huntinsonovagun Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 So I've got this dog that learned to dig out of my yard under the fence. If I had my way he'd be dead, or as close to dead as possible, and wouldn't ever dig again. I've gone the "civil" route and bought an electric fence. Problem is, I can't get it to work! Both my dad and my father-in-law have said they remember having issues with electric fences in the past as well, but either can't remember what the exact problem was. Everything I've read says grounding is typically the problem. I've walked around the fence and can't find anything that's grounding it out. I've got my ground wire firmly attached to a copper ground rod that my house electric is grounded to. The fence wire is insulated as it's going out of the garage. I know the charger is working because I accidently touched both terminals at the same time. What am I missing?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted November 25, 2011 Report Share Posted November 25, 2011 Do you measure a charge going from the ground (literally the ground not the connection or terminal) and the fence wire? Some house grounds aren't very good. If it's not a short and you know the unit is working that might be the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambuscher Posted November 26, 2011 Report Share Posted November 26, 2011 "Sharing" a ground sometimes is not a good idea. Try to ground the unit seperately. I've ran across this before and it fixed my problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 26, 2011 Report Share Posted November 26, 2011 "Grounding" may be referring to shorting out your fence wire to the ground and have nothing to do with grounding to a ground rod. If you know the fence charger is charging, but it is not electrifying the fence, the problem has to be a short in your fence wire or the conductor leading to the fence wire if you have one. Easy to find shorts in fence wire at night or when it is dim, a lot of times you can hear a buz where the wire is shorted when the fence is on. If you have a meter, take your meter and read voltage across the terminals for the charger with the fence wire and ground disconnected from the charger, it should charge and the meter should read at what the output your charger is rated for. If the ground were the problem, which I am guessing is probably not, a simple fix would be to get a ground rod from your local hardware store and tie to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 yea william put it well... and don't use the ground for your house. drive a separate ground rod for the fencer. if it's hot and shorted/grounded out in one spot you'll hear it snap and see the shorting that looks like a fire fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntinsonovagun Posted November 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 Well, I drove a 6' ground rod in last night and got a slight charge. Not quite enough though. I can literally hold my hand against it. Not much more than a slight tingle. I'm still searching. May have to drive a couple more rods in and connect them all together. Can't figure it out. We've had rain recently, so there should be plenty of moisture in the ground. It's got me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbHunterNY Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 check terminals are tight and not loose (disconnected in within the box). get a cheap fence tester and use it to test at the fencer terminal with your load side not hooked up. if it's strong you know it's not the fencer, and if not then fencer has something wrong with it. good luck figuring it out. one 3' rod does miles of fence at my parent's farm. you shouldn't need multiple rods. something is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 good luck figuring it out. one 3' rod does miles of fence at my parent's farm. you shouldn't need multiple rods. something is wrong. Yup, gotta agree. What kind of insulators are you using, plastic standoff type on t posts or rod type? Be sure the wire is clear in all corners, not touching any posts from insulators. Do you have any insulated or direct burial wire run to the fence from your charger? How close to the ground is the wire? Most times when a fence is weak it is shorting to something; grass, t posts, rod, etc.. My charger is pretty old I rebuilt it, but it is a weed clipper, even still when grass touches wire anywhere it is not as hard charging as when it is clear. It will flat knock you on your rear end if you grab it, but when it is shorted the jolt is not as bad. At one time I had a direct burial wire run underground from my charger to the fence wire and the direct burial wire developed a short over time. If you have a meter, check the fence in a few places, you can check it by touching the ground to a post and your hot to the fence wire. Then check at your charger and compare with the wire disconnected, also if you have any insulated wire in between check at that where it ties to the electric fence without it connected to the actual fence wire. If there is no short you should have close to same voltages everywhere you check, if there is much difference, anywhere then you have a short somewhere and you should be able to narrow down where. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted November 28, 2011 Report Share Posted November 28, 2011 Take it back and buy one of the petsafe wireless fences. I have one and my 75lb golden retreiver will not get withing 4' of my fence and it lights her up. You can just weave it through the fence, hook it up, put he collar on the dog and done.... It has worked like a charm to keep in the retreiver and a corgi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Are you running the right gauge and/or right kind of wire? Cheap thin fence wire can have too much resistance in it to allow much current. Be sure the ground wire isn't shorting between the unit and the rod. On many fence chargers that ground wire zaps things just like the main wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevebeilgard Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 heck, just shoot the dog. too much trouble..... lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeramie Posted November 29, 2011 Report Share Posted November 29, 2011 Steve has the best idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntinsonovagun Posted November 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2011 I agree. I honestly debated on taking his collar off so nobody would know who to return him to....wife won out on that one too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hungry hunter Posted December 3, 2011 Report Share Posted December 3, 2011 Hope I ain't too late since I got over 20 miles of electric fence (livestock containment) the biggest problem is with the plastic insulators the wire makes contact and shorts out, I use a 50 mile box with 3 grounding rods which gives me 3 joules of zapping power throughout the fence and yes it hurts like the dickens when you inadvertly touch it. wrapping the wire around the ground rod is worthless use a clamp, keep grass off the wire, clean each contact point of fence wire with sandpaper, or like steve recommended shoot the dog. What I have set up works on over 100 goats, 3 dogs, 16 horses, along with trespassers and myself. good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted December 4, 2011 Report Share Posted December 4, 2011 Steve, your advice is always short and solid bud!My bet is its a piece of crap. Go to lowes and get the $25 charger. Works great on my dogs. The rinky dink pet safe capacitor discharge one i had was junk and the dogs would run right thru it esp in dry summer months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.