farm wiring

[fireryan]

This is for the members who have some farm experience. Have you ever seen a hog/cattle water on a gfci protected circuit. I have done alot of these and have never seen or put one on a gfci circuit. Any comment?

 

[mdshunk]

I put every new waterer I wire on a GFCI. These things are the single most electrically "leaky" devices on a farm, followed next by silo unloader motors. I almost never find any existing waterer already GFCI protected.

 

[fireryan]

Ever have any problem with nuisance tripping. You dont gfi protect the silo mototrs to do ya?

 

[fireryan]

Doy you change the old one to gfi protection?

 

[76nemo]

If you want to get down to the nitty gritty, than just PM quogue
Why wouldn't you want to protect their water supply in that fashion Ryan?

 

[cadpoint]

There's several State Bureau Manuals out on the net, pretaining to your subject matter. I beleive Wisconson is in the lead,

 

[mdshunk]

Ever have any problem with nuisance tripping.

Plainly put, there's no such thing as nuisance tripping. And no, I don't GFCI protect anything existing unless they want me to for some reason.

 

[fireryan]

If you want to get down to the nitty gritty, than just PM quogue
Why wouldn't you want to protect their water supply in that fashion Ryan?

I was wondering beacuse none of the existing waters were on gfi protection and was wondering why

 

[mdshunk]

I was wondering beacuse none of the existing waters were on gfi protection and was wondering why

You'll likely never find one that is GFCI protected unless you put one in or if it's for expensive show animals. The more you get into farm wiring, the more you'll discover that these waterers becomes bone-fide hazards as they age. If you're ever hunting stray current on a farm, look to the waterers first thing.

 

[fireryan]

There's several State Bureau Manuals out on the net, pretaining to your subject matter. I beleive Wisconson is in the lead,

I couldnt seem to find any manuals on the net. Can you list a few of the big companys that manufacture these waterers

 

[cadpoint]

http://www.datcp.state.wi.us/fs/environment/dfeh/farm_wiring.jsp

The Safe Electrical Wiring Techniques CD-ROM is a practical, informative and user-friendly means to test your electrical safety acumen.
www.wisconsinpublicservice.com/farm/wiring/

Found via a search engine using "farm wiring"

 

[realolman]

I'm curious what kinds of things these waterers are.

I grew up on a farm and we had things called drinking cups. Metal bowls about the size of a half basketball with a paddle inside. When the water level got down to the level of the paddle, the cows would push on it and that would operate a valve that let more water into it. No electricity at all.

Does this waterer thing have somthing to do with freezing ?

 

[JacksonburgFarmer]

Cattle watering equipment......

Cattle watering equipment......

Ya we wire those....LOTS OF EM.... The Gfi is there because of the mixture of water and electric. They have electric to run the heating element(s). They keep the unit from freezing up in cold weather. The GFI is neccesary, for saftey, but get disconnected/removed due to pain in the @ss factor. For example....The GFI trips ten minuates after you check the cattle at 10:30 pm. Next morning, when you check cattle, you get to thaw out the waterer, and HOPE that nothing busted. Usually something will...NOT FUN!!!Most farmers dont have total understanding of electric and what is safe....SO GOOD LUCK EXPLAINING IT TO THEM!!! Honestley, in our cattle barns (yeah, I farm also) I dont have GFI on livestock water equip. Ground correctly, and keep CLEAN (keep the inside of waterer clean of dust dirt, ect.) hand we have never had stray voltage problem. GROUND GROUND GROUND. Did i mention to ground it??? Have seen guys tie the nuetral to the frame of the waterer....:roll: :-?

 

[hillbilly]

I've not done a lot of "farm" wiring, but I've got a question.

I've always thought that the area where farm animals are confined and have access to any electrically powered equipment in their feed area had to have a Eqal potential Plane.
547.10

Just curious
steve

 

[JacksonburgFarmer]

Yes, most livestock areas are to have a equipotential grounding grid. Most generally it is just grounding the rebar or steel in the concrete. Unless the whole installation is new, and you are there when concrete is poured, you wont get this. I have seen attempts at installing a grounding "mesh" around feeders and waterers.....dosent last very long.(surface mounted on concrete)I am a contractor, and 95% of our work is agricultural. Its what we specialize in. We fix a lot of DIY attempts....usually after a livestock gets killed, barn burns, ect ect......Saftey, common sense, usability, and functionablility are keys of farm electrical installations. It takes more than a good electrican to do farm work, you almost need to be a farmer as well....especially for grain systems......complicated :grin: :grin:

 

[jrclen]

This is for the members who have some farm experience. Have you ever seen a hog/cattle water on a gfci protected circuit. I have done alot of these and have never seen or put one on a gfci circuit. Any comment?

I do quite a bit of farm wiring. Most of the cattle water units I see are installed with a receptacle outlet in the center, so called dry area. The heater unit plugs into that receptacle. At best that receptacle is located in a damp/wet location due to condensation and humidity. It is almost impossible to keep a GFCI from tripping under these conditions. I've seen hard wiring used, but the heaters are then harder to replace on a cold morning.

That said, it's also almost impossible to get an animal to drink from a water unit that is leaking current into to water. They refuse to drink. I've taken many stray voltage courses and farm wiring courses. Talking to my farmer friends and neighbors, the most common problem is reduced milk output due to the animals refusing to drink, rather than with electrocuted cows.

So most just avoid the GFCI protection in that application.

 

[fireryan]

I was thinking more on the lines of a gfi breaker maybe. Where did you take your farm wiring and stray voltage courses. I found one in madison but I cant get them to contact me back

 

[jrclen]

I was thinking more on the lines of a gfi breaker maybe. Where did you take your farm wiring and stray voltage courses. I found one in madison but I cant get them to contact me back

I took the farmstead wiring course at Stevens Point Tech College. Two of the stray voltage courses were at the University of Wisconsin in Madison and one with our local Electric Co-Op. I've also attended seminars in Madison and Oshkosh concerning these and other issues. Here is a link that might help. The Portage Tech School also offers these courses from time to time.

http://www.datcp.state.wi.us/mktg/agriculture/farm-center/pdf/REMC.pdf

I've tried the GFCI breaker but with the dampness and condensation there is enough current leakage to trip the GFCI. There are usually at least 6 of these units on a circuit and each one leaking a milliamp equals a tripped GFCI device.