Will Rogers had a quote: "There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves. " You proved him true! LOL
That video was VERY helpful and I'm very grateful - thank you for making it so simple and clear to someone who didn't know anything about the topic! Have a great day!
Thank you! You are the only electric fence how to video that explains not connecting rhe hot wire as a loop back to the Energizer unit. I don't know why I didn't figure that out... but yeah, I over thinked it😂.
Growing up on a farm i always had my cousins that were city kids test the fence by peeing on it. Also sent them into to the chicken coup to see how our roosters were doing🤣🤣🤣 Man my mom beat my ass after the chicken coup incident
At ua-cam.com/video/ShL4p7OWqBw/v-deo.html it is not correct to say that a "Hot" (not ground) can't connect in a loop to itself. For sure a hot can't connect one end to hot and the other end to ground - that's a full short to ground, bad. But having a hot fence wire loop connect to itself at each end is actually beneficial in that if there's an unintentional break anywhere along the loop, both sides of the break will remain energized.
I recently had a Merlin 4 electric fence installed. I am however looking for a way to schedule automate the activation and deactivation of the fence. Sort of set time to activate and deactivate. Any help
I've got one from Big R says its for 'small animals', basically has a charger and then a single wire you run across the top of the fence. The other wire attaches to the fence as a ground. I have a medium sized dog that's learned to climb and has been getting out. She's already been zapped 3 times in the past 2 days and is really yiping loud. I've never heard her yipe before about anything and had her almost 2 years now. I had used this same unit years ago with other dogs and don't remember the loud yiping, but this time I used a much thicker top wire (braided). Anybody know... does the thickness of the wire make the charge stronger? And what happens if its raining, or the dog is soaking wet and gets shocked?
use a straw to test if the fence is on or not, just lay the straw on the fence and move your hand closer, you will only feel i slite ticking in your fingers and its much more comfortable compared with touching it directly
How can I electrify the ends of my attic that have galvanized metal slats with light metal screen inside. Squirrels and raccoons continue to break in. How could I make it shock something without a dirt ground for an animal to stand on?
the best way to test to see if a fence is live is to pull a blade of grass set the tip of grass on fence holding it .you wont feel nothing now slowly slide grass toward finger you will feel a very light tingle that will increase in strength the closer you get to your hand
Yes the back of your hand for test/taste of power, are more/multiple grounds better along the fence line, ie a ground wire along with the positive,,,thanx
I live in eastern Colorado where the soil is sand. How do I get a solid ground when the sand has no moisture? My goats just lick the fence before they jump it.
Your best bet would probably be to have alternating fence wires hot and ground. For example 1 and 3 and 5 hot and 2 and 4 ground. Then your animals would get the full shock between strands even in a drought.
Try putting a 5 gal bucket with a small hole next to the groundIng rod. Fill with water, and the slow drip should give the ground rod the moisture it needs to make a connection to the earth. I would also amend the area you are driving the grounding rod into with top soil rich in organic material to increase the water retention abilities of the area. I have not used the bucket technique personally, but have read elsewhere that it does the job.
Hello, electrical guy here. This is a common problem for utilities, telecom, etc. in many parts of the country. So, there are off-the-shelf solutions. You can dig a slot trench 4" wide to put the ground rod in horizontally. ERICO and other manufacturers have kits for bonding a bare copper ground conductor (what you should use) to the ground rod. The depth should be 30" or below the frost line, whichever is more. You put 1" of "ground enhancement material on the bottom of the trench, lay down the rod, and put another 1" on top, then backfill. Electrical Construction & Maintenance (EC&M) magazine has a an excellent article available online titled "Achieving an Acceptable Ground in Poor Soil" that is probably all you need to know. This seems like a lot of trouble and work, but if the ground is poor, the whole system fails. If you do it right, you have a solid ground that will last 20+ years.
Commercial electric fences used by farmers and such have high voltage but a current or amplification that is very low, about 120-thousands of an amp. High voltage pulses is unpleasant enought to keep your distance, but a high current is what have the potensial to maim or kill you. Here in South East Asia there are regular serious accidents with homemade electric fences, usually as a result of some bright mind connecting a steel wire to the main power grid that have a constant output of 220V/14A or so from it. Add a passerby who's body and clothes might be wet from sweat or rain touching the wire, what could possibly go wrong?
I set my dog up (hes abt 50 pounds) with an electric fence. Got the smallest one they had which was rated for 2 miles but i only needed abt a 30 foot run. You think its too strong?
