Electric Fencing

[jungle]

I have never used electric fencing before but am now planning on setting up a system to help deter predators and am looking for some suggestions on voltage. It will be used to surround a structure and I am mainly concerned about opossums and raccoons entering underneath the side walls. The structure is 30 feet long and 36 feet wide. What voltage would be best for this purpose? I was thinking about the 1200 volt model but do not know if that is too much or too little. I plan on running a double run of wires within a few inches of the ground since that is the only real vulnerable areas. I appreciate hearing what others have been using.

Thanks,
Richard

[Katy]

I charge a 35' by 35' fenced area, with 5 strands of wire (two hotwires at the bottom and two at the top of fence, with a grounded wire between the two hots at top) Mine is the 15 mile charger-which is much more than I need, but it charges at 9000 volts on my fence tester...it works even when there are long blades of grass touching the bottom wire, so I chose to go more aggressive rather than charge at the minimum range. I recall this charger costing approx $125.

[jungle]

Thanks for the response Katy. What brand did you go with?

[richbar]

Any charger designed for the length of fence you are building should do the trick. The key is to make sure the chargers is properly installed and grounded. I used a solar charger around my 16 x 80 foot pen with the wire going completely around the pen at about 4 feet up, where the wire ends and the cover netting starts. I purchased the smallest charger available which was good for about 1 to 1.5 miles of fence and it is working well. There is no real benefit in putting in a charger that is a lot more powerful than what you need, unless you invision expanding your pens at a later date to a size more in line with the next larger model. Just make sure you install it properly. Installation can vary depending on the types of predators you are dealing with. If you may concern is raccoons, foxes and opposums a single wire should do the trick provided there is no way the predators can drop down on the pen from above. I hope this is useful to you. Rich

[jungle]

Hi Rich,

It certainly does help. Yes, I am mostly concerned about raccoons and oppossum getting in around the sides of the structure. It is a tubular steel greenhouse with a double-poly covering so fencing with heavy wire is not quite feasable. Do you know what voltage your unit is? Also, is it a contant-on unit or one that has a pulsing charge? My concern with the cheaper models is that they would not be strong enough to be effective but if I do not have to spend more $$$ for a stronger model I won't. Since I have never used electrified fencing before I am at a loss. I have done a lot of research online but can't really seem to find much info that pertains to my type of situation. All I find is referrence to keeping large livestock penned in or keeping small animals out of gardens. That is why I am having a hard time figuring out what voltage to go with. I don't want to go too low but saving $ will also be a great help.

Thanks,
Richard

[richbar]

.07-Joules of output energy @ 700 ohms
Up to 3 miles of clean fence wire
Use on weed free fences
Controls small animals, pets and short haired livestock
Use on all types of fence wire including short lengths of poly wire and tape
Crystalline solar panel for maximum efficiency
On/off switch
Operates day and night for up to 14 days with no sun, once battery is fully charged
Built-in carry handle and T-post mount for portability and easy mounting
Battery included

Here is the information on my charger. I purchased it a Tractor Supply for just under $100. I'm happy with how it is working in my situation.

[jungle]

I appreciate the info, Rich. I bought a small unit that supposedly covers up to ten acres and figure it should be enough for my 30' x 36' structure. I am installing it tomorrow and have my fingers crossed. I was finally successful in trapping the raccoon that had been taking the birds and can only assume he had been acting alone as all losses stopped once he was gone. I am hoping that the fence will be effective in helping to discourage the replacements that will surely soon replace him.

[Patrick]

