Solar powered electric fence.

zetor 4911

Hi,
Have a solar powered electric fence which I bought last year and it worked great in 2015 but I set it up 2 weeks ago with a fully charged battery (which I bought last year) and this morning it is completely dead. Just wonder from others who have these is the solar panel not working or is it that there is not enough daylight at present?

rangler1

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Hi,
Have a solar powered electric fence which I bought last year and it worked great in 2015 but I set it up 2 weeks ago with a fully charged battery (which I bought last year) and this morning it is completely dead. Just wonder from others who have these is the solar panel not working or is it that there is not enough daylight at present?

I used to use a solar powered fencer on an outfarm for Nov,Dec, and january and would only have to charge the battery once.. and they're short days without sunshine, so it should work properly

zetor 4911

rangler1 wrote: »

I used to use a solar powered fencer on an outfarm for Nov,Dec, and january and would only have to charge the battery once.. and they're short days without sunshine, so it should work properly

Thanks Rangler,
Do you know if there is a way to test the solar panel to see if it is working.

rangler1

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Thanks Rangler,
Do you know if there is a way to test the solar panel to see if it is working.

Don't know, maybe a mechanic would have a meter for testing output from alternators.
I presume you had the panel facing south and out of the shade.
My fencer used to work about 10 rolls of electrified sheep netting and there was 8 rows in every 50 mtr roll so 10 rolls (500mtrs} had 4kms of wire in it so solar panel fencers do work well

Del2005

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Thanks Rangler,
Do you know if there is a way to test the solar panel to see if it is working.

Check the fuses. I've a solar charger for my bike and I thought that the lack of daylight in winter wasn't giving enough juice to keep the battery charged, the light on the panel still flashed. Turned out that the charger only had a 1A fuse and no idea how long it had been blown.

Muckit

Did you leave the battery fencer out all winter? My suspicion is that the battery is goosed, nothing to do with your solar panel. Batteries don't like the cold and not being charged regularly.

zetor 4911

Muckit wrote: »

Did you leave the battery fencer out all winter? My suspicion is that the battery is goosed, nothing to do with your solar panel. Batteries don't like the cold and not being charged regularly.

Battery and fencer in shed since November. Still think it's the solar panel that's the problem. Thanks for the replies.

djmc

Try another battery they do go dead if not fully charged or left idle for a while.
Fencers should be run on leasure or deep cycle batteries and not car batteries as the car batteries won't put up with being discharged or left idle too often and will fail.

Muckit

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Battery and fencer in shed since November. Still think it's the solar panel that's the problem. Thanks for the replies.

Think what you want. It's the battery that works the fencer, not the solar panel . The solar panel merely keeps the battery topped up.

€70 or so will buy you a sealed rechargeable deep cycle battery. Press in Back kitchen or bottom of hot press is best place over winter and better still if you put it on a charger once a month.

zetor 4911

Muckit wrote: »

Think what you want. It's the battery that works the fencer, not the solar panel . The solar panel merely keeps the battery topped up.

€70 or so will buy you a sealed rechargeable deep cycle battery. Press in Back kitchen or bottom of hot press is best place over winter and better still if you put it on a charger once a month.

Muckit
Would you get those in any motor factors.
Thanks

djmc

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Muckit
Would you get those in any motor factors.
Thanks

Yep
http://www.halfords.ie/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductMobileDisplay?catalogId=15551&langId=-1&categoryId=317950&productId=264259&storeId=11101

Also know as leisure battery are designed to be charged and discharged
Car battery is designed to be keeped topped up when car is running and put out a lot of amps to start the engine.

Muckit

zetor 4911 wrote: »

Muckit
Would you get those in any motor factors.
Thanks

Yes any good local motor factor should do them. Attached is a pic of my one. Look it's easy to feck them. I've learnt from experience.

Charliebull

Muckit wrote: »

Yes any good local motor factor should do them. Attached is a pic of my one. Look it's easy to feck them. I've learnt from experience.

That there is dogs bollix of a battery, some lad from galway told me about it a few years back, never looked back since

Muckit

A good place that sells batteries should be able to check your old battery for you and tell you if it's gone. So bring the old one with you.

patsy_mccabe

I was going to buy a Deep Cycle battery after reading this, but I rang a local car dismantler and he'll sell me a good used car battery for €20. The old tractor battery I had for 4 years I reckon, well goosed now. Wont charge any more.

Anyway the question I have is - can anyone recommend a good solar panel charger? Want to stick it up beside the fencer and keep the battery topped up. Cheap and cheerful will do. A link to a website even better. Thanks.:cool:

zetor 4911

Muckit wrote: »

Think what you want. It's the battery that works the fencer, not the solar panel . The solar panel merely keeps the battery topped up.

€70 or so will buy you a sealed rechargeable deep cycle battery. Press in Back kitchen or bottom of hot press is best place over winter and better still if you put it on a charger once a month.

The solar panel was the problem. It was faulty and Cheetah in Carlow took it back and gave me a new one at no charge. Battery fine since.