Copy of `Electrical fencing - Electrical terms`

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Electrical fencing - Electrical terms Category: Electronics and Engineering > Basic electrical terms Date & country: 15/12/2007, UK Words: 22

d.c.
Direct current as from batteries. Current flows in one direction from the battery.

a.c.
Alternating current as from mains power supply 110v or 220/240v 50/60Hertz. Described as alternating because the current oscillates from positive to negative and back again 60 times each second

Watt
Unit of power, both electrical and mechanical. The power needed to operate an electrical device. The product of voltage x current. Power is the rate of doing work or providing heat. Power levels around a building can range from a few watts for a typical  nightlight to 5,000 watts (or five kilowatts) for a large air conditioner. Motors around the h…

Volt
Unit of electrical pressure which causes current to flow. Voltage is a measure of the rate at which electricity is moving. Calculation: Voltage = Current (Amps) x Resistance (Ohms). One volt drives a current of one amp through a resistance of one ohm. Current in a wire is driven by voltage in roughly the same way that water in your pipes is driven …

Short
Low resistance leakage caused by live wires touching earth return wires, steel supports or the ground resulting in a severe drop in voltage.

Resistance
Measured in ohms. The equivalent of friction in water. Calculation: Resistance = Volts divided by Amps. When current flows through a conductor it creates heat because of resistance. Imagine Resistance as how tightly the material is holding the current. You may have noticed that the cord from an appliance can feel warm after running for a long time.…

Pulse
A brief electric current or shock emitted by an energiser. Each pulse is on for about 0.0001 of a second. Pulses are spaced about a second apart.

Load
Any power consuming device connected to an electrical circuit.

Ohm
Unit of resistance. One ohm is the resistance value through which one volt will maintain a current of one amp. Calculation: Ohms = Volts divided by Amps.  The ohm scale is a reverse one, i.e. Low numbers indicate heavy load, and high numbers indicate light Load. Zero ohms is a dead short. 500 ohms is the maximum a human or animal body can conduct.…

Live Wire
The wire connected to the energiser live terminal. The live wire must be insulated to conduct the pulse down the fence.

Leakage
Conduction from the live wires to earth caused by poor insulators, shorts and vegetation growth on the wires resulting in a drop in voltage.

Kilowatt
A kilowatt is a measure of electrical power equal to 1,000 watts.

Joule
Unit of energy. One joule is one watt for one second. It is the measure Of  the 'kick' of a pulse. Joules are the most important measure of the power of the energiser.

Insulator
A material which strongly resists the flow of electrons through it. The rubber on an electrical cord provides an insulator for the wires. By covering the wires, the electricity cannot go through the rubber and is forced to follow the path of the wires.

Induction
Power transfer without contact. For example, the charging of dead or neutral fence wires which run parallel to live ones. The closer the Live and neutral wires and the further the distance they travel together, the greater the amount of induced voltage.

Impedance
Total effective resistance

Electrolysis
Corrosion which occurs when different metals are connected in a wet Environment such as with electrical connections between say copper, and galvanized wires on a fence line. Avoid this by using only Galvanized wire and connectors.

Earth Rod
The stakes in the ground connected to the earth terminal. The earth rod collects the pulse.

Current
It is the current and the duration and rate of its flow which causes a Shock. Increasing the voltage increases the current. Current decreases as resistance increases. Measured in Amps

Conductor
A material through which electrons will readily flow. (All metals are conductors). Electricity will always take the shortest path to the ground. Your body is 70% water and that makes you a good conductor of electricity. For example: If a power line has fallen on a tree and you touch the tree, you become the path or 'conductor' to the ground and co…

Circuit
A conducting path around which electrons may flow. Electrical circuits can be complex, but at the simplest level, you always have the source of electricity (a battery, etc.), a load such as a light bulb or motor, (an animal touching your electric fence), and two wires to carry electricity between the battery and the load. Electrons move from the s…

Amp
Rate of flow or 'Volume of Electricity'. For those who are interested; One amp is defined as 6.28 x 10 18 electrons per second. Calculation: Current = Watts divided by Volts and/or Volts divided by Ohms. The equivalent in water is Litres (Volume of water) per hr. The electrical current that flows through a wire is measured in amps. A 100-watt bulb…