# Electric Fence Controller



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I assume the issue is bears. There are several issues. One is availability of electricity. If you have none they you either need a battery powered fencer (and a lot of trips to make sure it doesn't run dead) or you need a solar powered one. Solar powered ones are readily available at any farm store. The next issue is power. I would buy the one with the most joules that meets your other requirements. One method of measurement is joules, another is "miles of fence". You want a lot of "miles of fence" even if you only want a little fence as that is the power. The third issue is grounding. You need to insure that the bear gets grounded. Some people do this by alternating ground wires with hot wires. People also stake down hog panels on the ground with metal stakes. A good ground driven deep, of course, helps, and dumping five gallons of water on the stake every time you go out to the yard, also helps.

Now if you're just trying to keep horses out, most any fence charger will do that...


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Either the Speedright AN-90 or the Gallagher B-11. Both use either D cell batteries or 12v deep cycle. You can add a solar panel for $35.

Both companies also maske 120v plug-in chargers.


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## Ozone (May 24, 2011)

No disrespect, but how many minutes could D cell batteries possibly last?

My fence shorts in heavy dew, design flaw of the conductors.


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## honeyshack (Jan 6, 2008)

We use the co-op 6v solar fencers. For bears, 5000v is best. Anything less and they will keep testing it until they can walk through it. Skunks need about 2000 if memory serves. We drive in a 6 foot ground rod into ground. Insulators are needed if you are connecting the fence to wood or treated wood posts The better the ground and the use of insulators the better your fencer will put out the required charge and helps the fencers last longer. As well, if you are buying a fencer, and the rest that goes with it, get a fence tester. There are a few on the market. Run from about $15 to $100. I do not like the 15 dollar one because it has these tiny fuse like things that light up for every 1000v. The light is not bright so hard to see in the day time. The one i have is about $40 something. All it does is give a digital readout of the output


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## greenbeekeeping (Feb 13, 2003)

We have a two different brands they are the Zareba Systems solar powered fencers. This brand of fencers just don't seem to last. Had a few new ones last season and one of them is already dead. Out of all 50+ fencers we have these seem to go bad the most. Most of the rest of the fencers are Parmak Solar powered fencers. When one of these goes bad they seem to be pretty old. Really nice fencers in my opinion.


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## brushmouth (Jan 17, 2010)

http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-fencer-47454.html

$60 Works great (first season yet)
My Zareba didn't make the second season 
I have had several fencers over the years, my favorites were an old school (weed burner) co-op and a bulldog.
The co-op was purchased new and made 10-15 years, the bulldog was an auction item and it
lasted 3 years or so. 
My home yard sports an old school "International" from an auction and is on its 2rd year.
My harbor freight unit is the first solar fencer I have had, it was new this spring so it
has yet to prove the longevity issue. 
Have a circuit board kit to build my next unit this winter, battery powered/add solar panel.
I have a big black boar that makes the rounds here and I have watched him pass down by my creek, he did not even bother to check out my bees on top of the ridge.
It's my belief that he has been "trained"...LOL

BM


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## Jim 134 (Dec 1, 2007)

I like Parmak electric fence chargers.

http://parmakusa.com/index.html


BEE HAPPY Jim 134


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

Ozone said:


> how many minutes could D cell batteries possibly last?


With 4 D cells, the Sppedright lasts 3-4 weeks. The Gallagher with 6 lasts 5 weeks. If you use 12v deep cycle, the battery lasts several months. If you add a solar panel to charge the 12v, it should last all season.


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## Nick Noyes (Apr 28, 2005)

Parmak's solar fencer is what I like. Make sure you have a good ground. We use hog panels around the yard and a steel rod driven into the soil for a ground. Run 2 hot wires 6 inches out from this and have never had a bear go through. 
I have slapped up a quick fence before also. It doesn't take a bear long to slap it down and start eating.


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## pascopol (Apr 23, 2009)

With all respect I do not believe a D cell will provide enough power or "juice" to shock a bear.

By "juice" I mean combined output (high) voltage and enough current to make a bear run.


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## honeyshack (Jan 6, 2008)

pascopol said:


> With all respect I do not believe a D cell will provide enough power or "juice" to shock a bear.


