# Help needed for electric fence issue



## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

A new one for me and I've had electric fence for 25 years. 

We have two identical fence chargers, each one powers roughly half the farm fences. They are set up side by side, ground rods are separate but in the same area. A month ago we started getting half the charge on one charger, both had been equal. We bought a replacement, also identical. We still get just half the voltage from that charger. 

Added two more ground rods, still half the voltage.

I tried unplugging the "hot" charger and plugging in the low charger to that electric outlet. No change in charge.

:shrug:

Suggestions?


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## Bret (Oct 3, 2003)

I'll bet you flipped the chargers to the other fences too. What did you see then. 

Any fallen limbs or deer-twisted wires causing a short?


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

Bret said:


> I'll bet you flipped the chargers to the other fences too. What did you see then.
> 
> Any fallen limbs or deer-twisted wires causing a short?


I've just finished completely repairing/rewiring the fences each charger is on and checking all of the wires all the way around with a voltage meter, have run the weedeater under the fencelines and the voltage reads all the way along all of the fences. Just twice as high on the 'hot' charger fence than on the other charger.

Will have to ask DH specifically if he actually switched chargers on the fences, I think he did. If he didn't, that's something I will try.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

Do you use ring insulators? The kind that you twist into wood and has a plastic ring on the head? I got a bad batch of those, years back, and the wire was shorting through the plastic ring head into the metal bolt cast inside. Fence was registering only about half the juice it should have.

Could be something similar to this. How about plastic corner insulators that you guy off?


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

You could have also gotten wires crossed to where you're getting some back feed. Try unplugging each one and see if you get the light still flickering a little bit even though it's not the one that's plugged in.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

Have you checked the voltage on just the charger itself?

Also check your ground connections for corrosion or broken wires


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## mulemom (Feb 17, 2013)

We used the fin insulators stapled to wood posts. They burn through after a while and create a short that's really hard to see or hear but it really drags the fencer down. Don't know what kind you used-I really hate looking for shorts especially since we usually find something stupid we've overlooked. Someday I might decide a good fence tester is worth more than my wasted time.:teehee:


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

jennigrey said:


> Do you use ring insulators? The kind that you twist into wood and has a plastic ring on the head? I got a bad batch of those, years back, and the wire was shorting through the plastic ring head into the metal bolt cast inside. Fence was registering only about half the juice it should have.
> 
> Could be something similar to this. How about plastic corner insulators that you guy off?


Don't use ring insulators and have used the same kinds of insulators in all the pasture fences, the side that has the 'hot' reading from the one charger and the one with the low voltage.


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Have you checked the voltage on just the charger itself?
> 
> Also check your ground connections for corrosion or broken wires



Right out of the charger, one is 'hot' and one is about half as much voltage. Just changed the wires to the ground rods and added two more ground rods on the low voltage charger ... no change in voltage.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

When you're checking the charger, make sure you disconnect the fence from the charger but leave the grounding rod connected to the charger. It won't read correctly if you leave the fence attached.

Your lead-out from the charger to to the grounding rod... it it bare or is it coated? If it's coated, maybe you have a break in the wire, inside the insulation, where it's been bent at some point in the past?


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

Your hot wire is grounded some where, if you can isolate sections it would help to find the ground. A check after dark when it is wet might let you see or hear where it is shorted at.


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

jennigrey said:


> When you're checking the charger, make sure you disconnect the fence from the charger but leave the grounding rod connected to the charger.
> 
> *Did that. *
> 
> ...







Allen W said:


> Your hot wire is grounded some where, if you can isolate sections it would help to find the ground. A check after dark when it is wet might let you see or hear where it is shorted at.


*The charger that reads low doesn't read any higher when the fence is completely disconnected so it can't be a grounded hot wire.
*


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

You could check inside the charger to see if any internal fuses have blown.
Other than that it really makes no sense. 

Have you tried contact the manufacturer?


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

Bearfootfarm said:


> Other than that it really makes no sense.



This is pretty much where I'm at. It does not make sense. We thought a blown fuse or internal damage (you can't get to the fuses, it's a sealed unit) was responsible for the drop in charge with the first charger. We replaced it with a brand new, identical charger and the voltage reads exactly the same.

All three chargers have been identical and the one charger is still giving a high reading ... one of the first two purchased ... 

I really am clueless. I think at this point I am going to relocate the low charger to a completely different area, with a totally different electricity source and new ground rods and see what happens.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

A blown fuse usually means a dead charger. It would be strange to have bought a new "bad" charger that gives the same readings as the old "bad" charger. Are the chargers plugged into the same electrical outlet or plugged into a different outlet?


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

When you swapped the new charger for the old one, I'm assuming you re-used the same lead-out to your grounding rod(s). Check your connection on said grounding rod. Also, make sure the soil is damp around the rod(s). Sometimes, when it gets dry around here, I have to actually water the soil at my rods. If your ground wire is held to the rod with a clamp, un-do the clamp, take a wire brush or sandpaper or something and scrape the rod, make sure the bare wire is reasonable free of corrosion as well, re-assemble.

Edit: Looks like Bearfootfarm already suggested this.


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

Allen W said:


> A blown fuse usually means a dead charger. It would be strange to have bought a new "bad" charger that gives the same readings as the old "bad" charger. Are the chargers plugged into the same electrical outlet or plugged into a different outlet?


We tried swapping the outlets the chargers were plugged into. Hot charger still read high, low charger still read low.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

I run a lot of electric fence. In order to locate such an issue as you are having owning a Stafix Fence Compass IMO is essential. Kencove has them. I would not want to be without such a tool. It saves a lot of time and walking.


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## haypoint (Oct 4, 2006)

So, the one fencer, when completely disconnected from anything, reads low? The other fencer, when disconnected from anything reads normal?

Not a fence problem. Fencer problem. Sounds like one of the originals and the new one are defective.


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## arabian knight (Dec 19, 2005)

Yes I am now going to agree with The Fencer is now the problem, not the fence or grouping out it is the fencer.


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

arabian knight said:


> Yes I am now going to agree with The Fencer is now the problem, not the fence or grouping out it is the fencer.



Weird that one charger went bad and then the new replacement had the same problem but I'm beginning to think that may be the only possibility.


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## SFM in KY (May 11, 2002)

DH kep saying he'd switched the 'low' charger to the 'high' charger side and the 'low' charger kept reading low. I decided if I was now in charge of fences, I'd better do it myself to be sure.

So ... the 'low' charger, if looked into the ground rod and the fence the 'high' charger has been running, reads the same as the 'high' charger. Confirms that the problem is with the ground rods on the 'low' side hookups as it reads low right out of the charger with the fence disconnected.

:grin: At least I now know *where* the problem is and can start trying to solve it. It doesn't exactly make sense as all the ground rods are in the same area, same depth, same kind of rod, same kind of ground wire, same attachments ... but that is where the problem has to be.


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## Allen W (Aug 2, 2008)

The ground only affects how hot the fencer shocks, a bad ground rod set up shouldn't affect your fencer meter. Can you hook to the ground for the other fencer to check if it is the ground rods? As an old friend now gone used to tell me when trouble shooting a problem "to prove it first".


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