[username00101]

Question: If I install a second fence with a new energizer around the perimeter of an existing electric fence, can I use the same ground connection for both fences?

Or do I need to buy more grounding rods and install a second ground for the second fence?

 

[NY14804]

"Do not connect two or more energizers to the same ground system", according to this company's installation page:

https://kencove.com/fence/99_Energizer+Installation_resource.php

 

[notaclue]

Yeah...NO! Whole new ground, unless you're replacing the old one with the new one. Is the current energizer not able to handle a second fence or is there a another reason? Maybe a backup?

 

[username00101]

Yeah...NO! Whole new ground, unless you're replacing the old one with the new one. Is the current energizer not able to handle a second fence or is there a another reason? Maybe a backup?

Yeah, it's a backup but I was hoping I could just connect the second one into the same ground system as the first.

 

[Tim KS]

I don't know why not use the same ground.....all the different circuits in breaker box go to the same ground.

 

[NY14804]

I seem to remember there was another restriction on how close ground beds / systems could be from each other, along with the ground rods spacing in each system. They wanted them spaced out for the ground bed to work correctly...maybe if too close it would cause a backfeed (or reverse polarity) issue from a triggered system to an adjacent untriggered system? I don't know, but the manufacturers are experts in these systems, so I follow their directions.

 

[username00101]

I don't know why not use the same ground.....all the different circuits in breaker box go to the same ground.

Can I plug the energizer into 2 different circuits in my house panel - using the same ground? Would that make any difference?

 

[Tim KS]

I'm not an electrician or anyone who knows for sure, but I do have some practical knowledge and common sense (not to say the others answers lack either of those). I do have some experience with electric fences because I've used them to keep cattle & other livestock fenced in for more than 50 years.

Most fence charger's output is intermittent to allow the critter in contact to get away from it once touched. I've seen large animals knocked to their knees from contact with a good 'hot' fence. Chargers have two terminals....a positive & negative. The positive terminal is the hot wire, but it need a good ground for somewhere to discharge....think lightening from cloud to ground. Ground rods are driven into the soil to make better contact with moist soil. If it's really dry, it does help to water the rods to make good contact, because electricity travels much better in wet soil rather than dry soil.

As long as you have a good connections to a good ground rod, I see no reason that you can't run two systems with a common ground rod. It's possible that the design of the charger or chargers could possibly effect the use of two on a common ground, but I have no knowledge of that.

I'm not sure of your question about plugging into different circuits in the house....should make no difference if the same circuit or two different.

 

[crofter]

A magnetic field is produced around the fence conductors and in the earth through the ground rods. Two different fence energisers will be out of sync. with the timing of their peak impulses. It is regulation that fence systems not be fed by more than one energiser since it could create additive or cancelling effects and interfere with the provision that Tim KS refers to.

Though household circuits share a common ground they also have a separate common conductor. Their live sides would show a potential voltage one to the other of twice what you would expect from each separately. It all works well without us having to know about it, provided the protocol is followed. If you power up a device from separate outlets you have a 50 - 50 chance of it being OK or bad things happening.

With our bee fences it might only cause reduced effectiveness but perhaps could result in some above recommended durations or voltage charges. Some fence systems in places like Australia are powered up with 10 times or more energy than is common here and results potentially more noticeable.

Someone whose work is dealing with ground conductance of electrical fields could give a much better discription. My experience only scratches the surface.

 

[Tim KS]

Frank, I think I might have a couple of chargers around here in the shed. This winter, when I have nothing to do, I may have to hook them up and test this out with the help of a volt/amp meter to see if there is reduction in the intensity of the shock with & without being connected to a common ground. Don't hold your breath for the results though.