it recommends 10 earth bars.

patsy_mccabe

Jack the Stripper wrote: »

Go personal with the insults when youre on the loosing front. Classy. Good man Patsy.

It was a joke. Stripper - night job. :rolleyes:

Attie

I've put my earth along an old out house wall that has no spouting. Three 8 feet rods high tincile wire find the rain keeps it wet enough.