I’m interested in electrifying my oak board fencing to keep the horses from arguing over the fences. They are single dividing fences so the horses can reach one another. I’d like solar to avoid having to run electricity but live in Ontario and we don’t get as much sun in winter.
My questions are:
Thanks in advance!
It’s definitely worth electrifying. It cuts board replacement significantly.
I tried a solar one once. It never seemed that strong and it died after a year or two so I spent a couple of hours digging a trench to put in the 110V one I should have used in the first place.
I’m sure other people sometimes have better luck, but for solar will cost a lot more than a comparable 110V energizer. You’ll pay $150 for a small solar one, or maybe $50 for a small 110V one. Unless the nearest power is 100s of yards away I’d just go straight for 110V.
Having just done exhaustive charger research, you might think about going for a DC powered charger. There are several great ones out there (they run off a deep cycle battery). Stafix actually makes one that can either do 110V or DC!
Yep, you do need to charge the battery periodically, but you can set up a solar system to do that for you very easily, Northern Tool carries a nice one that’s pretty affordable.
The timing of this thread is perfect. I’m using a small solar charger which doesn’t seem to be working as well as it used to and am looking at alternatives.
I’m wondering if the cold affects the deep cycle battery?
I have never heard of a DC powered charger? Where do you buy one of these? Any links? My electric fence is solar powered and even in South Carolina it is sometimes iffy. My horse would stay in if I used dental floss, but the pony — well, I know you all know what he does!
SCM1959
[QUOTE=SCM1959;7268996]
I have never heard of a DC powered charger? Where do you buy one of these? Any links? My electric fence is solar powered and even in South Carolina it is sometimes iffy. My horse would stay in if I used dental floss, but the pony — well, I know you all know what he does!
SCM1959[/QUOTE]
They’re the ones that plug straight into an electrical outlet as opposed to having a solar battery. You can buy them anywhere that sells electric fencing supplies.
I have a Patriot Solar Guard 155 that I purchased 50% off at a local feed store. It’s going into it’s 2nd winter with no issues. I use it for charging 2 strands of interior electric to keep my horses away from a woven wire fence. The weird thing about it is the shock is weak during the day, but extraordinarily strong at night. I’m not sure I’d recommend it at full retail price for that reason.
If I had to do it over again, I would have just bought a Parmark Solar Charger-- they always get rave reviews.
Not an electrician, but I think you are confusing AC and DC Tex.
We are in MN (so not a lot of winter sun either) and using 2 of the Parmak Solar chargers with HorseGuard (tape) fencing.
We installed them in May, so we haven’t gone through a winter with them yet. We had zero issues with them all summer, but one of them mysteriously stopped working a couple of days ago. We’re not using the paddocks on that side of the property right now, so there hasn’t been an urgent need for my husband to investigate, so at this point I’m not sure what the issue is. These are supposed to hold enough of a charge to work for 20 (21?) days without sun.
Each of the horses tested the fence when we first moved them home, but haven’t had ANY interest in testing again, so I’m assuming the zap was decent.
Overall I’ve been happy with them, but that may change depending on what we find with the non working charger.
http://premier1supplies.com has an excellent guide to solar fencers and electric fencing in general. I believe your answer will be that in Ontario you’re going to need a pretty expensive fencer to keep it charged in winter.
A DC charger that just works off a battery will probably be more cost effective for you.
The battery powered ones do not work well in very cold climates. The batteries freeze. We had neighbours who tried one. We have three of the solar ones, and have had them in continual use for five years. They were expensive to buy, I forget the make right now. $275 each. But they work, and are showing no signs of not working. We get cold weather, -26C this week.
There are three kinds – solar, 110 V (plug-in, supposed to be kept indoors, although I know many people do not), and DC (deep cycle battery powered).
I bought this one:
http://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail.html?pgguid=63714a46-814d-11d5-a192-00b0d0204ae5
I am putting up Horseguard tape and they recommended using a charger that puts out 2 Joules or higher. Eventually, I will connect my deep cycle battery to a solar panel that will keep it charged (must have one big enough to push out enough volts). Until then, the battery will require charging, probably once a month or so, but I have access to big charger so no problem.
Joules is a measure of energy that, in fencing terms, references the amount of energy that will “shock” when the animal touches the fence. The voltage is a measure of how much current will be pushing through the fence and the resistance that is caused by the length, material, moisture, weeds, whatever on your fence.
Also keep in mind that, like voltage, joules will vary with the load on the charger as well. All you can use to comparison shop is the output joule rating and voltage tables.
So you could have a charger that has very high voltage, but if the joule rating is very low (like 0.5), a lower proportion of that energy shocks the animal.
Solar chargers generally put out very low joules and their voltage is highly variable depending on how efficient the panel is and how much sunlight there is. They are good for small applications, but also need batteries replaced. You can get larger powered ones but they are very expensive.
DC powered ones can produce a lot more power – I went that direction because I will not have power out by my fencing for a while unless you count really long extension cords. It’s not Canada down here so I can’t speak to the battery freezing thing. You could insulate your battery in many ways and run cables out to the charger depending on your layout. Although -26C just makes my brain hurt, I hate winter, aaaahhhh! It is 21 C right now. +21!
I also VERY strongly considered this one:
http://www.kencove.com/fence/dual+purpose+energizers_detail_EXD3.php
You can plug it in OR use a deep cycle battery and it’s got lots of power. I would have gone for it, but the extra $110 I needed for hay. In your case, you could plug it in in the winter if battery freezing is a problem for you and then run it off a battery in the summer to save electricity.
[QUOTE=Brigitte;7269322]
Not an electrician, but I think you are confusing AC and DC Tex.[/QUOTE]
LOL, my bad! Thanks!
Just an idea that worked for me, I had a spot of electric fencing that easily ran to a old shed with electricity but the plug was outside exposed to the weather. The charger was not that big so I got a good quality tupperware put the charger in that and made a small hole for the electric cord. Hang that on the outlet, covered the hole with waterproof tape and it worked for yrs., very easy to do, safe and cheap. That tupperwear never leaked just be thoughtful about where you put the hole for the cord.
We also use solar ones, we have 2 now and have never had a problem with them. My mother in law has also used them for 20 years with no issues. They are expensive, like what NancyM said, but worth the money. I would put a line up to keep the horses from fighting over the fence. My mother in law does the same thing and it works great!
Just remember you need to set up your ground rods properly as well. A lot of people don’t do this and when their fencer doesn’t work, they blame the charger. We use 3 8ft rods spaced 10ft apart from each other as they need to be touching water underground, even through winter…
I tried a solar charger and it really turned out to be a waste of money. Only worked for about 8 months and even then the charge was nowhere near strong enough to contain my mares. I was only fencing a small area. Mares are now in ‘jail’ until I can find some alternative.
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