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Planning Guides > Product Selection Guide THIS GUIDE PROVIDES BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON VARIOUS TYPES OF ELECTRIC DEER FENCE COMPONENTS. USE THE INDEX BELOW TO EXPLORE SPECIFIC KINDS OF COMPONENTS. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE CONSECUTIVE ORDER OF TEXT SECTIONS IS LOGICAL (PROCEEDING FROM ELECTRIC FENCE CHARGERS TO ELECTRIC FENCE BATTERIES, ETC.) RATHER THAN ALPHABETICAL LIKE THE INDEX. PRODUCT SELECTION GUIDE INDEX; GO TO:
If you don’t already know how voltage, joules, and impedance relate to electric fence chargers, please read “Why is voltage important?” “Why are joules important?” “What is low impedance?” and “What is wide impedance?” in the Answers to Frequently Asked Questions page. In general, the low impedance electric fence chargers that we offer are safe because the pulsed nature of their charge means a shocked person or animal has no difficulty letting go of the charged wire. Even so, if the charged wires are very low there is always the remote possibility that a pet will somehow get entangled in them, or (if a powerful charger is used) there is some chance that a single pulse might prove strong enough to harm a bird, pet, or even a crawling infant that happens to come in contact with such wires. Thus, whenever low electric fence wires (as low as 4 to 8 inches above the ground) are used to keep small creatures out of gardens, only demonstrably pet-safe and child-safe electric fence chargers should be used. These electric fence chargers cannot deal with any significant weed burden, so a weed barrier (polyethylene mulch covered with pine bark or wood chips) should be placed under the electric fence wires, and potentially encroaching vegetation should be removed every week or two. If only deer control is involved, then the electric fence wires protecting summer gardens can be higher (generally 24 to 36 inches above ground) and somewhat stronger electric fence chargers can be used. Even so, as explained elsewhere, these electric fences are generally short enough so that keeping them baited and weed-free is no hardship. Therefore, relatively mild electric fence chargers can work well. Winter electric deer fences require stronger chargers–because baits may sometimes be frozen, ice and snow may add resistance (making the deer harder to shock), and the deer may be starving. For all these reasons it is advisable to use an electric fence charger with a higher joule rating (like the Parmak Fieldmaster, Mark 6, or Super Energizer 3), and also to run a grounded 12.5-gauge aluminum wire along the bottom of the electric fence on or just beneath the soil to promote good grounding of the deer. Beyond all this, whether one is charging a winter or summer electric fence, the strength of the selected electric fence charger should relate in some degree to the length of the electric fence. That’s because the longer the electric fence the harder to keep it well grounded and free of weeds and brush, and the more laborious to refresh baits. For example, if an electric deer fence is a quarter-mile long, with one bait cap every 20 feet, then keeping down weeds and regularly refreshing the 66 bait caps is at least feasible. But if the electric fence is a mile long, then regularly removing weeds and servicing the 264 bait caps every 10 days becomes a major task–and so the prospect of getting an electric fence charger that can shock deer without baits and can also deal with heavy weed burdens and winter problems becomes attractive. In other words, in selecting a charger one must attend to safety issues on the one hand and to winter problems and maintenance needs on the other–and so, as circumstances change, a wide array of electric fence chargers ranging from extremely weak to very strong all have a legitimate role to play in controlling deer. Power Sources: AC, Battery, or Solar AC-powered electric fence chargers tend to be less expensive than comparable battery-powered and solar-powered types. However, they need to be plugged into a sheltered 120-110 volt AC outlet, preferably one indoors, and in many cases a small hole will need to be drilled through the wall of a house, garage, or barn in order to pass an insulated electric fence wire from the electric fence charger to the electric fence and also from the electric fence charger to a ground rod. If the AC outlet is a long way from the electric fence, a considerable length of insulated electric fence wire will also be needed; and if the area between the AC outlet and the electric fence has any human or animal traffic, this wire must be buried an inch or so underground. Battery-powered electric fence chargers are generally more expensive than comparable AC chargers but less expensive than comparable solar-powered types. However, batteries are not provided with any of the battery-powered electric fence chargers we list, and the cost of a 6-volt or 12-volt