Thanks for your question. What brand and model of electric fence charger are you currently using? There is quite a few factors, but we can certainly take a look and follow up with you.
Hello Janet, Thank you for your inquiry. This is one option available to pet owners to keep pets in who are climbers contained, however it is not something that works for all animals. Some pets are more stubborn than others against deterrents where others may become afraid of the fences entirely. It honestly just depends on your pet and what is going to work for your situation. Another option that has been used and seems to prove effective is a rolling top on the fence made of PVC pipe and a wire or small rod on the inside. In this method the animal cannot get a good enough grip as the PVC turns causing the pet to drop. I hope this information is helpful in your efforts to contain your pet and please let us know if we can be of additional assistance.
Steel wire is not a permanent installation. I've put up miles and miles of electric fence around wheat and then take it down in the spring using a wire roller to roll it up in one mile rolls unless you use phone wire then you make 1/2 mile rolls.
I finish 150 holstein bulls a year and only have 2 wire electric fences,never have any problems unless the are fighting and get shoved through,nothing will stop them then
Hello JS, An electric fence can be run as a straight fence. You might have to loop it back to the energizer but you do not need to have 4 sides to a fence.
The first thing you should do is chuck those orange top gallagher standards away, they are crap. Great tips for life stylers here but not so good for perminent large farm situations. I have 1400 hectares with hot wires on every fence and hot lane fences. I maintain 12k volts all year round. You need to explain start to finish every detail.
I disagree that the fence will not work if the wire is tied together in a loop his statement is correct however the only time the fence will not work is if you were to wire it directly to ground otherwise until you have exceeded the maximum impedance of the designed circuit it will work someone is missing an opportunity to build a better circuit if a break in the conductor or transmission Wire were to occur the circuit will remain functional presuming the conductor did not become grounded if for instance it were to rest atop tall grass I should caution you both ends of the broken wire are should be considered energized from the single source energizer/controller or hot if you prefer and capable of providing the shock it was designed to provide. First and foremost electrical safety rule #1 never ever become part of the circuit.
When I was a kid I laid my shotgun against one. Quite the shock. I also had one to keep in my dog 🐕 . That was 40 years ago and back then they really put out the charge. A lot of them today are very wimpy.
The reason the amperage in so low is if you were to grab the fence you wouldn’t be able to let go which means you would have prolonged exposure to the voltage of the fence.
Hello Michael, Thanks for checking out the video. These energizers are not set to continuous release of energy but rather a pulse of energy that causes a quick electric stimulation. It is a sudden zap that deters the animal from getting another shock. However live wires will send a current to the point of contact causing a continuous electrocution.
ANY ELECTRIC FENCE CAN CREATE A SPARK UNDER PROPER CONDITIONS SO ANY NEW"" OR OLD ELECTRIC FENCE CAN CAUSE A FIRE (wire on the dry ground because a branch fell on it Fire hazard)
Great video but it brought up a question... I have a 5 ft high welded wire fence on t posts. I was thinking of adding a strand of electric fence along the top above the wire fence for coyotes trying to jump over. If they are flying through the air and hit that wire it wouldn’t even shock them would it? But it would shock them if they were scaling up the side of my fence? Jeez coyotes are the worst
Correct, but you could put a hot wire and a ground wire, side by side, a few inches apart. That way, maybe they would graze both wires at the same time. Also, you could add some grounds to the welded wire fence to help with the climbing ones. If the fencing is on wooden posts, it might not be grounded sufficiently.
I think that they mean don't come back to the ground terminal. You can go from the hot terminal and loop back to the same hot terminal. The current has no way to get back to the ground terminal except from something touching the hot wire while contacting the earth or other ground.
Hello Greg, Thanks for watching. We should pass on the fried poly wire but thanks for the offer. When it comes to the fence starting fires this can be done if the conditions are favorable. A fence properly installed has less of a chance but I suppose this is possible.
I actually found one of our mallard drakes that got hung up on and electrocuted on the fence. Nearby I also found a small bird that perched on the wire and grounded itself on the steel post 2” away. Was dead on the wire hanging by its feet.
I had Afib until i touched an electric fence. Been in perfect rhythm ever scene. No more blood thinners for me!
stuffy321 I’m going to try this.
Thanks fellas!! This video was a huge help, I've never installed one by myself and this covered all my questions.
