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So far all my luck with electric fence has been bad luck. I am going to try it again eventually.
Keep it tight, keep the weeds off of it, and make sure the fence is WELL grounded. Use at least two ground rods. And buy a fencer that has enough power for twice the fence you're installing. If you're running 12 miles of fence, get a 25 mile fencer.

If you do all that, your fence should work quite well...
 
Note to self: quit letting dirty dishes pile up in the sink! I think I just washed dishes for 45 minutes...

I'm taking the kid fishing this evening. We haven't had good luck so far this year but the recent hot spell should have the lake warmed up to spawning temperature for the bluegills now, and I expect to knock 'em out...
 
Keep it tight, keep the weeds off of it, and make sure the fence is WELL grounded. Use at least two ground rods. And buy a fencer that has enough power for twice the fence you're installing. If you're running 12 miles of fence, get a 25 mile fencer.

If you do all that, your fence should work quite well...

Have a 25 mile box for under a mile of fence. Two 8 ft ground rods. Ratchet tensioners so on and so forth. Weeds mostly kept cut but not 100%. Biggest problems are when it's dry the shock is minimal and when it's wet crap shorts out. Plus when it's wet the critters push the metal fence posts over so I'm slowly changing over to wood posts. Tree limbs and fallen trees are a big issue here too.
 
Have a 25 mile box for under a mile of fence. Two 8 ft ground rods. Ratchet tensioners so on and so forth. Weeds mostly kept cut but not 100%. Biggest problems are when it's dry the shock is minimal and when it's wet crap shorts out. Plus when it's wet the critters push the metal fence posts over so I'm slowly changing over to wood posts. Tree limbs and fallen trees are a big issue here too.
You should be getting a good pulse on that fence. Let me check a couple things and get back to you...
 
You should be getting a good pulse on that fence. Let me check a couple things and get back to you...
I've got wire to run another 1/2 mile 5 to 7 strand fence which I am planning to do later this year. I did buy larger better wire this time and I will be using a ground wire on the bottom and putting in more ground rods and it will be even tighter since wood posts don't move as easy. Especially when they are 3 feet in the ground.

Got any tips for cheap or homemade insulators?
 
You should be getting a good pulse on that fence. Let me check a couple things and get back to you...
Ok, do you have a solid state charger? I'm guessing not since it's a 25 mile unit. But if you do you may need a low impedance unit. If grass fires are not a threat in your area a high impedance unit may work if you could find one. (When I was a kid my Pops had a fencer called a "Weed Burner" that would literally fry the green grass that came in contact with it.) Wetting the soil around your ground rods might help. Make sure it soaks to a depth of 4 or 5 feet. I'm not sure what else might help...
 
I've got wire to run another 1/2 mile 5 to 7 strand fence which I am planning to do later this year. I did buy larger better wire this time and I will be using a ground wire on the bottom and putting in more ground rods and it will be even tighter since wood posts don't move as easy. Especially when they are 3 feet in the ground.

Got any tips for cheap or homemade insulators?
Wait, you are running 5 strands of charged wire? Have you connected all the wires vertically at each corner? That might help...

As far as insulators go, it's best just to bite the bullet and get the yellow plastic ones at the farm store. The darker yellow ones are a little sturdier...
 
The yellow TSC are the ones that kept breaking off. The ceramic work well but $$$

No I hadn't tied the wires together anywhere but at the box. It is a one joule box 12 volt DC we are off grid. Only time I got a seriously hard zap was when I was on my knee in wet ground and touched the hot wire. That one laid me out for about 5 minutes. The other times was no big deal but I had shoes on which serve to break ground.

At the moment I am running nothing but field fence. It had a hot wire at the bottom to keep animals from going under but they trashed it.
 
I returned to the duct project.

20210610_133406.jpg


Did a little trimming to get 5he plenum to pass through the wall and mate with the duct on the other side of the wall. That worked as expected and let me get a good measurement of how long the extension needs to be.

20210610_143503.jpg


Moved to the hot and humid shop to fabricate the extension. It was about that time that I am running low on the reinforced cut-off wheels for sheet metal. I still have about another 36" of cut ahead of me to join with the main air return duct. I will be "cutting it a bit close" if I plan to do that with 1.5 disks. One wrong move breaking a disk could be bad.

