Charging electric fence batteries

[tabithakat64]

How often would I need to charge a 12v battery that powers 400m of fencing for 12 hours a day?

Next question, how do I charge teh battery? I'm assuming I have to buy a battery charger?

Cookies if you help me out and don't laugh at the numpty questions

 

[martlin]

You can get a battery charger from anywhere really, Argos springs to mind, or E-bay.
I charge mine every month or so, don't like to get them completely down as then you need a very powerful charger to kick-start them...
You can also buy a solar power charger you attach to the battery and it keeps it topped up all the time

 

[appylass]

My local electric fence selling man who is a real expert advised me to never let the battery go flat (shortens battery life overall) and that he thinks it is best to charge the battery once a week. I confess i have never done it this often, time goes too quickly! I do it probably every 3-4 weeks. As for a charger, I bought one off ebay I think, it was about a tenner, does the job fine.

 

[miller]

We do ours about once a week in use for the same time as you are proposing - but it is getting old

Chargers as other said can be bought anywhere but would advise you get one with a trickle charge option

 

[CrazyMare]

We use the same batteries (well either car/lorry/leisure batteries) for powering clay traps - we have a VVV heavy duty charger - its big, bulky & wasn't cheap. However, we can get a dozen batteries charged very quickly, and have the option of charging multiples at the same time, or trickle charging the batteries on the cars.

I would suggest (and we do this) having two batteries - one charging and one on the fence - especially if you have an escape artist like I do!

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Assuming your charger uses a 12v battery, then the best type to actually use is a leisure battery. These are designed to be used in these situations & will last a lot longer than car batteries. If your battery is to be left in a field then store it in an insulated box ( a cool box would be good) as when a battery is exposed to very cold weather it will deteriorate & lose charge quickly.

Contrary to popular belief you don't need a really powerful charger. A strong charger will put charge into the battery quickly but if power is trickled into the battery slower it will enhanse the battery life as it won't damage the plates in the battery.

We used a leiisure battery & charged it every fortnight & that was sufficient

 

[sally2]

You will need to get a battery charger that puts out enough power to charge the battery you are using as there are big tractor type batteries and small car type batteries. You are charging quite a length of tape so you will probabley be safer to charge it once a week for 4 to 8 hours maybe a bit longer in the winter. I get old fairly decent batteries from my local garage and use them they are ok as long as they are holding a charge, the charger itself can be got at any motor factor, Halfords or ebay. Hope this helps.

 

[Louby]

We have a leisure battery and its charged about once every 3 months, it is used for about 8 hrs a day. I havent done it since about last september as another livery bought a solar panel to attach to it, I was sceptical at first but it has definately worked.