I made a small electric fence situation on my patio to keep my cats from going to my neighbors patios. (Trust me when I tell you I’ve tried everything else before resorting to this.)
I got the Patriot PE2 and used chicken wire to ground. I just tested it out and it definitely works, but far too well for my small cats.
How can I reduce the amount of shock it puts out? I tested it on my self and holy shirtballs that thing could stop a cow. Which I realize is the point. But still.
I got the Patriot PE2 and used chicken wire to ground. I just tested it out and it definitely works, but far too well for my small cats.
How can I reduce the amount of shock it puts out? I tested it on my self and holy shirtballs that thing could stop a cow. Which I realize is the point. But still.
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Maybe add a decent sized R between the red terminal and the fence. 100K? and if that doesn't quash it enough you could always voltage divide it, maybe another 100K between the fence and ground to divide by 2. The R's need to be pretty high value as it is probably very high voltage with not much current. The R's need to be rated for the high voltage too. I looked online and that thing will drive I think it said 2 miles of fence.
I have no idea what that means. I work in healthcare. My dad always helped me with this stuff but we’ve been no contact for a couple months now. I managed to get this far by myself but if you could dumb it down for me that would be great.
LOL !! that gave me a good laugh.
Lots of memories with good old electric fences.
In order to even work minimum voltage is around 2000 volts.
And the smaller transformers are usually rated 5000 volts unloaded
so when applied to the fence it can drop to around the needed 2000 / 2500 volts.
You would have to experiment with transformers rated for less miles.
instead of 8 mile or 4 mile maybe 1 mile or 1/4 mile.
They have solar powered ones which usually dont go far.
Depending on weather and how ground changes.
The fence can be less or more effective.
My experience with Horses and dogs
once the get zapped once, they stay away from the fence.
So often even with the fence off they stay far far away from it.
Cats and racoons sometimes sense the things and never touch them.
Cattle fences go up to 10,000 volts and drop to about 5000
loaded. So cat could be injured by them.
" pet fences" usually 5000 volts and 2500 loaded.
For longer length usually more current/ miles, same voltage
So maybe try a wimpy solar one for 1 mile or less rating.
Otherwise to make the jump it still needs 2000 volts min.
When I rode stubborn or moody horses on the ranch.
Bastards knew exactly what the fence did. and tried to walk you right
into the fence LOL !!
Few zaps they stay away, turned it on at night to keep out skunks and
raccoons. Left it off during the day.
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I looked for one on Amazon but couldn’t find anything. I’m pretty clueless about this stuff but I’m proud I made it this far. Hoping I can find a way to adjust it without having to buy a whole new charger.
My guess would be adding 1M ohm to the output would get the voltage more reasonable. You might be able to find a cheaper part with less tolerance. It just needs to withstand more voltage that a low cost 1w 1M resistor.
Unfortunately you will need to do the testing yourself.
https://www.digikey.com/en/products...yhJ5dtS9h3E9XTp0OHywrRwkSerHZyoQaAnzrEALw_wcB
Unfortunately you will need to do the testing yourself.
https://www.digikey.com/en/products...yhJ5dtS9h3E9XTp0OHywrRwkSerHZyoQaAnzrEALw_wcB
Consider it unloaded 5000 volts and 2500 loaded.
And a fence is considered around 400 to 800 ohms.
Could try to add 100 ohm 5 watt resistor inline to fence wire not ground wire.
And keep adding 100 ohms in series till it stops working.
Then remove one at a time to see where it starts to work.
Its really a guess, you might be getting wacked at 3000 volts or 4000 volts
So keep adding 100 ohms till it dont work. Which is basically below 2000 volts.
Then remove one resistor at a time till it barely works again.
Then you know your at absolute min voltage.
Cattle fence will whack you hard instantly.
A wimpy fence will zap you but it is a slow crawl.
Thats when you know voltage is low, still works but a slow crawl.
Ive seen dogs hit fences and not get shocked from thick fur.
They dont get whacked unless their nose or ears touch it.
Really all depends.
With a fresh install sounds like you might be getting good hit.
things change over time with weather or ground connections
And a fence is considered around 400 to 800 ohms.
Could try to add 100 ohm 5 watt resistor inline to fence wire not ground wire.
And keep adding 100 ohms in series till it stops working.
Then remove one at a time to see where it starts to work.
Its really a guess, you might be getting wacked at 3000 volts or 4000 volts
So keep adding 100 ohms till it dont work. Which is basically below 2000 volts.
Then remove one resistor at a time till it barely works again.
Then you know your at absolute min voltage.
Cattle fence will whack you hard instantly.
A wimpy fence will zap you but it is a slow crawl.
Thats when you know voltage is low, still works but a slow crawl.
Ive seen dogs hit fences and not get shocked from thick fur.
They dont get whacked unless their nose or ears touch it.
Really all depends.
