Electric Fence Tester

Sami23

Thinking of buying an electric fence tester tomorrow for black Friday.

Looking at the Forcefield Fault Finder tester on Gibsons for 69 euro.

Anyone know if these are any good.

Tia

whelan2

See there's a fence tester available now that has a knife in it too.

Ak84

I have the forcefield fault finder.

I use it as a tester moreso than fault finding.

Would recommend it alright.

I think I paid the same price NOT on Black Friday.

Grueller

Buy the gallagher fault finder. I have one this 3 years and it is brilliant. Not cheap but is the best of them imo.

Dunedin

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118220040#Comment_118220040

Excuse my ignorance on these things. Say I rock up to the mid point of my fence and it’s not working. Do these point me in the direction of the fault or how do they work

endainoz

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118220717#Comment_118220717

Exactly, they have two prongs that you place on the wire and an arrow points in the direction of the fault and the number indicates how big the fault is. It's also a regular fence tester aswell. I got my force field fault finer free with a new mains fencer, find it very good.

mr.stonewall

Have both, got the forcefield a few years ago and only lasted approx 1 year. Just a cheap build and not able to last any roughing. Screen cover fell out, bit of super glue repair. Then the whole unit spilt. Also was very bulky in a pocket. Worked great in testing a fence and pointing direction of faults, but ergonomics and build quality is poor.

Got a Gallagher 3 years, build quality is super, fits perfect in a pocket. Nearly always in the pocket of the body warmer. The Gallagher is just light years ahead in quality and will last a lifetime.

A small thing is colour makes it easier to find if put down. The orange and black is great, compared to the single grey on the force field. Just my 2 cents

Dunedin

How much is the Gallagher one?

Dunedin

28CC92A8-BD7D-48AC-8096-2CF4F0A18E9A.png

Is this the one?

Grueller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118221403#Comment_118221403

That's it

mr.stonewall

@Dunedin That's the one. Will last and serious build quality

Jim_11

Bought the cheetah fault finder recently, build quality is good, handy size for the pocket too. I think I’d get away with just the voltage reading only, if it’s low then there’s a fault to be found, check the voltage at the fencer and work your way along the line

satstheway

Gallagher fault finder all the way.

And a gsm plug or WiFi plug and any faults can be fixed immediately. I even found some pigtails shorting with it. They would be hard to spot otherwise.

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118224337#Comment_118224337

Would anyone be able to recommend give me a link for one of these GSM Plugs or let me know where they can be got please

blue5000

Young lad in the bt science competition has incorporated a fence tester into the back of a mobile phone case. Thought it was a good idea. Think he did it with a 3d printer.

satstheway

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118483112#Comment_118483112

https://www.ebay.ie/itm/EU-UK-220V-Phone-RC-Remote-Wireless-Control-Smart-Switch-GSM-Socket-Power-Plug-/124708895199?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l6249&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

or a sonoff wifi plug if you have WiFi in shed

Grueller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118498576#Comment_118498576

🤣 my WiFi is savage unreliable at the shed (nanostations and high trees). Be some lottery handling the fence.

Sami23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118498576#Comment_118498576

For that GSM plug (sim) do you need credit in the sim for the plug to work ?

As in can I turn it on and off by texting/ringing it even if there is no credit in the sim ?

satstheway

Not really. A sim might last a year or too from new but will eventually stop working if not topped. Strangely mine wouldn't accept a top up after about a year but kept on working for alot longer.

So I would check fence to make sure it was on. Then text Sn0000off to plug and check with tester before touching.

Repair fence then text Sn0000on and check again.

Saves alot of walking on a paddock system.

ruwithme

The above pictured gsm switch, am I right in thinking you can get it on a 2 pin plug or a 3 pin plug?pictures just throwing me a bit.

Buy your own sim then after that?

timple23

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118617578#Comment_118617578

Yes one is a euro plug and one is an Irish one. The 48 network will send you out a sim free of charge, most others have a cost. You can buy those gsm switches on aliexpress cheaper but postage will be slower possibly.

An alternative to these switches is to set up your fencing so that if you unhook a gatebreaker it will knock off power to one section of the farm, and have a few of them located around the place.

zetor 4911

Is there any device out there that could alert you if power in an electric fence is gone so it could be repaired before cattle know there is no power

grange mac

Cattle are very smart, my fkrz always know when fence is off or cracked they be straight through it... But won't go near when it's on.

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120972443#Comment_120972443

Yes, there are a few some universal and some that just work with a particular fence unit all seem very expensive for what they are.

I've experimented with building my own DIY version and have a few working prototypes but haven't deployed to a field yet to really test.

hopeso

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120972635#Comment_120972635

I wonder if cattle can get a slight sensation from the fence when they get near it, without actually touching it? I got a Gallagher fault finder, which I use for checking the fence daily. I noticed that it turns itself on and registers a low reading as I'm approaching the fence.

Good loser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120972962#Comment_120972962

Does yours have a dial (swinging arm) to match/measure the current? Like the old Waikato tester?

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120988482#Comment_120988482

Mine were based on ESP32 microcontrollers that sent a signal back to a base station (Raspberry Pi Zero with 4G modem) and alerts sent to my phone so no physical indicators.

I built 3 versions:

1. Used a cheap flashing fence tester and a photodiode to monitor: If fence is above 3000V light flashes and it can measure pulses, overwise no signal.
2. Used a coil of wire connected to an analog pin as an antenna to measure EMF, worksish but hard to calibrate to measure power level.
3. Used a voltage divider to measure actual line voltage, it gave an accurate reading for a while before the resistors self combusted. Probably the best version but need higher quality components designed for 11,000V+

I was a lot more interested in getting it working when I was working full time, but I'm on farm more now so not as big a priority, now they sit on a shelf with other half finished projects.

blue5000

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120974328#Comment_120974328

Absolutely. My bastards know the difference between a poly wire with 11 th volts and a high tensile wire with 4 th volts. Have a solar fencer on the strip wire with 11 th and a mains fence with the 4.

Bastards still jumping the mains fence, but none going near the strip fence, can be hard to get them through a gap in it to move them to a fresh block of grass.

Good loser

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120988963#Comment_120988963

Thanks Emaherx. Though it's all Greek to me! You probably have a PhD in electronics?

emaherx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120993463#Comment_120993463

😁 Not quite a phD yet anyway.......... but hold a few qualifications in Electronics, IT and currently doing a diploma in Software Development.

Basically Jack of all trades, master of none in the tech industry.