AFAIK....its a long time ago now. Im not even sure what company I bought it off.
Oh so you don't get a battery when you buy from Irishsales.ie
Right you are ....the unit has 1.3 j marked on it and 1j output. Its a lacme secur 100.....no complaints here on it anyway and remembered when i dug it out today it has a dial for shock strength and i normally leave that low 3/4 and it does the job fine.....to the OP I see them for sale online without battery under 300 and I think I the model up (secur 200) is under 300 too......
You have to buy the battery separate at those prices, they are much more expensive via connaght agri but they seem to have paired different panels with theirs and give you a lacme branded battery included...... I have a halfords 70ah leisure battery in mine with no issues for past 4 summer grazing seasons.
Id be trying something like this at much smaller money.
https://www.donedeal.ie/fencingequipment-for-sale/strong-battery-and-mains-fencer-up-to-50km/27423439
It is 1 joule output so more powerful than the Gallagher S100 which is probably only 0.75 output joules and currently almost half the price. Perhaps you seen a stored joule spec for yours? but still unlikely to be 1.5 more like 1.2 or 1.3?
€500 for a 1 Joule fence unit? 😮 and that is stored joules not output joules, it would struggle to cover a 10 acre field. There is better value to be had with separate 12V fence units and panels and most likely better performance too as you can choose a slightly larger panel/battery for the darker months if needed.
I'll check tomorrow, its in the shed for the last 4 months awaiting resurrection. I think its the Lacme secur 100......although Web says that's a 1J output and I distinctly remember mine being 1.5J.
What model Lacme is that you have as it sounds perfect for what I need ?
I was leaning towards the Gallagher S100 but at just north of 500 is a big outlay.
I may dabble with them again so, they've saved me a fortune compared to buying here.
What wattage is the solar panel? How many joules is the fence unit and what AH is the battery you are currently using?
A tractor battery should be fine, but if the panel and battery are not a good match for the fence unit the battery will cycle too often and have a short life. Deep cycle batteries (leisure batteries) are more tolerant to cycling but having a battery and panel sized to keep the fence unit running without dropping below 50% charge regularly is the key to a longer battery life. Knowing the power of the fence unit would be the first step to figuring out the rest.
Have a tractor battery on a Cheetah solar panel but it's not keeping the charge. Just wondering what battery I should buy. Thanks
Yea, looking at reviews on trustpiolit there's a lot of negative reviews from last year or 2 nearly all about delivery times being twice the advertised and lack of updates. I've probably experienced the same at times but I've not been too upset over delivery times from internet orders in the last couple of years as it was a wide spread issue effecting a lot of providers, but anything I ordered arrived within a week or 2. Wouldn't be ordering anything I need within a week of them.
That's good to hear, they have very keen prices. I think it was a thread on TFF there were a lot of people complaining orders not received and no communications back from that company.
Yea, use it all the time for bits and pieces, even during that Covid period, there were some longish delays but everything arrived, didn't deal with the customer service though as they were hardly alone with distribution issues (think they coincided with brexit/customs changes too). Anyway I was happy enough and no issues since.
Absolutely a leisure or tractor battery should last years and still be worth something as scrap
Raspberry Pi has a 4G hat and IOT sim €10 for 10 years or 500 MB, (used about 100MB last year). Wiring is not too bad, but there was a bit of configuring between OpenVPN, Pi OS, Home Assistant and MySensors.org. It also has a LoRa radio attached so sensors can be remote using Arduinos over a KM from the Pi. I've documented most of it here: https://farmer-eds-shed.com/category/connected-farm/ and through this thread https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058073034/tinkering-like-guntering-for-the-connected-generation/p1
Regarding that particular website, have you used them lately? I remember some pretty horrendous reviews during covid of awful customer service. I used them pre brexit but not since.
I ordered one there now. Looks like a really good set up and way better than 30 euro batteries that only cover say a 10 acre block for a year
Thanks for that, interesting. Was the raspberry pi hard to wire up to do that? Can it communicate via sim to a mobile.....I'd be intermediate when it comes to mechanical stuff and junior B when it comes to electronics (all theoretical no real practical/real world application) - but interested in developing some bit of ability re:automating some things, remote monitoring etc
Those Gallagher fencers are very expensive and under powered for a 20 acre block, the integrated panels are a bit on the small side too meaning they will struggle in Autumn and Spring.