battery (commonly $50 to $60) is significant. Batteries tend to be weaker in colder weather, but the greatest problem with battery-powered electric fence chargers is that the batteries typically run down after two or three months and then need to be recharged or replaced. Marine-type batteries, which can be discharged further than car-type batteries without damage, generally perform better with electric fence chargers and are recommended for this purpose. The key advantages of battery-powered electric fence chargers are these: They are easy to move about and can operate well at a great distance from the nearest AC outlet. Solar-powered electric fence chargers have traditionally been the most expensive, but this picture may be changing. The Fi-Shock 440 costs only $114.29, a price that includes its solar battery. Another traditional drawback of solar-powered electric fence chargers has been their complexity–because besides needing batteries they also require solar panels–some of which must be mounted independently while others are built into the charger body. Solar electric fence chargers are not recommended for winter fences–because they tend as a class to be weaker than affordable AC-powered chargers; because their batteries tend to weaken in cold weather; and because the sunlight they depend on is reduced. However, solar-powered electric fence chargers share the mobility of battery-powered chargers, as well as the ability to operate far from any AC outlet; and in sunny circumstances they greatly reduce or eliminate the need to periodically recharge or replace the battery. PRODUCT SELECTION GUIDE INDEX; GO NEXT TO: Batteries for Battery-Powered Electric Fence Chargers Different battery-powered electric fence chargers use different kinds of batteries. The Fi-Shock XB-12 and Parmak EM-200 use a 12-volt battery;the Parmak DF-LI uses a 6-volt battery, and the Fi-Shock SS-2D uses two flashlight batteries (alkaline D cells). None of these batteries are provided, so all must be purchased separately. Car batteries will operate the chargers requiring 6 or 12 volts; but marine batteries are better-suited to this task, will last longer, and are recommended. Batteries for Solar-Powered Electric Fence Chargers Two of the solar-powered electric fence chargers that we offer (the Fi-Shock 440 and the Parmak DF-SP-LI) come with their own batteries. Should spare batteries or specialized battery re-chargers be needed, we offer spare batteries for the Parmak XR-12, Parmak SP-DF-LI, and Fi-Shock SS-440 as well as a battery charger for the Fi-Shock SS-440. (See the catalog listings for these electric fence chargers.) PRODUCT SELECTION GUIDE INDEX; GO NEXT TO: 3. Electric Fence Underground and Hookup Wire
The principal accessory needed with an AC-powered electric fence charger is insulated electric fence wire (underground and hookup wire). This special heavily insulated wire is necessary because ordinary extension cords should not be used or won’t work. Using an ordinary extension cord carrying house current to reach a charger at the site of an electric fence is dangerous; and a normal extension cord cannot carry the electric fence charger’s output from the charger to a bare electric fence wire because it cannot contain the momentarily high voltages generated by the charger. Therefore, one should get a length of insulated electric fence wire that is sufficient to reach from the AC outlet to the electric fence, and also from the AC-powered charger’s ground terminal to the electric fence system’s ground rod, and also between any isolated sections of the electric fence that need to be electrically connected. The gauge selected (16, 14, or 12.5) should depend on the power of the electric fence charger and the distance to be covered, with heavier gauges (14 and 12.5) being selected for use with stronger electric fence chargers, longer lengths of insulated wire, and longer electric fences. Insulated electric fence wire is not just an accessory for AC-powered electric fence chargers. It is also used with battery-powered and solar-powered electric fence chargers to electrically connect separate above-ground sections of an electric fence, to pass the charge from one side to another of an electric fence gate, and to connect an electric fence system’s ground rod to the charger’s ground terminal. More information on underground and hookup wire is available in the catalog at Conductors: Insulated Underground and Hookup Wire.. PRODUCT SELECTION GUIDE INDEX; GO NEXT TO:
