# Need help with electric fence charger ideas



## Steph in MT (Sep 26, 2004)

Howdy all~
Been a long time since I've visited this site but I really need some help.
I have a horse pasture fenced with electric Gallagher Equi-braid rope (similar to Electro-braid) and have been using a solar charger. All has been well till our Mntana winter hit and the fence isn't holding a charge. My mare and one of my mini-donkeys have been slipping out on a daily basis and have found my 50 gal. barrels of grain for the chickens... I now have power on my property and want to get a plug-in electric fence charger but don't know if just any type will work.
Any input would be greatly appreciated! My husband called me when he couldn't catch the critters tonight and told me he was "done"... I passed him on the highway as I was heading out to the property and he stopped long enough to hand me a lead rope as he continued towards home in town. :shocked: 
I really need to do something quick to fix this wayward equine problem...
Thanks in advance for any advice!
Steph


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## wr (Aug 10, 2003)

You might as well save your money because the problem very likely your ground rod. 

I'd bet my soul that your ground rod is in the frost zone and they do need a bit of moisture to work. I've had the same problem in winter and during one really bad drought.


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

What WR said, is most likely your problem. And it is possible you do not have enough grounding rods in. 

I have 5 here, to keep my charger going well. The grounding rods are 8' in length, pounded into the ground until there is only 3" showing, enough to attach the ground wire to.
I have clay soil and live in a fairly wet area.
Other places, like with Sandy soil and very cold weather... I needed 8 to 10 grounding rods to make the fence work.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> want to get a plug-in electric fence charger but don't know if just any type will work.



I wouldn't want less then 3 Joules, and more is better.
Par Mak makes a good charger at a reasonable price.

Solar chargers don't do well in cold weather, but all fence systems need a GOOD ground to work


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## Native87 (Jan 21, 2010)

Look into your grounding. And if you get a electric.......................Parmak they are really good IMO


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## Steph in MT (Sep 26, 2004)

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions! I never thought of the ground... I'm a newbie to this electric fence stuff- only have one ground and could only get in down three feet. Worked fine up until now but I bet it is in the frost zone!
Thanks again all! 
Steph


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## malinda (May 12, 2002)

After you've checked and maybe added some grounding rods, also check each of your fence connections. The rope and tape fences are notoriously bad for poor connections. I have Electro-Plus, which is the newer version of Electro-Braid, and I have the same issues. ALL of the tiny wires need to be connected to your charger and if some are not, your fence won't have a good charge. You NEED to use the fence connectors that are made for this type of fence, don't just tie or knot the fence to connect it to any insulators or itself. Also, if you have any arcing (you can hear the fence snapping), the arc will jump the gap until it burns out the tiny wire and then you have a spot in your fence with no charge.

Also check your fencer. My fencer was only putting out a tiny shock, not near as powerful as it should be, so my SO took it apart thinking he would have to replace an inductor, but found that it was only a loose connection. Tightened it up and now the fence is putting out over 6000V - before it was less than 1000V.


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## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

We just gave up on solar and bought a Parmak, the solar was a joke and Tucker was getting out almost every day.

No problems since getting the Parmak hooked up.


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## Steph in MT (Sep 26, 2004)

Just wanted to post an update and another HUGE thank you to everyone for all the advice! :bow:
I got a Parmak Range Master charger and we managed to get another copper ground in deeper than the first and now I have an extra-zappy fence! We also repaired a few places where the wires in the electrobraid were broken. Watched my (too smart for her own good) palomino mare test it with her nose and she was quite surprised! Hee hee!!!! It even zaps the goats and keeps my mini-horse stallion from roaming which my Parmak solar charger never did even on it's best day. Sooooo happy to not be wrangling horses and donkeys home on the ice every night after work... :yuck:
Thanks again all for your help!!! 
Steph


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## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

It's nice when the animals stay where they are suppose to!

It was just last month that we had fence issues. It is NOT fun to wake up at 4AM to a frantic Great Pyr loosing his mind in the front yard. Roll over and look out the bedroom window to see our big white app/TWH running back and forth on the split rail fence(a few hundred yards from a busy fastpaced road), trying to get back into the property(thank God it was one horse and not both, heaven knows where they'd have gone). Catching a X(insert random farm animal) in the early morning in PJs, crocs, and no contacts is so NOT FUN!

Another time the black QH had "some way" to get out of the electric fence and would "magically" appear in the backyard. We put him back 3 times the same day. The fourth we caught him, walked him through his gate into the pasture and without missing a step or changing his stride he pulled a tight U-turn. Stuck his head under the 3 strands of electric wire, lifted them up, and scooted quickly under the wire. AND THEN had the NERVE to U-turn again and stare at us from the outside of the fence. Repaired the fence. Put him BACK into the pasture(luckily he's a sweetheart and easy as pie to catch), and then watched as he went to repeat the casual escape. The wire ran right across his big ol' nose and then sparked and let off a loud ZAP!

_And yes, I think everyone has that little evil laugh inside of them when they watch the troublesome animal get nailed by a well working charged fence.. *buahahaha*_


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## Steph in MT (Sep 26, 2004)

They are little stinkers aren't they? Loved the story of your horse scooting under the wires as you watched- mine would never show me how she did it. I even hid so she'd think I was gone but she was smarter than I and was the perfect little angel-horse happily staying in her pasture the whole time I hid- freezing my bazungas off ... My husband asked me when we revved up the newly charged fence for it's maiden voyage "Should we feel bad standing here waiting for something to get zapped?" We decided not.... Hee heeeee!!!!


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

Reminds me of a dog training story many years ago. We had a naughty Beagle that would run off at times when I called her. We lived waaaay out in the country, it wouldn't have been a problem except when we were ready to leave...

One day she tried that and ended up heading for the horse's low wire on the electric fence... hit it just about the time I yelled "You BAD Beagle!" at her. From then on she came like a shot when I would yell, "You BAD Beagle!" hehe Silly critters!


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## Qhorseman (Jul 9, 2010)

ParMak is the only ones I have found that will hang in there. Plus, when they do go out, the factory service is very satisfactory. I have 18 joule models I use with high tensile fence. Do use good ground rods pounded in the full 8 foot. I have three of them.


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## SCRancher (Jan 11, 2011)

I feel your pain on driving ground rods. I found an article simular to the one I'm posting - I drove 6 8' ground rods - each rod took 2-3 minutes to drive and no effort. This after manually driving one - for 2 hours - using a hammer and 5 pound sledge once it was low enough to stop wobbling so much.

The hammer drill was worth every penny!

http://www.n4lcd.com/groundrod/


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## Steph in MT (Sep 26, 2004)

Great to hear another vote of confidence on the Parmak chargers! 
And I LOVE that hammer drill!!! We have a shop here that rents out all kinds of tool goodies so I may see if they have one. My first 8' copper ground rod is only in about 3 ft (my mom and I put this one in) :ashamed:and the one my husband and I just put in is in probably 5 ft. Still plan to put a third in once Spring hits and it would be great to get them all in nice and deep with that hammer drill thingy!
As a newbie to these kind of things I'm learning by the seat of my pants and I soooooooo appreciate all the great advice.
Steph


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