Electric fence for dummies

[Chickidee26]

Ok...I know I've asked about this somewhat before but I need the Kindergarten version of how an electric fence works and how to install....or better yet what I am supposed to buy. I would like to have 3 rows of fencing around my run. The coop and run are on the tree line of my property, relatively close to my house and the edge of the run probably gets the most sun throughout the day however, there are branches overhanging the coop to keep it from getting too hot.

I've seen different types of wire and am not clear what the difference is and which one would best fit my needs. I've inquired about a solar charger which would be great, but does it give out enough power and last all night long? Am I better off with an electric charger? Can all 3 wires attach to one charger? Is any brand better than another?

If anyone can point me in the right direction and just give me a quick lesson I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[Trisseh]

Premier1 has some really good info on their website on the basic principles. For power, I got a 12v car battery (my old one from my truck) and bought a cheapy solar panel that’s meant for use on boats or whatever to keep it charged up. The single most important part of any good electric fence is a sufficient ground. You can have all the power in the world going through that hot wire, but if you don’t have a good ground to complete the circuit, it doesn’t do you any good. I can show you my setup with pics if you’d like, when I get home from work today.

 

[DobieLover]

Ok...I know I've asked about this somewhat before but I need the Kindergarten version of how an electric fence works and how to install....or better yet what I am supposed to buy. I would like to have 3 rows of fencing around my run. The coop and run are on the tree line of my property, relatively close to my house and the edge of the run probably gets the most sun throughout the day however, there are branches overhanging the coop to keep it from getting too hot.

I've seen different types of wire and am not clear what the difference is and which one would best fit my needs. I've inquired about a solar charger which would be great, but does it give out enough power and last all night long? Am I better off with an electric charger? Can all 3 wires attach to one charger? Is any brand better than another?

If anyone can point me in the right direction and just give me a quick lesson I would greatly appreciate it.

This is a very good video on how to set up an e-fence.

The basics are this: you have a ground wire that comes off the charger and literally goes to ground by clamping the wire to 6' long copper ground rods that are pounded into the ground. Putting the rods in damp ground is the best. You usually want to use at least two rods.

To run the wire from the ground post of the charger to the rod you use what is called 'lead out wire'. You can find it on Amazon for less than the farm stores sell it for. It is insulated wire that you can run under the ground a little bit so it isn't a trip hazard that connects the ground post on the charge to the first ground rod via a clamp:

Pound a second rod into the ground about 10' from the first one and connect them together with another piece of lead out wire.

For the strands of 'hot wire' that go around the run, they generally run as a continuous loop but you can run individual strands and jumper them together. I like to use another piece of lead out wire going from the charger to the fence and then clamp them together.

You can also make 'gates' in the fence with lead out wire. The wire is buried under the gate.

When the fence is running, the charger pulses. A shock can only be delivered to a critter if it is both touching the ground (or a wire connected to the ground post of the charger) and one of the hot wire to connect the circuit. That is why you see little birds sitting on electric fences unaffected. They are not connecting the circuit because their feet are not touching the ground.

This is the same reason you want to keep all vegetation trimmed from the fence line. When the blades of grass grow up and touch the hot wires, some of your "juice" leaks to the ground and the fence looses "punch" past that point in the circuit.

I spray my fence line about once a month with pure white vinegar in about a 12" wide band.

Solar chargers don't pack enough punch to deter most ground predators. You want something powerful enough to turn the fox, coyote, raccoon, roving dog, etc. on it's tail and never even think about coming back. It is the Joule output that you are looking for. You want at least 1 joule. I use a 1.2 joule, 10,000 volt charger to power 495' of poultry netting.

The charger itself needs to be protected from the elements.

 

[3KillerBs]

Watching the thread because I need to learn this stuff too.

 

[DobieLover]

Watching the thread because I need to learn this stuff too.

Watch the video I linked too...

 

[Trisseh]

Great post @DobieLover ! That video is excellent.
But I don’t agree that solar charges don’t have as much juice, as long as you place them correctly. The problem is that you need to lay out a lot more cash for a good one if you’re going that route! Haha. the one we use for the “bush pasture” for the cows, which has kept moose out, was almost $1000 for the fence energizer itself. You can get cheaper models but they’re nowhere near as effective. I don’t think it’s a good option for the price tag for smaller applications like this.

Personally I’ve found a solar panel trickle charge is sufficient to keep my 12v battery charged without needing to take it off and put it on the charger. But placement is super important for solar and if the OP has a lot of shade around, it probably won’t work well.

