MotorSeven
Elite Member
$120? No, it was $200:
Zareba 100 Mile AC Low Impedance Charger - 3604497 | Tractor Supply Company
Zareba 100 Mile AC Low Impedance Charger - 3604497 | Tractor Supply Company
electric fence charger
- Thread starter Rhon
- Start date
Brad_Blazer
Veteran Member
I agree - thats what I thought after reading the first post.
OP
Rhon
Bronze Member
Brad and Redneck, explain further, short to ground? I'll need to walk the fence again but normally if I have a short in it you can hear it or see it at night or when a slug gets in the way. I replaced all the top hot wire and along with the insulators. I've never had this much problem with it.
I do have a yellowish spark when I short the posts and nothing is hooked up to it. I always thought using a screwdriver to test the wire wsw the way to do it? I have done it and nothing and I can't convince my neighbor to grab the wire. Leaning over the fence and shocking his "moobs" when it was working convinced him it hurts.
As you can tell I'm not even close to being a electrician...
I do have a yellowish spark when I short the posts and nothing is hooked up to it. I always thought using a screwdriver to test the wire wsw the way to do it? I have done it and nothing and I can't convince my neighbor to grab the wire. Leaning over the fence and shocking his "moobs" when it was working convinced him it hurts.
As you can tell I'm not even close to being a electrician...
Redneck in training
Elite Member
I has similar problem while ago. Walked the fence two time and all looked OK. Checked the charger and the ground. The I bought new charger. Same problem. Then I walked the fence on the other side and found strand of wire touching the Tpost. You might have faulty insulator.
If you have a multimeter (about 20 bucks will buy you one) measure the fence against ground. You should measure infinity resistance or at least some high value.
To check quality of your ground diconnect the connection between the rods and measure resistance one rod to another. You should measure low resistance.
If you have a multimeter (about 20 bucks will buy you one) measure the fence against ground. You should measure infinity resistance or at least some high value.
To check quality of your ground diconnect the connection between the rods and measure resistance one rod to another. You should measure low resistance.
Chilly807
Elite Member
Do you have wooden posts, or metal ones? The wooden ones, while not a perfect insulator, are better than metal in that respect.
The fence needs to be disconnected from both terminals when you check this, since it provides a "load" for the system. Ideally, there will be very low resistance from the fence, and you'll have almost the same voltage at the end of the run as you do at the beginning. Every "short" to ground, such as blades of grass, brush, and what-have-you adds to the load on the system, and there is a corresponding drop in voltage.
When the horse, cow, whatever else touches the fence, there's a severe drop in voltage as their body absorbs the energy and they are shocked. The idea is that they won't tolerate that for long and will move. Some are more resistant than others to it, I've seen a man deliberately lay his forearm along the bare spark plug caps on a Chrysler industrial angine and stop it dead in it's tracks. He claimed to not feel "much" of a shock at all, while he was absorbing the energy from the ignition system. He sucked enough energy out of it to stop the spark plugs from firing.
This is what "shorts" do to an electric fence system, the inanimate objects such as grass, twigs , etc absorb power to the point that the "spark plugs", aka horses and cattle, stop receiving enough of a shock to deter them from getting into the fence. A "dead" short, such as metal contact direct to ground, (like a T-post touching a wire) is the same as many smaller shorts combined.
Not all fencers are created equal, as folks have mentioned. We have a four strand fence, two wire-embedded ropes and 2 steel 14 ga. wire strands around a 6-7 acre pasture. It's new this summer and has a ParMak 50 mile fencer powering it. No trouble getting well over 6000 volts on any of the 4 wires, even at the end of the runs. We use a 5-element fence tester that lights up each successive element to indicate how much voltage you have.
The temporary fencer we have is a Zareba 4-D cell battery job, the best it will do is a weak 2-element flash with the same fence connected on the same tester. I can grab the fence and tolerate the shock, but barely. If I was insulated with fur and REALLY wanted that patch of green grass I'd be ok with it I think.
Grabbing the wire with the AC fencer working properly is something else altogether. I don't care how green the grass is, that just HURTS!
If you're not getting a bright blue-white spark jumping a 1/16-1/8 inch gap across the terminals of an unloaded fencer, there's a problem with it. You may want to pull the cover off and have a look inside for corrosion or other obvious problems. It may simply be "done" after all those years...
Sean
The fence needs to be disconnected from both terminals when you check this, since it provides a "load" for the system. Ideally, there will be very low resistance from the fence, and you'll have almost the same voltage at the end of the run as you do at the beginning. Every "short" to ground, such as blades of grass, brush, and what-have-you adds to the load on the system, and there is a corresponding drop in voltage.
When the horse, cow, whatever else touches the fence, there's a severe drop in voltage as their body absorbs the energy and they are shocked. The idea is that they won't tolerate that for long and will move. Some are more resistant than others to it, I've seen a man deliberately lay his forearm along the bare spark plug caps on a Chrysler industrial angine and stop it dead in it's tracks. He claimed to not feel "much" of a shock at all, while he was absorbing the energy from the ignition system. He sucked enough energy out of it to stop the spark plugs from firing.
