All You Need To Know About Electric Fencing Batteries
If its a battery or solar/battery powered electric fence you have - this post is for you!
It is not always possible to use a mains operated energiser as a lot of electric fencing is positioned out in the fields miles away from a mains power source. Battery and battery/solar energisers give you the freedom to have an electric fence system where ever you need it. But with these kinds of systems comes extra maintanence that is not required for a mains operated system. It is often at this time of year that we see a rise in enquiries about batteries, battery care and solar energiser issues.
It's November but the super cold weather has not arrived yet. However, the day light is fading faster and with this every year come battery issues especailly for the solar energiser users out there. The bottom line is that a wee bit of TLC for your battery now may help you avoid trouble with your electric fence now and later this winter!
Which Battery Should You Use To Power Your Electric Fence
Our advice would be to use a 12v leisure battery rather than a car battery to power your electric fencing. Leisure batteries work in a different way to car batteries - leisure batteries are slow release meaning that they hold their charger longer when they are powering your fence on the other hand car batteries will run down faster as they are designed to be constantly charged up by running your car.
Most electric fence energisers will give a guide as to how long they will last on a 75amp/hr battery - for example a Hotline Gemini 40 energiser may last between 4-5 weeks attached to this battery in the summer months but a Hotline Buzzard energiser would last more line 2-3 weeks before requiring charging. With the addition of a solar panel trickle feeding the 12v Leisure battery your battery will require less time between conventional charges.
All leisure batteries have a amp/hr rating - the larger the number the larger the battery and the longer it will last between charges. Larger batteries also have larger terminals and so fitting a solar panel and an energiser croc clips is easier than if using a smaller amp/hr battery. If you have decided on the amp/hr make sure you choose a battery charger that has a range that covers this amp/hr.
Battery Maintenance And Storage
Like most of us batteries don't like to get too cold and so here are some helpful tips and hints for you to help with battery care over the long winter months.
- Think about covering your battery. As the temperatures drop so does the battery's efficiency. Stand your battery on a wooden box, cover with a bucket or plastic storage tub to keep frost, snow, ice off.
- Freezing weather on an unprotected battery will potentially lead to more shortages or shorten the life of your battery
- Ice covered batteries can short out due the the ice on the connection cables to your energiser
- Don't leave your battery sitting on a concrete floor in-between charges this leads to the batteries temp dropping and the charge life shortening
- Recharge your battery more often during winter months set your notifications on your phone to charge your battery every 2 weeks
- If the battery's being stored unused over the winter months then it is best to store it fully charged and if you are storing it for a long period of time, it is best to charge it during this time and then again before you use it on your fence
- Check your fence more regularly with your fence tester
- Check all the connections regularly as snow or ice on connections can lead to shorting on your fence
- Your battery has a potential life of 5 to 7 years so treat it well in general and especially over the winter months
- Don't forget to have the correct charger for you battery voltage and amp size!
Solar Energisers And 12v Batteries
Solar energisers use varying sizes of solar panels to charge up an internal 12v leisure battery. The solar panel uses day light (not sun light) to charge the battery - this keeps the battery topped up as the energiser uses the power in the battery to push the electric fencing pulse down the fence line. As you can image in the UK as we approach winter our day light hours reduce greatly and as a result of this our solar panels have less day light to keep the battery charged up. So we would recommend conventional charging from time to time through out the dark autumn, winter and spring months this will keep your battery topped up and your energiser working. Conventional charging will also stop the battery from getting too low and if the battery does get too low then sometimes it will not be albe to continue to hold the charge. This same principle will apply to battery energisers that use an external 12v leisure battery and a solar panel.
Electric Fence Batteries and Battery Chargers Available On Line
We have a range of batteries and battery chargers in our online shop. If, however, you are not sure what you need please just ask... we'd be happy to help advise you:
- call: 01620 497050 or
- email: [email protected]
Be the first to get offers and discounts – join us on Facebook and Twitter