I always tell people to buy the wildlife types, not the domestic animal types. You have apparently the latter. I guarantee you the former would strongly jolt you, and put the lives of the smaller critters (squirrel, possum) at risk. You have a low current model.

The ground stake need to be in moist soil.

right, Wayne. In fact, since i got tired of watering the stake, I ran a steel wire from the stake to under the fence, all around. so now there is occasionally dry soil, but there are only two inches of soil between hot wire and ground. Catherine, you could try this first but a higher current model can be inexpensive for such short fences.

Thanks everyone. This is the one I got. I'm thinking it's plenty for my garden. We only have 1 strand of wire. I'm thinking it's the ground stake being dry. I'll try to water it more. We really have been dry here lately. Now explain to me why the current would seem low if the ground were dry? I also read that it might be that I have rubber soled shoes on? When I was first installing it, the screw that goes through the knob on the charger gave me a good shock. I really think the unit I bought is good enough......hopefully. I'll first approach it as being a dry ground rod problem and see how it goes.

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/american-farmworks-5-mile-solar-low-impedance-charger?cm_vc=-10005

I got shocked with rubber soles. The ground, when dry, has much higher resistance than when wet. You have your own resistance, about 2000 Ohm, and your shoes have their own resistance, and the ground has very variable resistance. I concur that bone dry ground is fairly well insulating over distances of 30 yards.

Were you wearing those same rubber soled shoes when you got that shock during installation vs testing? Are you testing it in the same place?

gumby.....yes, I was wearing those same shoes when I got shocked during installation. We had a little trouble with connecting the wire from the charger to the line, so we should probably check that too. I'm still going to concentrate on wetting the ground around the ground rod. I know I should touch those knobs on the charger again to see if they still shock me, but I'm too skeeerd. haha I'm expecting a digital line tester in the mail any time now, so that might save me having to feel for shocks. haha

We've done a great job clearing any weeds away that could be touching it and nothing else is touching it.....except a spider web. We only bought this about 6 weeks ago. Surely the solar battery doesn't need replaced so soon. I just need to test every part of the entire system. I'm learning a lot!

Thanks everyone!

When I had an electric fence I used a twig from a live tree or a blade of grass - you could touch the wire holding the grass in your fingers and feel the tingle to know it is ON. Hopefully the wire is continuous the entire length. If not, look for problems at those connections.

Well, I watered the heck out of the ground rod, but still barely a zap. What's weird is that I also have one of those things you can hang on the wire that flash when there isn't enough juice going through. You can set it if it's not receiving 2,500 volts, or 5,000 volts. It doesn't flash for those settings, but it does flash when the charger is turned off.

Maybe I'm just not sensitive to electrical shocks?? haha I have peripheral neuropathy and feel tingling a lot for no good reason.......so maybe I'll have my husband feel the wire and see if it knocks him over.

I'll figure out how to test everything, from the solar charger distally, and see where the problem is. Like I said, I have 2 gates with the hardware that you put on so you can disconnect the gate and open it up. Maybe the connections there aren't tight enough. Sorry I don't know enough about electricity to talk very intelligently about it.

I have to laugh......I have a friend whose husband says "Electricity is a great thing, but you don't want to spill any on you." :)

I'm sure this isn't the problem, as I'm sure you've already checked, but be sure no grass or anything else is growing up into the wire. And just inspect the support points. It shouldn't happen with such a small charge, but electricity can 'jump' a short distance.

Certainly that is worth mentioning as weeds growing up can catch fire from an electric fence. But you may hear some arcing.

Are you looking to just repel the varmints or electrocute them? What you feel as an adult human would be substantially more of a shock for a small rabbit, squirrel, or raccoon sized animal if they come into contact with it.

I'm not saying the issues raised already don't need to be checked out but there is direct correlation between size and effect. While I don't want them in the garden I also have no desire to see the garden surrounded by dead animals.

Dave

it is not this black and white Dave. What shocks a deer into long term avoidance will kill a squirrel. nevertheless, most shocks with my fence do not kill squirrels. I find less than one per year. I am sure there are many more contacts than that.

I had to install one to keep my dog from climbing up and over a chain link fence. Instead of wiring it to the ground, I wired it to the chain link fence itself. It may sound cruel but I put a piece of hot dog on the hot wire to train the dog. She got zapped at 6pm and we did not see her until the next morning. Still she was able to climb over the hot wire.

I wanted to show my young daughters how it worked. I had them wear shoes and hold the back of their hand up to the hot wire. They could feel the pulsing of the current. A few days later, the older girl touched the wire again to test it. This time she was barefoot and the soil was a little moist. She got the full jolt. She didn't scream, but she ran up to me to tell me the fence was working, and it was really strong. Then she said her back hurt.

So, if you want to test your fence, DON'T take off your shoes and stand on wet ground.

Bingo dchall! I was here to say "mystery solved"........and read your post. Sure enough.....I called the local Tractor Supply where I bought the stuff and the first thing she asked me was "What are on your feet when you're testing it?" I had my tennis shoes on. She said, if you're up to it, try it without your shoes.......unless you have a weak heart." haha I took my shoes off (the ground wasn't wet) and touched the wire. The first second or 2, nothing.....I started to get disappointed...when ZAP!!!

Yay! It HAS been working all along and is probably what kept the coons away.

It didn't need fixed at all.........I just needed to understand what shoes can do.

But thanks to everyone who tried to help me figure this out.

I bumped this up, because I wanted to be sure everyone read about how testing your electric fencing (by touching it) can be misleading, if you have rubber-soled shoes on. I guess I should have known that, but I didn't!

To give the fence a really good test just grab the ground stake with one hand and the wire fence with the other, if it feels like you stuck your finger into a light socket then it's working just fine.

get a fence tester....

I bought one initially, but it was totally worthless, since you couldn't even see if the lights were lit up during daylight hours. I returned it and bought a good digital one. It's a Gallagher Fault Finder. Seems to work good and I don't have to take my shoes off and get shocked to see if it's working.