Premier Fencing- Energizer and other questions....

[cmjust0]

Quote:
There are two connections on most chargers: A hot lug and, a ground lug. Wrap the hot wire around the hot lug and tighten the wingnut...wrap the ground wire around the ground lug and tighten the wingnut...plug it in. That's it. That's really all there is to connecting a fence to a charger.

Quote:
Absolutely.. Sounds like you just need to run the insulated wire down to the privacy fence, and then either bury it or just run it along the ground next to the privacy fence over to your chicken fence...or even tack it to the posts on the privacy fence a few inches off the ground...or whatever. It's insulated, so it won't hurt anybody. It's really just a matter of getting it sufficiently out of your way so that it's not unsightly (if you care about that sort of thing) and isn't a trip hazard.

This kind of insulated wire is what I used, and it's pretty stiff. That's handy for making it run in straight lines and for making sharp corners where it needs to run a different direction. It's Very tidy looking.

Sounds like you'll also need to bury your ground rod a bit away from the charger, since there will be a patio underneath.. Don't sweat it...that's no problem. Lots of people think the rod has to be close to the charger for some reason, but mine are literally about 1/4 mile away, and are connected back to the charger through the cold wires on the fence. Works great.

Point is, go ahead and bury your groundrod wherever you think you'll have the easiest time sinking the length of it into the earth -- wherever that may be -- and then run a wire back to the ground lug. That wire doesn't even require insulation. It can be insulated, but doesn't have to be. Do try to use the same guage wire you're running to your hot, though. TSC also sells 200' spool of the insulated wire linked above..sounds like that would be PLENTY of wire.

Oh..one more thing.

...

If you plug the charger up on the patio, you might want to consider figuring out a way to shield the lugs from being touched directly. I heard tell of a lady who cupped her hands over the lugs to try and shade the indicator light to see if it was blinking.. Unfortunately, she actually touched the lugs with both hands and completed the circuit at VERY close range.. Yowza..

Imagine relaxing on the patio one day, watching your birds...you lean back and

...right into the fencer!

 

[mimisoap]

I recently visited a friend farm (he had moved 3 hours away) and he had premier fencing. He strongly encouraged anyone with premier fencing to use their charger for compatibility.
Hope this helps,
Carol

 

[CityChicker]

Thank you all for the fantastic information! You guys are amazing. Premier sells the energizer set that I will link below. Does it look like pretty much all I would need, plus the net of course? It even has the insulated wire. So, I would plug this in to the outlet and can run this wire attached to the house and privacy fence out to the net and it won't be a fire hazard?

http://www.premier1supplies.com/detail.php?prod_id=24748&cat_id=126

Thanks again. I so appreciate the input.

 

[patandchickens]

Electricity is pretty generic stuff. As long as a charger has sufficient power (which is actually several different characteristics, and you should TOTALLY IGNORE the 'charges X miles of fence' stuff on the box as it means next to nothing), any fence will work fine with any brand charger.

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
As long as you are only planning to run a few lengths of electronet, that should work fine. You might want to price things at your local feedstores etc before ordering, however, as some of the items may be cheaper locally.

As for the charger, the chargers Premier sells are in general, I'd say, better quality than feedstore ones, but, this may or may not make a huge difference to you, OTOH you would not save a *lot* of money with a cheapie brand. So, personal choice.

One good thing about that particular energizer is that if using it plug-in didn't work, you could use rechargeable batteries in it (although that will cost a bit extra, deep cycle batteries are not cheap) and buy a charger.

So, I would plug this in to the outlet and can run this wire attached to the house and privacy fence out to the net and it won't be a fire hazard?

The charger needs to be outdoors but protected (just put it in a box of some sort, ideally on something above the ground, and it'll be fine).

The only two fire hazards I know of, related to electric fencing, are a) if you are using a weedburner type unit with very dry vegetation, which does not apply to this situation; or b) if lightning hits the fence and feeds back through the charger and house wiring, either or both of which can catch fire rather dramatically if that happens. (which is fairly rare, but I have seen it happen [and was on a horse about 50 ft away when the charger exploded, wooo, that was exciting!, so it *can* happen, especially with long fences)

It is smart to have a lightning choke between fence and charger so that if your fence gets zapped, not all of that feeds back into the charger and house wiring -- a lightning choke may not save your charger but it gives you better odds of avoiding things bursting into flame. But as I understand it your fence will be short and thus should really not be a *big* risk of getting a lightning strike. The same could happen if lightning hits anything else outdoors that is wired into your house wiring, and people do not usually lay awake worrying about *that*)

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[cmjust0]

The 3' ground rod and clamp (which is actually a hose clamp

) in that kit looks like a problem waiting to happen, IMHO.. Wimpy, wimpy, wimpy.. I mean, it seriously looks like a re-purposed polebarn spike, whereas a real ground rod is at least 5/8" thick..

Not to mention, if you go to patriotchargers.com and look through their manual, they actually specify a minimum of one 6'6" (2m) ground rod for their P5 model, which is what's in the kit.

Maybe it'll work with a 3' rod and a flimsy hose clamp...maybe not. I'd assume not and do it right the first time...save yourself the heartache that usually comes with figuring out your fence failed..

Looking around on Patriot's site, I also found that the P5 apparently has 0.5 Joules of output. While joules don't directly relate to how well a fence works, it kinda gives you an idea of how well it could work under optimal circumstance.. Just for a comparison, a 10mi Zareba is also 0.5 joules.. TSC sells the 10mi A/C Zareba for $65.

Incidentally, TSC also sells a five light tester for about $11, a 200' roll of insulated wire for about $39, and the ground rod.....well, nobody sells a 3' ground rod...but TSC has a 6' galvanized ground rod for about $13. They also have actual ground rod clamps for about $3. Lowe's has rods and clamps, too, probably for about the same money.

So, basically...you could to go TSC and spend about $131 (plus tax) and have a 0.5 joule charger, 200' of insulated wire (double the kit), a *real* ground rod, a *real* ground rod clamp, and a perfectly good (economy model?) fence tester... (I use this very tester...it works fine).

or..

You can spend $123 on this kit, then promptly throw the kit's groundrod and clamp (and that much money) away and spend another $15 at TSC on a new groundrod and clamp, for a total of $138 -- plus shipping...and waiting.

If I were in your boat and had a TSC (or other farm store) close...no brainer.


Here's the farm store shopping list.

10mi Zareba A/C charger -- $65
200' spool of insulated wire -- $39
6' ground rod - $13
ground rod clamp - $3
5-light tester - $11

 

[CityChicker]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I will look locally and see what I can find and look online more too. I don't have a TSC here, so I will have to order online or get some of the stuff at a different store here. I will try to find a lightning choke too. I will see what I can come up with locally and of course, I will update you all with how it works once I get it going.

Thanks again for all the help!