ARGH!!! Cr@ppy fence charger--advice?

[boondocks]

Howdy,
We are having bad luck with Zareba fence chargers from Tractor Supply. Started off with a lower end model and worked our way up but the new one died tonight. That's 3 in about 2 years. Is that par for the course? I can't imagine. This one is just a few months old (and has only a few weeks of use on it, total). Will return it tomorrow (I hope; have the receipt) but tonight our weaning calves might make a break for it. Is there a more durable brand or model? I didn't think we were getting a low-end brand but maybe so? price wasn't low-end to me....

(Don't know what's wrong with this one and have no time or interest in dorking around with a several hundred dollar piece of equipment that has only worked for a few weeks total).

Thanks!

 

[gus2121]

I have a stafix with remote. Going on 2 years knock on wood. It was around 500 though

 

[greybeard]

Patriot, SpeedRite, Sta-Fix, and Pel are all made by the same NZ company: Tru-Test Group and they compete directly against Gallagher for market share.
But here's where it gets murky.
Guess who Tru-Test's biggest shareholder (owner) is?
If you said Gallagher, you'd be right.

 

[boondocks]

Thanks GB and Gus. GB, do you think those models have a better rep than Zareba? We put this one into service last fall and it was not used this winter. It's now been used a week and decided to give up the ghost. The lower-end Zarebas we started with were cheaper and lasted at least a few months and I thought THOSE were a ripoff. Little did I know...

 

[hillside farm]

8 strands barbwire

 

[Farmgirl]

We had a similar story. Chargers constantly dying on us. Got a Gallagher and no more problems. Used the same one for several years. 8k volts will stop 'em.

Good luck,
Farmgirl

 

[MarkM]

We use a ParMak solar in the areas we don't have permanent hi-tensile. Dragging it around is hard on it, but it works after two years with some minor repairs.

Our main energizer is a StaFix in the well house. Flawless for three years.

 

[M-5]

http://www.cyclopsfence.com/warranty.htm
Best on market IMO

 

[Lucky_P]

Had a model from Premier that lasted 15 years - one last lightning strike finally took it out, and they'd stopped making parts for it, so it couldn't be repaired. Bought the largest Zareba they had at the local TSC, 'cause I had to have another one, pronto. Been working 6 years now, with no issues.

 

[fenceman]

8 strands barbwire

Very good advice for perimeter fence and permanent pasture fence. You wouldn't believe how anal people can be about breeds,feed,mineral,vaccination,etc. Then surround the hole thing with a sorry fence.electric is great for temporary fence or reinforcement of permanent fence. Are you using solar ? I am currently using parmak, and am happy with them. I have three 2 12 volts and 1 6 volt. Oldest one is about 2 years old. I have used zareba solar and it lasted abou 3 years. I carried it around on flatbed quite a bit so it had a pretty rough life. Ive installed the gallagher for a couple of customers, didnt think much of it cheap and cheesy made. The biggest cause early failure is lighting. Use lighting arrestors and try to unhook both wires before big storms. Also its common to hang temporary fence chargers on a permanent fence when cutting a pasture. I do it all the time. Your at risk of lightning strike damage from permanent fence when you do.

 

[Big Cheese]

We use Gallagher. We have 2 solars and 1 plug in on our three pastures. We haven't had any problems with them but the plug in does have to be covered up. We did lose one because we didn't have it covered when it started raining learned our lesson the hard way on that for sure.

 

[ChrisB]

Thanks GB and Gus. GB, do you think those models have a better rep than Zareba? We put this one into service last fall and it was not used this winter. It's now been used a week and decided to give up the ghost. The lower-end Zarebas we started with were cheaper and lasted at least a few months and I thought THOSE were a ripoff. Little did I know...

I'm now on my second high-end Zareba and the one it replaced had been sent back for repair once. I think all my problems have been lightening related, I don't know if some brands have better protection of not. The little arrestors don't seem to help a whole lot. I wasn't going to buy another Zareba but I needed one in a hurry and that's all there was in my small town. But when it's working it sure packs a punch.

