FAQs

An electric fence is an open circuit. If you take the earth away, the circuit cannot complete and cannot give a shock.

Yes, the earth rods helps the system to complete the circuit when animals touch the fence and the shock can happen.

It's always best to use a galvanised steel rod. Do not use a rusted earth stake. Rust is not a conductor of electricity

Series can be described as a long shoe lace high resistance live out and
live back, it is used in security fences. Parallel wires are connected
to get low resistance and low power.

Yes you may. The fence must not be rusted and must be running along
side, with the live wire (flowing). You also need to erect an earth rod
every 100 metres.

It all depends on the application:

Security Electric Fence:
Use 3 earth rods for the energizer and add an earth rod every 100m along the fence.

Farm Electric Fence:
Use 3 earth rods for the energizer and add an earth rod every 1000m along the fence.

Strip Grazing Electric Fence:
Use 1 to 2 earth rods for the recommended energizer, for a radius not greater than 500m.

No. Copper ground rods are not recommended since copper will react with any galvanized steel through electrolysis and corrode the connection. Gallagher uses only galvanized steel components to avoid this problem.

Bare metals driven into the ground, regardless of their conductivity, are susceptible to oxidation and/or rust. Because power fence energizers emit only a brief, powerful jolt, it is very important that the conductivity of ground rods be maximized to ensure the animal receives a good shock.

The best way is to bury heavy-duty insulated cable in a trench about 10 inches (250mm) deep. Make sure it's rated to 20,000 volts minimum or it may leak current with today's high-power energizers. Do not staple it to the post.

Remember to carry the earth wire across the gateway as well, using the same type of cable. It can be buried in the same trench as the hot cable.

No. Use heavy-duty insulated cable for the ground wire. Even good Class III galvanized wire will corrode rapidly when in contact with the soil. Corrosion leads to electricity resistance and soon there is no connection at all.

No. Animals can become entangled and trapped in the barbed wire, and while the shock emitted by our energizers is not sufficient to kill or seriously wound a farm animal, the stress of being trapped and repeatedly shocked can.

No. The components in our energizers are designed for specific voltage and current requirements. Hooking up two or more energizers to the same line will eventually destroy the energizers.

It depends on the application. Gallagher makes many models with different capabilities.

Ask yourself these questions to help you reach a solution:

What animal are you controlling?

Domestic stock will take less power to control than fencing wildlife out of an area.

How big an area do you need to fence?

Obviously, you will need a
bigger energizer to carry adequate power on larger jobs and a bigger
energizer on more lines you add. If there is a large vegetation challenge for the fence you will need more power. Plan now for any additions you may need down the road, too.

What power source is available?

If you can, use a 110 or 220-volt
plug-in energizer. If you can't, there is a wide range of battery and solar units available.

Do you need a permanent or portable system?

If your needs dictate a portable system, one of our solar kits may fit well.

If you're still unsure, please get in touch with our team using the chat feature online or sending us an email to sales.za@gallagher.com.

The voltage on your fence is greater when it's closer to the end due to what is called the "bounce effect." This means that the pulse from the energizer reaches the end of the fence and then returns back up the fence. That pulse then meets the next pulse coming from the energizer, creating a voltage spike or "bounce." This really means that your energizer joule rating is more than adequate for your fence load and has a surplus of energy, which is exactly what you want in your system.

Voltage merely represents a difference of potential between two electrical points and is only one aspect of overall power. The Joule rating is a true measure of an energizer's stored energy or true power.

They are needed with solar panels 44 Watts or more. If a regulator is required, Gallagher pre-installs the unit prior to shipping any solar products.

A measurement of energy. A joule is a unit of work equal to produce one watt for one second. It Is the measure of the pop, snap, shock, or kick or the pain/discomfort of the output pulse felt by the animal.

Improper grounding. Battery energizers will put energy into the negative side of the charger (green terminal) if not properly grounded, this also is connected to the negative battery post which then shocks the battery with positive electrons.

Solution: use the proper amount of galvanized grounds rods as recommended in the Power Fence Manual.

No. Gallagher also recommends you use a surge protection plug with installation.

You can use a cell phone app to measure the distance. You move the map around and drop pins on the map to start measuring distance. Simple as that. For apple devices look at the Distance Pinner for iPhones and iPads app. For android phones consider using the GPS Fields Area Measure app which also works for Apple devices.

The smallest amount of volts will give you the clicking sound. That would not be enough to give you the effective outcome you want. Get a tester, to make sure the volts are measured correctly.

The tester assists you with the fault finding process. If you do not know what amps and volts your fence uses, you do not know if it is effective.

At the beginning of each zone not shorter than 600m - 800m depending on the total amount of lines you're using.

There are a number of different reasons depending on what code is displayed.

Use this link to download the list of common energizer error codes to help you identify what the problem is and what you need to do.

No.  Materials needed and labour required to build a power fence are both significantly less than for barbed wire.

A high tensile power fence is every bit as permanent as barbed wire.

Don't over tension the wire. Using high-tensile wire allows for greater line post spacing than conventional wire; usually 50 feet (±15.5m) as a minimum.

Don't over tighten the wires.

Make sure it's a flexible system that allows for your specific area such as wildlife impacts, snow loading, wind, etc.

If you don't "over-engineer" the fence, you'll save a lot of money.

The two most common errors we see are using too many line posts, and over tensioning the wire. Remember, this isn't barbed wire. Power fence is a mental barrier for your animals, not a physical one. When using high-tensile wire, it allows for greater line post spacing than conventional wire; usually 50 feet (15.5m) as a minimum. Also, don't over-tighten the wires. You want a flexible system that allows for wildlife impacts, snow loading, wind, etc. Over-building a power fence makes it too rigid, and you lose this benefit. Plus, it costs you more for materials.

