Good Ground is king to every electric fence installation
The video below covers the 3 steps in verifying your electric fence installation is working correctly. By using a Gallagher Fence Volt Meter or a simple digital voltmeter you can view your installation’s power in Kilovolts (KV). It will help you determine your installation is working properly. The video gives in detail the 3 areas as outlined below
1. How to confirm your energizer is working properly
2. Using a voltmeter to confirm proper grounding –
3. How to find faults on your fenceline using amps.
Energizer test – Greater than > 5KV = working correct
Ground Post test – Less than < 0.3KV = working correct
Ground Rod – Improper grounding is the most common reason for electric fence malfunctions!
Proper grounding will determine how effective the electric fence system will be. It can be a long steel rod pounded into the ground or a plate dug three to four inches into the ground. If the ground is too dry or the ground rod inadequate, the electricity may not find its way back to the energizer resulting in little or no shock to the animal. Grounding one of the wires with a single reel connector is a recommended addition. As a minimum, install 90 cm (3 foot) of ground rod for every joule of output from the energizer. Either a ground rod, a ground plate or a combination of both may be used.