gallagher fence tester

[angusdave63]

I have a dvm 3 tester i just bought today it has very little in the way of instructions i was wondering if anyone here has one of these testers and what the readings mean as far as how many volts are traveling through the fence when it reads say 7 volts on the tester just curious David

 

[agmantoo]

The dvm 3 indicates charger output using the following

# Displays fence voltage in 100V increments under 10kV.
# Displays fence voltage from 10kV to 12kV in 1,000 volt increments.

Your output is a too weak 700 volts.

 

[greene_hjm]

Angusdave,

The DVM does read in 100volt increments. However the measurement is given in Kilovolts (KV). If your tester says 7.0, you should see the KV sign in the lower right corner.

"7.0" = 7000volts
or
"7.0" = 7KV

"0.7" = 700volts
or
"0.7" = .7 kilovolts

"3.4" = 3400volts
or
"3.4" = 3.4KV

Since the meter does not display 100 volt increments above 10,000volts, you will never see "10.8" for example.

If your tester says "7.0", this means you have 7000 volts on your fence... which is very adequate. In terms of usability, there's not much to it. Just insert the ground probe into the soil and read the display. I usally just drop the ground probe and step on it with my boot. You still get an accurate reading and do not have to worry about pulling on the white wire and pulling it away from the probe assembly.

 

[agmantoo]

Angusdave

Your explanation makes sense but what I posted above is a copy and paste from the detail description from the advertisement for the DVM. I use the Stafix Fence Compass which is a combined voltmeter and current meter.

Cattle containment is usually satisfactory at anything above 3500 volts.

 

[angusdave63]

thanks guys i feel like i have a better idea of where i am with the tester i know i sure like how easy it is to use and it does read in kv the fence today was 5.4 kv and the cows are staying in David

 

[Suzie Q]

I have the gallagher smart tester. It says anything above 3 will keep livestock in.

You can press a button and it changes to monitoring shorts. You want that to read 0. It will put up an arrow in the direction of a fault.

You also only have to test the wire, you don't have to ground it. You can test from the back of a quad. (4 wheel motor bike)