Walk/Garden Softly But Carry a Big Stick/Shocker
Not long ago, I mentioned our gardening woes this spring and my discovery that rabbits aren't immune to electrical shocks, but that my solar powered fencer wasn't up for the job. I discovered that by running an very unrecommended extension cord all the way from the house to the solar charger and used their battery charger connection to essentially continuously charge the battery, also not recommended. I thus ordered a proper weatherproof fence charger that will plug into my outside outlet on the house. Above is the business end which you can see is coming out of the PVC pipe I used to insulate the metal fence posts from the electrified fencing.
Using a sidewalk scraping tool that I mainly use to chip ice off the sidewalk on rare occasions, I repurposed it to dig a six inch deep trench in our lawn and buried the cable from where it exits out of the bottom of the PVC insulating pipe above to our patio underneath the deck. I then fastened it up a post and on the bottom side of the deck to allow it to be out of the way of us walking and then dropped it down to our charger which you can see below.
The other cable you see runs along the back wall to some grounding rods I pounded into the soil off the far side of the patio. I'm not sure what I will do with that cable long term. Eventually, we would like to repour the patio, which is in dire need of repair, and at that time, I'll probably bury a conduit underneath the concrete to run it through so it is completely out of site. But for now, it works. It also allows me to disconnect everything come winter and store it in the garage out of the way and eliminate any unnecessary exposure.
Because I had an opportunity, I got a charger capable of electrifying up to 8 mile of single strand wire or up to 4 - 100 ft sections of electrified netting. We currently only have 25% of that amount of electrified netting around our garden. I was able to test everything out, old and new to see if things improved. With the solar charger only, we were able to only produce a peak of about 1200 volts on a sunny day which apparently rabbits find only invigorating. When I hooked it up using the extension cord, I doubled the voltage to somewhere around 2500 to 3000 volts. That apparently was the pain threshold rabbits were willing to endure as it put a stop to their predations.
The new charger is producing about 6500 volts.
I'm happy with those results and I could eliminate the post, grounding rod and solar charger that I have to mow around, not to mention an extension cord that I have to pick up and put away every time rain is in the forecast. Sorry rabbit, but the tricks are mine.
You always find a way.
ReplyDeleteI'm persistent anyway.
DeleteI hope this works and I don't have to believe that the rabbits are winning. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to report it has worked very well.
DeleteConsidering rain can pop up unexpectedly, I'd hate to have something that shouldn't get wet in the yard!
ReplyDeleteYes for sure though I was more worried about starting a fire with the extension cord getting too hot since it wasn't meant for that kind of load.
DeleteI continue to be impressed at your resourcefulness! Let me know if you figure out how to outsmart squirrels!
ReplyDeleteThus far, the squirrels have only bothered my meager apple harvest since our young trees have only produced a few fruits each year. But when they start producing more, I'll have to look into solving that issue.
DeleteSome critters are very defiant.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame them. If I had to eat the greenery in the woods nearby, those salad greens would look mighty tasty!
DeleteIf you bury PVC pipe you can easily thread wires through it...we used that one time from greenhouse to greenhouse for a hose...just had to tie a long enough rope to one end so we could remove it come winter and freezing:) Hope the rabbits beware!!
ReplyDeleteAfter thinking about it some, I might just attach a conduit to the side of the house and not run in underground where water can settle in it. Water and electricity don't play well together.
DeleteI feel sorry for the bunny rabbits!
ReplyDeleteThey have plenty to eat but it just might not be as tasty as our fennel and peas!
DeleteYou may have won this round, but those wascally wabbits will not give up!
ReplyDeleteThey certainly do not. I've got an upcoming blog post on this very subject.
DeleteI'm surprised a rabbit survives a 6,500-volt shock! That sounds like a lot. But then I don't really know my voltage. Can birds still safely land on the fence?
ReplyDeleteAny electrician will tell you it is the amps that kill you, not the volts. I can easily survive 10,000 volts but can die with only a fraction of a single amp in the wrong way. This is a low amp device and doesn't continuously produce amperage so any rabbit might get startled and feel and unpleasant tingle but isn't going to die. Honestly though, most animals I have been around can sense electrical currents and won't even touch it.
DeleteA bird can land on the fence at will since in order to get shocked, one must be touching the fence and the ground to give the electricity a place to go. If the fence were strong enough, you could jump up on the fence and not get shocked either. Rabbits, deer and raccoons haven't figured that last part out yet... fortunately.
Never challenge a rabbit to a duel, Ed. They are crafty creatures and will find a way.
ReplyDeleteThe setup looks great! Years ago when we electrified the bee yard we thought about a solar charger, but were concerned about the output.
They are crafty and I have already had an experience where they showed just how crafty. It is in a upcoming blog post.
DeleteOur solar charger was great in the middle of a sunny day, when most animals weren't looking to raid our garden. It was those dark nights after a cloudy day which was the issue.
Always good to eliminate an object you have to mow around. Always.
ReplyDeleteDid you catch any of the shocks on camera?
Signed,
Morbidly curious
I haven't put up my game camera this year though I'm sure I wouldn't catch any shocks. Animals all seem to be able to sense electrical currents and avoid them. The only animal I saw get shocked was pigs back in the day and they knew that they were going to get shocked and it would hurt but they did it anyway to get to the other side of the fence. I knew this because they would start squealing as they ran towards the electrical fence! Last year, I did catch video of a raccoon scoping out the fence perimeter but he never touched it.
DeleteI have put up a solar charged electric fence and have not bee very impressed. I think the only animal shocked has been me! I mainly am dealing with a groundhog, I think.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was not really impressed with mine. I still have it on a shelf in my garage for now. Perhaps if I were smarter, I could repurpose the panel for providing our greenhouse with some electricity. With the new non-solar charger, I was a bit concerned about forgetting and giving myself a vigorous shock some I bought some "Dangerous High Voltage" signs and hung on each end of the fence where we enter the garden as a reminder. It has worked thus far.
Delete