All About Fence Chargers

Charger FAQs

• What can I do to prevent lightning from destroying my fence charger?

• What factors should I consider when purchasing a fence charger?

• What does Low Impedance mean?  I see it on chargers in stores and on websites.

• Why does my fence charger make clicking noises?

• Why does my fence charger need to be grounded?

• With a pacemaker, how close to the fence can a person be and what would happen if they touched it?

Answers to the FAQs

Q:   What can I do to prevent lightning from destroying my fence
       charger?

A:  Lightning frequently finds its way to electric fence lines. When it does, the sudden power surge can travel down the fence wire and damage your fence charger.  Lightning protection products such as lightning diverters, lightning constrictors, lightning arrestors and surge suppressors can prevent or limit lightning damage to your fence charger. They are a low-cost way to help protect your charger.

You may want to consider disconnecting the charger from its power source when storms are nearby.

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Q:   What factors should I consider when purchasing a fence
       charger?

A:  The power source (AC, Battery or Solar Powered), energy output (in joules), the type of animal being controlled, the length of the fence (more wires need more power) and the amount of vegetation growing near the fence should be considered when you are selecting your fence charger.   

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Q:   What does Low Impedance mean?  I see it on chargers in
       stores and on websites.

A:  Low impedance chargers increase the joules (energy) on a fence line if weeds or other vegetation touch the fence. Low impedance chargers are ideal for long, multi-strand poly wire, tape, rope or high tensile fence systems. Low impedance chargers are recommended for most applications and can be operated by AC, DC or Solar Power. 

The other type of charger, known as a solid state charger, is usually used to control short-haired livestock, small animals, and pets where only moderate weed conditions exist.  These chargers deliver a medium-amperage shock and can be operated by AC or DC.

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Q:   Why does my fence charger make clicking noises?

A:  Most fence charger have a pulsed output. Every time it “clicks,” it is releasing energy to the fence that has been stepped up or increased through a capacitor and a transformer. This release of energy makes noise.  Not all chargers make the clicking noise.  The noise is designed for the owner of the charger and serves no functional purpose.

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Q:   Why does my fence charger need to be grounded?

A:  The animal only feels a shock when the electric fencing circuit is completed. When the animal touches the electrified fence line, current goes through the animal’s hooves, through the earth, back to the ground rods and finally back into the charger to complete the circuit. The better the ground system, the greater shock the animal will feel.

For dry, sandy, rocky or frozen soil where the animal is not feeling a very intense shock, there is also an alternate method of grounding called ground wire return system. This is created when the fence wire alternates between charged wires and grounded wire.

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Q:   With a pacemaker, how close to the fence can a person be and
       what would happen if they touched it?

A:  One of the main things that the charger does is to increase the volt level and decrease the amp level.  Amps are one of the most damgerous parts pf electricity.  Nobody should intentially touch and electrified fence but the risk of injury to any person is extremely low.

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Zareba® has a fence charger to meet your electric fence needs whether you want to protect a small garden from critters or to fence in livestock with many miles of electric fence.