If you had to suggest an Electric fence controller which one would it be!
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If you had to suggest an Electric fence controller which one would it be!
I assume the issue is bears. There are several issues. One is availability of electricity. If you have none they you either need a battery powered fencer (and a lot of trips to make sure it doesn't run dead) or you need a solar powered one. Solar powered ones are readily available at any farm store. The next issue is power. I would buy the one with the most joules that meets your other requirements. One method of measurement is joules, another is "miles of fence". You want a lot of "miles of fence" even if you only want a little fence as that is the power. The third issue is grounding. You need to insure that the bear gets grounded. Some people do this by alternating ground wires with hot wires. People also stake down hog panels on the ground with metal stakes. A good ground driven deep, of course, helps, and dumping five gallons of water on the stake every time you go out to the yard, also helps.
Now if you're just trying to keep horses out, most any fence charger will do that...
Either the Speedright AN-90 or the Gallagher B-11. Both use either D cell batteries or 12v deep cycle. You can add a solar panel for $35.
Both companies also maske 120v plug-in chargers.
No disrespect, but how many minutes could D cell batteries possibly last?
My fence shorts in heavy dew, design flaw of the conductors.
We use the co-op 6v solar fencers. For bears, 5000v is best. Anything less and they will keep testing it until they can walk through it. Skunks need about 2000 if memory serves. We drive in a 6 foot ground rod into ground. Insulators are needed if you are connecting the fence to wood or treated wood posts The better the ground and the use of insulators the better your fencer will put out the required charge and helps the fencers last longer. As well, if you are buying a fencer, and the rest that goes with it, get a fence tester. There are a few on the market. Run from about $15 to $100. I do not like the 15 dollar one because it has these tiny fuse like things that light up for every 1000v. The light is not bright so hard to see in the day time. The one i have is about $40 something. All it does is give a digital readout of the output
We have a two different brands they are the Zareba Systems solar powered fencers. This brand of fencers just don't seem to last. Had a few new ones last season and one of them is already dead. Out of all 50+ fencers we have these seem to go bad the most. Most of the rest of the fencers are Parmak Solar powered fencers. When one of these goes bad they seem to be pretty old. Really nice fencers in my opinion.
http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-fencer-47454.html
$60 Works great (first season yet)
My Zareba didn't make the second season :(
I have had several fencers over the years, my favorites were an old school (weed burner) co-op and a bulldog.
The co-op was purchased new and made 10-15 years, the bulldog was an auction item and it
lasted 3 years or so.
My home yard sports an old school "International" from an auction and is on its 2rd year.
My harbor freight unit is the first solar fencer I have had, it was new this spring so it
has yet to prove the longevity issue.
Have a circuit board kit to build my next unit this winter, battery powered/add solar panel.
I have a big black boar that makes the rounds here and I have watched him pass down by my creek, he did not even bother to check out my bees on top of the ridge.
It's my belief that he has been "trained"...LOL
BM
I like Parmak electric fence chargers.
http://parmakusa.com/index.html
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
With 4 D cells, the Sppedright lasts 3-4 weeks. The Gallagher with 6 lasts 5 weeks. If you use 12v deep cycle, the battery lasts several months. If you add a solar panel to charge the 12v, it should last all season.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ozone
Parmak's solar fencer is what I like. Make sure you have a good ground. We use hog panels around the yard and a steel rod driven into the soil for a ground. Run 2 hot wires 6 inches out from this and have never had a bear go through.
I have slapped up a quick fence before also. It doesn't take a bear long to slap it down and start eating.
With all respect I do not believe a D cell will provide enough power or "juice" to shock a bear.
By "juice" I mean combined output (high) voltage and enough current to make a bear run.
I do not know about a Dcell battery and the ability or be bear proof. But i do know bears (live in bear country), I do know fencers...somewhat...hubby installs, I have maintained, and always check voltage at each yard when working bees. A 6v solar fencer is strong enough to outlast a bear provided it is installed correctly, meaning ground rod, insulators, grass incheck. These co-op fencers are on sale about $149 Canadian...on sale Out of our 9 fencers, bought used and new, we have replace 3 batteries, cleaned about 4 battery pack electrodes, brought home and recharged the battery on our battery charger...in spring and tested 3. These fencers are left out all year, some buried in snow. We have seen a bear try and take down the fence 24 hours after installing a yard. It got as far as breaking a 1x6 fence cross support which was 3 feet long and then took a hike. Can not tell you the number of times i have accidentally shocked myself trying to be carefull not to shock myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by pascopol
I am having good luck with my FI-Shock fencers from Menards so far. The zarebas are junk. Mine did not last one season. I have deep cycle 12 volt batteries and a 15 watt solar panel and controller. Yes the 15 watts is over kill but over kill is better than under kill, lol. I have had two run ins with bears and i dont plan on letting a few dollars cost me another visit.
I read it on the internet so it must be so!
There is a big range of sophistication in fence charges. First the voltage of the power supply is not proportional to the outlet voltage. The battery voltage is multiplied many times and over a period of time is stored in a capacitor. As long as your fence is very clean of weeds and well insulated there is little current lost and at each cycle the battery only need top the capacitor up with what leaked between pulses. The D cells powered fencers will deaden the battery quite quickly if the fence gets shorted and has to totally charge an empty capacitor ever time.
Some of the cheap chargers are not well insulated internally and water wicks into the transformer and voltage jumps layer to layer of the windings. They are exposed to lightning as well and a better quality unit has more lives than the EverReady Cat.
Good Idea! How many hots do you run?Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Noyes
If you have bear trouble, and you want to protect the bees from damage, spend the money on a good solar fencer.
Otherwise dont waste your time,
Calculate the value in your yard and estimate your costs in damages if a bear happens through. That will help justify the cost of a solar fencer.
If it doesnt, then go the cheaper route
I just started using the Gallagher solar 17 . They have a good warrantee and are easy to handle. The Parmak's are nice but are kinda a pain to handle and hang on a post ,I usually set them on a box in the yard and tie them to a post. The Gallaghers sit on top of a T-post and come with alligator clamps to attach to the fence and ground. They also cost less than the Parmak's.
Just a thought about solar fencers.
Many times the fencer will go bad forcing you to buy a new whole unit as greenbeekeeping can testify too. If you build a solar fencer system as I did, if one component goes bad you dont need to replace the whole works. If my fencer goes I can replace it for 70 bucks or less, the solar panel is 80, the battery is 65. If my panel goes bad I can replace the battery with the one in my truck and not panic until I receive another. The solar panel is over kill and a sufficient one would be around 50. My solar system cost about $220 but with a smaller solar panel and a smaller battery you could build it for less than 180 I would think. A good name brand solar fencer will cost this much or more anyway.
Also, unlike the all in one solar fencers, I dont have to worry about a weak fence if there is a lack of sun for days or weeks. My 12 volt battery will hold a good charge for over a month even if wires are in contact with weeds without a charge.
Zareba change the location of the circuit board from the bottom inside the unit to the side. The problem is moisture inside that shorts them out. New circuit boards are cheap and easy to replace. 20 Zarebas.........I can now rebuild them with my eyes closed....LOL
How much are the circuit boards? Do you order them direct fro Zarebas?