Voltage Tester Comparisons

There are a wide variety of mechanical and digital electric fence testers available on the market that measure the voltage of either your electric fence or your electric fence controller. However, we have found these testers to have a wide range of accuracy - with some testers varying plus or minus 50%!

Zareba Systems has produced a reference guide to compare the actual voltage rating of our 8 most popular fence controller models against the voltage readings measured by the major voltage tester brands on the market. This will help you in understanding the differential in reading the various testers on the market with the actual performance your Zareba fence controller or a fence powered by a Zareba fence controller.

We provided two reference guides: the first measuring Zareba fencers without a fence connected to them. The "Open Circuit" test measures the voltage output directly from the terminal of the fencers. All of our fencers are first measured using a sophisticated, accurate oscilloscope and again using each of the 9 popular voltage testers available on the market. The results are documented in the chart below.

Open Circuit Test - Powered by Zareba Fence Controllers Not Connected to a Fence

Fencer Type	Oscillo-scope*	Dare 1360 5 Lite	Red Snap'r RSVT8 8 Lite	Fi-Shock A-65 5 Lite	Zareba DEFT1	Dare 2411 Digital	Pell PV 18 Digital	Parmak PM-100 Digital	Fi-Shock A-55 Digital	Gallagher G503 Digital
AC Solid State	11.5 kv	all 5 lites	all 8 lites	all 5 lites	9.7 kv	9.9 kv	9.5 kv	11.0 kv	9.9 kv	10.0 kv
DC Solid State on 12 volts	7.5 kv	all 5 lites	all 8 lites	all 5 lites	7.8 kv	7.4 kv	7.1 kv	7.3 kv	7.8 kv	0.5 kv
AC Low Imp .5 Joule	11.5 kv	all 5 lites	all 8 lites	3 lites	9.9 kv	6.6 kv	9.2 kv	10.5 kv	9.9 kv	9.8 kv
AC Low Imp 1 Joule	11.5 kv	all 5 lites	all 8 lites	all 5 lites	9.9 kv	6.9 kv	9.7 kv	10.5 kv	8.3 kv	9.5 kv
AC Low Imp 2 Joule	11.5 kv	all 5 lites	all 8 lites	all 5 lites	9.9 kv	7.3 kv	9.6 kv	10.5 kv	9.9 kv	9.7 kv
AC Low Imp 6 Joule	13.5 kv	all 5 lites	all 8 lites	all 5 lites	9.9 kv	8.6 kv	9.9 kv	10.6 kv	9.9 kv	11.0 kv
AC Low Imp 15 Joule	13.5 kv	all 5 lites	all 8 lites	all 5 lites	9.9 kv	8.7 kv	9.9 kv	10.8 kv	9.9 kv	11.0 kv
4-volt Solar	10.3 kv/ 8.9 kv	all 5 lites	5 lites	5 dim/ 5 dim		2.1 kv/ 2.0 kv	8.9 kv/ 8.7 kv	8.3 kv/ 7.2 kv	7.4 kv/ 6.3 kv	8.1 kv/ 6.6 kv
6-volt Solar	10.7 kv/ 9.8 kv	all 5 lites	6 lites/ 5 lites	5 lites/ 5 lites		5.4 kv/ 4.8 kv	9.5 kv/ 9.1 kv	9.8 kv/ 9.2 kv	8.5 kv/ 7.2 kv	9.9 kv/ 8.2 kv
12-volt Solar	10.0 kv/ 8.4 kv	all 5 lites	8 lites/ 6 lites	5 lites/ 5 lites	9.9 kv/ 8.4 kv	5.4 kv/ 4.9 kv	9.1 kv/ 7.5 kv	9.8 kv/ 9.4 kv	7.3 kv/ 6.0 kv	7.9 kv/ 6.4 kv
DC Low Imp 1 Joule	10.6 kv	all 5 lites	8 lites	all 5 lites	8.5 kv	6.7 kv	9.5 kv	10.3 kv	8.1 kv	9.1 kv
DC Low Imp 2 Joule	11.4 kv	all 5 lites	8 lites	all 5 lites	9.9 kv	6.7 kv	9.1 kv/ 7.5 kv	10.5 kv	9.9 kv	9.2 kv
Yellow Jacket on 12-volts	12.4 kv/ 9.6 kv	5 lites/ 5 lites	8 lites/ 5 lites	5 lites/ 5 lites	9.9 kv/ 9.9 kv	5.3 kv/ 4.6 kv	9.5 kv/ 7.4 kv	10.8 kv/ 8.6 kv	9.9 kv/ 5.8 kv	11.0 kv/ 8.8 kv
Yellow Jacket with D Cells	6.0 kv/ 4.6 kv	5 lites/ 4 lites	4 lites/ 3 lites	4 lites/ 3 lites	6 kv/ 4.6 kv	3.4 kv/ 2.9 kv	4.5 kv/ 3.4 kv	4.4 kv/ 3.3 kv	5.8 kv/ 4.6 kv	4.8 kv/ 3.7 kv

In boxes with two readings, the first measurement is with the switch on high and the second is on low. kv = kilovolts or 1,000 volts *The accuracy of the oscilloscope is plus or minus 1 percent.

