The electric fence is a helpful tool for people who own farm livestock or horses, or who need added security. It is necessary in order to keep animals safe and contained within the fence. Although you are familiar with electric fences, you may not know everything about them and find yourself lost with all the different terms.With a little commitment and a modest investment in time to learn how to use this new technology, you can save pounds and hours of maintenance time by making electric fencing work for you. Keep it simple and you wont go wrong. So you won't have to learn the hard way, here are common mistakes that you should avoid:

 1.Neglecting the importance of a proper ground system: It is crucial to follow the installation instructions and ensure that the fence controller has a sufficient ground system.

  2. Choosing an right fence controller: Consider the condition of the fence to be energized, such as rain, snow, ice, vegetation, rusty wire, and the length of the fence. It is essential to select a fence controller that can handle these conditions. Refer to the manual's "How Electric Fencing Works" section for guidance.

3.Inadequate animal training.Each and every animal must learn that the fence hurts. Rather than force the animal to try and cross the fence, try feeding it under the fence so that it comes into contact with the fence. The best method to introduce a fence is to attach some bait to the fence. The animal does not associate the fence with its food but does associate the pain directly with the fence.

4.Fence posts too close together.Posts may be anything up to 15 meters apart. Putting them 3 m apart is not necessary. Posts must follow the terrain and simply keep the wire at a uniform distance off the ground without too much sag. You want the fence to act like a rubber band. When something runs into the wire, you don't want to break all the insulators or knock posts out of the ground. If the posts are spread apart the wire will just bend to the ground and pop back up.

5.Poorly insulated ground wire placement: The ground wire should be adequately insulated and located within 20 ft. of the fence controller. This step is covered in the installation instructions.Be careful here. Sunlight deteriorates plastic. So buy high-quality, long-lasting insulators. Usually black ones are treated to resist degradation by ultraviolet light. poor quality insulators crack after a few years in direct sunlight.
  6.Solar panels not directly facing the sun.This seems almost too obvious to be a problem. But a solar panel won't function at its potential if not properly installed. Please read the instructions. Don't just guess if you have done it right.

7.Installing in-line strainers close together.Wires will flip together once in awhile. If in-line strainers are installed one above the other, they will sometimes hook up. Separate in-line strainers by a fence post and they will never catch on each other. Wires too close to each other. Keep them at least 5 inch apart.

8.Wire stretched too tight.Electric Fences do not have to be tightly strained. Use inline-strainers that pull just enough to get the sag out of the wire between the fence posts.

9.No voltmeter.Without a voltage meter to check how hot a fence is, you're just guessing. The only other way is to use your hand - that hurts.