My dog run is hot wired. I just replaced the energizer again. When it storms with lightening and thunder should I unplug it ?? or could it be damaged by a lightening strike whether it's plugged in or not ??

Do you have a ground rod connected to the fencer?

Yes...in fact it's larger then the one that came with the kit. It's a Fi-Shock energizer SS-750 RPX.

They make a "Lightning Arrester" which will protect your fence charger, or you can disconnect the fence from it when it storms.

I have had hot fences for 25 years or so and have never disconnected any of them during storms - and none have ever received a direct strike. Oddly enough, over this time period, we had a wrought iron fence that was attached to the house take a hit (sprung the gates open - very loud, very explosive) and have had one house take a direct hit at the master bedroom ceiling (it had metal beams forming a "x" at the peak) but the hot wires/fences were not struck. There is an article here:

http://www2.uwrf.edu/grazing/l...

that details different ways to reduce the risk of a strike but it points out at the end that there is no way to be 100% protected.

Food for thought. I guess for now I'll just unplug and hope for the best. To disconnect the wire from the energizer means dragging out a ladder and keeping the dogs inside so they don't knock me off of it. Thanks for the responses...something else for my son's "Momma Do" list when he gets home.

Unplugging will not protect the energizer. Perhaps you could add a disconnect at some more accessible spot in the first part of the fence.

One of our fencers was hit by lightening. There was a heifer lying in a low spot between two fences. She was in a bit of a puddle and never knew what hit her. The charge killed the fencer right after it killed the heifer.

I've found on plugging the fencer helps a lot but doesn't stop all of the trouble it seems that if it is plunged in it draws more strikes . We lose a fencer every couple years but our farm store rebuilds them for about 30 bucks

porkpal said:Unplugging will not protect the energizer. Perhaps you could add a disconnect at some more accessible spot in the first part of the fence.

Ok...at the gate are the plastic handle things that hook together and can be unhooked to get the mower through the gate. If I added another pair closer to the energizer and in my reach would that work ?? I can probably do that myself

Yes, that would work.