Did your problems appear after a storm?

 

[ga.prime]

Don't know about the Zarebas but I've used Gallaghers a good bit with no problems over the long haul except for lightening strikes. I sent one back to Gallagher, to a Missouri address, and they fixed it for free and sent it back with a note that said to put a lightening arrestor and a surge protector on it. I did what they said and the next time it stopped working, the surge protector was fried but the Gallagher was unharmed. I swapped out the surge protector for another one and the Gallagher went right back to working.

 

[Nesikep]

The gallagher we got was crap.. worked great while it worked, but after 2 years it quit... the Zareba (P1100?) wasn't much more durable.. the Parmak 12V I got 1 1/2 seasons out of... seriously, they're all a pile of crap... So far the most durable I've had is a Stinger.. that one's worked for at least 8 years now.. and no.. there is NO lightning around here..

 

[greybeard]

Thanks GB and Gus. GB, do you think those models have a better rep than Zareba? We put this one into service last fall and it was not used this winter. It's now been used a week and decided to give up the ghost. The lower-end Zarebas we started with were cheaper and lasted at least a few months and I thought THOSE were a ripoff. Little did I know...

I don't use any hot wires on perimeter fences--property line is National Forest and I can't keep their brush cut off.

Patriot is a NZ product made for US market--and not a high end product IMO, tho I do have a solar powered one I use for temp fences--it works ok for calves as a cross fence and that's about it--7000V but not much energy (joules) . I've had it 3 years now.
I think Cross7 sells fence chargers as part of his job and he once said almost all their returns were Patriot.

I have a Zareba eac100m-z 100mile 6joule energizer that runs off 110V, but I haven't used it much yet so I can't really say yay or nay on it yet. I used it to keep a BM and Char bull apart and some good sized cows off clover and oats last winter and nothing crossed it.
Everyone says Cyclops is the best, but man---they are high $$$.

Dunno about Pel--I think it is just sold in NZ and Australia.


Years ago, the old Red Snap'r weed burner was the one to have around here, but Zareba now makes them--or Red Snap'r makes Zareba---they're in Cahoots somehow anyway.

 

[boondocks]

Thanks for everyone's input (and commiserating). I'm not seeing much of a consensus that there's a clearly better brand. By way of background, ours is inside the barn which has lightning rods and is properly grounded. The day the latest one went out there were no storms (the barn is nearby). Lightening isn't the cause. But maybe I will plug the next one into a good surge protector and see if that helps.

As an aside, I'm getting really sick of crappily-made crap. You'd think it would be at least cheap. Naw, just cheaply made (probably by child slave labor in some h3llhole). Hey, if I've got no choice but to buy products made in 4th world countries (yeah, I made that up. Whaddya gonna do?) by starving children, I at least want it dirt cheap, or pricier but durable.

Ok, rant over. Carry on with the regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Caustic Burno]

We use a ParMak solar in the areas we don't have permanent hi-tensile. Dragging it around is hard on it, but it works after two years with some minor repairs.

Our main energizer is a StaFix in the well house. Flawless for three years.

I run four Parmaks three 6 volt and one 12 volt.
I know three out of the four are between 10 and 15 years old.
Bought the 12 volt two or three years ago.
I have replaced a few batteries through the years .

 

[highgrit]

Boondocks, Google Pro - Shock fence charges. There made 40 miles away from me. Mines 4 years old and hasn't missed a beat. There the most heavy duty charger built.

 

[fenceman]

. But maybe I will plug the next one into a good surge protector
Dont just plug it into a surge protector. Use a lightning diverter on both hot and ground wires. I dont know the science of it. Lightning seems to have the ability to travel through miles of fence to damage electronics. We see it in gate openers to. A good storm will get the phone ringing with customer's with fried circuit boards.

 

[boondocks]

Boondocks, Google Pro - Shock fence charges. There made 40 miles away from me. Mines 4 years old and hasn't missed a beat. There the most heavy duty charger built.

Will do, thanks