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Posted by buffalobill on May 19, 2008, 2:42 am
On May 18, 2:59 am, letter...@invalid.com wrote:
> Of all the strange things that can happen, this one I would have never
> expected. I run a farm, I have livestock in electric fences. I am
> around these fences daily, and you learn not to touch them, or touch a
> weed that is contacting the fence. Every so often I touch the fence.
> For some reason touching the fence automatically triggers my mouth to
> utter a about 5 to 10 cus words and then I continue what I was doing.
>
> When you have livestock, they still need water, and that means
> dragging out a hose and fighting the weather and the ice on the spigot
> threads.
>
> During the coldest part of last winter, I was fighting with stiff and
> frozen hoses (as always), and I decided to go shopping and see if
> there was a hose that would not get stiff when it was cold. I found a
> black rubber hose, which claimed to stay soft and pliable in even the
> coldest weather. It was costly, but I decided to give it a try.
>
> The good news, it did remain relatively soft and pliable even when the
> temps dropped below zero. The bad news, I quickly learned this hose
> is electrically conductive. I learned the hard way when the hose
> touched the electric fence, and nearly knocked me on my ass. The
> common plastic hoses do not conduct. Even when they are wet, I might
> feel a tingle, but not enough to bother me, I just lift the hose from
> the fence. But this black rubber hose (whether wet or dry), conducts
> just like a wire. In fact it seems to amplify the shock. If that
> hose is touching the electric fence, I can touch that hose anywhere
> along it's 50 foot length and get knocked to the ground.
>
> HOW IN THE HECK CAN RUBBER CONDUCT ELECTRICITY ?
>
> Aside from cutting the hose, I have carefully looked it over. There
> are no exposed wires embedded in the rubber, and even if there were
> wires in the core of the hose, there would still be rubber in between.
> Therefore, the rubber itself is conductive. WTF??????
> All I can figure is that the rubber contains a high amount of carbon
> and is acting like a resistor which sort of explains why it tends to
> amplify the shock.
>
> I called the manufacturer. No one working there, including the top
> guy could explain the reason, and said they never heard of such a
> thing. They took down my phone number and said they would contact me
> if they could answer my question. Of course I never heard back from
> them.
>
> Can anyone make any sense of this?
>
> Thanks
report oddities to the power company and they come out for free to
make sure they are not sending incomplete power circuits into your
place or the neighbor's. they do like to come out, as opposed to
electrocute their customers. :)
other examples of where the wet ground is electrified and you are
catching a shock back to the water/earth ground can show up indoors in
the home as well. when electrically leaking (compressor and motorized)
equipment electrifies a wet floor, there you are getting a shock from
your feet at your hand touching an electrically grounded item or
sink. being knocked on your ass with electricity has cost some folks
loss of common sense. some believe they can avoid the expense of an
electrician, but it's better than calling for your final ambulance
ride. using a portable gfi on an extension cord can help identify
defective appliances. and then there's always the electric fence
device and its circuits to be tested by an electrician. yours may be
defective.
review this with your electrician:
http://www.ibiblio.org/farming-connection/grazing/features/fencemis.htm
and:
http://www.ibiblio.org/farming-connection/grazing/features/ground.htm
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