Electric fence question

Greetings all. I have never used an electric fence before and a neighbor gave me a battery powered one that we are not sure works. Is there a way to test, other than grabbing the wire after installed? When I attach battery, the "fence ok" light only flickers and won't stay on. I have volt meter but get no reading. I am currently testing on a bench without fence or ground wires attached to unit. Thanks for any input.

 

Electric fence chargers only pulse high voltage (1K - 10K volts) on the fence for a very short amount of time. This is how they do not kill people/animals when in use.

The light should tick and flash every cycle showing that there is not a "short" on the fence, and therefore, ok. With nothing connected to the connections you should hear a "Tick" about every second and the light should flash.

You will not be able to use a standard electrical meter to test a fence charger as the voltage is too high. Electric fence testers are available at farm stores where electric fencing is sold and are rather inexpensive. Here is an example of the one I own: https://www.amazon.com/Zareba-RSVT8-...c+fence+tester

 

Thanks Ironhand for that information. The light only comes on/ticks one time when battery power is applied, and will not illuminate/tick again unless battery is disconnected and then reconnected.

 

A fence tester would be helpful to confirm, but it doesn't sound like the unit is working properly.

 

If it isn't working, you have nothing to lose. Open the case and find the points at top of tick wheel. Clean them with a point file or sandpaper so they make electrical contact.
The tick wheel should start ticking and energizing the coil producing a visible spark when hot lead is held very close to ground lug.
Fixed many of them this way.
Have fun and try not to get shocked!


RR