Without an earthing system for the energiser, there would be no shock on the fence line. An earthing system works in much the same way as an aerial does for a radio, but instead of collecting airwaves, the earthing system picks up electrons from the ground, which are transmitted with each pulse out along the fence line

The stronger the energiser the better the earth required

Electrons are widely spread in the soil but they are more available in moist or mineral soils then they are in dry stony soils. Therefore before deciding how many earth bars are required, take three factors into consideration:

- The type of soil
- The type of energiser High or Low Power
- The load one can expect on the fence line from vegetation, faults in the system and the length of fence

Installing the Earthing System
Always install one or two extra bars to be sure. The rule of thumb here would be to install a better earthing system than is required. Having decided on the amount of bars required, dig a trench 150mm deep from where the first bar is going to be, to where the last one is. Using 1M earth bars, drive them down until they are flush with the ground, and then connect heavy duty earth cable between each of the bars. Then take the cable from the last bar and connect it to earth terminal

Check the Earthing System
When the earthing system is installed, it is vital to test it. To do this, first simulate heavy vegetation loading in the fence line. To do this, place an iron bar in the ground about 100M out along the fence and lean it against fence wires. Plug in the energiser and check the voltage reading along the fence line. If it reads around 1000 volts or less, a sufficiently heavy load has been put on the energiser. If the voltage is still above this, place more iron bars along the line until the voltage drops to 1000 volts or less. Leaving this load on the line, take a voltage reading on the earthing system. A small reading on the earth wire is permissible as long as it does not exceed 300 volts. If it does exceed 300 volts, the earthing system is not sufficient, and you will have to install more earth bars.