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can you use re-rod for a ground rod for a electric fence? or do you have to use a copper ground rod?

EastSideBuzz · 03-11-2012, 10:29 PM

Yes reuse it over and over again.

Beregondo · 03-11-2012, 11:07 PM

Re-bar will work fine.
The longer/deeper it is, the better. (As there is more grounding contact.)

Michael Bush · 03-11-2012, 11:43 PM

I think the copper with go in easier and ground better, but rebar will probably work. Keeping the area wet also helps a lot. Take a five gallon bucket of water with you and dump on the ground where the ground rod is everytime you go to the bee yard... especially if it's been dry.

indypartridge · 03-12-2012, 04:30 AM

Depending on your soil type and how dry it is, you may also want to use more than one grounding rod.

bbbthingmaker · 03-12-2012, 05:39 AM

Here in north arkansas it gets so dry that it is hard to get an electric fence to work. I spread used roofing metal under my electric fence and tied it directly to the ground post of the charger. And yes, I also have a deep ground rod. It works great and keeps the weeds out of the wire. Probably won't win any awards for good looks.

Beev · 03-12-2012, 05:59 AM

This may sound obvious, but, if you use re-bar make sure it doesn't have any kind of coating or paint on it. I know someone who did that and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't work good.

Lynn · 03-12-2012, 08:24 AM

For most fencers, one rod is not enough. I would suggest three as a minimum and in dry/sandy conditions use more. An eight foot length of rod will almost always be deep enough so part of the rod is in contact with moist soil.

honeydreams · 03-17-2012, 01:36 AM

Rebar Can be used it has to meet some code and it has to be min 8 feet in to the ground 1/2 inch dia, and at least three place 6 feet apart from each other and have a #6 copper wire continually attached to each rod.

mrqb · 03-17-2012, 04:32 AM

many good answers but, farm boy ground rods are galvanized, in a wet spring plain steel can rust bad enough they don't work good especially after the ground dries out,copper does go in easier and works the best.but,copper next to coated wire are bad about corroding and you lose your connection,thats why farm boy grond rods are galvanized,so it depends if your wanting to use rebar short term or for the long haul.long haul i would go to a farm store and buy galvanized,you only have to put it in once.

Spark · 03-17-2012, 07:51 AM

Use a copper ground rod, they are not actually solid copper but a galvanized steel rod with a layer of copper like a plating. Coppers corrosion resistance is far greater than steel or galvanized steel or it would not be the choice for both electrical grounding systems or underground water pipes.

You can always google corrrosion resistance of copper and electrical conductivity as well.

mrqb · 03-17-2012, 08:54 AM

spark what do you use ? i can tell you from experience with miles of electric fence where coated wire" which is usually what people use for electric fence"meets copper you'll have corrosion.residential and commercial ground system use all copper into structures that hook to either copper or aluminum,grounding to underground water pipes is not the same as copper to "coated electric fence wire".. google Kencove fence Co. and check out there sight.

mrqb · 03-17-2012, 09:07 AM

larry you can use rerod i was just trying to point out things i've seen.didn't want you to find out the hard way your fence wasn't working because you lost your ground.

Intheswamp · 03-17-2012, 01:00 PM

A standard ground rod would probably work better, but I've seen scrap iron buried with wire attached for a ground.....I've see the end of a roll of wire balled up and thrown in a post hole. Depending on whether you are in a very dry area or not you could actually alternate a ground wire with the hot wire...that way if a bear or cow or whatever sticks their head through and brushes both wires they complete the circuit...a moist earth isn't necessary. The longer the rod easier it will be for the circuit to reach a moist layer of earth during times of drought.

Here's a tip for sinking an 8' ground rod...with bare hands. Dig a small 6" deep hole at the spot that you want the ground rod to go. Fill the hole with water and let it soak in. Fill and let soak in again. Fill one more time and then stab the rod into the earth...pull it out and stab again. Pump the ground rod up and down and you will see it start sinking into the earth. Add some water when the hole runs dry. Keep pumping. I've sunk several ground rods this way...it's an old ham radio trick.

It's really kind of neat to see it done. I got stumped on the last one I put in...it stopped with about 8 inches still above ground...I got the sledge and started pounding...it didn't give. Ended up I must have hit a rock.

Ed

Michael Bush · 03-17-2012, 08:07 PM

>Ended up I must have hit a rock.

Good thing it didn't end up being a gas pipeline...

