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Print this PageFrequently Asked Questions about Electric Fencing
1) Does my fence line have to make a loop to work?
No, the animal completes the loop/circuit when it touches the fence. For example, strip grazing fences have a dead end but still work perfectly well.
2) My fence does not seem to give much of a kick
To be an effective deterrent an electric fence should have a minimum of 3000 volts at any point along its length. Testers are available to give accurate readings. Remember, an animal has bare feet, possibly standing in damp grass and may touch the fence with its wet nose, a very different experience than you touching it.
3) Are more powerful energisers better than smaller ones?
The more powerful an energiser the more power it will consume therefore costing more to run. However an energiser with some power to spare could be useful if in the future you wish to erect more fencing. See energiser details for guidelines.
4) Grass/vegetation is touching my fence, is this ok?
No, anything touching your fence will “leak” power making your fence less efficient; this can be grass, weeds, wooden posts, barbed wire, etc. It pays to maintain your fence.
5) Why do energisers power a long length of wire but a much shorter length of netting?
Netting is power hungry as each vertical and horizontal line (except the bottom line) has multiple wires, if you added these multiple wires together the end result would be a very long single line fence. As a rule, a battery energiser needs to be 12 volt for nets.
6) How many posts do I need?
The minimum is one every ten metres. After the initial contact electric fencing relies on being a psychological barrier rather than a physical barrier. A great advantage of a permanent electric fence is that it requires much less material than a traditional stock fence and if properly maintained will give years of service. For electric fencing, wooden posts are often used for corners and ends to give greater stability with plastic posts as intermediates for temporary instalment. Insulators must be used on wooden posts.
7) Which are best, mains or battery energisers?
Battery is great for temporary systems giving good flexibility when the energiser is situated outside. Mains are ideal for permanent installation however, due to being connected to mains supply, they must be housed inside and use a suitable lead out cable to take power to the fence. Because mains units must be housed they are not supplied with leads. A lead out cable will be required.
8) In dry weather my fence does not seem as effective, why is this?
Prolonged dry weather results in drier soil; the drier soil is, the less efficient it is at conducting electricity. In this situation increase the number and depth of the earth stakes used, this will help counter the lower conductivity of the soil.
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