Telephone and Electric Fence Interference

My concern is that this electric fence has been in place for about eight years without any interference with anyone. Why would it all of a sudden start interfering with his telephone.

The underground telephone line and the electric fence run together for about 700 feet, then the telephone line goes up the road to his house. I have checked the insulators, metal posts, connections and ground – they are all good. I have 8,000 volts on the line.

I know the lines should not be running parallel to each other, but they have been there for 8 years without problems, now there is a problem. We are just talking telephones, not computers/modems, etc…

Would some type of RFI filter on the electric fence help? I have one for lightning protection, but I understand there is a RFI filter for the output side of the charger to block “noise”. Anyone know about these, and where I can get one? I did an internet search and only got hits from New Zealand.

Russ

And don't give up the secrets about the cordless phones. Is $75 to show over a bad base unit.

Heard today that now we're buying ATT. Mmm mmm mmm. Contract extension expires next Saturday, and Texas is crying no money for any of our proposals. Yeah, because gonna spend $15 billion to buy ATT. Things sure were better for me when the company was just a 5 state RBOC.

Mark

A voice of reason.

Allan

Well, here's another one. Everybody this side of the apple orchard, a mile up the road, has that click, click, click. We've been here 10 yrs and dealt with easily 15 repairmen. Ain't anybody working for Sprint who can fix it. And I have met a couple of their guys who sure impressed me with what they knew. One from repair, one from engineering. Tried everything they knew, but still click, click, click...

The phone wire isn't in great shape, that's why I've gotten to meet so many. Often a groundhog problem. We're the squeaky wheel that gets the best wires available. If we don't have FAX transmission we don't have income.

Now my ISP's claiming that the clicking is the whole problem. That's BS, been that way for years with no real problem.

We don't particularly mind the clicking, knowing what it is, as long as we get what we need over the phone wires.

Our clicking has nothing to do with Russ, other than source. This is an electric fence around a huge apple orchard, trying unsuccessfully to keep the deer out. Yup, distant parts of the country.

Our line has been on the replacement list for at least 10 yrs. As the repair guys say, the company (Sprint) doesn"t make any money from that type of work so it"s always on the back burner.

You"re absolutely correct about the old guys. Part of the general repair problem, apart from our clicking, is that dispatch is no longer local. It"s performed from a computer screen several hundred miles from here by somebody who has no idea, or interest, in the local conditions. They go strictly by the grids set up for them. Problem 100 yds away? If it"s over the grid line, it"s for somebody else deal with even if it means a half hr drive and several hrs more of no service.

One reason I go down to try to help is that I often know more about the system than the hapless newbie. The other reason, as I mentioned, is to ensure that I get a pair of the best wires. Before Sprint bought our local telephone company, service was considerably better, and maybe cost more. I don"t know, but doubt it, when I see the large number of wasted hours by unprepared repair people.

If I could get internet over a cell phone I"d gladly join the ranks of those doing without a land line. Not due to the clicking, which really doesn"t bother us.

Tim

I'm with Tim as a bad ground can cause alot of problems. I ran some radio equipment that was getting into the neighbors phone line so bad he had to hang up when I was on the radio. Neighbor never said a word to me but had the phone compnay out very often.

Neighbor is moving so I asked him why? He said his wife couldn't talk on the phone because of my radio. Gees I felt bad as all he had to do was say something to me and I could have cured the problem.

The problem was I was the first house on a culdesac and the power company ran the main feed from the transformer in a circle around the culdesac to each house. They had a bad ground and the phones were grounded to this bad ground.

Had he told me, I would have installed a seperate ground. I did for the new neighbors, and that solved all the problems until it effected the power then the Utility company came in a repaired the bad ground.

If in fact it's the fence charger (disconect the charger as see if the problem is still present), get a ferrite coil from Radio Shack, about $3, and wrap/loop (3 or 4 wraps) the negitive lead of the fence charger around the ferrite coil. You might also have to put one on the positive line. Make sure the ground is clean and tight on both the ground rod and charger. That should stop the line pulse noise.

If not install another ferrite coil on the power feed to the fence charger if it's AC supplied.

If that doesn't help or lowers the noise then you might have to install a isoulation transformer on the AC supply to the charger. Install ferrite coils on the load side of the transformer supply wires. Transformer runs about $20.

Some AC line noise bothers HVAC puter equipment and I've had excellant luck with just adding a isoulation transformer.

T_Bone

I'd tell that neighbor to shove it so fast it would wrinkle his socks. What is he, a city boy Yuppie or something?

Allan

It is the phone company's problem.

Allan

At least that's the official position that my first level takes when I say have a water logged, unbonded, ungrounded cable. Oh no it aint, from some guy in an office whom demands that I admit that the sky's red because his degree and computer says so. Ha Ha Ha Ha.

Mark