The fence posts we stock include a wide range of Sungard®-coated fiberglass electric fence posts, 48-inch plastic step-in posts, and studded steel T-posts. The fiberglass electric fence posts and T-posts are very long-lived (the fiberglass posts can last up to 30 years), while the life of plastic electric fence posts can be up to 10 times shorter. In general, when purchasing fiberglass or steel posts, plan on inserting between 12 and 18 inches into the ground. The step-in plastic electric fence posts, which are made to insert 9 inches into the ground, cannot reach beyond a height of 39 inches. Regardless of whether these or other materials are used, the posts should be spaced between 25 and 40 feet apart. More information about these various electric fence posts (including problems relating to flexibility and swaying) is available in the catalog at the introduction to Posts for Electric Deer Fence. Other posts and supports sometimes used with electric deer fence include studded steel U-posts, steel rods, wood posts, cyclone fences, and trees. Steel rods and U-posts, both of which come in various different diameters, can be perfectly satisfactory but are not sold here. In using metal posts, and also in using cyclone fence as a support, be aware that steel is such an avid conductor that one must rigorously avoid any contact between the posts or the cyclone fence and the electrified wire. Regarding wood posts, beware of any that are not chemically treated or massive, because the expected life of untreated wood in the soil is very short. Also, wood is not nearly so good an insulator as fiberglass, so one should try to avoid contact between the wood posts and the electrified wire. If one wishes to simply nail electric fence insulators onto trees and support the conductor that way, this can be done. However, the resulting electric fence is likely to have a haphazard, zig-zag look; and trees are not insulators at all (they are full of sap); so one must carefully avoid contact between the conductor and tree trunks or branches, and also between the conductor and those trees to which the insulators are attached. PRODUCT SELECTION GUIDE INDEX; GO NEXT TO:
The choice here is between Aluminum electric fence wire (which comes in various lengths and thicknesses) and a flock of synthetic electric products–including electric fence polywire, electric fence polyrope, 0.5-inch electric fence polytape, and 1.5-inch electric fence polytape. The polyproducts come interwoven with stainless steel, tinned copper, or aluminum wires of varying thicknesses, and may also have been treated with fiberglass roving to increase their strength, rigidity, and resistance to UV radiation. Aluminum electric fence wire is an ideal conductor, lasts well, and doesn’t sag. However, it is practically invisible from even a short distance; and it cannot be taken down and put up again without creating massive tangles. For these reasons it is not well suited to winter electric deer fences (where visibility provides an important reminder to the deer) or to long temporary electric fences (where replacement costs become significant and frequent replacement is a nuisance). Instead it should be limited to short summer garden electric deer fences where bait caps can do the work of attracting and reminding deer, high visibility may not be desired, and wire replacement is a minor problem. Regarding the various thicknesses offered (which range from 17 to 12.5 gauge), use the heavy 12.5-gauge material only as a ground wire (actually placed on or under the ground) to improve the grounding system of winter electric deer fences. For short summer electric deer fences any of the other gauges will do, with 17-gauge being the cheapest and easiest to handle and 14-gauge being the most durable. Synthetic Electric Fence Conductors Responding to reports that some electric fence polyconductors carried the electric fence charger’s pulse poorly–presenting great resistance and causing the voltage to drop more than 70% over a tenth of a mile (528 feet), we tested several polyconductors on a 660-foot length of electric fence, using a wide range of electric fence chargers. While these tests were limited and informal, only one electric fence polyconductor, Speedrite’s 0.5" polytape (products 2-14 and 2-15), caused the average voltage to drop by a detectable amount (9%) at the far end of the electric fence. The other polyconductors, including Speedrite’s polywire (product 2-8) caused voltage drops along the electric fence line that were too slight to be measured and that appeared to be under 3%. Thus, significant electric fence conductivity problems seem limited mainly to polyconductors employing relatively thin stainless steel wires on much longer electric fences. A more critical issue is durability. We do not offer the thinner electric fence polywires (which typically have only three stainless steel conductors), not just because of their limited visibility but because the sun’s UV radiation tends to destroy them within a year or so. This problem also afflicts many 0.5 inch and 1.5 inch electric fence polytapes, and to a lesser extent affects many thicker electric fence polywires. One way of reducing this difficulty is to use electric fence polyrope, which being thicker takes longer to break down. An even more convincing remedy has been provided by Baygard, which treats its high-conductivity electric fence polywires