I do not know about a Dcell battery and the ability or be bear proof. But i do know bears (live in bear country), I do know fencers...somewhat...hubby installs, I have maintained, and always check voltage at each yard when working bees. A 6v solar fencer is strong enough to outlast a bear *provided* it is installed correctly, meaning ground rod, insulators, grass incheck. These co-op fencers are on sale about $149 Canadian...on sale Out of our 9 fencers, bought used and new, we have replace 3 batteries, cleaned about 4 battery pack electrodes, brought home and recharged the battery on our battery charger...in spring and tested 3. These fencers are left out all year, some buried in snow. We have seen a bear try and take down the fence 24 hours after installing a yard. It got as far as breaking a 1x6 fence cross support which was 3 feet long and then took a hike. Can not tell you the number of times i have accidentally shocked myself trying to be carefull not to shock myself.


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## WI-beek (Jul 14, 2009)

I am having good luck with my FI-Shock fencers from Menards so far. The zarebas are junk. Mine did not last one season. I have deep cycle 12 volt batteries and a 15 watt solar panel and controller. Yes the 15 watts is over kill but over kill is better than under kill, lol. I have had two run ins with bears and i dont plan on letting a few dollars cost me another visit.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

I read it on the internet so it must be so!

There is a big range of sophistication in fence charges. First the voltage of the power supply is not proportional to the outlet voltage. The battery voltage is multiplied many times and over a period of time is stored in a capacitor. As long as your fence is very clean of weeds and well insulated there is little current lost and at each cycle the battery only need top the capacitor up with what leaked between pulses. The D cells powered fencers will deaden the battery quite quickly if the fence gets shorted and has to totally charge an empty capacitor ever time.

Some of the cheap chargers are not well insulated internally and water wicks into the transformer and voltage jumps layer to layer of the windings. They are exposed to lightning as well and a better quality unit has more lives than the EverReady Cat.


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## Ozone (May 24, 2011)

Nick Noyes said:


> Parmak's solar fencer is what I like. Make sure you have a good ground. We use hog panels around the yard and a steel rod driven into the soil for a ground. Run 2 hot wires 6 inches out from this and have never had a bear go through.
> I have slapped up a quick fence before also. It doesn't take a bear long to slap it down and start eating.


Good Idea! How many hots do you run?


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

If you have bear trouble, and you want to protect the bees from damage, spend the money on a good solar fencer.
Otherwise dont waste your time,
Calculate the value in your yard and estimate your costs in damages if a bear happens through. That will help justify the cost of a solar fencer.
If it doesnt, then go the cheaper route


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## Trevor Mansell (Jan 16, 2005)

I just started using the Gallagher solar 17 . They have a good warrantee and are easy to handle. The Parmak's are nice but are kinda a pain to handle and hang on a post ,I usually set them on a box in the yard and tie them to a post. The Gallaghers sit on top of a T-post and come with alligator clamps to attach to the fence and ground. They also cost less than the Parmak's.


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## WI-beek (Jul 14, 2009)

Just a thought about solar fencers. 

Many times the fencer will go bad forcing you to buy a new whole unit as _greenbeekeeping_ can testify too. If you build a solar fencer system as I did, if one component goes bad you dont need to replace the whole works. If my fencer goes I can replace it for 70 bucks or less, the solar panel is 80, the battery is 65. If my panel goes bad I can replace the battery with the one in my truck and not panic until I receive another. The solar panel is over kill and a sufficient one would be around 50. My solar system cost about $220 but with a smaller solar panel and a smaller battery you could build it for less than 180 I would think. A good name brand solar fencer will cost this much or more anyway. 

Also, unlike the all in one solar fencers, I dont have to worry about a weak fence if there is a lack of sun for days or weeks. My 12 volt battery will hold a good charge for over a month even if wires are in contact with weeds without a charge.


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## Beeslave (Feb 6, 2009)

Zareba change the location of the circuit board from the bottom inside the unit to the side. The problem is moisture inside that shorts them out. New circuit boards are cheap and easy to replace. 20 Zarebas.........I can now rebuild them with my eyes closed....LOL


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## WI-beek (Jul 14, 2009)

How much are the circuit boards? Do you order them direct fro Zarebas?