Also, I have always seen the rule of thumb for ground rods to be 3 rods, minimum 6’ deep, 6’ apart. The more ground contact the better.

 

[Chickidee26]

Premier1 has some really good info on their website on the basic principles. For power, I got a 12v car battery (my old one from my truck) and bought a cheapy solar panel that’s meant for use on boats or whatever to keep it charged up. The single most important part of any good electric fence is a sufficient ground. You can have all the power in the world going through that hot wire, but if you don’t have a good ground to complete the circuit, it doesn’t do you any good. I can show you my setup with pics if you’d like, when I get home from work today.

Thank you...I'd love to see it.

 

[DobieLover]

Great post @DobieLover ! That video is excellent.
But I don’t agree that solar charges don’t have as much juice, as long as you place them correctly. The problem is that you need to lay out a lot more cash for a good one if you’re going that route! Haha. the one we use for the “bush pasture” for the cows, which has kept moose out, was almost $1000 for the fence energizer itself. You can get cheaper models but they’re nowhere near as effective. I don’t think it’s a good option for the price tag for smaller applications like this.

Personally I’ve found a solar panel trickle charge is sufficient to keep my 12v battery charged without needing to take it off and put it on the charger. But placement is super important for solar and if the OP has a lot of shade around, it probably won’t work well.

Also, I have always seen the rule of thumb for ground rods to be 3 rods, minimum 6’ deep, 6’ apart. The more ground contact the better.

The OP also specifically mentioned a tree line. So I doubt there will be enough sun to charge it.
And I've also read the same recommendation for three rods. It really depends on the soil conditions they are sunk in. Two is a bare minimum. Yes, three is better. And Cu is expensive.

 

[littledog]

The best solar systems work with a rechargeable battery. The solar will normally keep the battery charged, but if the sun hasn't shined for awhile, you can also plug the battery into an electric charger, like with Trisseh's system - agree completely that a good ground is most vital. Any fence charger (solar or all-electric) will have one connector that's supposed to go to a ground rod, and the other goes to the fence wire. The ground rod has to be conductive (metal - steel or copper is better than aluminum) and driven deep enough to connect with moisture in the ground.
Once you have that, you have lots of choices about what type of wire to use for your fence. Steel wire is conductive, but it can rust eventually. Aluminum is cheaper, but it tends to be brittle. What I used for my horse fence was "electrobraid" which is braided plastic with thin steel wires woven through. It comes in different colors so it's more visible to the animals than plain metal wire, plus it's easy to repair if it breaks - just tie it back together. If you use plain metal wire, you can make it more visible to the animals by tying pieces of plastic flagging tape to it every few yards.
Planning where the wire is going to go can be tricky. You can have wires that branch off, but make sure nothing makes a loop, which will short out your fence. For example, you want 3 lines of electric wire along the fence at different heights. The best way is to split off 3 wires a little bit beyond the charger and extend each of them separately where you want them to go, to where you want them to end. Don't have one connected wire and make it go back and forth at different heights, or your fence will fail every time a weed touches the fence.
Another thing to plan is where you want gates. Depending on the animals, you might want an electric gate wire to supplement the regular gate. But once you unhook the electric gate handle, you want the wire to be dead. So make sure your gates are situated so the handle attaches to the side where the charger is coming from, and keep in mind when the electric gate is detached, the wires beyond that are dead.
Make sure you walk your fence line regularly, and listen for the "zzit zzit zzit" that means something is shorting out your fence and it needs repair.

 

[Trisseh]

The OP also specifically mentioned a tree line. So I doubt there will be enough sun to charge it.
And I've also read the same recommendation for three rods. It really depends on the soil conditions they are sunk in. Two is a bare minimum. Yes, three is better. And Cu is expensive.

Yep, which is why I said later in the post that if the OP has a lot of shade it probably won’t work well.

As for grounding, i don’t necessarily hold to the recommendations either; I don’t spend the money on the expensive ground rods, i think they’re overpriced for what they are and not worth it. I used rebar on my old fence, and now I have a single steel 4’ step in post, upside down, attached to the ground terminal, but since mine is a pos/neg that ground rod is a supplementary ground, a backup, to make sure that even if the critter doesn’t touch the neg wire, they still get a shock (even if it’s a smaller one). if I didn’t have the neg wire, I would have more ground rods for sure! in a pinch, even a pigtail step in post will do the job, and those go what, 5” at most into the ground? And yet it keeps calves in just fine.

I’ve also seen the option of a ground plate like they use for houses, which i find quite interesting. Keeping it in mind if ever I have need of a ground that isn’t sunk too deeply into the dirt.