electric fence trouble shooter.

C

Chestnut mare

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We have a large paddock with 2 mares. We have post and rail fencing around the outside (not electrified) . We have had them in half the paddock since March. There is a electric fence accross the middle. With tall posts and green thick tape. A complete straight line apart from a fence connector. There are two lines of tape joined to the fence with plastic handles and condensors. There is a energiser and fully charged battery connected. The light is on and can hear the clicking!
As the grass has started to drop off we have moved a post allowing them a foot or so of grass. My pony wants more.....she has her head under the bottom strand right up to her withers stuffing her face! Only a matter of time until she 'stumbles' through!

Help..... Any ideas what could be going on? Nothing worse than arriving at the yard and fence down and ponies are out! Usually when you are in a rush to get to work :roll eyes:

Thanks in advance. :)
 
Youve definitely got electric going through the bottom strand? Silly question but lots of people over look it, i run a short piece of electric tape between the top & bottom strands to ensure it will actually work. You can get line testers for about £10, it maybe worth investing in one :) or just touch it lol, thats cheaper.
 
Add another line of tape below the bottom strand don't connect it to the live strands but do connect it to the earth

Not only does it give you a lower strand without the worry of shorting but it means that when the pony touches earth and live strand together (which he should if they are close together) he should get a stronger belt
 
If you have made up the fence with one piece of electric tape & that tape makes up both top & bottom strands of the fence then you should have power to the bottom strand. If you haven't & the strands are separate then you will only have power to the top one. You need to link the top strand to the bottom one. One of the best ways is to use these type of clips:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/10X-Allig...858?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cff53a72a
If you do have the top & bottom connected & there is still no power then either your earthing spike may not be long enough or in the ground far enough. The energiser may not be powerful enough for the length you wish to energise. Your fence may be earthing too much due to undergrowth. Your battery may not be holding enough charge to power the fence. Sometimes, if you are using old tape the condutor strands may be broken in numerous places & preventing the fence from working.

If you have a meter then try that on the fence in various places & it will tell you if & how much voltage you have at various points.

Good Luck
 
Just because it is connected does not mean the power is going all the way through!
The wires running through the tape often break so the power is no longer running through.
Get a fence tester or grab it to see if it is working!
 
We have 2 seperate lines of tape top and bottom, each with a handle at either end attached to the post and rail. Will go along it with a tester tomorow and a third line of fence sounds a useful idea. Thank you :)
 
Also a couple of buckets of water poured at the bottom of the earth stake can help enormously, fences lose quite a bit of power if the earth stake is dry, certainly mine has needed extra water recently as even heavy showers don't soak down far enough sometimes
 
Hi, you say you have two handles at the end of your tape attatched to the post and rail. Are they the plastic insulated ones, or the ones with a metal hook and a spring inside? If the metal hook type, what have you fixed them to on the post and rail? Ie, are they hooked onto a gate insulator or just hooked onto the post and rail?
 
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