Power source for electric fence charger

[texasjohn]

Ted, the Parmark solar chargersk, either the 25 or 30 mile versions will do exactly what you want... seems that they have finally gotten the low impedence chargers into battery powered units. These are not weed burner units.

Look at the specs on the 25 and 30 mile chargers at 500 ohm load... you can see the difference in power between them... me, I have found out that " more is better" when it comes to fence power..thus, if the cost difference isn't too much, I'd go with the 30 mile fencer...

That said, the 25 mile fencer will do fine for your needs, IMHO.

 

[MikePA]

I'm considering the cheaper 6V Parmak, and also the Zareba suggested by MossRoad.

When we first got horses, I used the 6v Solar Parmak and it worked fine for 10 years, right up to the day I replaced it with the 12v model. Never replaced the battery.

 

[MossRoad]

When we first got horses, I used the 6v Solar Parmak and it worked fine for 10 years, right up to the day I replaced it with the 12v model. Never replaced the battery.

That sounds like a pretty good endorsement.

 

[TedLaRue]

Ted, the Parmark solar chargers, either the 25 or 30 mile versions will do exactly what you want... ...the 25 mile fencer will do fine for your needs, IMHO.

When we first got horses, I used the 6v Solar Parmak and it worked fine for 10 years, right up to the day I replaced it with the 12v model. Never replaced the battery.

Those two endorsements along with all the other information earlier in this thread pretty much clinch it. I'm going for a 6V "25-mile" Parmak unit. The Zareba chargers would probably be my second choice, but their $189 charger is rated at 0.15 joules and 10 miles. The $200 Parmak is 1.4 joules and 25 miles.

I'm going for the Parmak charger because I've used them before and like them, and because they have a higher joule rating than competing solar chargers in the same price range (around $200). However (texasjohn take note!) Parmak itself says joules are not an effective measurement of charger performance. Here's Parmak's FAQ. Note that this is a commercial site, but I minored in physics in college and what they're saying makes sense to me.

I think their point is that a charger with a long "on" pulse and a low voltage output could still rack up a high joule rating. The charger is applying less voltage (and so less current), but doing it for a longer time, resulting in a higher energy (joules) rating. But that doesn't effectively shock the offending animal. It's kind of like, "Would you like me to bump your chin mildly ten times in ten seconds, or just punch you really hard once?"

Thanks once again to all the participants in this thread. Hopefully all the information you posted will be as useful to others in the future as it was to me!

 

[texasjohn]

Ted, you are going to be fine. Your analysis re Joules is correct, of course... it's hard to find a consistent measure that everybody uses re fence chargers.. you get to choose voltage, joules, miles..... And as far as I know there is no "standard" everyone uses...

I hope you have planned solid corners...which are the backbone of a fence.

Also, I recommend getting a fence tester with 5 lights... indicating how much voltage is on the line... excellent analysis tool... you will NOT want to touch the fence, or grab a green grass leaf and slide it up to see if it is hot.

Cutoff switches are an excellent device. I place one on each straight stretch of fence so shorts can be isolated and worked on.

I use 12.5 gauge galvanized wire... there are special knots for tying it..and it is high tensile and won't break.

I use rachets, just under $2 each, leave them in the fence so you can tighten it up when it sags, which it WILL.

Have fun with your fencing!

 

[TedLaRue]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, texasjohn!

I'm amused by our different perspectives. You're fencing what I'm guessing to be many acres of relatively flat and dry land, while here in hilly West Virginia I'm just trying to keep deer and other critters out of my orchards and gardens.

I have neighbors who fence in horses and their fences are high-tensile wire as you describe. For my purposes, T-posts with plastic insulators and aluminum wire (I'm guessing 18ga?) serve the purpose. I've used poly-wire which is more visible, but found that it didn't hold up as long as the aluminum and is harder to repair and costs more.

I bait the fence a couple of times each year with peanut butter on aluminum foil folded over the fence wire. The fence wasn't effective until I started baiting it. I have a rabbit fence (graduated mesh fence) around part of the area, with an electric wire just above the top of that fence to keep critters like raccoons from climbing over it.

I started this thread because I thought I was spending too much buying batteries for my battery operated chargers, and I didn't like the click I was getting on the phone line with my 120VAC charger. Thanks to all of the posters, I think I'll be happy with a solar charger.