Electric Top Wire Grounding on Wood Fence

[Unhackable21]

Needs to be uploaded to youtube then linked here.

Here it is.

 

[hayley3]

Thanks for the reply.

Couple things
1) I verified the voltage with a meter and it is 8000v - I also upgraded the charger to a 20KV / 6.2 Joule just in case. I want a major deterrent here. Wires are out of reach of dogs and humans currently. Basically there is no reason I would reach above the top rail myself.

2) I have the poly wire currently at a 6" standoff on the top rail (picture attached)

3) I can easily ground the wire fence everywhere, no problem - it is actually already connected to ground rods, just not to the charger, however...

4) There is no climbing - the Cat jumps from the ground right to the top rail, thus the current standoff. It can't be avoided when jumping from the ground as is - he will definitely touch it

So my question is - could I either run a ground wire on the secondary tier of my insulators (each type has a spot to wrap wire below the hot wire) This would place a ground wire about 1" below the current hot wire and the cat would inevitably touch both - just not sure of the effectiveness if it is only one paw that touches it.

or

Should I wrap poly wire around the top rail every 2-3 inches so when he jumps to the top rail he will be standing on a ground and will have to touch the hot wire.

Which one would you suggest in this scenario? Both?

I had always planned to use the offset wood insulators because they stick out so far. Got the idea from Cmom's pictures.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

[...]

2) I have the poly wire currently at a 6" standoff on the top rail (picture attached)

[...]

4) There is no climbing - the Cat jumps from the ground right to the top rail, thus the current standoff. It can't be avoided when jumping from the ground as is - he will definitely touch it

WOW! OK, that changes the dynamics some.

You **could** run a ground on the second, as you propose, BUT - there is so much potential there in your hot wire that it would almost certainly jump the air gap and bleed down. Test it with a short piece of bare ground wire, listen for the cracking/popping sound before you proceed full scale. I only push 1.2j, and after it rains, so my grounds are working spectacularly, I can hear the fence grounding across a similar distance in my lightning arrestors. More likely you would need a taller standoff, 4-6" to increase the gap to about 2.5-3"

 

[TwitchnChickens]

I would run two strands of electric wire on the sides of the fence near the top, 3 inches off the fence and 3-4 inches apart. With your top wire there That should make it very hard for the cat to get over the fence.

 

[Unhackable21]

I would run two strands of electric wire on the sides of the fence near the top, 3 inches off the fence and 3-4 inches apart. With your top wire there That should make it very hard for the cat to get over the fence.

Would these be ground wires or 2 additional hot wires?

 

[Unhackable21]

Test it with a short piece of bare ground wire, listen for the cracking/popping sound before you proceed full scale.

I was thinking to use poly wire - the exact measurement would be 4.2" from the hot wire attached to the outside of the wood blocks. Would this work? I could even run 2 poly wires for ground - one on each side of the wood blocks - would create somewhat of a deadly triangle - 2 ground wires 4" apart near the edges of the fence top rail and a hot wire 6" standoff as shown in the pic.

I will send a picture of what this looks like.

 

[TwitchnChickens]

Would these be ground wires or 2 additional hot wires?

Two additional hot wires. As long as the fence is grounded it’ll shock it as it’s climbing.

 

[cmom]

Would these be ground wires or 2 additional hot wires?

It appears to me it would be 2 additional hot wires. You could always run a line on the outside of the 2x4 top rail and I'm pretty sure it would get hit by one of the wires. The bobcats I have dealt with were diggers. I'm surprised it jumps so high, but it is a cat. I had a regular cat touch the wire and it went straight up in the air. It definitely didn't know what happened and I haven't seen it since. Again, good luck...

 

[cmom]

It will probably be back. You can run a hot wire around the bottom and bait the wire. Only turn it on when the pets aren't out. I do have a cut off switch below my fence charger. I know it jumped up on your top rail but it probably was nosing around before it decided to jump up. Here they roam at night.

 

[Unhackable21]

It will probably be back. You can run a hot wire around the bottom and bait the wire. Only turn it on when the pets aren't out. I do have a cut off switch below my fence charger. I know it jumped up on your top rail but it probably was nosing around before it decided to jump up. Here they roam at night.

I ended up doing this. I now have a wire that runs 4" off the ground, all the way around, up and over the doors. (pic) I have the system on a remote that enables/disables power to the fence now. I have to say...that 20Kv/6.7 Joule hits hard!!! Beyond the typical "test with a meter' I just had to test it myself, so I laid down a wooden pallet, put 3 rubber mats on top and stood on top of that - grabbed the wire and when it cycled, it took the air out of my lungs and it actually hurt for several minutes. I can't imagine the hit I would have felt had I been grounded! (The power supply is made for 200 miles of Bison control) I believe the cat will be deterred should it ever be brave enough to try. Thanks for the advice.

I also installed bear-proof electric doors on each coop, so I feel better that nothing will get in, even if they somehow breach the outside perimeter.

It is actually funny - the power supply snaps so loudly (and you can hear the current running through the wire on every pulse) that the coyotes that used to walk by every night, now walk around the enclosure as far as they can get from it - the cat actually came back a few times and on camera I can see that he avoided the enclosure like it was a wildfire. I have tried baiting, but so far, no animal will come near it. (which I am fine with.) We did find out that there is now a rogue mountain lion in the area that is attacking local resident donkeys, cattle and other - so I am glad I over-built.

Thanks again for all of the advice!!