Hello,
I'm setting up my first electric fence (ok, converting a horse fence to a sheep fence) and I'm having an issue (I think) that I'm not sure what to do about. Details:
Ground rods in super saturated soil
(4) hot wires - (2) uppers are piggybacked together and (2) lowers are piggybacked together. Cut-out switches at upper and lower groups.
Wood posts at ~ 10' oc. All screw in insulators used.
Currently, there is heavy vegetative load on the lower (2) strands. When all (4) strands are powered, I am getting readings of around 3.4 kV anywhere on the fence, including really close to the source. When I open the cut-out switch so the upper (2) wires are the only ones with power, voltage goes up to as high as 9.2 kV anywhere in the system. However, this is an inconsistent voltage. The cadence of the pulses varies and voltage numbers bounce all around from 0.1 kV all the way up to 9.2 kV. Is this indicating a leak in the system somewhere or do I have something else going on? My fault finder does not indicate there is a fault in the system, but it seems odd to have the voltage fluctuate so much. The upper (2) wires have very little weed pressure on them.
