Faults (shorts) in the fence can reduce its effectiveness and may also cause other problems, such as interference on telephone lines or internal connections. Causes for faults may include: vegetation touching the live wires, broken wires or insulators, poor grounding, corroded metals in the fence line, poor connections, poor insulation, etc. Checking your fence regularly using a Patriot Digital Voltmeter (806217) is important in order to maintain an effective, problem-free electric fence installation.

Tips: When using the digital voltmeter to find faults, isolate sections of the fence line with Patriot cut-out switches (809696).

Finding a Fault Using the Patriot Digital Voltmeter

Electrical current flows toward a fault (short) in the same way that water flows towards the plug-hole in a bath tub. A digital voltmeter allows you to follow the direction of the current towards the fault.

1. Check the charger and the ground system.

2. At the first cut-out switch, disconnect the rest of the fence and take a voltage reading. The voltage should be normal.

3. Move along the fence line disconnecting a section of the fence and taking a voltage reading at each cut-out switch. A fault will show an abnormally high reading.

4. If you are still having trouble, follow the troubleshooting flow chart below.