Electric fence tester

[Parfleche]

Hello,
I have looked at electric fence testers, $40 and up. Can a fence be tested with a cheaper multimeter? If so how do I do it? This is a battery 12 volt battery powered fence and I need to know when to recharge the deep cell battery. I have an extra battery for changing out but I don't know when to do it?

Thank you and kind regards,
Steve

 

[heehaw]

most 12v fence chargers will still work pretty well when the battery voltage gets down to 8 volts, some even 6: but they make a little tester that has neon lights in it: its usually around 5-10 bucks: an it will generally tell you what you need to know...some of the units made in the last few years will light all the lights, plus some if they were there, but it will still tell you if the output gets low..
heehaw

 

[SandburRanch]

We often touched the wire with the pickup bumper and if it was working Willie Nelson would sing about 3 octaves higher with some static.

 

[Gods Country]

We use a cheap one like this:

Electric Fence Tester - 3601457 | Tractor Supply Company

It works fine.

 

[JimRB]

Doesn't Willie have a little static even without the hot wire?

The few fence chargers I have bump up the voltage to a few thousand volts, I thought. And they are pulsed which a digital multimeter does not read so swell due to high voltage and pulsing. The multimeters I have are only good for a thousand volts. Google fence tester for a number of $10 testers that do the basics.

Read around about sulfate and batteries. Letting the battery run down past a certain voltage is kind of hard on the battery. If possible a solar charger/tender migth let that battery last longer.

 

[4720 OWNER]

I read a while back about someone who connected the 2 ends of a fluor tube to the hot wire and it would fire the bulb when it pulsed. Never tried it personally but sounded good at the time.

Got my tester from Premier Fence out of Iowa.

 

[sweettractors]

We use a "5 light" tester. The more lights, the hotter the fence. We also sell them. Ken Sweet

 

[Parfleche]

Thank you everyone!

Kind Regards,
Steve

 

[Johnbro]

You want about 7000 volts to have a sufficient zap to keep the critters on the right side. 9000 is really good. When it drops, that probably means it's grounded somewhere from grass or something touching the wire.

Get a cheap tester and test it all over the place--it can be hot near the charge controller and weak somewhere else.

 

[Skyco]

Hello,
I have looked at electric fence testers, $40 and up. Can a fence be tested with a cheaper multimeter? If so how do I do it? This is a battery 12 volt battery powered fence and I need to know when to recharge the deep cell battery. I have an extra battery for changing out but I don't know when to do it?

Thank you and kind regards,
Steve

Several have said how to test the fence charger output, but if you want to avoid ruining 12v deep cycle batteries you really need to test the battery also. Even though the fence may work down to a much lower voltage from the battery you will be shortening the life of the 12 v battery greatly if you let it get too low.
A cheap multimeter will let you know when to recharge or swap out, I'd not let it get below 11.5 volts if you want it to last long term.