The second reference chart simulates a weed-free, 2-mile electric fence, powered by various Zareba fence controllers. We again measured using the oscilloscope and then various fence voltage testers. The chart gives you the voltage measurements typically found on an actual 2-mile fence.

Two-Mile Complex Fence Load -- Powered by Zareba Fence Controllers

Fencer Type	Oscillo-scope*	Dare 1360 5 Lite	Red Snap'r RSVT8 8 Lite	Fi-Shock A-65 5 Lite	Zareba DEFT1	Dare 2411 Digital	Pell PV 18 Digital	Parmak PM-100 Digital	Fi-Shock A-55 Digital	Gallagher G503 Digital
AC Solid State	5.8 kv	4 lites	7 lites	5 lites	8.5 kv	5.8 kv	5.9 kv	14.9 kv	7.2 kv	6.1 kv
DC Solid State on 12 volts	2.2 kv	2 lites	4 lites	3 lites	2.1 kv	2.2 kv	2.5 kv	9.6 kv	2.3 kv	0.4 kv
AC Low Imp .5 Joule	6.8 kv	5 lites	6 lites	5 lites	6.4 kv	6.3 kv	7.1 kv	8.7 kv	6.4 kv	6.6 kv
AC Low Imp 1 Joule	8.4 kv	5 lites	8 lites	5 lites	8.1 kv	8.2 kv	9.1 kv	11.2 kv	7.8 kv	8.3 kv
AC Low Imp 2 Joule	10.1 kv	5 lites	8 lites	5 lites	9.7 kv	9.4 kv	9.9 kv	13.3 kv	9.1 kv	10.0 kv
AC Low Imp 6 Joule	13.0 kv	5 lites	8 lites	5 lites	9.9 kv	9.9 kv	9.9 kv	13.5 kv	9.9 kv	13.0 kv
AC Low Imp 15 Joule	13.8 kv	5 lites	8 lites	5 lites	9.9 kv	9.9 kv	9.9 kv	13.7 kv	9.9 kv	13.0 kv
4-volt Solar	2.0 kv/ 1.7 kv	1 dim/1 dim	3 lites/ 2 lites	1 dim/ 1 dim		2.6 kv/ 2.3 kv	2.2 kv/ 1.9 kv	0.7 kv/ 0.4 kv	2.1 kv/ 1.8 kv	2.1 kv/ 1.7 kv
6-volt Solar	4.6 kv/ 3.7 kv	4 lites/ 2 lites	5 lites/ 4 lites	5 lites/ 4 lites		4.9 kv/ 4.2 kv	5.1 kv/ 4.2 kv	4.6 kv/ 3.3 kv	4.5 kv/ 3.8 kv	5.0 kv/ 4.1 kv
12-volt Solar	5.5 kv/ 4.6 kv	5 lites/ 4 lites	5 lites/ 5 lites	5 lites/ 5 lites	5.8 kv/ 4.6 kv	5.7 kv/ 5.1 kv	5.7 kv/ 4.9 kv	6.3 kv/ 4.7 kv	5.5 kv/ 4.7 kv	5.5 kv/ 4.6 kv
DC Low Imp 1 Joule	8.0 kv	5 lites	8 lites	5 lites	7.7 kv	7.6 kv	8.3 kv	10.6 kv	7.6 kv	7.9 kv
DC Low Imp 2 Joule	9.7 kv	5 lites	8 lites	5 lites	9 kv	9.1 kv	9.9 kv	12.9 kv	8.9 kv	9.6 kv
Yellow Jacket on 12-volts	5.2 kv/ 4.1 kv	3 lites/ 2 lites	5 lites/ 5 lites	4 lites/ 4 lites	5.1 kv/ 4.1 kv	5.5 kv/ 4.5 kv	5.9 kv/ 4.7 kv	5.8 kv/ 3.7 kv	5.2 kv/ 4.0 kv	5.5 kv/ 4.3 kv
Yellow Jacket with D Cells	2.5 kv/ 2.0 kv	2 lites/ 2 lites	3 lites/ 3 lites	2 lites/ 2 lites	2.6 kv/ 2.1 kv	3.0 kv/ 2.6 kv	2.9 kv/ 2.2 kv	1.3 kv/ 0.7 kv	2.6 kv/ 2.1 kv	2.6 kv/ 2.1 kv

In boxes with two readings, the first measurement is with the switch on high and the second is on low. Complex Fence Load is a combination of resistance and capacitance. kv = kilovolts or 1,000 volts *The accuracy of the oscilloscope is plus or minus 1 percent.

While no light or digital tester was found to be consistently as accurate as an oscilloscope, the digital tester will give you a more accurate measurement than a light tester.

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