Will Rogers had a quote: "There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves. " You proved him true! LOL
how far apart do you want your grounding rods? if you have frequent rain do you need more than one grounding rod
That video was VERY helpful and I'm very grateful - thank you for making it so simple and clear to someone who didn't know anything about the topic! Have a great day!
Thank you! You are the only electric fence how to video that explains not connecting rhe hot wire as a loop back to the Energizer unit. I don't know why I didn't figure that out... but yeah, I over thinked it😂.
I’m still trying to figure that out? Could you please send me a reply and explain it? Thanks!
Can you put the electric fence on the top of a screen enclosure if you run a ground wire from the rod to the charger and the same insulator?
Growing up on a farm i always had my cousins that were city kids test the fence by peeing on it. Also sent them into to the chicken coup to see how our roosters were doing🤣🤣🤣 Man my mom beat my ass after the chicken coup incident
I’d love to hear what you edited out!!
I feel like I re-watched parts of this so many times, it deserves more than one thumbs up.
Hey TheLtUhura,
I'm sorry you cannot give it more than one thumbs up so for that I will give you a thumbs up for watching!
Thanks for watching!
do you have to put a ground wire to each strand of wire on the fence? Three strand fence hook ground to each strand?
Your questions🙏
His explanations 🙌👏
Thank you!!
if grass or any other plant grows and touches the wire, will this short circuit the system causing it to fail?
At ua-cam.com/video/ShL4p7OWqBw/v-deo.html it is not correct to say that a "Hot" (not ground) can't connect in a loop to itself. For sure a hot can't connect one end to hot and the other end to ground - that's a full short to ground, bad. But having a hot fence wire loop connect to itself at each end is actually beneficial in that if there's an unintentional break anywhere along the loop, both sides of the break will remain energized.
Thank you for clearing that up!
I did not think his statement was correct but I believe for sure that he just didn’t say it the way he meant it
This was almost as good as watching Steve eat out dated MREs! Lol
Thank you for the good information in this video. I will be helpful.
I recently had a Merlin 4 electric fence installed. I am however looking for a way to schedule automate the activation and deactivation of the fence. Sort of set time to activate and deactivate. Any help
Way too funny watching you scared of the fence. Love it. Lot's of great info.
Oh. My. Heck. I’m laughing so hard! Plus SUPER helpful!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you... I searched for the loop / complete circle info for many hours..
I've got one from Big R says its for 'small animals', basically has a charger and then a single wire you run across the top of the fence. The other wire attaches to the fence as a ground.
I have a medium sized dog that's learned to climb and has been getting out. She's already been zapped 3 times in the past 2 days and is really yiping loud.
I've never heard her yipe before about anything and had her almost 2 years now.
I had used this same unit years ago with other dogs and don't remember the loud yiping, but this time I used a much thicker top wire (braided).
Anybody know... does the thickness of the wire make the charge stronger? And what happens if its raining, or the dog is soaking wet and gets shocked?
Excellent video! Thanks for explaining how an electric fence works.
use a straw to test if the fence is on or not, just lay the straw on the fence and move your hand closer, you will only feel i slite ticking in your fingers and its much more comfortable compared with touching it directly
Great video. Thanks guys!
Thanks. Answered all my questions. I dont have to touch it now to see how powerful the shock is.
I don't need an electric fence but I watched it anyway lol soooo informative and interesting haha. Subed!
How can I electrify the ends of my attic that have galvanized metal slats with light metal screen inside. Squirrels and raccoons continue to break in. How could I make it shock something without a dirt ground for an animal to stand on?
I use to play with these when i was younger, i liked the feel of electricity going through my arm xD
the best way to test to see if a fence is live is to pull a blade of grass set the tip of grass on fence holding it .you wont feel nothing now slowly slide grass toward finger you will feel a very light tingle that will increase in strength the closer you get to your hand
Very good presentation, good personality of the narrator to keep the subject interesting, be sure not the bite the wire!
Use a pine needle, oat strand, any 10" piece of grass, feel the tingle, it's hot...
Thnaks for the informative video and clearing lots of myths.
::)
and one more thing what was the background music in the beginning of video?
Hey Avinash Pandey, the song is Different Futures by Good News Tunes.
Yes the back of your hand for test/taste of power, are more/multiple grounds better along the fence line, ie a ground wire along with the positive,,,thanx
Useful information, thank you!
