Electric Fence Repairs

Before anything else

• Do not touch the wires, or try to test them, while the fence is live.
• Keep children and pets well back from the fence line.
• Only the installer isolates the fence. They stop it being switched back on and confirm it is dead before any work near the wires, posts or insulators.
• Leave the repair, and any clearing of the line, to the installer.

If a wire is down or hanging loose, keep away from it and call us. Assume everything along the line is live until the installer tells you it is dead.

What usually goes wrong

Installer guides give a similar list:

• Vegetation. Grass, bushes or branches touching the wires drain the charge. One South African guide calls it the most common cause of a weak fence.
• Broken wire or loose joints. Animals, storms or a fallen branch can snap a wire or work a joint loose.
• Cracked insulators. A cracked or sun-damaged insulator lets the live wire touch a post or wall.
• Gates. Jumper leads and gate returns are listed as common failure points.
• Earthing. Dry ground, corroded earth rods or loose clamps weaken the return path.
• Energiser and power. A blown fuse, a power cut, a flat backup battery or damage after a storm.

Guides link a weak fence that keeps clicking or sounding an alarm to current leaking along the line, and an energiser with no light to the energiser or its power. Only the installer can measure which it is.

What you can check, from a safe distance

You do not need to go near the wires to give us a useful description. Without touching the fence:

1. Look at the energiser. Is its light on, is an alarm sounding, is the mains or battery fine?
2. Walk the line from a distance and note anything touching the wires, anything hanging loose, or a section that looks damaged.
3. Check the gates. Note whether a gate lead looks disconnected or damaged.
4. Write down what changed. After a storm, a power cut, a wet spell, or a dry one?

Vegetation touching the wires stays for the installer to clear, after the system is isolated and checked. Pulling at branches can drag or release tensioned wire. Do not try to test the wires yourself.

Repair or re-string?

A single fault, such as a split joint or a cracked insulator, is a repair. A fence with many breaks, brittle insulators or sagging runs may be cheaper to re-string than to patch again. We can tell once someone has looked at the line.

Does a repair need a new certificate?

A fence should have a valid certificate for the installation, issued by a registered Electric Fence System Installer. That is different from a new or replacement certificate, which sources link to a new, extended or altered fence, and from a minor repair.

Sources describe small jobs differently. One association article says fixing a broken wire or bobbin does not need a new certificate, while replacing the energiser does. Another trade page says repairs should come with a certificate. Ask the installer what applies to your fence, and keep your installation documents handy for the call.

Tell us what the fence is doing

Tell us the suburb, what the energiser shows and what you have seen along the line. We'll phone to arrange a repair and explain what it involves.