Electric fence question

[Bestoutwest]

I'm not sure where to put this. I'm having an issue with the hot wire. I have a small area that's hot, but when I jump to the big field it shuts off. We've walked it, trimmed all the brush along there and it still does it. Any thoughts? The box is a 30 miler, reads 14.9 at the box. It normally reads about 8 when on the big field.

Here's a bit more pertinent info: It wasn't working so I started working backward. The extension cord and splitter were fried. I've changed all that out. Could the box be toast?

 

[sstterry]

I'm not sure where to put this. I'm having an issue with the hot wire. I have a small area that's hot, but when I jump to the big field it shuts off. We've walked it, trimmed all the brush along there and it still does it. Any thoughts? The box is a 30 miler, reads 14.9 at the box. It normally reads about 8 when on the big field.

Here's a bit more pertinent info: It wasn't working so I started working backward. The extension cord and splitter were fried. I've changed all that out. Could the box be toast?

I wouldn't think it is the box if it is putting out 14.9. Have you checked to make absolutely sure it is not grounding out somewhere, ie a bad insulator or a bad handle (some handles have a bad tendency to break inside the plastic)? Do you have a tester that shows the point of direction of a short?

 

[Bestoutwest]

I wouldn't think it is the box if it is putting out 14.9. Have you checked to make absolutely sure it is not grounding out somewhere, ie a bad insulator or a bad handle (some handles have a bad tendency to break inside the plastic)? Do you have a tester that shows the point of direction of a short?

I feel the same way. I'm pretty frustrated b/c I have walked the fence line several times and can't find anything. And, it works until you try to make the jump to the big field. Maybe it's at that junction, who knows, but it will wait until Wednesday when I stop working 12 hour shifts. :bang:

 

[Kingfisher]

You sure your grounds adequate? It might for the little box but not sufficient for a longer run.

 

[Bestoutwest]

You sure your grounds adequate? It might for the little box but not sufficient for a longer run.

It was working fine until the extension cord fried. I'm wondering if it works fine until it calls for too much "juice" to go to the big field. Does this make sense?

 

[Kingfisher]

You sure your grounds adequate? It might for the little box but not sufficient for a longer run.

It was working fine until the extension cord fried. I'm wondering if it works fine until it calls for too much "juice" to go to the big field. Does this make sense?
Open it up " and let the smoke out" . See if anything looks burnt.

 

[sstterry]

Do you have a tester that shows which direction a fault is located? How big is the big field and how many strands of wire are you running?

 

[jltrent]

Good advise so far............

Can you put more breaks in the fence around the big field? This might pay off now and in the future. Have you got access to another charger? I keep several chargers on hand as I have bought several non working Zarebas from Ebay sellers and usually one diode resistor circuit, transistor, or capacitor are all that is wrong and is easy to test and fix.

Has there been any storms recently as you say the extension cord was fried? I have tested chargers before that seemed to be full strength bare, but fall off quick under load. I bet you have a weak capacitor if no grounds found anywhere.....

 

[Bestoutwest]

We have it isolated down to one area right now, past the jump. We have disconnected all the other sections, so it is on one section which is a straight run. I've walked it. My wife has walked it. Sometimes a separate set of eyes will catch something and we've got nothing. We did happen to have some nasty weather before it was cooked.

 

[jltrent]

As you walk the fence with the charger unhooked pull on the fence between insulators as you go as some times this will show what the eye want just walking. After I look at wire so long I about go cross-eyed...

 

[sstterry]

How does it hook onto that last section? Is it switch, gate handle ect? I agree with Mr. Trent about seeing if you can break it into sections to test.

 

[wbvs58]

There must be a significant short in the big fence for the voltage to drop from 14.9 to 8. I too get punch drunk when looking at wire for a fault and will often miss something obvious until the 3rd or 4th time looking.

Ken

 

[Ohio Cowboy]

Get yourself a fault finder. Once you use it you'll never use another fence tester. Best $100 I spent in electric fence....

 

[JW IN VA]

Get yourself a fault finder. Once you use it you'll never use another fence tester. Best $100 I spent in electric fence....

That 100 hurt at the time but it's nice to have an idea where and how far it is to the problem.

I also have several disconnects in my fence lines.That was how I could isolate before I had a fault finder.Still work well to keep from having to go all the way back to the charger to shut off the current flow.Makes for faster checks to see if you have more than one problem.

If nothing else helps,you might change out all the insulators in the section you found.Expensive and time consuming but insulators an break down and short without showing sometimes. Walking the line after dark might let you see an arc where you haven't.I suppose an AM portable radio might help in a long stretch of wire.

Another thing I'm wanting to try is the lights that hook to the fence which show a voltage drop.Some only flash when there is low voltage some flash only when there is.I don't trust the meter on the box.By the time it shows a problem,it's bad.Some grounding doesn't even show on mine.

You may find the box needs work to power the entire line,as someone pointed out.Or,as mentioned,you need more or better grounds.

 

[greggy]

You start by removing connection on tge box...check voltage

Them ad next bit of fence, check again, and keep adding till you have the section that is shorted.

You need to walk the whole thing, I had mine down for a day, in the end had to walk every part, the cattle had picked up a square foot of wire mesh, and got it neatly on my offset and jammed onto the net wire.....could not see it unless on top of it....

Look at each insulator too along the way.

 

[greggy]

PS fault finders do not always help, they can be brilliant or useless, depending on where and what sort of short your dealing with.

They will often be helpful if your not electrical savvy

 

[sstterry]

PS fault finders do not always help, they can be brilliant or useless, depending on where and what sort of short your dealing with.

They will often be helpful if your not electrical savvy

Mine shows me the direction of the fault and I find this very helpful. I have 2, one I keep in the truck and the other I keep in the Ranger.

 

[greggy]

Yeah...so do the ones I use, until they cannot tell the direction, which is often enough....

 

[Bestoutwest]

Ok, just to clarify a little here:
-We have about 16 acres fenced off with hotwire. There are breaks at every corner where we attach the wire to the next run, but we've set it up so we can disconnect to find the issues.
-When we started, we had about a 1/2 acre area with hotwire in it. This area works fine. It's when we make the jump to the big pasture that we have the issue.
-We have the issue isolated to one section. BUT! that section doesn't seem to have any issues with any insulators or anything obstructing the fence. The other day we removed some trees that were growing into the fence line.
-All extension cords have been changed out, so that is not the issue either.

So, where I'm at with it is that it's either 1) The box 2) The jump or 3) The line.

I appreciate all the help. You guys continue to be a wealth of knowledge.

 

[JW IN VA]

Can you borrow a box from someone to try? Obviously,if it does the same,the fence is the problem.Or grounds.If the other box works correctly,either the box you have is overrated or you have a problem in it.
Guess I'm stating the obvious but we all can get overwhelmed at times and lose focus.