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Electric fence technical terms to know

Understand the basic electric fence terms in a quick explainer video

Updated over a week ago

Learn the basic electric fence terms to help you understand how your electric fence and energizer (charger) works.

Watch the video to learn about:

  • Voltage

  • Joules

  • Amps

  • Grounding

  • Energizer pulse technology


Here's some other terms you might come across

AC

alternating current, AC (mains) power supply 110 – 120 V or 220 – 240 V.

Amp

unit of current. Short for Ampere.

Capacitors

used to store energy in the energizer (charger).

Current

duration and magnitude of current causes the shock of the electric fence. Increasing the voltage increases current, while increasing resistance decreases current.

DC

direct current, battery power supply (e.g. 12 V battery input).

Fault / Short

energy loss from the fence (i.e., live wire lying on the ground, vegetation growing over the fence, etc.).

Ground System

the rod(s) in the ground connected to the ground terminal on the energizer (charger).

Joule

unit of energy. One joule is one watt of power for one second.

Lead out Wire

section of underground cable or wire that carries the electrical current from the energizer (charger) to the fence.

Live

the current-carrying wire connected to the charger fence output terminal.

Ohm

unit of resistance.

Output Energy

effective energy delivered by the energizer (charger).

Pulse

brief electrical current given by an energizer (charger), approximately 0.0003 seconds per pulse.

Resistance

what causes loss of power and voltage on the fence.

Stored Energy

energy accumulated in the storage capacitor(s) in between output pulses.

Watt

unit of power. One watt is one joule per second.

Volt

unit of electrical pressure. Sometimes it is stated as “kV” or kilovolts which is equal to 1,000 volts.

Voltage

electrical pressure causing current to flow.


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