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How
to design an effective Electric Security Fence.
-
General
Description and Information
-
Basic
Design Considerations
-
Specific
Design Solutions
-
Psychological
Impact
-
Liability
Requirements and Troubleshooting
LIABILITY
REQUIREMENTS:
Every municipal ordinance that is available for
review, require
warning signs
spaced approximately every 10 meters or less at
approximately eye level height. The
municipal requires “warning signs” from a liability perspective, but it has
been shown that these signs, by them selves, are as effective as the fence
itself in keeping out trespassers even when, or if the fence is turned off. When
you have a “lethal looking” fence combined with “warning signs”, the
fence now becomes almost totally effective is stopping passage through or over
the fence. (NOTE: there is absolutely NO device or method devised that has
proven to be 100% effective)
The “ warning signs” take a lightly designed
fence and transform it into a “most lethal looking” fence. Keep in mind that
the electric fence is completely non-lethal and not dangerous to the smallest
most vulnerable animal. When shocked repeatedly, new born baby rabbits are not
harmed. The fence will administer a stinging and most unpleasant feeling shock,
but will not physically harm an animal, child, or adult. So you need to
understand, that the fence is an elaborate bluff, that will slap their wrist
hard if someone chooses to ignore it.
Because of the “non-lethal” action of the
electric fence, the legal liability exposure is very small, however,
warning
signs
about every 10 meters or so, in plain sight, as close to eye level as
possible, minimize the legal liability exposure to almost nothing.
If you were to plug your fence into the wall
outlet/receptacle then you might indeed kill somebody. Your liability exposure
is extreme. Your insurance will NOT cover you. Wall voltage is not only
dangerous, but mostly not effective. At 220 volts, dry cement, and rubber
slippers will insulate you from a shock, however, if someone accidentally comes
in contact with an electrical ground they may easily be killed.
Dry ground combined with insulated footwear is why
10,000 volts is used, so as to carry the shock through the ground and the
footwear. The “pulse” technology is what makes it very painful, but still
non-lethal. This technology has been tested and proven for over 75 years of
usage around the world. There are
safety standards
all over the world that when
met, insure that the shock is “non-lethal”. The pulse length is
approximately 100 microseconds (0.0001 seconds) If you use house voltage on the
fence, the fence now becomes potentially extremely LETHAL !
If you were to hold your arm over a
burning candle for several seconds, you would receive a nasty burn. If you were
to pass your arm through the flame of an acetylene torch (which is much hotter
than a candle) and do it quickly enough, you would escape and not even singe a
hair. That is primarily the safety principle with pulsed electricity charging
electric fences.
The
safety standards
mandate the maximum voltage (not to exceed
10,000 volts) and the maximum pulse length (not to exceed 300 microseconds) of
the pulse and the repetition rate (not more than 90 pulses per minute) of the pulse. We use
a fence charger that peaks out at about 9,500 volts and has a pulse length of
approximately 100 microseconds and repeats approximately once per second (60
pulses per minute) which
are all well within the safety standards that have been set and tested
accordingly.
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TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE:
The best
way to isolate a problem on an electric fence system is to follow the steps
below:
1.
The most common problem is vegetation in direct
contact with a charged wire. You should trim back and remove any growth of tree
fronds, leaves, grass or climbing vines from contact with your electric fence
system. Make sure that charged wires are not attached to trees in order to
prevent shorting.
2.
To test the
charger,
disconnect it from the fence
and read the built-in voltmeter to determine if you have full voltage output. (a
regular voltmeter will be destroyed if you try to measure the fence output
voltage). The voltage should be 10,000 Volts on the
fence charger’s
built-in
voltmeter.
To double check the
charger
you can make a jumper
from a piece of insulated wire and short across the output terminals. You should
be able to draw an arc about 1/10 inch (2.5mm) and will hear a sharp snap sound
if the
Fence Charger
is working properly.
3.
With the
charger
connected to the fence, read the
voltage on the built-in volt meter. If the voltage is lower than 10,000 Volts,
then check out the following:
a)
There may be an accidental connection between charged and grounded wires on the
fence. Make sure that all of the fence wires are isolated from each other and
that only similarly charged wires on multi-wire fences are connected together.
b)
There may be an accidental connection between a charged wire and earth ground.
Make sure that extra ground rods installed along the fence are only connected to
the ground return wire, and not a charged wire. Make sure that the charged wire
is not touching metal posts or metal objects sitting on the ground. Make sure
that a charged wire does not go through water in a plumbing system or through a
standing puddle of water.
c)
The earth ground rod/s may not be adequate or the earth around the ground rods
may be too dry to conduct current properly. You may have to move the ground rods
to a place where the earth is moist all year round. It may also be necessary to
add more ground rods and/or use a ground return wire on a multi-wire fence
d)
Check the voltage from the battery. The
fence charger
will not work correctly if
the input voltage from the battery is not 12 volts.
4.
There may be loose or corroded connections where the
wires are spliced or connected to the high voltage source. Also make sure all
the earth ground system connections and ground return connections are solid and
not corroded. It is important to insure a solid and complete electrical path for
proper operation.
5.
If the charger output voltage is low or zero when the
charger
is disconnected from the fence, then replace or repair the high voltage
charger.
Back
to top
-
General
Description and Installation
-
Basic
Design Considerations
-
Specific
Design Solutions
-
Psychological
Impact
-
Liability
Requirements and Troubleshooting
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Accoutrements Security Alarm Trading & Services 2003 - 200 8
Mandaue City, Cebu Philippines
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