and polytapes to resist UV for some 6 or 7 years (see products 2-10 thru 2-13, 2-18, 2-19, and 2-22) and provides a five-year warranty on these items. In our opinion, the best electric deer fence polyconductor is probably Baygard’s 0.5-inch HV electric fence polytape (in the catalog see Conductors: Electric Fence Polytape, 0.5", products 2-18 and 2-19), which unfortunately costs almost five times as much as 16-gauge aluminum electric fence wire. For those willing to sacrifice some visibility, a less expensive choice is Baygard’s electric fence polywire (in the catalog see Conductors: Electric Fence Polywire, products 2-10 thru 2-13), which carries the same five-year warranty but is only twice the cost of 16-gauge aluminum electric fence wire. Those who are inexperienced with electric fence polyconductors but who would like to test the waters may wish to start with less durable but also less expensive items like Speedrite’s electric fence polywire, 0.5-inch electric fence polytape for short fences, and electric fence ultratape for longer fences (in the catalog see Conductors, products 2-8, 2-9, and 2-14 thru 2-17). PRODUCT SELECTION GUIDE INDEX; GO NEXT TO: 6. Electric Fence Insulators Electric fence insulators are confusing because there are so many. We have simplified matters some by not carrying the old-style porcelain insulators, thereby limiting the choices on these pages to the newer plastic types. Also, all but one of the electric fence insulators we offer are made by one company, Dare, the leading manufacturer of these products. In general, all of these plastic electric fence insulators are made of prime high-density polyethylene containing a UV inhibitor. All hold up well in the field. Aside from those to be nailed into wood posts, which require a hammer, none requires any tools to install. The reason why there are so many electric fence insulators is that they must attach to many kinds of posts and supports (round posts, wood posts, T-posts, U-posts, cyclone fences, etc.) and must handle a variety of conductors (aluminum electric fence wire, electric fence polywire, electric fence polyrope, and electric fence polytape in various widths). Our catalog’s section on electric fence insulators is organized according to the type of post involved–so if you know the kinds of posts or supports you plan to use, visit the pages describing insulators for those posts or supports and select the insulators that you need (in the catalog see Electric Fence Insulators). PRODUCT SELECTION GUIDE INDEX; GO NEXT TO:
Here are some gate ideas: You can make a step-over “gate” for an electric deer fence protecting a summer garden by placing fiberglass electric fence posts on either side of the desired opening; stringing the charged electric fence conductor across the opening; using products 7-3, 7-4, or 7-5 as insulators; and lowering these to a good step-over height (typically between 0 and 18 inches) whenever entry to the garden is desired. A small complete gate for summer or winter electric fences can be built with fiberglass electric fence posts, gate handles (products 5-2, 5-3, 5-4, or 5-7), and electric fence wire, polywire, or polyrope. Run the conductor around the electric fence insulator and post on the left side of the gate a couple of times to secure it, and then run the conductor from this post to the back of your electric fence gate handle. Then tie the electric fence conductor coming in from the right side to the post on the right side of the gate, and make a small loop of wire securely connected to this wire or polyconductor for the gate handle to latch onto. If you are using 0.5-inch electric fence polytape as the conductor, anchor the tape on the left side of the electric fence gate opening with product 5-6 and use product 5-5 to form a latching point on the right. If you desire a professional-looking electric fence gate up to 20 feet wide attached to wood posts or studded steel T-posts, product 5-1 will provide it (in the catalog see Electric Fence Gates and Accessories). In each of these cases, the arrangement described will serve to electrify the gate. However, a fair amount of voltage will be lost by any electric fence section that depends entirely on the gate connection for its electric current, and of course no charge will get through to that electric fence section while the gate is open. You can fix this problem by running a short length of insulated electric fence hookup wire (see Conductors: Insulated Underground and Hookup Wire) from an active electric fence conductor on one side of the gate to the electric fence conductor or conductors on the other side and burying the insulated electric fence hookup wire some inches beneath the gate opening. At both ends of the hookup wire, expose several inches of bare electric fence wire by cutting deeply into the insulation with a knife and then bending or twisting the insulation to detach and remove it. In joining the exposed end of the electric fence hookup wire to aluminum electric fence wire or an electric fence polyconductor, place the two ends side by side with both ends pointing the same way, and braid the two conductors together so as to form a strong electrical connection, and then tape over the connection with weather-resistant electrician’s tape. If you are using aluminum electric fence wire as the conductor, it is wise to add a few drops of oil to prevent corrosion before taping over the connection. PRODUCT SELECTION GUIDE INDEX; GO NEXT TO:
The Need for a Well-Grounded System The mildest of our electric fence chargers, the Zareba K-9, is what is known as a “direct discharge” electric fence charger. This charger sets up the electric fence conductor as a sort of capacitator that discharges into the target animal when touched. For this reason, the K-9 requires no ground rod. However, all of the other electric fence chargers that we offer are designed to work with electric fence ground rods and require them. Indeed, grounding problems are reputed to be the most common cause of electric fence failure. For this reason, it is worth focusing attention on this matter and ensuring that your electric fence system is well-grounded.
The circuit to be completed is from the electric fence charger’s output terminal, through the electric fence conductor, and from there (through a target animal, the moisture in the ground, and the electric fence’s ground rod or ground wire) back to the “ground” terminal on the electric fence charger. For this system to work, it is essential that the circuit NOT be completed until the target animal touches the charged conductor on the electric fence. Therefore, it is necessary that the electric fence charger’s “ground” terminal not be connected up to the charged electric fence conductor or any wire attached to that conductor. This “ground” terminal must ONLY be connected to an electric fence ground rod and/or ground wire that is NOT connected to any charged element. While on the subject of completing circuits, it’s worth noting that it is not necessary for the charged conductor on the electric fence to come full circle in order to “complete a circuit” because the pulsed charge that travels outward along the electric fence conductor should register well at the end of the electric fence line whether or not that line goes full circle. It is only important that all sections of this electric fence line be well-connected to the electric fence charger’s output terminal or to some other properly charged portion of the electric fence.
The electric fence experts whose conclusions appear in catalogs, instruction manuals, etc. recommend everything from a little two-foot ground rod to a series of massive six to eight-footers grouped in a cluster or strung out at regular intervals along the electric fence line (for our catalog offerings see Electric Fence Ground Rods). In reality, the most important guide to use in purchasing and installing ground rods and ground wires is common sense. What carries the electric fence charge from the feet of a target animal to the electric fence ground rod is not soil and rocks but rather the water in the ground. Water in liquid form is not nearly so good a conductor as metal in any form, and so it is essential to ensure a good connection between the metal ground rod or ground wire and whatever soil moisture carries the charge through the ground from the feet of the target animal. This means that the minimum requirement is for an electric fence ground rod in good permanent contact with moist soil. If the electric fence is short, and if it protects a well-watered summer garden, then a two-foot ground rod may well suffice. However, if multiple fences are involved, or if there is any question about soil moisture having good access to the rod for the entire time the electric fence is working, then a six-foot ground rod should be considered. In dry areas, three or more rods should be placed in a moist location and wired together. If the electric fence system extends out more than a quarter-mile from the electric fence charger, then additional ground rods should be placed at quarter-mile intervals along the electric fence line and connected to the rest of the ground system by means of a neutral (uncharged) ground wire. Also, even a short winter electric deer fence must cope with snow, ice, and frozen ground, none of which are good conductors. In these circumstances it is wise to get the metal grounding system as close as possible to the target animal–which is why we recommend stringing a 12.5 gauge wire (in the catalog see Conductors: Aluminum Electric Fence Wire, product 2-7) on or just under the ground along the electric fence line and connecting it to the electric fence charger’s ground terminal. It may also be advisable to remove some of the snow and ice buildup along the electric fence line in winter–either manually or with a de-icer–in order to improve the grounding of the system.
