Heated water buckets

[ptonsparky]

I called the POCO and they sent a tech out to measure the voltage.....tech left message both times that we had 120v/240v at the meter. Am I missing something? It seems when you report a problem to these big companies everything gets lost in translation. I met with the tech and explained to him my problem with the stray voltage and at the same time I pointed out the cut ground line to the transformer to which he replied to me, "that that is not my department" and a different tech would have to come out. I'm getting frustrated.

I would think your area POCO would have some experience with these matters. You are not getting to talk to the right person. I doubt the single cut gound line to the transformer is a problem, but look at all the other poles in the area. Take pictures and feel free to offer them to the POCO. May not fix the problem but you might get a better response with pictures.

Are your buckets portable with no permanent water supply?

 

[Rick Christopherson]

It is very unlikely that a single ground rod at the trough will solve the problem. The earth to rod contact resistance, and the resistance of small areas of the earth itself, is just too high for that to work.

The resistance is unimportant if there is no current. Whether current exists or not will depend on how strong the voltage difference remains. It may be the equivalent of reading an induced voltage with a digital meter, but not reading a voltage with an analog meter.

Driving a ground rod is a lot cheaper than installing an equipotential grid. I would drive the rod to begin with, but make sure the customer is aware that there is a chance it may not fully correct the problem.

Even if it is a hard voltage difference (with current flow) it will still reduce the voltage sensed by the horses because there will be a voltage drop across the ground wire. Assuming that the power cable is quite long, voltage division between the earth and the ground wire will have a significant effect. If the horses can still sense the voltage, driving a second rod at the opposite end of the trough is still a lot cheaper than installing a grid.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

The resistance is unimportant if there is no current. Whether current exists or not will depend on how strong the voltage difference remains. It may be the equivalent of reading an induced voltage with a digital meter, but not reading a voltage with an analog meter.

That would be correct, but in general that type of voltage cannot be felt by the animal.

Driving a ground rod is a lot cheaper than installing an equipotential grid. I would drive the rod to begin with, but make sure the customer is aware that there is a chance it may not fully correct the problem.

I think there is a lot more than a chance that it will not correct the problem. In my opinion there is only a small chance that it will correct the problem.

Even if it is a hard voltage difference (with current flow) it will still reduce the voltage sensed by the horses because there will be a voltage drop across the ground wire. Assuming that the power cable is quite long, voltage division between the earth and the ground wire will have a significant effect. If the horses can still sense the voltage, driving a second rod at the opposite end of the trough is still a lot cheaper than installing a grid.

In most cases this voltage is from the voltage drop on the utility primary grounded conductor. A ground rod will not solve this problem. The ground rod will never flow enough current to cause a voltage drop that will reduce the voltage felt by the animal.
It will reduce the voltage for a small area around the rod, but given the size of the horse, it won't really help. At ~3' from the rod you will have ~85% of the original voltage. Even the second rod will not likely help. It is still my opinion that the only effective corrections are, neutral blockers, complete system isolation or a equal potential grid.

 

[George Stolz]

Driving a ground rod is a lot cheaper than installing an equipotential grid.

All you are doing is installing a second resistor in parallel with the first, the first being the horse.

If the horse's resistance to earth is 25Ω, and the resistance of your installed rod is 25Ω, then you will have reduced the current through the horse by half. I would not call that solving the problem, your solution is a band-aid. By installing an equipotential bonding grid, the voltage the horse perceives would be permanently and effectively eliminated.

 

[Dennis Alwon]

All you are doing is installing a second resistor in parallel with the first, the first being the horse.

If the horse's resistance to earth is 25Ω, and the resistance of your installed rod is 25Ω, then you will have reduced the current through the horse by half. I would not call that solving the problem, your solution is a band-aid. By installing an equipotential bonding grid, the voltage the horse perceives would be permanently and effectively eliminated.

I agree but it is , IMO, just a bigger band aid. I would try and find the source of the leakage.

 

[George Stolz]

I agree but it is , IMO, just a bigger band aid. I would try and find the source of the leakage.

That would be the first step, eliminating the possibility that the voltage is from an on-site problem. I was speaking under the assumption that it was already determined to be off-site.

 

[ptonsparky]

It might be cheaper to shoot the horse than find the source. Those are fun projects but can get very expensive in short order.

 

[George Stolz]

It might be cheaper to shoot the horse...

That is always a certainty, stray voltage or not!