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The Hobbit Hole XIX: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1329893/posts |
Posted on 12/20/2004 9:01:36 AM PST by ecurbh
New verse:
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Upon the hearth the fire is red, |
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Still round the corner there may wait |
Home is behind, the world ahead, |
My only suspicion is a faulty earth ground. Is the grounding spike for your fence REALLLYYY long, and into some damp ground?
A more serious problem is an inadequate earth ground for the household 110v AC. That ground circuit in a 3-hole outlet has to go SOMEWHERE. It actually has to get back to the power pole somehow. In Europe, there's a return-to-the-pole wire for each household circuit. In the US, that green wire is connected to a house ground stake, and the earth's conductivity is expected to take the current back to a power pole with a ground cable to accept the ground current.
Not all power poles have those grounding cables (a cost measure), and "floating ground" problems can arise, especially in very dry weather. The ground is less conductive, and strange things can happen. The "neutral" line can get mixed up with the ground line. Marl has had switches fail, and electric fencing go wonky, under similar situations. I got a good poke from an electric fence when I was six feet away, and pointed my meter probes at the fence.
The horses are even more sensitive to that stuff. I suggest you get hold of the power company, and insist they get out there right now, while these conditions still exist. They have the equipment to check for stray AC fields. Whether they have the brains or ambition to do it is another matter.
If you're desperate, hire an electrical contractor who understands these problems. You need to check for solid 110v grounding at the house and the barn, and both should have their own ground stakes. He can also scope out the local power poles, and see if they have adequate ground cabling, too.
This is just speculation on my part. The most discouraging part is getting the power company to get off its ass, and not just blow away your complaint. This is probably intermittent and weather-related, but it indicates that there IS a real problem behind it.
Disclaimer: I'm not an electrical engineer, and don't portray one on TV. However, I have been zapped a number of times.
There are three long (at least three feet in the ground) ground rods for the fence (added extra to GET adequate ground in summer when it is dry) and the ground right now is saturated. We got four inches of rain last night.
The rest of your post is a little overwhelming... need to absorb all that!
---er.... obviously ( I hope it makes sense) the first paragraph up there is a quote of yours
Yes, but don't feel bad. I on the other hand gave an answer and sounded completely clueless.
Which is accurate, but embarrassing.
I wondered that too, but we left them inside late, and they seemed calm till I opened Cyn's gate. They didn't seem freaked before that.
When it is wet too many grounding spikes can be a problem. You are probably getting a ground loop between those spikes.
Well, yes and no. We've checked easily accessed parts of both circuits out there, but can't see the point where it actually comes out of the ground because there is frap in the way. The circuit appears to be live running up the wall, and it splits way overhead at the peak of the roof, not all that easy to get up there without killing ourselves.
That would be putting an AC field in the ground around there and I am betting the horses can sense that. To them it might be like the tingle of an impending lightening strike or something.
Except we plugged the fence in to a different outlet on the other circuit and it is now working fine. Ecurbh tested and got a good zap on it.
Are you guys enjoying this mystery or am I being a pain?
Is there ONE breaker for all those plugs and half of them work?
Oops, back to square one (in my mind).
hmmm....
I like puzzles and I am vary bored.
No - there appear to be two breakers.... two complete circuits - out there. One controls one side and one set of lights and outlets, the other one controls the other side and the other set of outlets.
So the break could be underground somewhere?
You disconnect the breaker end and put a DC signal on each wire to see if one is still making it. Or you could just plug in half as many things in the bar... :P
Sorry, out of ideas.
Oh man, my spelling is werrs thank nromal today.
Drat, killed it again...
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