Electric fence ground rods and ground wires in contact with the soil take a lot of punishment. Especially where there is a significant weed burden, they are almost continually receiving some electric current, and the passage of electrons, through a process of ionization, strongly stimulates corrosion. Such corrosion attacks both the actual rod or wire and the ground system’s connections, eventually reducing the system’s effectiveness to nil. For this reason it is wise to inspect any electric fence ground wire periodically for corrosion and to replace ground rods every two years. (It is not necessary to dig up the old rods, but new ones need to be installed and connected to the charger’s ground terminal with fresh connections.) Alternatively, one can test the electric fence system regularly with a digital fence tester (see Electric Fence Testers in the index below) and can replace the rods when significant voltage reduction is observed. PRODUCT SELECTION GUIDE INDEX; GO NEXT TO: 9. Electric Fence Deer Attractants Deer really go for the smell of peanut butter, apples, wild grapes, and other delicacies. So attracting them with one or another of these lures and then giving them a Pavlovian shock instead of a food reward can effectively train them to avoid protected areas. Not everyone agrees with this behavioral approach. At least one band of academic researchers has found deer repellants to be as effective as deer lures when combined with electric fencing. However, there are many factors at play here–how much voltage was on the line, the nature and spacing of the lures and repellants, the replenishment intervals, when deer training started, what plants were being protected, the protected area’s size, whether there was snow and ice, what the deer pressure was like, how well the grounding system worked, what conductors were used, and so forth ad infinitum, to a point where it seems unlikely that the whole imposing array of influential variables could possibly have been tested with any rigor. What we do know is that the combination of an attractant and a voltage of at least 2.5 kv provides good deer training under most conditions. In contrast, repelling deer during the training season is not likely to provide good training, because there is no penalty to the deer, even if the repellants are frequently replaced. What’s more, deer eventually become used to repellants and learn to ignore them; and so they may get used to the repellants and descend on the garden untrained around the time the garden is in full bloom or the vegetables are maturing. This same difficulty of getting used to things also governs the effectiveness of deer attractants. It is true that the attractants only have to be fully effective long enough to train the deer that happen on them. However, we don’t have the full story on just how long this sort of electrical deer training lasts, and it is certainly possible that the electrical training might wear off for some deer before the end of the growing season or before the end of winter, at a time when they have become more or less accustomed to the scent and are no longer attracted to it. To guard against this possibility, it may be advisable to use two scents that attract deer–starting with one like apple and then switching over to another like wild grape partway through the season. (see Catalog, Electric Fence Deer Lures, products 3-1 thru 3-3).
Ordinary volt-meters are not designed to cope with the high-voltage pulses produced by low impedance electric fence chargers, and so they cannot determine the voltages these chargers place on electric fence lines. Instead one must use a voltage reader designed specifically for this purpose. Such electric fence testers are not expensive, and some are dirt cheap. The cheapest that we stock (in the catalog see Simple Positive Voltage Reader, product 4-1) costs only $3.09, but it can only tell when a voltage is present and tells nothing about whether the voltage is sufficient to shock deer. A five-light electric fence tester (in the catalog see Five-Light Voltage Reader, product 4-2) does considerably better, indicating whether there are 1, 2, 3, 4 , or 5 kv on the line. If one wishes to test for higher voltages, or to find out whether the desired 2.5 kv are present, or to determine how much the grounding system or other factors have affected the voltage on an electric fence line, this can be done readily with the sort of digital electric fence tester (in the catalog see Digital Voltage Reader, product 4-3) used by everyone who is seriously involved in maintaining electric fence. All of the electric fence chargers that we stock have lights or meters that indicate whether the electric fence charger and electric fence system are working. However, that’s all that the lights indicate. They say nothing about the actual online voltage. And the meters present on some of the the stronger chargers are not all that helpful–because regardless of whether they reliably tell the charger’s output voltage, they do not accurately reflect the voltage on the line. Therefore, any person with a marginal need to tell something about an electric fence’s online voltage should obtain a five-light electric fence tester, and anyone who wishes to take accurate measurements should get a digital electric fence tester.
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