Electric fencing - battery packs

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chaps89

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My horses give 0 sh*ts about the fence being on at the moment and are continually breaking through the fencing (they have plenty to eat where there are and are breaking onto an area of strimmed down brambles)
Spoken to the feed shop who suggest running it off a battery pack rather than the D cell batteries I'm currently using as that will do 12v power not 6v.
She suggested a leisure battery rather than a car battery, something to do with charging it.
I don't really understand what I'm doing with this!
Why a leisure battery over a car battery? And how do I re-charge it? Will it come with something to charge it up with or do I need to buy that too? Will it come ready charged or do I need to charge it first?
This is the cheapest car battery halfords have which is in stock that I could collect today, would it be any good?
https://www.halfords.com/motoring/b...-12v-car-battery-3-year-guarantee-950295.html
And this is their cheapest leisure battery, is it worth the extra £15?
https://www.halfords.com/camping/electrical-and-power/halfords-leisure-battery-hlb678-960013.html
 
Biggest difference is the leisure battery is designed to run flat and be recharged, whereas the std car battery will die quite quickly if repeatedly allowed to run flat. I would use a leisure battery myself, tho a car battery with a little solar charger panel clipped on would do a good job. Either type of battery should come fully charged.

I have at least 2 for field use in summer, one on and the other at home on charge. There is another couple on the lighting for stables (one lives on the solar charging panel on my hay store side) that I can whip off for the fence if necessary.

To use either of the 12v batteries you will need a mains charger at yard or home, allow at least 48hrs to 72 to fully recharge.
A new battery ought to last 7 to 10 days before going flat.

Another thing to remember is the earthing of electric fence. Ground is very dry at present and I'm tipping a bucket of water twice daily on the earth spike to ensure its earthing well. No decent earthing will often mean power output is rubbish to non existent x
 
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I am currently replacing an energiser that runs from D cell batteries as it does not give enough of a kick, look at I think it's the joules output reading of the energiser to see the shock that it puts out.

Car batteries are designed to be continually charging, leisure batteries suitable for running down then being charged. To charge any battery you will need a battery charger and mains electric. Any battery you buy should come charged but it's always a good idea to give a top up charge.
 
That's really really helpful, thankyou So much :) looks like leisure battery it is, although I might just have to go back to normal batteries for whilst it's charging, at least the first time to see if I can get away with that. I hadn't considered about the ground being so dry having an impact either so will get some water on it.

For the chargers, I presume start/stop compatible isn't relevant?
And the charge rate seems to vary anything for 0.8A to 5.4A (all in the same price bracket) What sort of charge rate do I go for?
 
You can often get old batteries from garages for very little cost that will run a fence quite happily. Get 2 and have one on charge and one on the fence.
 
Make sure you buy a battery charger that has two different settings, one for car batteries and one for leisure batteries. My Halfords charger has two settings, sealed and normal. You need to use sealed. My batteries came from Halfords, cost about £80.
 
Gloi said:
You can often get old batteries from garages for very little cost that will run a fence quite happily. Get 2 and have one on charge and one on the fence.
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Yeah I have 2 batteries that I alternate, one old car one, one lorry one (I can't carry that across the field, I get OH to cart it about for me!) both just old ones we had when they were replaced in vehicles and they work fine.
 
Hmm, there's a garage opposite the yard, I might ask them nicely then, that's a good idea.
Appreciate the replies, really am clueless with this stuff :(
Wish the bl00dy brambles had never been cut as it's no end of faff and expense but not my land so I got no say in it, ho hum.
 
I have been using electric fencing for years and although they say use a leisure battery, they are blooming heavy, and a small car battery that you can put in a heavy duty bag for life carrier bag is a lot easier to move. I try and have two and swap them before they get flat and they life wise seem to last as long as leisure batteries. All electric fencing need to maintained and checked and a good volt meter that shows where you fence is shorting out is a good buy, at this time of the year when the grass is growing it will soon drain the battery.
My new favorite tool is a batteyy powered hedge trimmer, I use it to clear the hedge and brambles away from the fence, and at a push it will also cut the long grass and weeds.
https://www.angliatoolcentre.co.uk/makita-duh523z-18v-52cm-hedge-trimmer-body-only-pid41546.html, my husband is already Makita man.
 
Leisure battery and mosquito energiser should do the trick :)
Another vote for Halfords for batteries as they have a guarantee, worth the extra cost as they do last ages once charged, I’m powering two strands around 5 acres and charge the battery every 4 weeks (to keep topped up it doesn’t run out)
 
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