Just want to clarify - my old fence “system” that has loops in it is set up wrong? IOW hot wire makes several circles.
Gads dude. Your face grimace reminded me of Dr Grant grabbing the fence at Jurrasic Park.
I live in eastern Colorado where the soil is sand. How do I get a solid ground when the sand has no moisture? My goats just lick the fence before they jump it.
Your best bet would probably be to have alternating fence wires hot and ground. For example 1 and 3 and 5 hot and 2 and 4 ground. Then your animals would get the full shock between strands even in a drought.
Try putting a 5 gal bucket with a small hole next to the groundIng rod. Fill with water, and the slow drip should give the ground rod the moisture it needs to make a connection to the earth. I would also amend the area you are driving the grounding rod into with top soil rich in organic material to increase the water retention abilities of the area. I have not used the bucket technique personally, but have read elsewhere that it does the job.
Keep ground around ground rod wet is one possibility, but also run some earth wires on the fence
Hello, electrical guy here. This is a common problem for utilities, telecom, etc. in many parts of the country. So, there are off-the-shelf solutions. You can dig a slot trench 4" wide to put the ground rod in horizontally. ERICO and other manufacturers have kits for bonding a bare copper ground conductor (what you should use) to the ground rod. The depth should be 30" or below the frost line, whichever is more. You put 1" of "ground enhancement material on the bottom of the trench, lay down the rod, and put another 1" on top, then backfill. Electrical Construction & Maintenance (EC&M) magazine has a an excellent article available online titled "Achieving an Acceptable Ground in Poor Soil" that is probably all you need to know.
This seems like a lot of trouble and work, but if the ground is poor, the whole system fails. If you do it right, you have a solid ground that will last 20+ years.
Commercial electric fences used by farmers and such have high voltage but a current or amplification that is very low, about 120-thousands of an amp. High voltage pulses is unpleasant enought to keep your distance, but a high current is what have the potensial to maim or kill you.
Here in South East Asia there are regular serious accidents with homemade electric fences, usually as a result of some bright mind connecting a steel wire to the main power grid that have a constant output of 220V/14A or so from it. Add a passerby who's body and clothes might be wet from sweat or rain touching the wire, what could possibly go wrong?
I set my dog up (hes abt 50 pounds) with an electric fence. Got the smallest one they had which was rated for 2 miles but i only needed abt a 30 foot run. You think its too strong?
Thanks for your question. What brand and model of electric fence charger are you currently using? There is quite a few factors, but we can certainly take a look and follow up with you.
Will an electric fence at the top work for a dog climbing over a wood fence.
Hello Janet,
Thank you for your inquiry. This is one option available to pet owners to keep pets in who are climbers contained, however it is not something that works for all animals. Some pets are more stubborn than others against deterrents where others may become afraid of the fences entirely. It honestly just depends on your pet and what is going to work for your situation. Another option that has been used and seems to prove effective is a rolling top on the fence made of PVC pipe and a wire or small rod on the inside. In this method the animal cannot get a good enough grip as the PVC turns causing the pet to drop. I hope this information is helpful in your efforts to contain your pet and please let us know if we can be of additional assistance.
Steel wire is not a permanent installation. I've put up miles and miles of electric fence around wheat and then take it down in the spring using a wire roller to roll it up in one mile rolls unless you use phone wire then you make 1/2 mile rolls.
I finish 150 holstein bulls a year and only have 2 wire electric fences,never have any problems unless the are fighting and get shoved through,nothing will stop them then
Hey, what about security electric fences??
Can I may a one wall of electric fence or does it have to be 4?
Hello JS,
An electric fence can be run as a straight fence. You might have to loop it back to the energizer but you do not need to have 4 sides to a fence.
Rubber boots don't insulate you from shock. I know cause I've been shocked wearing then. Voltage is so high they don't insulate.
The first thing you should do is chuck those orange top gallagher standards away, they are crap. Great tips for life stylers here but not so good for perminent large farm situations. I have 1400 hectares with hot wires on every fence and hot lane fences. I maintain 12k volts all year round. You need to explain start to finish every detail.
Ry good video!!!
I disagree that the fence will not work if the wire is tied together in a loop his statement is correct however the only time the fence will not work is if you were to wire it directly to ground otherwise until you have exceeded the maximum impedance of the designed circuit it will work someone is missing an opportunity to build a better circuit if a break in the conductor or transmission Wire were to occur the circuit will remain functional presuming the conductor did not become grounded if for instance it were to rest atop tall grass I should caution you both ends of the broken wire are should be considered energized from the single source energizer/controller or hot if you prefer and capable of providing the shock it was designed to provide. First and foremost electrical safety rule #1 never ever become part of the circuit.