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

pascopol said:


> With all respect I do not believe a D cell will provide enough power or "juice" to shock a bear.


You would be surprised. I know I have wimpy eastern Black bears, but with 11 yards with these fencers, I can say that D cell batteries will stop my bears. Only thing I don't like is that they only last 3-5 weeks. The chargers also accept 12v batteries with last longer. With the $35 solar panel, they last all season.


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

I am following this thread because I am contemplating an outyard - my home yard has a Fleet Farm fencer that runs from my shed. How do Wisconsin/Mn beeks deal with their outyard fencer system overwinter? Is it mandatory to have a solar panel I know the cold is pretty hard on batteries? Or do you rely on hibernation?


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## Beeslave (Feb 6, 2009)

Bears hibernate........

WI BEEK- Circuit boards http://www.zarebasystems.com/store/electric-fence-parts/cblis10r


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## Adrian Quiney WI (Sep 14, 2007)

Shannon, so do you pull the batteries away from the yards at a certain time and take them home for charging, or leave them there?


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## beedave (Apr 23, 2006)

Late in the game here but we use Parmak Mag 12 with deep cycle batteries and a small solar panel courtesy of the DOW for bear fence. 3 ground rods at least 6' apart grounded together with #10 solid copper. The fence is high tensile woven wire tied to pvc pipe over t-posts, whole grid is hot. One barbed wire on the bottom and 2 on top all grounded to the ground grid that the charger is grounded tnce the bears are trained they never touch the fence unless you leave the gate open.


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## riverbee1 (Jul 2, 2010)

i would use solar, and do now. i have used the zareba sp 10 for the last 6 years to keep the bears out, and use year round. also keeps other critters away as well. i purchased the zareba on the advice of an agent with the usda aphis wildlife services who works with commercial beekeepers on wildlife damage. at the time, he recommended either a red snapper or the zareba. to keep bears out, he advised I use maximum, .15 joules or about 7,000 volts. the sp-10 i use now can run anywhere between 7300 and 8500 volts, but i also check the fence and water the ground rods when it is very dry, when i see the voltage drop. i have been through 2 or 3 of these units, two under warranty, and when this one dies i will be in the market for another good solar fencer. 

i would agree with those who say zareba's are junk, heres why; i discovered that this particular zareba fencer (and maybe others) has a design flaw with an under designed seal allowing water to leak into the housing, which fries the unit. anyone send their units into zareba to have a technician say it was wet inside or that the unit got wet from improper mounting? 

using a combination of some silicone sealant and clear contact paper covering the solar panel has increased the life of the unit for me for the past couple years, but would also appreciate what others are using for solar fencers. i would continue to use zareba's units, if they fixed this problem. might have to check out the parmaks.

bears hibernate? they do, but don’t count on it…..occasionally they like a winter snack too.


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## nursebee (Sep 29, 2003)

Here at home I use a large unit from the local Agri-Supply. If you are near one of them the nice thing is how easy it is to get parts and/or the no hassle returns of anything you buy there. When I was running many outyards, I loved the PARMAK that ran on 12Volt deep cycle marine batteries. It seemed that if I changed the batteries out once a month and recharged them at home they worked well. If a battery went dead, walmart would credit or prorate some of the replacement based upon purchase date if I had a receipt or based upon the date of manufacture otherwise.

The solar units cost more upfront. I had a unit stolen, if this had been solar I would have been hurt more.

I recall the Parmak unit I used was about $100. The company provides excellent service. I have several of them around here, need to list them for sale...


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## chillardbee (May 26, 2005)

I use the 6 volt solar parmak, It keeps a good charge and keeps a good charge longer.
We take our bees to the mountians for the fireweed so having a good portable set up is necessary. We use a flexi-net for our fence and chicken wire for the ground around the perimeter.


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## WI-beek (Jul 14, 2009)

By deer season (gun) bears should be in there deep sleep. You are supposed to take battery off and store it charged. All in one units can be taken home, let charge and store in home. From what I read warm storage is the best.

