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Catalog > Electric Fence Ground Rods and Accessories About Ground Rods: Ground rods are an essential part of electric fences. In order to administer a significant shock, the current generated by the charger, sent out to the fence, and passed through a target animal into the ground, needs to complete the circuit by passing through moist ground to a ground rod, from whence it can follow a wire back to the ground terminal on the charger. Within this context, the electric fence will fail if the ground rod is not in reasonably good contact with moist soil, and indeed this is a leading cause of electric fence failure. Therefore, while a 2-foot ground rod can be perfectly adequate for a fence protecting regularly watered ground around a garden, more extensive deer fences operating in somewhat drier soil should be served by a longer (typically 6-foot) ground rod. For really large systems it is advisable to install several ground rods close together, or even to string a neutral (uncharged) fence wire attached to the charger’s ground terminal, to which ground rods can be connected at appropriate intervals. If your soil is extremely dry or frozen, it may not be able to carry a charge at all! In such a case, you can create your own grounding system which is not dependent on soil. You do this by laying down some metal where the deer’s feet are likely to be when he/she encounters your fence. You connect this metal directly to the negative terminal on your charger, and it will act as a grounding system. This can work well in places where the deer may be standing on sand, concrete, gravel, or other non-conductive surfaces.
Ground Rods and Accessories The ground rods and wire listed below are varied enough to cope with a wide range of circumstances. The 2-foot galvanized steel rod (product 06-01C) is for short fences protecting summer gardens. The copper coating on product 06-04 adds to the rod’s effectiveness by improving its electrical connection to water molecules in the surrounding soil. Other Grounding Systems These grounding systems are meant to be laid flat, and secured to the ground to act as a grounding system (attached to the negative terminal of your charger). We offer steel grounding with thinner 20 ga wires, and thicker 16 ga wires. The spacing is either 1” hexagonal shaped wiring, or 2” x 3” rectangles. The thicker wires are more conductive, offering a bigger path for the electricity to travel through. |