When I was a kid I laid my shotgun against one. Quite the shock. I also had one to keep in my dog 🐕 . That was 40 years ago and back then they really put out the charge. A lot of them today are very wimpy.
No I don't think there wimpy.i have a 36joule unit running my property and I have 7.5kv on my fences
The reason the amperage in so low is if you were to grab the fence you wouldn’t be able to let go which means you would have prolonged exposure to the voltage of the fence.
Hello Michael,
Thanks for checking out the video. These energizers are not set to continuous release of energy but rather a pulse of energy that causes a quick electric stimulation. It is a sudden zap that deters the animal from getting another shock. However live wires will send a current to the point of contact causing a continuous electrocution.
thank you
Had his momma known she would have starved him and sold the milk.
Myth # 4
You get electrocuted if you pee on an electric fenc
FALSE
It hurts like a mother porker though.
Very helpful! Thanks!
ANY ELECTRIC FENCE CAN CREATE A SPARK UNDER PROPER CONDITIONS SO ANY NEW"" OR OLD ELECTRIC FENCE CAN CAUSE A FIRE (wire on the dry ground because a branch fell on it Fire hazard)
Great video!
What if you tested the fence with the back of your hand instead?
Great vid very helpful
What happens when you grab a buddy then touch the electric fence?
Hmmm. We're assuming they would both feel a bit electrifying, but we might have to test that one out. Any volunteers?
Only touch an electric fence if your holding someone's hand it makes it worth while 😂
Great video but it brought up a question... I have a 5 ft high welded wire fence on t posts. I was thinking of adding a strand of electric fence along the top above the wire fence for coyotes trying to jump over. If they are flying through the air and hit that wire it wouldn’t even shock them would it? But it would shock them if they were scaling up the side of my fence? Jeez coyotes are the worst
Correct, but you could put a hot wire and a ground wire, side by side, a few inches apart. That way, maybe they would graze both wires at the same time. Also, you could add some grounds to the welded wire fence to help with the climbing ones. If the fencing is on wooden posts, it might not be grounded sufficiently.
So.... High tensile turbo wire?
Best bit of knowledge.. Don't complete the wire back to the source.. Leave it open
I think that they mean don't come back to the ground terminal. You can go from the hot terminal and loop back to the same hot terminal. The current has no way to get back to the ground terminal except from something touching the hot wire while contacting the earth or other ground.
Good old NZ farm tech
You can't roll up and re-set metal wire? Someone should tell Joel Salatin. He moves his fences everyday to change grazing paddocks for the cows.
Hayseed I will add that you can reuse metal however I wouldn't call it portable. Poly fence is highly portable. And yes I have and use both.
lol...another one....... yes, they can potentially start a fire, would you like me to show you some fried poly wire ?
Hello Greg,
Thanks for watching. We should pass on the fried poly wire but thanks for the offer. When it comes to the fence starting fires this can be done if the conditions are favorable. A fence properly installed has less of a chance but I suppose this is possible.
Can electric fencing kill?
I actually found one of our mallard drakes that got hung up on and electrocuted on the fence. Nearby I also found a small bird that perched on the wire and grounded itself on the steel post 2” away. Was dead on the wire hanging by its feet.
If it's one of my diy yes, commercial grade no
There was no information on how to set up a fence.
The positive can go in a complete loop and you will still get a shock.....obviously he is not an electrician.
Hey Greg,
Matt is certainly not an electrician but he was happy to take a hit for the team on this one.
Thanks for watching.
Contrary to popular belief, electricity takes all paths available - in inverse proportion to the impedance of the paths.
After the 50 second opening "skit" I am inclined to question the accuracy of anything stated in this video.
Everyone that is willing to do this, please use the back of your hand m, don’t grab it
😂😂😂
ALWAYS TOUCH WITH THE BACK OF THE HAND, THE ELECTRICITY WILL MAKE YOU GRAB AND HOLD ON THE WAY YOU WERE TRYING
NO IT WONT. NEXT TIME WATCH THE VIDEO BEFORE COMMENTING.
Pulsing electric fence wont but household 110 or 220 will and can kill you
you sook 12 volts try 240 do it all the time, !