Q&A for How to Make an Electric Fence

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How can I connect a battery and cables to make a hot fence?

Community Answer

Connect the battery to a fence charger/energizer first. After this is done, connect the positive side of the fence charger output to the fence, and the - negative terminal to a grounding system. Grounding systems could be a steel rod system pounded into the ground, using an existing water culvert, etc. The more surface area exposed to the ground, the lower the resistance, and the better a fence ground.

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Question

How long should the space between the stakes be?

Community Answer

3 meters is the proper length.

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Question

Does the fence wire need to be a completed circuit?

Karin

Top Answerer

Yes. The fence will not work if the circuit is incomplete or shorted out. That's where grounding rods, making sure plants don't grow up and touch the fence, and proper connections are important. It's not just the fencing wire that counts, but the other things that come with it.

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Question

Can I use the same concept of an outdoor electric fence for a smaller voltage fence to be used indoors to control my pet?

Community Answer

Yes, except the isolators must be able to withstand the higher voltage and it must be slightly higher off the ground to avoid arcing.

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Question

Can I install this electric fence on top of a brick fence?

Community Answer

Yes, you can install an electric fence on top of a brick wall if you can work out a method to fasten the insulators above it.

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Question

Can something like this work without putting a grounding rod into the soil? Can I use chicken wire to make an electric fence?

Community Answer

No, for an electrical fence to work, the animal being shocked needs to complete the circuit, the ground wire helps do that. The current goes out of the fence controller into the energized wire(s) and waits. When something touches the energy travels through the animal and into the ground where it’s returned to the controller. Yes, you can make an electric fence out if chicken wire but you need to make sure none of the chicken wire touches ground (or anything else touching the ground). That’s a lot of surface area to keep clear.

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