20210610_145802.jpg


I used a ratchet strap and a c-clamp to hold the 4" strip around the starter flange then secured it with screws.

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The extension measured exactly 10" diameter.

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Used a crimping tool to finish it off for today. Then enjoyed some much needed rain that brought in lower humidity and temperature.

To finish off the productive period of day I ordered up 2 bulk packs of cut-off wheels thay should be here Sunday.

All is well with us!

Ben
 
There's been some pretty wild solar flares showing up on the sun lately, add that to the potential of a possible EMP attack over mid USA and I finally ordered two EMP Shields, one for the solar array and one for the incoming grid breaker panel. They also have units for vehicles which we'll try to get as soon as possible, as it is we got really good discounts from watching to the Doug Hagmann Report when we ordered the shields.
 
I returned to the duct project.

View attachment 67944

Did a little trimming to get 5he plenum to pass through the wall and mate with the duct on the other side of the wall. That worked as expected and let me get a good measurement of how long the extension needs to be.

View attachment 67945

Moved to the hot and humid shop to fabricate the extension. It was about that time that I am running low on the reinforced cut-off wheels for sheet metal. I still have about another 36" of cut ahead of me to join with the main air return duct. I will be "cutting it a bit close" if I plan to do that with 1.5 disks. One wrong move breaking a disk could be bad.

View attachment 67949

I used a ratchet strap and a c-clamp to hold the 4" strip around the starter flange then secured it with screws.

View attachment 67950

The extension measured exactly 10" diameter.

View attachment 67951

Used a crimping tool to finish it off for today. Then enjoyed some much needed rain that brought in lower humidity and temperature.

To finish off the productive period of day I ordered up 2 bulk packs of cut-off wheels thay should be here Sunday.

All is well with us!

Ben
You are a brave man Charlie Brown! There is no way I would tackle that stuff.
 
The yellow TSC are the ones that kept breaking off. The ceramic work well but $$$

No I hadn't tied the wires together anywhere but at the box. It is a one joule box 12 volt DC we are off grid. Only time I got a seriously hard zap was when I was on my knee in wet ground and touched the hot wire. That one laid me out for about 5 minutes. The other times was no big deal but I had shoes on which serve to break ground.

At the moment I am running nothing but field fence. It had a hot wire at the bottom to keep animals from going under but they trashed it.
The TSC ones are junk. Get Red Snap'r insulators. Those will hold up for years. I think the TSC ones are Dare brand and I had bad luck with them too...
 
Not much. Pouring rain. Probably the last we will get until september. Hoping the wood guy shows up. Trying to top off the firewood supply early this year since I'm afraid nobody is going to actually want to cut wood this fall the way things are going.
 
Not much. Pouring rain. Probably the last we will get until september. Hoping the wood guy shows up. Trying to top off the firewood supply early this year since I'm afraid nobody is going to actually want to cut wood this fall the way things are going.

Why aren't you cutting your own wood?

Cheap? I’d call that being practical! Why pay someone else when you can do it yourself. Money saved is money saved.

I do what I can around here but sometimes I have to delegate / hire out certain things. I can do plumbing for instance yet I hire parts of it out due to certifications and local requirements. Practical is good though whenever possible.
 
Went to the post office to get mail, grabbed McDonalds (per Mom's request- had a survey code for free frappe), helped Mom again with the slow room organization (more moving around of plastic bins as she filled them). She's going to need some larger ones. She still hasn't cleared off her bed yet and has several bins filled. Once I can get to the other side of her bed I can start pulling out cardboard boxes and putting cardboard in the front room. Stuff that is large enough to use as templates might be kept. Smaller boxes will go to the burn pile.
Worked on plans for the sewing desk. Now thinking of using a linear actuator instead of a jack (it has more range of motion and can be controlled with a switch).
Broke up cat fights 3x late last night and this morning. After one of the fights I was trying to soothe the cat who had been attacked. He was all cuddly and fine and all of a sudden he backed up, looked at me funny, and then grabbed my face with his claws. Both paws simultaneously. I kinda bopped him on the side of the face and he let go. Spent the next 10min putting pressure on the cuts to get them to stop bleeding. Put triple antibiotic on it. Only a couple punctures on my cheek and above my lip but my nose has a scratch down the side. Doesn't even hurt now.
Went outside and looked for one of my cats that I hadn't seen in a couple days. It was too hot out there. Came back in and found the cat sitting on the dishwasher wanting cuddles.