This is what "shorts" do to an electric fence system, the inanimate objects such as grass, twigs , etc absorb power to the point that the "spark plugs", aka horses and cattle, stop receiving enough of a shock to deter them from getting into the fence. A "dead" short, such as metal contact direct to ground, (like a T-post touching a wire) is the same as many smaller shorts combined.
Not all fencers are created equal, as folks have mentioned. We have a four strand fence, two wire-embedded ropes and 2 steel 14 ga. wire strands around a 6-7 acre pasture. It's new this summer and has a ParMak 50 mile fencer powering it. No trouble getting well over 6000 volts on any of the 4 wires, even at the end of the runs. We use a 5-element fence tester that lights up each successive element to indicate how much voltage you have.
The temporary fencer we have is a Zareba 4-D cell battery job, the best it will do is a weak 2-element flash with the same fence connected on the same tester. I can grab the fence and tolerate the shock, but barely. If I was insulated with fur and REALLY wanted that patch of green grass I'd be ok with it I think.
Grabbing the wire with the AC fencer working properly is something else altogether. I don't care how green the grass is, that just HURTS!
If you're not getting a bright blue-white spark jumping a 1/16-1/8 inch gap across the terminals of an unloaded fencer, there's a problem with it. You may want to pull the cover off and have a look inside for corrosion or other obvious problems. It may simply be "done" after all those years...
Sean
Last edited:
OP
Rhon
Bronze Member
Boy do I feel stupid this morning. I now understand short to ground. I found the break in the last piece of wire this morning when I checked water. I have a short section of hot wire from the main fence that only comes down the paddock split about 20 feet,. Guess which wire was down on the ground. Hooked the charger back up and we have power to the fence. I must have walked past it 20 times in the last week and didn't notice. Guess the wife is right, I don't pay attention.
Thanks again for the help. :thumbsup:
Thanks again for the help. :thumbsup:
texasjohn
Super Member
Chilly, now that's a great way to explain why fence chargers work!
Rhon, hooray, you found the short! Don't feel stupid....wish I had a nickel for every time I walked past a short! I now carry a stick when looking for a short and bang on each hot wire asI walk along. I often hear it then can find it.
Rhon, hooray, you found the short! Don't feel stupid....wish I had a nickel for every time I walked past a short! I now carry a stick when looking for a short and bang on each hot wire asI walk along. I often hear it then can find it.
CowboyRon
Platinum Member
Like John said don't feel bad, you will get better as you use it more.
Good luck with your fence.
Good luck with your fence.
bullbreaker
Elite Member
Been enjoying this thread/post much great advise been given here by others IMHO. :thumbsup:
Not knocking other great charger brands but I'am partial to Parmaks in the 50 miler range stuff.
For even more range,zap.etc check out specs on Horsepower chargers .
Cattleman Fence Charger - 12.53 Joule 110V - FarmTek
Of course this opens up another can of worms when some folks lease land etc with no electricity nearby.I like solar if region your in will support it year round.
Don't like to mess with battery powered units.
Then theres theft issues.
Also since we on subject lets not forget electric fence signs if required to keep from getting slapped w/legal problems.
Electric Fence Chargers - AC-powered
Boone
Not knocking other great charger brands but I'am partial to Parmaks in the 50 miler range stuff.
For even more range,zap.etc check out specs on Horsepower chargers .
Cattleman Fence Charger - 12.53 Joule 110V - FarmTek
Of course this opens up another can of worms when some folks lease land etc with no electricity nearby.I like solar if region your in will support it year round.
Don't like to mess with battery powered units.
Then theres theft issues.
Also since we on subject lets not forget electric fence signs if required to keep from getting slapped w/legal problems.
Electric Fence Chargers - AC-powered
Boone
Attachments
SandburRanch
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2010
- Messages
- 1,543
- Tractor
- NHtd75
To save labor in checking a fence I like to put a switch at strategic locations.
Let's say we have 4 miles of fence around a section. If the charger checks out OK but the fence has a problem (usually grounded) turn the switch off at mile location 1. If the fencer now works the problem is in mile 2,3 or 4. Turn switch #1 back on and continue to mile location 2 turning that switch off.
If the fencer doesn't work with switch #2 off there is a problem in mile 2. Continue, keeping in mind there can be more than one problem in any section of the fence. When that is corrected continue to 3 and 4 if necessary but it won't be necessary at all if correct operation is obtained after mile 1 or 2. This method can save a bunch of time if we look at the big picture.
Let's say we have 4 miles of fence around a section. If the charger checks out OK but the fence has a problem (usually grounded) turn the switch off at mile location 1. If the fencer now works the problem is in mile 2,3 or 4. Turn switch #1 back on and continue to mile location 2 turning that switch off.
If the fencer doesn't work with switch #2 off there is a problem in mile 2. Continue, keeping in mind there can be more than one problem in any section of the fence. When that is corrected continue to 3 and 4 if necessary but it won't be necessary at all if correct operation is obtained after mile 1 or 2. This method can save a bunch of time if we look at the big picture.