Electric Fence Hookup Wire and Insulator Tubing
Insulated hookup wire (referred to elsewhere as “undergate and hookup wire” is essential for connecting an AC-powered charger to the active wire on an electric fence–whether the electric fence is nearby or as much as 500 feet away. Running ordinary house current (110 volts) through an outside extension cord or other wires is dangerous, which is why building codes demand that such outside wires be placed three feet underground in a protected conduit. In contrast, for most purposes the output from a low impedance electric fence charger is safe, so it makes sense to place the charger in a sheltered spot close to the AC outlet and to run the charger’s output through an electric cord to the fence. Unfortunately, an ordinary outdoor house current cord won’t serve this purpose because it is not sufficiently insulated.
In the world of electricity volts are equivalent to pressure, and fence chargers put out very high voltage–which gives them their shocking power. An ordinary insulated outdoor house current wire is designed to contain 110 volts, not the 5,000 to 10,000 volts produced by most electric fence chargers. Therefore, one must use a special wire for this job. The highly insulated wires listed below are all designed to contain a minimum of 20,000 volts. Besides serving to connect the charger to the electric fence, these “undergate and hookup wires” are commonly strung under electric fence gates to ensure that all sections of the electric fence are charged whether or not one or more gates are open. They are also useful for connecting multiple fences (which permits one to run two or more separate fences off a single charger) and for making a multitude of other minor corner and gate connections.
The wire offered below has plenty of UV protection to be left above ground, but it is a good idea to bury it an inch or so below ground in order to get it out of the way of feet, lawnmowers, cars, trucks, and livestock. It is also advisable to run it through a pipe (taking care to ensure that water cannot gather in the pipe), especially in areas where heavy automated or foot traffic might break the insulation.
Even though copper conducts better that most other metals, all of the hookup wires below provide sufficient conductance to power an electric fence, so for most purposes the gauge of the wire and its metallic content make no major difference. The main difference in the wires below is length.
The insulator tubing offered below (product 02-85) is essentially hookup wire insulation without the wire. String a wire of your choice through it and use the combined wire and tubing for any purpose that would otherwise be served by ordinary undergate and hookup wire.