Protocols and Practices for Stray Voltage Testing

 

 

Michigan State University’s Agricultural Engineering Department has a 21-page treatise titled Protocols and Practices for Stray Voltage Testing which we are offering for free download.

 

For farmers, especially dairy, stray voltage is a very damaging phenomenon, and they often call upon the local electrician for help. The problem is neutral to earth voltage, which animals, especially dairy cows, experience as body current when they stand on a concrete slab or other ground-potential surface while eating or drinking from metallic equipment, or while being milked by an electric milking machine.

 

These animals become stressed on a daily basis and milk production declines, so it is in the farmer’s interest to find the causes of this stray voltage and make appropriate changes to the electrical system.

 

This Michigan State University document sets forth procedures for measuring these stray voltages and interpreting the results so that corrective action can be taken.

 

For the working electrician, a systematic and rational approach is preferable to random and costly upgrades which may not eliminate the problem. This detailed protocol, which includes several worksheets for tabulating results, is a valuable asset for anyone engaged in this type of work.

 

Click here to download the entire Protocols and Practices for Stray Voltage Testing document provided by Michigan State University.