One of the challenges of electric fencing is protecting the energizer from lightning strikes. Lightning can strike one of the wires and the electricity will travel through the fencing system to the energizer.
Here are a few methods to help prevent burning down a building and prevent damage to the energizer.
- Install the energizer on a post outside of, but near the building with the power supply. Cover the energizer to protect from the weather.
- Use a good quality surge protector. Many times, the power surge that damages the energizer comes from the electrical supply rather than through the fence system.
- Install a lightning choke or lightning coil that will stop the lightning strike from getting to the energizer. The premise of these is that the electricity from the lightning strike travels so quickly into the choke or coil that it “jumps” off the system.
- Connect all the electrified wires to the grounding system or the lightning arrestors.
- Unhook the energizer from the fence system whenever severe storms are forecast.
There are several things to consider when designing your paddocks. You’ll need to think about:
- the lay of the land,
- access to shade and water sources, and
- the placement of gates and lanes/alleys (paths for moving livestock back and forth from handling facilities or buildings).
A good rule of thumb is to use temporary fencing for several years to allow you to determine the best paddock size and layout before installing more permanent subdivision fencing. Keep in mind that staying with temporary fencing indefinitely allows more flexibility in paddock sizes and assures that you have the option to perform machinery operations, such as renovation and hay-baling without permanent fence in the way making these tasks difficult and time consuming.
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2 of the best electric fence chargers for your farm
We have evaluated many brands of electric fence chargers and energizers for you. Our staff has extensively tested many brands and came up with a the two energizers you should consider purchasing when building an electric fence or adding to your Electric fence on your farm.
1. Speedrite brand electric fence chargers are in excellent choice for many situations. Speedrite is made by Trutest from New Zealand. Speedrite offers the Unigizer electric fence charger. We have tested the speedrite 3000 unigizer and found it to be a very good fencer at 3 Joules of power. It offers an on/off switch, fast and slow speeds, and digital display. This is an affordable and durable Energizer and is available from speedritechargers.com
2. Patriot Brand Fence Chargers are another popular option. The patriot brand electric fence charger is made by trutest. Trutest is one of the largest manufacturers of electric fencing in the world. What sets patriot electric fence energizes apart is some of the models are dual powered, meaning they can operate on 110 V or 12 V battery. These units are not unserviceable, waterproof, and made extremely well for tough farm and ranch conditions. One of the best dual powered energizers available is the Patriot P20. it sells for under $150 and is available from patriotchargers.com. Patriot energizers offer a two year full replacement warranty. This brand of Energizer is certainly worth taking a look at.
For more formation please visit one of the websites mentioned or www.ValleyFarmsupply.comfor all the information you’ll need for the best products at the lowest prices with the faster shipping available.