With more wire there is less resistance for current to flow in the wires and less of the voltage is dropped in the line itself, which leaves more to shock the animal.

80% of all power fence problems can be traced to inadequate grounding or earthing. Your grounding/earthing system must be perfect for your fence to perform at its best. After all, it's half the system.

Use a test to find where the fault is. The problem could be:

Earthing along the fence is incorrect and more earth rods are needed to increase the voltage.

Vegetation that has grown on the fence is draining the power.

No. The energizer puts out a pulse every second or less so there is time for the animal to get away from the fence.

You have probably used an all-hot system (all fence wires are charged). Gallagher recommends all-hot systems only in areas with 35 inches (90mm) or more of moisture per year. A hot/ground system might be a better choice. Make the top wire of your fence hot, then the next one down a ground wire, and so on. Tie the ground wires together with galvanized wire and clamps at the ends, then connect this to the ground rods, and the ground terminal of the energizer. This way, you carry the ground system out to the animal, and are not relying on dry soil to make the connection.

Yes, in most cases if the birds are clipped wing or are a non-flying species like chickens. The netting will also act as a predator deterrent. It doesn’t take much of an energizer to contain a chicken, but a mid-range charger is needed if there is also a predator issue.

APS Professional can display animal pedigree charts on your PC. Use this link to download the full instructions on how to set this up.

This tip sheet you received explains how to update the cross reference table on your HR4 or HR5 reader so that all data is transferred to your APS software. This will ensure the HR4 andHR5 readers have all the animals in APS recorded in its' memory. If you scan any EID tags known by APS, then the HR4 and HR5 will display the animal’s visual ID.  Use this link to download the step by step instructions.

Reuse of EID tags is only applicable to South Africa. Re-use of Tags is not permitted in other areas of Africa

MyScale Pro

The option [Update cross reference table in the scale] shows a list of EID tags that have been used, along with the visual tag number assigned to them. To reuse EID tags in MyScale Pro, simply delete the lines of information for those tags from the cross reference table, and save the table. The scale’s list of animals will no longer have those EIDs allocated to animals, so they can be used again.

Note: if there are sessions on the scale, that use the EID #s with the old/unwanted visual tag number, the process of deleting the EIDs from the cross reference table does not delete the EIDs from the session.

W610/W810

When you scan the EID tag, the old/wrong visual tag number will appear on screen. Press F5:[SCREEN] until the display shows the last 3 animals. Press F3:[EDIT] to change the visual tag to the new number (press the ß delete button to first remove the old/wrong visual tag
number.

To reuse EID tags, you need to remove the tags from the “cross reference table” in the scale.

To wipe the tag cross reference table, run APS Standard, [Configure], [Device], [Animal Table], [tick] then select the option to [Clear all animals in animal table on the device]. NB. You will first need to delete any/all sessions that use those EID tags.

To delete all tags and sessions from a W610/W810 it might be easiest to use the Engineering menu to [Clear Sessions] which completely clears the memory of the scale.

There is no feature in APS Standard or on the the W610/W810 scale, to select a few animals, and remove the EID# from those animals. Only APS Professional has that capability.

You would need to delete the animals from the APS database, so the EID# is no longer used.

TSi

When you scan the EID tag, the old/wrong visual tag number will
appear on screen. Press [Change Tag] > [Change Tag Number] to change the visual tag to the new number (press the ß delete button to first remove the old/wrong visual tag number.

There is no feature on the TSi to delete all tags.

To reuse EID tags, you first need to remove the EID tag#s from the
animals they are currently assigned to. In APS Office set a filter to the session that contains all the EID tag numbers to be reused. The use menu option Animal > Bulk Update > Remove the Electronic ID field which allows removal of the EID# from animals. (This feature is only in APS Professional, not APS Standard)

To delete all tags and sessions from a TSi it might be easiest to use the Engineering menu to [Clear Database] which completely clears the memory of the scale.

HR4

There is no feature on the HR5 to reuse EID#s for a new animal. You would need to delete the animals from the APS database, so the EID# is no longer used.

There is no feature to change the visual ID of an animal, on the reader. It has to be done in APS – but note that APS Standard does not have the capability to remove the EID# from selected animals.

To wipe the tag cross reference table, run APS Standard, [Configure], [Device], [Animal Table], [tick] then select the option to [Clear all animals in animal table on the device].

HR5

There is no feature on the HR5 to reuse EID#s for a new animal. You would need to delete the animals from the APS database, so the EID# is no longer used.

You can only change the visual ID of the currently assigned animal: When you scan the EID tag, the old/wrong visual tag number will appear on screen. Press [Edit] > [Up] > [OK] to change the visual tag to the new number (press the [Clear] button to first remove the old/wrong visual tag number.

To wipe the tag cross reference table, run APS Standard, [Configure], [Device], [Animal Table], [tick] then select the option to [Clear all animals in animal table on the device].

APS Standard

There is no feature in APS Standard or on the the W610/W810 scale, to select a few animals, and remove the EID# from those animals. Only APS
Professional has that capability.

APS Professional

In APS Office set a filter to the session that contains all the EID tag numbers to be reused. Go to APS Office, then use menu option Animal > Bulk Update > Remove the Electronic ID field which allows removal of the EID# from animals. (This feature is only in APS Professional, not APS Standard)

Connect your Gallagher TWR5 scale to Herd Master via Blue Tooth. The TWR5 will have an RFID panel connected, and therefore will send weight and EID.  Use this link to download the tip sheet.