I still make mistakes myself because i m constantly challenging myself to make fencing easier faster stronger and safer.
Electric fence earth stake spacing.
The earth system consists of a number of earth rods the provide an effective low resistance path for the current to return to the energizer s earth terminal.
Fortunately this is easy to rectify.
If your fence is very long then the earth will have to be better than if it is short because the circuit is much bigger from the electric wire back to the earth stake s.
For an electric fence shock the current produced by an energizer must complete a full circuit.
Does power fence cost more to build than barbed wire.
With 30 years of experience building hundreds of km of electric fence i ve seen just about every fencing mistake possible.
The fence charger or energizer is designed to alter the electric charge into a power that is safe for animals and people.
Isn t power fence intended to be a temporary fence high tensile power fence is every bit as permanent as barbed wire.
But when conditions become dry mike says.
First you need to create a dead short on your electric fence line at least 100 metres away from the earth stakes by laying an iron bar across the wires to ground.
And i continue to see folks make many of the same common mistakes.
Don t place your earth stake next to trees.
The moral of this story is that the simplest thing can cause a failure of an electric fence.
With a voltmeter measure the voltage between the earth stakes and the ground.
How does earthing work.
Small and nimble species like rabbits for instance need more lines than larger less agile animals like cattle or horses.
The ground constitutes 50 of the electrical circuit but 90 of all problems originate at poor earthing either at the earth stake itself or on the fence.
The number of lines in your electric fence and their spacing depends on the size and agility of the animals you want to contain or deter.
Additional earth stakes may be added by driving them into the ground 1 2 meters away from the existing stake and joining them together.
And do not forget to miss the walls and trees.
Remember push your earth stake well in.
The grounding circuit is a critical component of your electric fence and is essential to its proper functioning.
When i put in our electric fence unit 15 years ago i rammed in 2 earth stakes into a bit of swampy spring connected these with no 8 galvanised wire and connected that to a.
Make sure your earth stake is pushed into the ground as far as you can get it.
Larger energizers with large fence lines require more earthing rods.