Read out on charger

[neilbedwell]

I have a 50 mile charger I bought from Southern States (made by ParMak) that has the digital readout on the front. I've had it in use now for about three weeks. It has been reading anywhere from 17.5 to 18.5. I have no real idea what those numbers mean. I have a fence tester and the fence seems strong (goats don't like it when they touch it, that's for sure). What do those numbers mean and what should the readings be? Thanks all!

 

[redtailgal]

That display is your voltage meter. I dont know specifically about your charger, but many of them display in units of 100. Meaning a display of 10.7 would mean that your fence is running at 107 volt.

 

[nomad]

When grass and weeds grow up and touch the charged wires, current is leaked to the earth. The energizer automatically supplies this leakage current through the weed load and tries to maintain an effective guard voltage on the charged wires. When this leakage current increases beyond the capacity of the energizer, the guard voltage decreases and the available shock current is no longer adequate.

The digital display on the ParMak (I have this model as well) indicates the guard voltage in microvolts. So a reading of 5.0 indicates a guard voltage of 5000 volts being delivered to the charged wires. The manual indicates that a 4.0 reading is sufficient for long haired animals, however, I do not like anything below a 10.0 since we run cattle, sheep, and goats and live along a 4 lane highway.

At a reading of 17.5 or higher, you are delivering a whallop to any animal that comes into contact with it. I know from many experiences that an 11.5 or higher makes my arm go almost numb.

 

[neilbedwell]

Thanks folks for the replies. Nomad, you are right about one thing, my fence packs a wallop. I've "experienced" it personally on a couple of occasions and it's not something I want to do again anytime soon. My goats have also been zapped and they aren't happy about it either. Guess that means it's doing its job! Thanks again!

Neil

 

[greybeard]

Yep, 4KV will get your attention fer sure. When I was about 10, I ran into a charged wire, wearing a zipped up nylon jacket with an exposed metal zipper down the front. One of life's lessons ya don't forget.