It didn't let me insert quotes: Re the fence post thing. Ah, the ground tamper. That thing is heavy AF. Used one to level the ground when we were putting something in the back yard where a big tree had once been. Dug the stump out down to the roots and had to fill it in and tamp it down. Put paving stones on top.
 
Why aren't you cutting your own wood?

Because its back breaking work and its way more practical to spend my time and energy doing other more profitable things and to pay someone to cut wood. The $300 or so it costs me a year to buy wood is nothing compared to the work of cutting it. I hope the wood cutters never figure that out.
 
Well the big guy is watering everything today so I don't have to.. The rain is washing the plant parts out of the air and my head is clearing for the first time in weeks.
The wife is now calling my tomato plants "trees", they are at 7' tall and I will have to learn about training or pruning the tops to keep things in reach. Ate some celery just to see if it will be okay, this is the first time I have been able to grow it and it does not look like the stuff in the store. ;) So far this year I have been able to grow 5 new plants for the first time (By grow I mean be able to harvest from), wife is now happy about the garden and she is starting to see the "funny" plants hanging over or growing under the tomato plants. The experiment with using the shade from the plants is teaching me a lot.
 
I "found" 3 sheets of 3/4 OSB ply, about $90 a sheet, under the 3 bunks of drywall I installed on my walls. I guess I knew I had it because I had built platforms on dollies to be able to roll the bunks around the garage, but I forgot that I knew and I was pleasantly surprised at my find. They will be used for a small roof overhang for the horse, I will cover them with the scrap roof metal I have left over from building the house.
I really did find 2 pieces of the fake wood looking Trex deck planks that are 16 feet long. They were on the shoulder of the highway yesterday so I turned around and loaded them into the truck, in the back and through the back window up to the dashboard with about 5 feet hanging out the back of the cap. Looks like they are worth about $40 each. No idea what I will use them for, they have no strength so they are not good for much other then decking.
Thanks to the reminder in the firewood comments above I placed an order for firewood, getting on the list early. Normally I would cut my own but I have too much work to do on the house the GF suggested buying again for one more year until I have enough free time to do it myself.
The A/C quit a couple days ago so I called and set up an appointment for this morning, but they called and said they were short a repair guy so rescheduled for this afternoon. Asked about the warrantee and it took her a while to verify 5 years on parts so hopefully it wont be too expensive, I think the circuit board may be bad, no reason for anything else to be broke within 3 years, and the little flashing light that is supposed to flash steady if good and flash a code if bad IS NOT FLASHING AT ALL. You can't trouble shoot the system if the system trouble shooter isn't working.
 
I am going to go back to the electric fence thing for a moment.
My last two dogs were escape artists and I decided that there were able to defeat the ground somehow. I solved that problem by usin alternating wires on the fence. the top and bottom wires were hot and the next wire was a ground wire. that was followed by another hot wire which was followed by another ground wire. If the tried to get through it they would be between a hot wire and a ground wire. They stopped getting out. You still vave to keep the weeds down but it is a lot easier to keep the animals in.
 
I was able to spend a few hours with an uncle and his son, my cousin, who I haven't seen in twenty years. My uncle visits from Florida once every year or two because he's in charge of my grandmother's farm trust. But my cousin lives in Arizona, where he's a musician and a charter school principal (and somewhat of a hippie) and he just doesn't come back to his roots. It was beautiful to spend a few hours with them.

This evening I will visit my mother at the nursing home where she continues to recover from a broken leg she sustained in a fall a few weeks ago. We are hopeful that she can regain mobility but there was a small shatter in the break and the doctors say the surgery to repair it is too risky for an 81 year old woman. She's in good spirits and enjoyed a visit from my uncle earlier today...
 
No I hadn't tied the wires together anywhere but at the box. It is a one joule box 12 volt DC we are off grid.

I might have missed it but... Are you using a solar charger? I've never seen one of those that was worth carp! Here in the southeast they will not stand up to the work load, especially in spring and early summer. Prolific plant growth, rain, high humidity means they are useless. If I won one in a contest my first question would be "Can I trade it for anything else?"

