Twisted Wire
Twisted wire is simply two regular wires twisted together. Having two wires so close together causes the signals coming out of each wire to cancel each other out and creates a dead-zone where the dog can walk over safely without getting the warning or the correction. But, the twisted wire can only be used in certain situations. The main use for twisted wire is to connect the main boundary loop to the control box. You can also use the twisted wire to connect one loop to another loop. But, you absolutely cannot use the twisted wire as part of the main loop. The video below shows you how to use twisted wire and how you can make your own.
Here is an example to help you understand the use of twisted wire.
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Imagine you had a boundary going around your entire property, with the base station inside your home. You have everything connected and test to make sure everything works fine, but the layout is not ideal. |
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You would have two strands of wire coming into the base station from the perimeter. This would be inconvenient because the dog could not cross the section of the wire. |
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Cut the boundary wire where it turns in from the perimeter toward the house and disconnect the wire from the control box. (If you bought the pre-twisted you would replace this section with the pre-twisted wire, so skip straight to step 5 where we connect up the twisted wire.) The rest of us will need to twist the wire ourselves. |
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Twist the two wires together, so that there is about one twist per inch. Err toward having more twists rather than less. The easiest way to twist the wires is to attach them to an electric drill and let the drill do the twisting for you. |
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Now we splice the twisted wire back into the boundary loop on one side, and re-connect the twisted wire to the control box on the other side. |
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Voila! Your dog can now safely cross over the twisted section without hearing the warning beep or getting the correction. |
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I have two acres of property and I would like to know invisible fence products can I use?
is your products long enough to put this around my property.
ADMIN – Hi Cathy,
Yes, with any of our dog fence systems you’ll be plenty within range. The two smallest acre sizes is the Perimeter Technologies Ultra with a capacity of 5 acres and the PetSafe Stubborn dog with a capacity of 10 acres. The rest of the fences have a capacity of 25 acres and up.
We live on a lake and would like the dogs to have the ability to get in the water. How would you implement a 3 sided fence? We could bury the shore line side in metal conduit, would that be enough to stop the signal. Is there a better way to do this? Thanks
ADMIN – Hi Jason,
There are a few ways to do lake frontage where you want the dogs to be able to go in the water.
First, you can do a U-shaped loop of the other three sides, then double back on your self six feet apart to complete the loop.
Second, you can run a regular loop around all four sides, but on the lakefront side, run the wire up high above ground level (using for example conveniently located trees). The vertical elevation of the wire lets the dogs pass underneath without getting the correction.
Third, you can run a loop along all four sides, but on the lakefront side run the wire out into the lake and sink the wire to the bottom of the lake if it is deep enough. I like this method the least because, if you get a break out in the lake area – fixing it is a pain.
Putting the wire though metal conduit is not helpful. The metal does not block the signal consistently, it often enhances the signal.
Can the twisted wire be used to go under a deck which has an outside door which we would like to use to let the dog in and out. The twisted wire would be in the main loop, or is there a better way to do it. thanks
ADMIN – Hi Doug,
You can never use the twisted wire as part of the main loop. When you do use the twisted wire as part of the loop it is fully active and triggers the collar as per normal.
There is no way to shield part of the loop, but you can go high above or down below the deck so that the signal does not reach the deck. If the deck is elevated a few feet above ground, we will often go down below the deck. Otherwise, we will run the wire along the roof line in the area of the deck to get across without creating an area of correction. Take a look at the Installation–>Planning section for more options.
If you email us a diagram of the layout, we can usually design something that will work.
Can I attach two twisted pair wires to a single transmitter. Each of these twisted pairs would run for around 100′ and then I would attach a normal loop containment to each of the twisted wires. In other words, I would attach two complete and individual circuits to the transmitter. Thanks.
ADMIN – You can attach two twisted pair to a single transmitter. You can do it the way you suggest, with both twisted pair connecting directly to the transmitter – but, this can lead to the two loops having different signal strengths (because they are on different circuits.
The preferable way to do it is to splice one of the twisted pair into the other. So you will connect one of the twisted pair to the transmitter. At a convenient location on this primary twisted pair, cut one of the two wires and splice in the secondary twisted pair.
You are very kind to conitnue to answer all of my questions! I have 2 more
First, (and this might be a dumb one) why is it necessary to cut the wire before you twist it when going from the boundary loop to the control box? Isn’t it possible to twist the wire without having to cut it and later splice it?
Second, we will be mounting the box inside our laundry room. If it doesn’t work to come in through the window, is it possible to come in through the dryer vent? My concern is whether the heat in the dryer vent would damage the wire or be dangerous at all.
Thanks again!
ADMIN – Hi Krista,
1) You can definitely do that. That’s how we illustrate it to explain the concept. However, you can use whatever install method you like to accomplish it.
2) You can run it through the dryer vent. The wire is rated against high heat and will be okay.
Your reply about two twisted pair splicing… so take the one cut wire off the primary twisted pr and splice it to BOTH ends of the secondary twist pair??? I was trying to splice the two wires on each twist pair together…
ADMIN – Hi Michelle,
When splicing twisted wire, each wire needed to splice to it’s own separate wire. Therefore, there will always be two splices when working with a twisted wire section. See our twisted wire page.
We have 5 acres that is fully fenced except for a 50 ft stretch across the driveway and front (that section juts out like an L). I am trying to figure out how to make an electronic fence across that section work. How would I make it into a loop? The control box would be in our garage, about 100 yards down the driveway from the section that needs the electronic fence. Should I create a very narrow (6ft wide) loop across that 50 ft section, and then link it back to the garage with a very long twisted wire? Also–the stretch in between is farmed. Should I leave the twisted wire staked to the ground alongside the driveway and then pull it back when it is time to plow.
ADMIN – Hi Lisa,
You’re correct! You’d run a long section of twisted wire down to the road and then create a very narrow 50 foot long loop that’s a minimum of 6 feet separated. As for the plowed area, you can bury it deep enough so that it would be safe from getting dug up and you never have to move it.