Ground Rods and connections..

[llombardo]

The ground wire I'm holding in this picture is what I'm trying to figure out where to connect. The goal is if they climb on top or jump from my regular 6 ft privacy fence they will hit ground and hot and get zapped

View attachment 1509455

It looks like rain here and I csught the charger while it was blinking again(they are sending me a new one) but it's still hot. So I connected the ground wire I'm holding in this picture to the ground wire on the rod going to the charger. Not the rod itself but the actual wire. That is the only way the fence doesn't shut down. I have not added another to at this point but I will be adding possibly two more and I'll have questions there too..

So was this the correct way to go it? There is no way to test it.

 

[Trish1974]

I wish I had an answer for you. This is something I have wondered myself. Let us know if you have any break ins overnight. Good luck.

 

[Howard E]

Sorry, I was gone for the day. Frustrating to need help and none is forthcoming. Sorry.

You have an awfully busy setup there. I'm not sure I can tell what you have done until I"m able to study the pictures a bit more. More like a million word would have been needed for all that.

PS:

Where in IL? Sometime in the not too distant future, I need to travel to the Bloomington/Normal area. If it worked out, I'd stop by to take a look at what you have done and what you want to accomplish. But we can get you going long before then.

 

[llombardo]

So this is what I originally did..

I put the electric up like normal. I used one ground rod(there is really good moisture here) . I hooked the wire to the ground rod and put that wire in the charger on the ground side. I then put 8 continuous strands around the enclosure (4 inches up for first one, then every rung up the pole-about 2-3 inches apart) with the last one about a foot up(thus was a just in case a dog or coyote were to jump on the enclosure) I atrached that hot wire to the charger(hot side)

So the dilemma has been the one side where I think raccoons could jump from my vinyl fence for the whole yard to the top of the enclosure. It's about 3 feet. I know they have been in the yard. I found a garbage bag torn, I found zip ties broke off(none since the fence has been up) and I also found dried blood on the wood along with scratch marks by the gate. I had left exposed hardware cloth for that purpose and it worked. The only way they are coming in is climbing over the fence--no other entry points.

So now comes the wiring for that one (side), I also did an additional side that is in the pictures as a precaution. The top is the red clips.. The top wire is the hot wire(which is attached at the opposite send to the wire that is half way up the run) I then ran a wire right under the hot one on the top to be used as a ground(so they touch both and get zapped and hopefully fall backwards). Now I need how to ground that ground wire. I tried attaching it to the rod and the fence went dead, which kind of makes sense because it closed it off. So then I went with attaching that top ground wire to the the actual ground wire coming from ground rod. It did not shut the fence down, I just don't know if I did it right for sure? I can't test it, I know the wire on top is hot, just don't know if I grounded it right.

Do not laugh, but I have now bought chimes and put two on the coop in the corners so if they are on the net I will hear the chimes. I have not slept at night unless it's pouring rain for a long time now. I'm exhausted, but I have to keep these guys safe. I'm going to most likely run a hot wire into the run and around the coop and duck house for added measure. I just need to be able to disconnect that easily during the day when the chickens and ducks are out.

I know it sounds like overkill but I know for a fact they are trying to get in, I know one us huge(like up to my male neighbors thigh on hind legs), I know there are several at least from one family(they play in the trees 25 ft from the coop). Talk about unsettling.

 

[llombardo]

Thank you for that offer--I'm always away from there--a couple hours, but that was very kind of you.

I'm just very scared for these chickens and ducks. This wildlife isn't going anywhere sny time soon, so protecting them is all I got.

 

[007Sean]

All you need is 1 ground wire. The ground wire from the charger to the ground rod.
You can use jumpers between the different hot wires, even your top wire, it doesn't need another ground. When you added the other ground wire you created a direct short, that's why you saw it go dead.

 

[llombardo]

All you need is 1 ground wire. The ground wire from the charger to the ground rod.
You can use jumpers between the different hot wires, even your top wire, it doesn't need another ground. When you added the other ground wire you created a direct short, that's why you saw it go dead.

The only actual ground wire I have going around the enclosure is that wire on the top. All wires are hot. Did I ground that wire correctly by attaching it to the ground wire coming from the rod?


So let me get this straight..if the animal touches the hot wire while its feet are on the ground it gets zapped, correct? In order to get zapped the animal would have to be touching hot and ground, no?

If the same said animal is air bound and jumps, how is it getting zapped if nots touching the earth if there is no ground wire? That wire on the top is hot and I would get zapped because my feet are on the ground.

So did I ground that wire on the top when I attached it to the ground wire already existing.

I just need to know that a raccoon will get zapped if it jumps over.

 

[007Sean]

Well the pen it's self is grounded, so if it lands on the pen and the hot wire it will get shocked. That's why you use insulators to run the wires on, so your not grounding out the hot wire by touching the pen.

 

[llombardo]

The pen is pvc, not wood. Does that make a difference?

 

[007Sean]

From your pics it looks like it's covered in HC, right? If it continues into the ground, then it's grounded or did you not run it out from the pen to make an apron around the bottom of the pen?
If you did, then It would be grounded...if not then all you have to do is ground the HC with a wire lead and ground rod. Easy peasy!