Need to know

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ptonsparky

ptonsparky

Tom
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
How do you get owners to tell you everything you need to know?

I am working at a dairy and one of the problems was an electric fencer. I managed to get them to move it but two days ago I find another fencer on the other end of the building. When I brought this up the owners comment was "I wondered how long it was going to take you to find it."

I guess I keep charging them by the hour until they squeal.
 
ptonsparky said:
How do you get owners to tell you everything you need to know?

I guess I keep charging them by the hour until they squeal.
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You've answered your own question. ;)
 
ptonsparky said:
I guess I keep charging them by the hour until they squeal.
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Sounds like a good plan to me. I sure haven't figured out a way to get all the info at once unless the job is solely in our hands (design, install, etc.). What a minute, come to think of it, those are the worst of them. :D
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There are no problems if you are going to keep getting paid to find the problems.

My question is, "What is a fencer? What problem was it causing? How did moving the fencer solve a problem?"

Curious minds want to know.
 
An electric fence. Sends a high voltage, low current pulse thru a wire(s) to keep animals confined to a certain area. When an animal comes into contact with the energized wire, they usually back off. The return path is usually thru the earth and occasionally another wire on a multi wire fence. Best method is to keep the fencer ground rods, away from the buildings. This fencer had an uninsulated "ground electrode" conductor passing thru the metal siding down to the three rods. This would have put the building and concrete slab in parallel with the return path, but the rod connections were not there or PP, so the building shell and concrete were the return path.

For those that are unfamiliar, a good fencer will burn off any weed that happens to come in contact.
 
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ptonsparky said:
How do you get owners to tell you everything you need to know?
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"My time is your money." I have had to refrain from saying that for years - but only pull it out of the bag of tricks when absolutely necessary. When they look at you as a racing taxi meter it kinda blows any report. Same said, if they are only going to string you along - then conplain about the bill - sometimes it's better to be frank about it. So long as it can be approached tactfully.

I have also had to refrain from whistling "we're in the money" :grin: Although a still end up catching myself doing it all the time unconsiously.
 
ptonsparky said:
An electric fence. Sends a high voltage, low current pulse thru a wire(s) to keep animals confined to a certain area. When an animal comes into contact with the energized wire, they usually back off. The return path is usually thru the earth and occasionally another wire on a multi wire fence. Best method is to keep the fencer ground rods, away from the buildings. This fencer had an uninsulated "ground electrode" conductor passing thru the metal siding down to the three rods. This would have put the building and concrete slab in parallel with the return path, but the rod connections were not there or PP, so the building shell and concrete were the return path.

For those that are unfamiliar, a good fencer will burn off any weed that happens to come in contact.
Click to expand...
Cows are apparently sensitive to even very small potential differences. Has the electric fence caused any gradients in the barn where presumably the cows spend most of their time? Has that affected them in any way? e/m.
 
Yes, cows are very sensitive. Poor milking rates, lower reproduction and high white cell counts. The owners are spending $25K on some devices that are supposed to filter out hi freq noise. That is more than I know about them. I did a walk thru on the building and pointed out many of the very obvious things that can cause problems. The fencers just happen to be part of it, along with no maintenance. Parts of the building are wired in romex and just needs to be done completely over, from scratch. More than $25K. The voodo magic carries a money back guarantee so I guess we install it and wait for a few months to see how they work.
 
ptonsparky said:
Yes, cows are very sensitive. Poor milking rates, lower reproduction and high white cell counts. The owners are spending $25K on some devices that are supposed to filter out hi freq noise. That is more than I know about them. I did a walk thru on the building and pointed out many of the very obvious things that can cause problems. The fencers just happen to be part of it, along with no maintenance. Parts of the building are wired in romex and just needs to be done completely over, from scratch. More than $25K. The voodo magic carries a money back guarantee so I guess we install it and wait for a few months to see how they work.
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Yes, I blieve the requirement for wiring barns is that pvc should be used as all metalic conduits are subject to rapid deterioration from exposure to animal urine, etc. I don't think romex is allowed either. e/m.
 
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