I agree with what Rich wrote in his first reply. I rarely do this for such an important piece of equipment that I don't want to fail, but I bought my charger at a feed store as well. It's a Parmac. I have little interest in anything electrical, so volts, watts, ohms, joules, none of that means anything to me. Mine is a solar unit, with a 6 or a 12 volt battery. How that translates into giving a similar shock as 110 volt plug in unit, I have no idea. I just know that it works. The rest of my components I bought through Premier, and I've been very happy with the quality of their products, their selection and their service. Their tech support has been excellent when I was setting up my system, and their catalog is a wealth of information about the right way to do it. I love the thorough explanations of their products, allowing me to choose. They don't really carry any cheap products, but I can choose between less expensive medium grade, or the best that they have, depending on what I want. I find that I get about a year and a half out of a battery before it neads to be replaced, but that almost always ends up being at the coldest part of the winter, so I try to replace it every fall as insurance. The best thing that I ever bought was one of those red light sensors which hangs on the hot wire, and blinks if the fence looses power. I can see it a long distance away. Unfortunately the replacement batteries are hard to find locally, but I've gotten almost 5 years out of mine. For that lenght of time, it's almost worth just replacing the whole unit, about $20. I love my system. I haven't lost a bird from anything that could climb the fence since I've installed it. http://www.premier1supplies.com/

[goosedragon]

I searched for one of those indicators that Patrick indicated was helpfull but never found one which meant I had to test each wire each time I had the enclosure opened. 3 things that did NOT work for me. the outlet in the barn had a ground fault circuit interrupter that would turn the fence off if grounded i.e. working as it was designed to do. Replaced that. Power failure was fairly common in my location which left the fence useless until power was restored (I would go with a battery power source if I did it again). If you insist on a low wire you must keep the fence line trimmed to prevent shortout to weeds. My fence was too powerfull! If a preditor bit the hot wire they would "lock" on and often short out the whole system. I got one coon that way and a coyote. the coyote had a pack with it and it cleaned out my flock after one fried the fence! good luck~gd
General: this site logged me out while I was typing this post! I am only a half fast typest but that is too short of a time to be logging me out!~gd

[Pathfinders]

We've had not one but two Parmak solar chargers go bad on us. Very irritating. We even sent one back to be repaired, and it broke again not longer after they returned it. Right now we're using one that plugs in, don't remember the manufacturer's name. But have not been happy with Parmak at all.

[jungle]

The best thing that I ever bought was one of those red light sensors which hangs on the hot wire, and blinks if the fence looses power. I can see it a long distance away.

Patrick,

Where did you find this? I was trying to find an item like this as I installed the charger inside the building but want to be able to monitor the power from outside.

Thanks,
Richard

[Patrick]

This looks like an updated design, but close enough in style to mine that it looks to be from the same manufacturer.

http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=24367&cat_id=44

[jungle]

Thanks Patrick. Do you, or anyone else, know of a device that can hang on the wire that will light up when power IS on and functioning properly?

Richard

[goosedragon]

Thanks Patrick. Do you, or anyone else, know of a device that can hang on the wire that will light up when power IS on and functioning properly?

RichardMost electric fence testers will do that with one attached to hot wire and the other to ground. What I can't tell you is just how much of your ZAP is going to be lost to the tester. They usually have resistors built into them so that you don't have a dead short while testing and I think that resistor controls the amount of ZAP you have remaining. If you can find someone that really understands electricity or electronics they can tell you. Or you can man up and test the old fashioned way to see if you get enough ZAP by touching the hot wire while you have the tester in place.

[Patrick]

Thanks Patrick. Do you, or anyone else, know of a device that can hang on the wire that will light up when power IS on and functioning properly?

Richard

Check with Premier on that one too. I seem to remember something about a light that was designed to attach and stay on while the fence was charged.

[jungle]

Yesterday I did find a light such as this but it was designed to be used on a two-wire set up where one wire provides the ground. Since my set up is a single wire it will not work unless I short it to the ground. I tested the system both before and after attatching the little light and it did not make a difference in the voltage output. I am just not sure what the long term affects of having the light in place will be. Incidentally, I was a bit concerned that my voltage was running at only ~1000 volts. I have a professional voltmeter but it's capacity is only 1000 volts and I did not want to risk frying it so bought a regular fence tester. It is the kind that lights up consecutive lights depending on the voltage output. My system will light up the 600 and 1000 volts but not light up the next one- 2500. In any case, I accidentally grasped both the hot and a ground wire when I was fidlling with the little lights I bought. WOW! I have little doubt that it will be effective against the types of predators I am trying to keep out. My arm and shoulder was actually sore for a couple hours after the experience and I weigh a bit more than a raccoon!

Richard