Spark · 03-17-2012, 10:06 PM

Sorry mrqb I won't debate the dissimiliar metal issues with you or grounding as a whole. Here is a little reading for youhttp://www2.uwrf.edu/grazing/ground.pdf I think you'll find a copper clad ground rod far superior in both corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity than basic galvanized metal regardless of the bonding methods, but hey you're experienced

Also, Mike Bush wait till you hit a water pipe several feet down, the ground rod can pierce it just saying

yep done that

Intheswamp · 03-18-2012, 07:10 AM

Originally Posted by Michael Bush

>Ended up I must have hit a rock.

Good thing it didn't end up being a gas pipeline...

Yelp, good thing. But being only *maybe* a foot from the house foundation (earth ground for radio station) and no natural gas lines in the area and the propane tank feeding into the back of the house...no worries. I also use the ground for tinkering with xtal sets, too.

BEES4U · 03-18-2012, 07:36 AM

In an older edition of ABC & XYZ of beekeeping there is a great explanation on how to wire a dual grounded bear fence.
You place a 4' chicken wire fence flat on the perimeter, hold it in place with tent stakes, and run a ground wire to both the grounding rod and the chicken wire mat.
I watered the grounding pipe and the steel fence post too as each fence post is a ground.
I had a bear step on the mat once, had rather large discharges form its posterior end and never returned

Daniel Y · 03-18-2012, 01:39 PM

from what I have seen I don't think many manufacturers woudl argue that the grounding system would be the most important part of the electric fence. It is also most likely to be the part most likely to not be done well. You can have a state of the art top dollar lightning inducing charger and you wasted it all if you do not provide the electrical path for it to deliver by.

It almost seems like how important can this ground rod thing be when in the final event of a creature contacting the fence this final connection depends on the animal standing on the ground at all. isn't the ground really reduced to the contact the animals foot has with the earth?
To some degree this is true. But it does not mater if you never had a good contact with the earth in the first place. an animal can dig a hole to ground water and hold your fence wire in it's mouth as it does so and not receive so much as a tickle if you did not first provide a connection to that earth for the charger.

Dissimilar metals. Okay technically you are correct. Home construction codes require a copper ground wire be used and that the wiring in the home including grounds be copper as well. But if the ground fails in a home people can die. if the ground fails on your electric fence a bear is not discouraged from eating your hives. this may be a big deal to you but to the rest of the known world it is really not much of a comparison. split all the hairs you want and eek out a little more service time. You will also pay 40 dollars for your ground rod and I will pay 4. If you really want to live up to the similar metal requirements you will also run 12 gauge copper wire for your entire fence. Junky mother load. Good luck holding on to that fence for long. Otherwise if you use the traditional galvanized wire it also requires that you use the similar metal galvanized ground rod.

If you actually step out of the office of the engineer and live into the real world there are actually many other options. Once you step out in the sunlight you soon realize that all those numbers being crunched and the realities of the chemistry lab are not really necessary in the real world of delivering a poop inducing jolt to a curious critter. There is the good enough factor. Good enough is that dog making tracks into the woods with it's tail between it's leg will never stop to contemplate the material you used in your ground rod. All it knows is that it now has a deep resistance to peeing on your fence posts. Yes rebar groudn rods will rust and will fail much sooner. but they still work. so does copper and so does galvanized metal. dissimilar metal in the real world really doesn't amount to enough to give a hoot. hell drive an steel fence post in the ground and use it. the real final difference will be made in weather you test your fence on a regular basis or not. because they are all going to fade and eventually fail. And that alone is the real world difference between a copper or steel ground rod. they simply fail at different rates of speed. But they will both fail. And it is just as likely that they will fail because the ground dried out as it is that they corrode. It is actually more likely your fence will fail due to weed load than loss of grounding anyway. Spend the time checking your fence that you would have spent concerned with ground rod material and you will be much further ahead in the game.
Otherwise hammer and pipe in the ground and get on with life. Your fence will fail to the point of utter frustration and it will very likely never be because of the ground rod.

Virginia Bee · 03-18-2012, 06:04 PM

I sue a rather easy method for all mu electric fences. I take a piece of 3/8" or 1/2" galvanized all-thread (3 - 6 foot long - depending on soil type), screw a nut, then 2 washers, than another nut on the end, snug the nuts together at the end so the surface is flush, drive it in with a hammer, loosen the nuts, then place the bare end ground wire between the washers and tighten the nuts with a wrench.

It is cheap, easy, effective and I have used this method for years. Also, with the all-thread, it is easy to attach something to pull it back out of the ground if you ever need to.

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