My grtnephew has had cows out of the pasture all spring. Part of the reason is the solar chargers he uses. Dad finally had enough a few weeks ago, went out in the shop and repaired the last charger I bought then hooked it up. Not a single cow has been out within 100yrds of the house (that circuit). That boy has had cows out but only where his solar chargers feed a line.
 
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Yall have been so kind putting up with my duct work updates I should share the motivation for this effort.

The house was once heated by q coal fired convection furnace that was latter updated to gas fired forced air. That furnace was 50 years old when I purchased the place. We replaced that furnace and added AC at that time. I saved money by electing to run the ducts myself.

At that time I was only thinking about heat and didn't take into consideration the differences that AC needed. They key element I had missed was the air return ducts to collect the hot air in summer from the second floor. It was rather noticible as I climbed the stairs above floor level.

We lived with the issue for many years but last year I conducted a proof of concept experiment to determine ot running a air return duct to near the ceiling of the second floor and constructed a cardboard duct to extend a return in the floor to near the ceiling. The experiment made a big difference. But a cardboard duct was not a fix. Hence my duct work project to fix it in the 3 rooms that needed a good return.

The first project The Princess wanted done after I retired was to remodel the room in the basement to be a hobbit hole. I did just that.

20210611_134721.jpg


20210611_134748.jpg



20210611_134808.jpg



20210611_134851.jpg


But after getting pretty far with the framing I realized if I cover everything up getting the ducts would be an even bigger pain.

20210611_134906.jpg


So the duct project is just one part of the hobbit hole.

Ben
 
I have been taking a monthly inventory of our pantry to see what needs to be restocked on the short term level and what needs long term restocking. The goal is 1 year of vitamins and supplements for the entire family. I have 3-6 months for most but the more expensive ones are taking longer to get in bulk. This includes the pets. The dogs are older and I give them a joint supplement daily. Costco has had a good deal on these as of late. I might grab an extra bottle just to make sure we have enough.
 
I might have missed it but... Are you using a solar charger? I've never seen one of those that was worth carp! Here in the southeast they will not stand up to the work load, especially in spring and early summer. Prolific plant growth, rain, high humidity means they are useless. If I won one in a contest my first question would be "Can I trade it for anything else?"

My grtnephew has had cows out of the pasture all spring. Part of the reason is the solar chargers he uses. Dad finally had enough a few weeks ago, went out in the shop and repaired the last charger I bought then hooked it up. Not a single cow has been out within 100yrds of the house (that circuit). That boy has had cows out but only where his solar chargers feed a line.
No it's not a solar box. It is however powered by a 12 volt battery and does recharge via solar on it's own micro system. When I looked at the fence boxes I couldn't imagine that tiny panel working here as many cloudy days as we have. Va only has about 180 good solar days a year. So I thought a better charging system was in order. Although the old 45 watt harbor freight panels are far from the best I still believe they are far superior to the tiny panel on solar fence boxes.
 
Yall have been so kind putting up with my duct work updates I should share the motivation for this effort.

The house was once heated by q coal fired convection furnace that was latter updated to gas fired forced air. That furnace was 50 years old when I purchased the place. We replaced that furnace and added AC at that time. I saved money by electing to run the ducts myself.

At that time I was only thinking about heat and didn't take into consideration the differences that AC needed. They key element I had missed was the air return ducts to collect the hot air in summer from the second floor. It was rather noticible as I climbed the stairs above floor level.

We lived with the issue for many years but last year I conducted a proof of concept experiment to determine ot running a air return duct to near the ceiling of the second floor and constructed a cardboard duct to extend a return in the floor to near the ceiling. The experiment made a big difference. But a cardboard duct was not a fix. Hence my duct work project to fix it in the 3 rooms that needed a good return.

The first project The Princess wanted done after I retired was to remodel the room in the basement to be a hobbit hole. I did just that.

View attachment 67988

View attachment 67989


View attachment 67990


View attachment 67991

But after getting pretty far with the framing I realized if I cover everything up getting the ducts would be an even bigger pain.

View attachment 67992

So the duct project is just one part of the hobbit hole.

Ben

Probably not useful at this point....but the best way I found to make curved plaster wall sections is to cut a sonotube down one side and unroll it and then screw the edges to the wall for backer material. My whole house is naturally round but I had a cieling in a stairwell that I need to be curved and that was my solution.
 
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