I will be wrapping my hives the week before gun season and as long as its cold like it should be Ill be taking batteries home and covering solar panel with a old blanket or something. Come March ill hook it back up. I usually need to unhook hot wire from the bottom wire cause its buried in snow.


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## Dancing Bee Apiary (Jan 5, 2010)

My mentor who has a million stories about trouble bears swears by this;

Instead of running ground wires between live wires run a a single ground wire about 1' 1/2 out from the live wires and about a foot above the ground. The bear will always contact this wire just before he touches the live ones.


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## ga.beeman (Mar 29, 2009)

I use the parmak from Jeffers in Dothan Alabama(they have web site). I have used these solar chargers for 10 years and they are still going strong .I think they have two models the one i use is black and red. you can buy a replacement battery for them if needed so far I havent had to replace one. well worth the money if you are going to sourwood


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## Makin' Honey (Sep 13, 2010)

I have used the Parmak Mag 12 for years with good service in Florida and North Carolina. In Florida I used it with a 12v battery and hid it inside one of the hives because the two legged 'bears' would steal the solar ones!! You can find the Parmak for sale at Amazon.com with free shipping.


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## Solomon Parker (Dec 21, 2002)

The key in fence chargers in my experience is not voltage, it's Joules. The bigger the Joules, the better, but not all fence chargers are labelled with Joules. 

I have a solar panel that charges a deep cycle battery which provides power for a light to keep chickens producing eggs, and the fence charger which is a Stafix X1, a 1 Joule dual power fence charger. I've had the chickens for exactly four months and I have not locked them in the coop once. The fence has performed flawlessly. There's little more satisfying than hearing the neighbor's dog go yip yip yipping across the yard never to return. The fence was taken down once by what I assume was the other neighbor's English Mastiff but it still was not able to get to the chickens and has not come back. I'm guessing he got stuck in the fence for a few seconds and had a real bad day.


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## beehonest (Nov 3, 2011)

You will find many opinions on this especialy from those who have them to keep animals in which is a different ballgame. I went through this I finaly found guidelines for an apiary fence from the state of Virginia that has done extensive research on bear fences for apiaries. There are a lot of solar powered or D Battery powered portable deals sold by bee companies that will make a bear laugh for a minute. First you want a low impedence charger this is key, of at least one joule prefererably more. Aluminum 14 guage wire, with six strades spaced at I think it was six inches, don't hold me to that. You want to alternate hot and cold, start with hot on the bottom strand. I have either a patriot or enforcer I forgot, It is two joules and will operate off 110 or a 12v car or marine battery. Let me tell you it packs a punch it got me through goatskin bee gloves and I never even touched the wire my hand was about two inches away!


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

So that harbor freight one. Any experiences with it? It is 1/2 of what everyone else wants.

http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-fencer-47454.html So after shipping and tax it is 74 bucks. 

Or 134 for I can get the Zabara one delivered to the house. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HMLWGW/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Any suggestions? Experiences.?


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## brushmouth (Jan 17, 2010)

EastSideBuzz said:


> So that harbor freight one. Any experiences with it? It is 1/2 of what everyone else wants.
> 
> http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-fencer-47454.html So after shipping and tax it is 74 bucks.
> 
> ...


I was very happy with the price and it had a nice spark, however it failed me B4 the end of summer.
My low end Zabara only lasted one year, which the Harbor Freight Fencer replaced.
For some reason all these new fencers don't last, like the CO-OP and BULLDOG fencers I grew up with. 
Now using an old CO-OP fencer I was lucky enough to find at farm auction, works great. 

BM


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## berkshire bee (Jan 28, 2007)

I've run Zareba solar chargers in three locations for the last 6 years and have never had one fail. A buddy of mine had a Zareba charger that wasn't working, given to him. He brought it to Tractor Supply to see if you could get parts for it and they gave him a free replacement.


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## EastSideBuzz (Apr 12, 2009)

berkshire bee said:


> Tractor Supply to see if you could get parts for it and they gave him a free replacement.


 That says a lot. Not sure if the HF one has a replacement warranty I will ask my local guy if they do since I cant choose one online. That might change the deal.


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