With a fresh install sounds like you might be getting good hit.
things change over time with weather or ground connections
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Variac might step down the AC into the fence charger, but those are as expensive as a new charger. Possibly an ordinary light dimmer from Home Deep, but one does not suggest to the "clueless" making any sort of custom AC line connections... They had motor speed controls all in a nice safe enclosed box;
https://www.ebay.com/itm/166289891928
that might work to reduce the AC in, in a safe way. But how to know if it's working "less", besides toasting yourself on it (NOT recommended)?
Nah , it is actually a good idea to make it adjustable with basic light dimmer.
Wattage is relatively low on the main , voltage is high , low current coming out
Likely work with the older transformers for electric fences.
Im not sure how these new ones work, looks like maybe switch mode.
Pretty impressive how small they are now.
all I know is fences considered 400 to 800 ohms
And pet fences usually 5000 volts and drop down to around 2500 loaded.
So it is up to maybe someone figuring out if resistors in series or parallel
is needed to drop voltage.
Once below 2000 volts they stop working.
long cattle fence transformers start at 10,000 volts and dip down to 5000 on the fence.
long fence considered 800 ohms to 1.5k
very long fence. Small cattle fence can whack the krap out of you.
Because they still put big transformers on them
Wattage is relatively low on the main , voltage is high , low current coming out
Likely work with the older transformers for electric fences.
Im not sure how these new ones work, looks like maybe switch mode.
Pretty impressive how small they are now.
all I know is fences considered 400 to 800 ohms
And pet fences usually 5000 volts and drop down to around 2500 loaded.
So it is up to maybe someone figuring out if resistors in series or parallel
is needed to drop voltage.
Once below 2000 volts they stop working.
long cattle fence transformers start at 10,000 volts and dip down to 5000 on the fence.
long fence considered 800 ohms to 1.5k
very long fence. Small cattle fence can whack the krap out of you.
Because they still put big transformers on them
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Exactly what i was thinking after typing.
fence considered 400 to 800 ohms.
So if added in series to get voltage drop would be higher value.
5 watt or 10 watt sounds right.
transformer output is rated at 1 watt.
plus dissipation from whatever voltage drop is
Simple math.
too lazy to do it.
light dimmer would work well too with transformers.
Not sure if that is feasible with likely newer switch mode units.
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Um. Yeah... One of my electric fence memories is from one time in the Army when we crossed a creek shortly after sunrise. The infantry way of crossing a creek is to strip down naked and wade through the creek. Then climb up on the other side, get dressed, and move on. Well... The other side of the creek was pretty muddy and there was an electric fence. Nothing wakes you up at 6AM like having your private parts uncomfortably close to 5 kV of electric fence. 🙂
It was shortly thereafter that I learned that one of the guys in my squad was afraid of cows. Fun times...
Now getting to the topic at hand: Is there a way to dial down the voltage on the electric fence? If not, then a spark gap might do the trick.
Tom
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I’m a little worried about you poking around inside the box, given the unit appears to be attachable to the mains but if you are careful and confident there will a large, high voltage capacitor in the there which does stores the zapping energy.
You might replace this cap with one of a similar voltage rating but less capacitance.
Less capacitance, less stored energy and less of a jolt delivered.
Could you post a picture of the unit with the cover off?
You might replace this cap with one of a similar voltage rating but less capacitance.
Less capacitance, less stored energy and less of a jolt delivered.
Could you post a picture of the unit with the cover off?
According to Amazon's Patriot PE2 listing: "Output Voltage: Up to 5 kV max, 2.8 kV @ 500 ohms."
This one is less than half the unloaded voltage and says it's made for smaller animals. If you want a no calculating/tinkering approach, it may make sense to try.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/american-farmworks-ac-powered-2-mile-charger
"$33.99
. . .
Use the American FarmWorks 0.07 Joule 2-Mile AC-Powered Electric Fence Charger to keep smaller nuisance critters, such as skunks, raccoons and even stray cats and dogs, from penetrating your electric fence supplies and system.
. . .
Unloaded voltage output: 1,922V"
This one is less than half the unloaded voltage and says it's made for smaller animals. If you want a no calculating/tinkering approach, it may make sense to try.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/american-farmworks-ac-powered-2-mile-charger
"$33.99
. . .
Use the American FarmWorks 0.07 Joule 2-Mile AC-Powered Electric Fence Charger to keep smaller nuisance critters, such as skunks, raccoons and even stray cats and dogs, from penetrating your electric fence supplies and system.
. . .
Unloaded voltage output: 1,922V"
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Like, something like this??
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I think you're likely right. It's not the voltage that needs reduction anyway, but the discharge energy, so the output capacitance should be knocked down a bit.
When you get a really bad static shock it's normally not because the voltage is strangely high, but because the plate area is, like a car body or something. Ever open the door and get whacked by that on a dry day? Wooeeee! The voltage has to be selected to determine when there Will be a discharge, which can be even iffier with a little fuzzy thing like a cat. So I wouldn't go any lower with that.
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Thinking more about this, it's probably some sort of flyback circuit. Adding resistance would help. You might find a 10k wirewound pot on ebay and keep turning it down until you're tired of the pain.