Horizont Hotshock A50 here, have a solar panel charging the battery but can't remember the rating. Get 11k+ off the fence.
I have a couple of 20 acre blocks here with 2.0J 12v fencers along with 12v water pumps for drinkers run off of 100AH batteries and 100W panels, also powers a raspberry pi zero to monitor water levels, battery and fence pulses.
I bought 12v units from this site, https://www.electric-fence.co.uk/electric-fence/energisers/solar-systems.html they have them with or without panels.
It's like anything if you have the right one for the job no reason a solar fencer can't do long runs or run a perimeter fence. But solar fencer is a bit vague of a term with no indication of power or suitability for the job.
I found it depends on the battery, joule rating and size and position of solar panel...
I run a lacme solar fencer on a 20acre outfarm and another on a smaller plot. I've had it about 10 years now, does about 3/4 of the boundary and 5 internal divisions....only use the place for grazing 14-18 bullocks over about a 5/6 month period and then take it home and charge/occasionally top it up with a trickle charger....they would be quiet stock I suppose, but never had a problem in that time, its only on its 2nd battery (a Halfords leisure battery) and it won't last a winter without a battery swap if you wanted it on over winter....+ I saw a similar fencer with different solar panel set up by a coop at the time for twice the price.
Now I have no other choice if I want an electric fence in this place, But that's not bad especially as it's only rated to about 1.5j......there was much higher joule rating and better panels/batteries available at the time so Id imagine (perhaps wrongly) you can get even better set ups now?
Heard a lad complaining about one once - turned out he left it in a ditch (panel and all) and briars had nearly overgrown it....I stuck my unit and panel up a tree with as little shade and canopy as possible facing the right way....anyway does the job
I've run solar fencers, they are only just ok as long as there is no vegetation making contact with the fence. Same rules apply as for any fence and that is have a really good earth.
tbh I found them weak over a large distance, and would only recommend them for short runs, like strip grazing but not for perimeter fencing
Need to get a solar fencer for a 20 acre block with no power to power a single strand of high tensile wire. Sections of wire could be turned off when not needed.
Looking at the Gallagher S40 or S100 or similar power Pel fencers.
Anyone have any experience with these fencers or an advice please.
Tia
zetor 4911 wrote: » Will have about 40 stores on the land. So say each drinks 40 litres/day and the pump can pump 30 litres/min lets be conservative and say 20lts/min then the pump will be on for about 2 minutes for each animal. Which in total would be 80 minutes - say 2 hours. The thing is that it won't be running for 2 hour all at once so the battery will get time to recharge.
emaherx wrote: » Depending of course on how many cattle he has, he's unlikely to have the pump running four hours a day. My 12v pump will fill an 1000L IBC in about 15min, which is more than enough for 10 cows for the day. The electric fence will have low current draw but will run 24h a day, the pump will be intermittent. This time of year solar can charge the batteries even on a dull day thanks to the long days.
GinSoaked wrote: » 12Volts at 23 Amps (call it 25 for easy maths) 12 x 25 = 300 Watts. 300 Watts per hour is 1200 Watts over 4 hours. I'm probably mixing up Watts and Watt hours but it doesn't really matter. Another consideration is if you want this running all year around. Winter Sun would be particularly unreliable requiring a larger/more panels or bigger battery and off site charging. The power requirements for a pump are massive compared to an electric fence. That pump would last maybe 4 hours on a 100 Amp leisure battery where as a fencer would run for 2 weeks or more without needing a recharge.
zetor 4911 wrote: » I am not up to speed on amps/volts/watts so could you explain where the 300 watts comes from?
GinSoaked wrote: » You'd be looking at battery size first and then how long the pump would be running each day. Then look at a panel and controller to keep that battery fully charged and replace the current used allowing of course for bad days when there isn't much sun. That pump is rated at 23 Amps so if you know it needs to run for an hour a day you know you need a system that can supply at least 300 Watts to the battery. So I'd be thinking of a 100 Watt panel to allow for days when there isn't much sun and a 100 Amp leisure battery - but beware I normally overestimate I'm also quite open to anyone showing me some calculations to show something different would be better. If the pump needed to run for 4 hours a day then you have to find 1200 Watts of power from somewhere because that pump uses a good amount of current.
emaherx wrote: » I'll try and get a look this week sometime and let you know.
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