Power source for electric fence charger

[randy41]

i use a car battery and charge it once a week. it powers a 150' fence around my chickens all year round and also a 2000' fence around my garden that keeps the deer out. during the winter the battery is not so good since those kinds of batteries put out less when its cold out but the local predators surely know this fence by now and avoid it. if I had a more critical fencing situation I would probably not rely on the method I use.

 

[radman1]

AC powered gives more voltage and is best for longer distances. Also works better with weeds. Many companies will say they will actually kill back weeds and I believe that is true. Bigger shock works better with cattle. Horses will shy away with minimal shock.
I use older car batteries on the other type of charger. I could usually expect about 1 month with a fairly good battery.
No experience with solar powered but they are probably the most expensive.

Horses have great fear of electric fences. Saw a horse caught in a grass fire one time. It got cornered between the fire and electric fence. Horse stood against the fire rather than run through the fence. Horse had severe burns and was euthanized.

 

[TedLaRue]

I've located a fellow who repairs the circuit boards and keep several around. When one goes out, I replace the board.

I have a damaged charger. How'd you find this guy? Does he do mail-order?

Ted, you haven't indicated the purpose of your fence nor the total area you are seeking to enclose.

Aughhh! I know I typed a paragraph about that, but I must have accidentally deleted it before I got my original post the way I wanted it. And you're exactly right, it does matter!

I'm only fencing deer and other critters out of a garden, orchard, grapes, blueberries...about an acre and a half. So the battery powered units supply enough voltage for me - if the battery hasn't run down. The units I'm using are rated for 50 miles. The posts about horses, cattle, and all are still informative and interesting.

I wouldn't touch a weed burner because of fire risk

I saw a reference to a weed burner elsewhere. Excuse my ignorance, but exactly what makes a charger a "weed burner"? Things are pretty green here, so fire risk is minimal. Nevertheless, I'm curious.

 

[TedLaRue]

I have 4 15 foot copper ground rods connected up behind the barn...

And I also believe in the importance of grounding, but in my location the ground stays damp a foot or so under the surface, so I don't need long grounding rods. WTA, how the heck to you drive a 15' rod in the ground?! At an angle? We have to drive two 8' rods here to ground a house, and that's hard enough.

 

[TedLaRue]

On my solar charged system, the original battery lasted at least 5 years. I went to Rural King this spring and bought a replacement. It was under $20.00

Solar charged is looking more and more attractive to me. If you don't mind my asking, how much did you pay for your unit? or what brand was it? I'm probably going to get at least one of those. One area I protect is pretty far away, and I get tired of trucking that battery back and forth.

 

[TedLaRue]

i use a car battery and charge it once a week.

That's essentially what I've been doing lately except sometimes I use lawn/garden tractor batteries ($20 at big retailers). I'm trying to keep from ruining batteries by repeatedly letting them become completely discharged. The deep cycle "marine" batteries are expensive and apparently aren't readily available in the smaller sizes (size matters if you have to carry one to the charger every week, and no, I'm not going to drive my tractor over there to carry the battery back in the loader bucket!).

 

[QRTRHRS]

QRTRHRS,

Thanks, this is the kind of information I'm seeking.

After your six years of using the solar/battery unit, were you able to replace the battery and keep on using it? And if so, was it an expensive special battery, or some generic kind?

At the time I was doing electrical work for a friend who ordered the battery for me. I think it was twenty bucks or so but it did the trick. That charger was at least eight years old perhaps nine when I sold the farm.

 

[TedLaRue]

AC powered gives more voltage and is best for longer distances. Also works better with weeds. Many companies will say they will actually kill back weeds and I believe that is true.

I've seen weeds killed back by the fence, but the dead weed is still there, and at night when it's wet with dew, if it droops down onto the fence, it siphons off some of the current. If lots of weeds do this, the battery powered units will fail because the battery will go dead. That's one mark in favor of the AC units.

 

[QRTRHRS]

And I also believe in the importance of grounding, but in my location the ground stays damp a foot or so under the surface, so I don't need long grounding rods. WTA, how the heck to you drive a 15' rod in the ground?! At an angle? We have to drive two 8' rods here to ground a house, and that's hard enough.

I cannot help you with hard ground but I can make a suggestion for driving ground rods with a tool most of us with fence have on hand.

I use my T-stake pounder to put rods in. Sure beats a sledge.

 

[TedLaRue]

Note that I have not mentioned brand, I don't think that matters. What matters is the number of Joules the charger can supply... read those numbers and you will understand how powerful that particular charger is. More is better.

For big (Texas!) chargers, you may be right. But a while back I bought a cheap charger from one of the "big box" stores. I don't want to mention the store name because I shop at Lowe's a lot. That charger cost less than $30, but it didn't last long and I wasn't at all happy with it. The chargers I'm using now cost closer to $100, and the solar units I'm looking at appear to be $100+ and up.

So...does anyone care to name some brands? I'm especially interested in a solar unit now, after the posts by QRTRHRS and MossRoad.

Googling brings up names like Parmak, Parker McCrory, Fi-Shock, Dare Products, Red Snap'r, Oasis Montana, Magnum, BullDozer,...

I'm hoping to buy a solar recharged battery powered fence charger that costs less than $200, but other readers may be interested in more expensive units.

Thanks to everyone participating in this thread!