Electrical fence guys, i need your help. :-)

[patrick_g]

Thanks. No problem. You didn't insult me. So I have 1 joule and 9900volts. What is the significants of the joules?
Also, I have been doing testing for the past couple weeks. So far every animal that touched the fence took off like a bat out of ****.
This includes, coons, skunks and squirrels. I have one of my security cameras on the protected area so I have been able to monitor the motion triggers in that area.
After the first couple nights my action almost completely stopped. Could these critters be learning?

Galvanized, love the price but I like the poly wire for flexibility. It needs very little tension. Gotta do more google time.

Do not stretch the hot wire like barbed wire. It is better to have it nice and loose. (Some manufacturers explain this) The local critter population will learn the fence. We have deer and they sometimes knock some fence down, less inclined when installed loosely and flagged with strips of white cloth. Once the local population learns the new fence the cloth isn't needed. Folks often put the little fiberglass or rebar posts too close together which when hit by an animal gets knocked down more often. Fewer posts and loose wire works fine and survives better.

Joules are the unit of electrical energy. High voltage is like high RPM, if you loose most of your RPM when you engage the clutch then the high RPM is not useful. Low impedance is a good feature. A low impedance source will be able to supply more energy to the external circuit (your fence) and loose less internally. 10 KV sounds like a potent charger but not if the 10KV goes way down as soon as a blade of grass touches the wire.

An analogy: what good is a high pressure water line if the flow resistance is so high that if you open the tap the water just trickles out and pressure drops dramatically. Think trying to plumb your house with 1/16 inch diameter pipes. With no flow the water pressure might be 50-75 lbs but when you open a faucet the moving water is so restricted by the itsy bitsy pipes the pressure goes so low in use you can't get a decent shower. That is the equivalent of high impedance.

Consider your typical toilet with a water tank in back. It is filled through a small tube but dumps out its contents in a hurry through a large opening. Your fence charger is like that. It charges up a storage unit inside (inductor or capacitor depending on design) and dumps the energy (Joules) all at once to make a pulse of power. It then charges again and dumps again. You can probably hear your unit "ticking" one tick per pulse. If the amount of energy stored is small (few joules) the pulse may have a peak voltage of 10KV biut not transfer many joules. When everything is optimal like damp conductive ground, nice ground rod on the charger, no weeds touching hot wire etc. it may work OK. If it is not low impedance and sufficient joules then in dry weather with some weeds touching the wire the effectiveness of your unit will plummet.

Do not measure the units output at the unit. Measure at the farthest away part of the hot wire. Do not put the ground lead of your meter to a metal post but instead just stick it into the ground a little ways and then you will get a REAL reading.

If you don't have horses the regular wire will be fine and last longer.

I too have been entertained watching animals LEARN about the hot wire. I put white strips of cloth on new wire. Calves explore their world through smell then taste and tend to investigate the cloth strips to evaluate the food possibilities. I have seen them sniff a second time but never a third.

Note: the above topic may be on the midterm or final.

Pat

 

[mjw357]

Tape is crap,the wind whips it around and it breaks constantly.

There are different grades of 'rope' type fencing. We have Electrobraid for our horses, works great and very durable. It is safer than plain wire for the horses, and trust me it does work, seen the horses get 'bit' plenty of times. You can hear it pop when they get too close. Running it off a solar fence charger.

 

[Ken45101]

Interesting, I've never seen our horses get bit by the electrical rope, although they probably have done so. But last year, they were in the pasture for two months without the line being hot before one of them got out (it's only two strands) and they can walk through it if they want when it's not hot.)

Ken

 

[cmyoung2]

Sounds like the fence will be permanant. I would go with the heavy hi tensile 12ga wire.As long as you don't have horses, it will last longer than you.Horses tend to get cut on hi tensile. I like the idea of alternating hot and ground wires. Also, put the wires where the critters will touch them, low for coons, dogs, and the under the fence types, nose high for deer, cows. Baiting the deer with bottle caps filled with apple or peanutbutter will help them learn the no-go zone. You mentioned feild fence. It that is woven wire, just off set the electric, the woven wire will help with the ground. Make sure you use enough ground rods at the charger. lack of a good ground is usually the problem with poor results.

 

[patrick_g]

I do not like the thin galvanized wire. It rusts pretty quickly and comes down easily.

Ken

Not sure what single strand wire it is to which you refer. I have had several rolls in use for various periods of time out to about 8 years with no signs of rust. The single strand wire comes in different gauges. 12 1/2 I think is one of the popular ones.

Some good electric fence suggestions:

17 Mistakes To Avoid With Electric Fencing

14 ga wire is cheaper and works OK but not nearly as good as the 12 1/2, especially in long runs where resistance losses add up and reduce the delivered power.

I prefer aluminum coated over galvanized but the galvanized works OK.

Pat

 

[Ken45101]

I guess it's 17 ga galvanized electric fence wire that we used and didn't hold up well. It's what TSC sold as "electric fence wire".

Ken

 

[patrick_g]

I guess it's 17 ga galvanized electric fence wire that we used and didn't hold up well. It's what TSC sold as "electric fence wire".

Ken

I don't like to use that thin stuff but know folks who do. The difference in price isn't worth the difference in performance/life time so far as I know. There are undoubtedly good uses for it but not for what I do.

The ag stores typically have to stock some cheap stuff as there are always folks looking for lowest price rather than most function for the buck. The best bargain is not always the cheapest price. The highest price is not necessarily the best cost benefit ratio. If I had horses I'd be using poly rope or tape, probably rope due to wind.

Pat

 

[pickeringchris]

Thanks so much guys. It seems like there is pros and cons for both galvanized and rope and people that swear by one or the other.
I don't have any animals. The only problem is coons although there is many skunks and rabbits here. The only concern I have about galvanized is that it requires much more tension.
Just in case you guys didn't know, I grow giant pumpkins. So the way the patch is set up (a big rectangle) come harvest time I have to take down the fence on one side to back my trailer in to get my half ton out. With a bit of much this year I'll have a 3/4 ton.
I only grow 5 plants. 5 fruit. Last year 3 were destroyed by coons. I spend up to 10 hours a week per plant caring for these.

Chris