Installing hot wire

[Bruce]

I have some of those as well, I used them on some inside corners. I find them harder to install and keep in position.

I'm sure I'm not putting anywhere near the tension on my hot wire as you are @greybeard. Mine runs above the 4' field fence.

 

[greybeard]

My hot wires were the same tension as the rest of the fence wires with the exception of some 18 or 17ga wire I put up temporarily when I was in a hurry and used in-line strainers to tension it with. My permanent fences have to present a deterrent to stock whether the energizer is working or not, which is why I now use 12 ga wire.
I've gotten rid of all the thin wire and taken all the strainers and small wire down and won't be putting any more back up.

 

[mystang89]

I'm glad you two brought this up. Be ready to facepalm my question but....... Why do I need to worry about how to tight the hot wire is? It's giving the same jolt either way right? I do understand if the hot wire is the only thing keeping things in and it. In other words are or 5 line hot wire with no fence.

 

[Mike CHS]

The wire doesn't have to be stretched (Piano String) tight but, pull it taut enough to stay at the same height between posts. In my case I run a hot and ground at the top of all of my woven wire fences and a sagging wire is going to cause problems.

 

[Bruce]

Mine is the same as Mike's hot (5') over ground (4.5') above the 4' field fence.

 

[greybeard]

I'm glad you two brought this up. Be ready to facepalm my question but....... Why do I need to worry about how to tight the hot wire is? It's giving the same jolt either way right? I do understand if the hot wire is the only thing keeping things in and it. In other words are or 5 line hot wire with no fence.

Depends on what you are trying to keep in (or out) I guess. Wire has a certain amount of 'stretch' to it before it gets tight. Some wire, more than others. HT for instance has virtually no stretch to it, meaning you pull it tight and beyond that, you risk breaking it. Old low carbon steel wire (and the aluminum wire) had a lot of stretch to it...you pulled it tight, then kept pulling until you had all the stretch/elongation out of it. Problem with that was, it was almost impossible to ever get all the elongation out of it and you go back 6 months later and the wire is loose again just because the natural tendency to elongate from temperature changes, weight of the wire between posts and pressure from livestock/widlife.
HT wire doesn't do that, but if you don't tension it good and tight to begin with, it too can suffer from loss of tension due to almost daily changes in temperature..not to mention it looks like crap.. looking like cross section view of swells on an ocean, (peaks and valleys) dipping down between each insulator.
I can drive down the road at normal speed, and just from my truck window tell every fence that was put up using low carbon wire, just from the sag in it, and more than likely, when it was initially installed, it was pulled reasonably tight.
How tight to tension HT wire?
Stop right before the breaking point.
I pull on it till I'm scared to pull even another click on the stretcher..or my arms give out...whichever comes first.

 

[mystang89]

Thank you for answering all these various questions I've been tossing at you all btw. This information, in such a concise place, is invaluable. I've learned more in the past year about this than I ever could have otherwise.

 

[mystang89]

@Bruce what insulator did you use for your wood posts such as the H braces? (Not the actual H post of it of course) My posts are locus trees I cut down so the are not all the same size not perfectly round so I wanted something to offset the wire. The only thing I found for wood was https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/wood-line-post-insulators?criteria=380711&species_id=0&cat_id=0
I really don't want to have to screw in 56 if those though especially after seeing the reviews on that particular item.

I found http://www.zarebasystems.com/zareba-economy-insulators-with-nails-iwknb-zc

or the ones that are slanted which keeps it about an inch out.

These https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/nailon-insulator?cat_id=46 just don't seem like they would keep it far enough out since the wire won't be perfectly (in any sense of the word) straight.

 

[greybeard]

I'm not Bruce, but I quit using the claw type insulators and use only pin type, both for wood posts and tee posts. 1" out from the post is plenty far in regards to the pulse not being able to jump the air space but there are others that are 2" extended out, especially the slant nail insulators.
I have not had good luck with any of the longer yellow ones that are so inexpensive...the sun here seems to make them brittle and they break.
I haven't had that problem with the black ones.

 

[Bruce]

I don't have any insulators on the braces, they are below the hot wire and ground wires.

If you need to screw insulators in, I suggest pre-drilling with the appropriate size bit. I was able to get mine in almost all the way then crack the plastic trying to get the last 1/4". If you do need to keep wire off the uneven brace posts, I would GUESS the first you posted would be OK, put it in the most projecting part of the brace even if that isn't in the mid-point. The braces aren't long enough to usually need an insulator if you've already got them on the posts.