Fence Update

Dear Wal,

Yesterday morning I went out to make sure the fence was working, because Buzzy got out again (of course). And of course, it wasn't working. I knew everything on the fence end of the circuit was working fine because I had been over it about sixty times. However, I hadn’t even looked at the charger’s end of the circuit. When I checked it, I discovered why it wasn’t working.

Both wires, the ground and the wire that’s supposed to electrify the fence, were connected to the ground. Everything was corroded nearly off of its connections, and to top it all off the wire leading from the charger to the fence had broken. I attempted to fix all of this, but then promptly gave up when I got to the part where I had to splice the wire. I can fix electric fence, but I can’t splice a normal insulated wire. It’s sad. I know how to now, at least.

Anyway, once Dad got home we went out and fixed all of the problems I mentioned above and made it so all the wiring and such wouldn’t get wet. The problem was, once we set all this up we discovered that the lightning arrestor wasn’t working either. It had been blown out. Probably in one of the numerous storms we’ve had over the summer.

So, now we have to get a new lighting arrestor and then I have to go around the circumference of the fence and make sure nothing is touching it/everything is a complete circuit. It’s actually kind of satisfying-in a cleaning-the-house kind of way. You’re proud of it when you’re done, but you still hate it.

I realize that for some people this is all gibberish. Let me explain.

The ‘ground’ I spoke of before is a wire that runs to a metal post that’s sunk into the ground. This is what keeps your wiring and your charger safe. The charge goes out from the charger, through the fence and into the ground before dissipating harmlessly into the earth. Another wire goes from the charger to the fence, and on that wire you have the lightning arrestor. It’s this funny looking thing that blows out like a fuse when the fence get’s hit by lightning, so that your charger doesn’t explode. And trust me, it will explode. From the other end of the arrestor goes the wire that connects to the fence.

You have to make sure however many strands of wire you have on your fence-two or three usually-are all connected to the wire from the charger. Then you have to make sure that the strands of fence aren’t touching the post/have sticks laying on them/have things growing on them or else your fence will ‘ground out.’ Meaning that the charge will go into the ground and not around your fence and into the ground next to the charger like you want it too. This is very scientific stuff.

/endrant

P.S. I’m a fencing nerd. D8