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| The last short-to-ground was between a support wire and a Tee post. The insulating tube had itched itself around to where the bare wire contacted the post. If you look closely at the wire, to the left of the Tee post, you will see white zinc oxide where the arcing vaporized the galvanized coating. |
The Captain went through a phase where he really like those tubes. After seeing it in enough installations, it is clear that it has some limitations. For one thing, the material flows when under pressure. It stops being an insulator after enough material flows away from point contacts.
Another shortcoming is that it doesn't stay where you put it.
The setup that looks most expeditious is to run a wire stay out from the Tee post and then a short, 120 lb, black, UV rated zip-tie donut. I have never seen the fence arc across a donut that was 1.5" in diameter.
It will be interesting to see what the service life of the zip-ties will be in this environment.
Yay for getting it fixed. I'd guess 12 months on the zip ties.
ReplyDeleteSeveral layers of heat shrink tubing??
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you use ceramic or plastic insulators? Can often be found on old farmsteads for free. More cattle in my area, so maybe they are more common. Very popular to put the cows out into the stalks in the fall and winter.
ReplyDelete