Ground Rods and connections..

[llombardo]

You cannot "short" circuit a ground wire.... they are already short circuited to the ground... if a hot wire touches the ground, it will be a short circuit and will shut down your charger. The wires in that picture should only be ground wires. Grounding rod, to ground circuit..... When you say one goes to the charger, I am assuming you are hooking the one to the ground side of your charger... ? I would "daisy chain" or "connect" all my ground wires into one ground circuit. Keeping it apart from your hot circuit. You have to keep your hot wire isolated from anything that might be somehow "grounded", but you can link all your grounds together and it will be better for the overall system if you do it correctly. You can use multiple grounding rods and put them all onto your ground circuit.

For any electrical circuit, you need a positive (the hot wire side of your charger) and a negative... and you need a connection for current to flow. (The vermin makes the connection.) Your coop is likely pretty well grounded just because it is in contact with the earth, however the metal wiring could be incorporated into your ground circuit as well. Electricity as a concept takes a little while to understand (In my experience).

The two wires connected on the rod are ground wires. The ground wire from the top is attached to the ground wire coming from the rod. I only have one hot wire running to the charger

 

[happyfrenchman]

The two wires connected on the rod are ground wires. The ground wire from the top is attached to the ground wire coming from the rod. I only have one hot wire running to the charger

Somewhere, those ground wires have to connect to the ground side of your charger. Is that accomplished?

 

[llombardo]

For example, if you had a PVC or board privacy fence, and wanted to run a hot wire along the top......the PVC or board privacy fences are not conductor's of electricity. So an animal clinging to those is not grounded and can touch the hot wire with immunity (impunity?). So in that case you may actually want to run or install a ground wire alongside the hot wire to ensure the animal will be grounded when it touches the hot wire. It has to be done in such a way to touch both. Like finding a way to have the animal stand on or cling to the ground when it reaches out to grab the hot. Or run them close together so it tries to crawl through the two of them, touching both at the same time.

Hope this helps!

This right here is the case. The run is PVC, that is why I ran a hot wire and about 2-3 inches down a ground wire(neither touching each other or the pvc--used insulators). I connected this hot wire to the existing hot wire.

The only thing I am confused about is the grounding. And the reason I'm confused is that when I ran that ground down to the rod, the fence stopped working. Is that because there can not be 2 wires on a ground? I was told that didn't matter but then it didn't work. So that is when I came up with "Daisy chsining" that wire to the ground wire instead of of the rod.

 

[happyfrenchman]

An electric fence does not have to be set up as a circuit. In theory it could run for hundreds of miles in one direction. The only circuit that is created by electric fencing is when the animal touches the fence and hence creates a loop or circuit by facilitating the pulse to pass through it and into the ground!

This right here is the case. The run is PVC, that is why I ran a hot wire and about 2-3 inches down a ground wire(neither touching each other or the pvc--used insulators). I connected this hot wire to the existing hot wire.

The only thing I am confused about is the grounding. And the reason I'm confused is that when I ran that ground down to the rod, the fence stopped working. Is that because there can not be 2 wires on a ground? I was told that didn't matter but then it didn't work. So that is when I came up with "Daisy chsining" that wire to the ground wire instead of of the rod.

 

[happyfrenchman]

If it was working until you connected that second ground, I would suspect somewhere, you got that new ground onto your hot, and when you put it into the ground, it completed the short circuit. If your grounds are all isolated from power, they will all be one ground. You can have as many as you like and daisy chain them all together.... the whole world can be your "ground" as long as you keep your power side isolated.

 

[llombardo]

So excuse my drawing on these pictures..lol

Is this ok then? The fence is working like this.

 

[True Patriot]

To be honest I did not read every post so if I repeat something please excuse.
First, you do not need a ground that runs around the fence. It really serves no purpose. I would change it to hot.
To simplify my response "fence" will refer to the HC or other original fence material. "Wire" will refer to the hot strands. Your connections should be 1- output of control to the wire. Bridge multiple wires with insulated wire. Make sure all attachment points along the fence are insulated and not touching anything, this includes grass, weeds etc.
2- ground of control to ground rod. Use insulated wire and a proper clamp at the rod.
3- an insulated wire from the fence to the ground rod. This will make the fence grounded. Anything that touches the hot wires and fence at the same time will get shocked (climbers) without the fence getting energized.
If the run is longer than 500 total feet around the fence a second ground rod at mid point will help overcome the resistance in the fence and improve the discharge.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Turn off the system. Then Disconnect the ground wire from the coop, to the rod..... at the rod. Your short circuit is likely coming in on the one from the coop. If you disconnect at the rod, and put the wire up off the ground (and you have another ground that you think is good,) If it them seems to be working, you know that the ground wire is somewhere touching the hot. In fact, if this is the case, with the system on, you should get shocked if you touch that disconnected ground wire with one hand, and touch the ground rod with the other... but that is for the more adventurous, it is better not to get shocked.

 

[llombardo]

To be honest I did not read every post so if I repeat something please excuse.
First, you do not need a ground that runs around the fence. It really serves no purpose. I would change it to hot.
To simplify my response "fence" will refer to the HC or other original fence material. "Wire" will refer to the hot strands. Your connections should be 1- output of control to the wire. Bridge multiple wires with insulated wire. Make sure all attachment points along the fence are insulated and not touching anything, this includes grass, weeds etc.
2- ground of control to ground rod. Use insulated wire and a proper clamp at the rod.
3- an insulated wire from the fence to the ground rod. This will make the fence grounded. Anything that touches the hot wires and fence at the same time will get shocked (climbers) without the fence getting energized.
If the run is longer than 500 total feet around the fence a second ground rod at mid point will help overcome the resistance in the fence and improve the discharge.

There is no ground running around the bottom part--all hot wires

The run is not dug into the ground and the HC doesn't necessarily meet at all points--so grounding the enclosure itself is a 50/50 shot


The additional ground comes in at the top of an animal jumps from point a to point b--not climb--jump across. If the enclosure is not grounded(which I doubt) then I need something up there for that animal to touch with the hot wire, so the circuit is complete. That is the reason for the ground wire ran around two sides along the top.

From what I'm understanding I could run hot wires all the way up but if the said predator does not have its feet on the ground, it won't matter.

So I put a ground wire up top for there to be both to touch.

 

[llombardo]

Turn off the system. Then Disconnect the ground wire from the coop, to the rod..... at the rod. Your short circuit is likely coming in on the one from the coop. If you disconnect at the rod, and put the wire up off the ground (and you have another ground that you think is good,) If it them seems to be working, you know that the ground wire is somewhere touching the hot. In fact, if this is the case, with the system on, you should get shocked if you touch that disconnected ground wire with one hand, and touch the ground rod with the other... but that is for the more adventurous, it is better not to get shocked.

I got shocked once--quite a surprise and no I don't want that to happen again.