Finding and Fixing a Wire Break
Every now and then you will get a break in the wire for your dog fence. You will know this because the system will stop working and the transmitter box will sound an alarm or display an error light. Here are two methods for finding the break, starting with the easiest method.
Finding a Break by Visual Inspection
The most common cause of breaks is someone running an edger, aerator or other digging device across the wire. These breaks can usually be found by walking along where the wire runs and looking for spots where there has been recent digging.
Also check the connections between the wire and the transmitter as well as all the wire joints as these are common break locations.
Finding a Break using an RF Choke
First, buy a “100 µH RF Choke.” You can get one at Radioshack (catalog number 273-102). It should cost you less than two dollars. You will also need an AM radio tuned to 600.
Now, go to the dog fence transmitter box and disconnect the two wire leads where they connect to the transmitter. In place of each wire lead, connect one end of the RF Choke. Now turn up the transmitter signal strength to full. The transmitter box should now be showing that there is no break in the signal. Next take the two wire leads and wind the insulated section around the each of the legs of the RF choke with the uninsulated end touching the leg of the RF choke. (Note if the legs of the RF choke are too short, lengthen them with some wire.
Get the radio and walk along the path of the wire. You should hear a throbbing noise where the wire is intact and an absence where the break is located.
Fixing the Break
Once you have found the break, strip a half inch of insulation off each side of the broken wire and then use a weatherproof wire nut to connect the two sides. If the break is large, you may need to splice in some extra wire so that the two sides can meet.
FREE WIRE BREAK KIT – With any Inground System Order ($14.95 Value)
When you purchase your inground system from Dog Fence DIY you receive a free Wire Break Locator and Repair Kit. This kit comes with a couple of feet of 20-gauge boundary wire, 1 RF Choke, 2 Waterproof Wire Capsules, 2 Wire Nuts, and Instructions. We certainly hope you never have to use your wire break kit, but breaks do happen and we want you to be prepared with our Dog Fence DIY Wire Break Kit.
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello
I am trying to start an orchard on my acreage but the deer are killing the trees. I am currently using deer repellent but it has to be resprayed every 2 weeks or after a rain. Was thinking a big dog ( Collie or Lab ) roaming free in the orchard would solve the problem. I have two questions.
1. The difficulty to train a dog to stop at the boundary even in the middle of a chase.
2. Changing the size of the boundary as the orchard grows. Would it be best to go to full plan size of orchard ( may be 9 years before all trees are planted ) or expand the boundaries as the orchard grows?
Thanks
Harold
ADMIN – Hi Harold,
Hi Harold,
1. With the three week training program that we have on the site, the dog can be trained to stop mid-chase. It is especially easy on a big property where you can set the boundary width very wide. We don’t have deer issues near us, but most of our installation clients dogs like to chase squirrels and learn very quickly that this is not allowed.
2. Changing the boundary is technically pretty easy, but I would do the full area now so that both the guard dog and the deer learn their boundaries now. Changing the animal behavior is much harder than changing the electronic boundary.
HOLY MOLY this really works! Too whoever is responsible for this information I thank you. Instead of having invisible fence come out to find the break in my 5 acre doggy playground it was soooooo easy to find it and fix it myself. For me it’s $90.00 just to get them to show up. Three thumbs up!
I’m going to buy the choke from radio shack tomorrow. I’m wondering, since the choke “tricks” the transmitter into thinking there’s a complete loop, can the fence operate with the choke for awhile if I can’t find the break?
ADMIN – I am afraid you can’t use the choke to keep the dog fence system running. You will need to find the break and repair it.
Hi – I bought the rf Choke but I have a DogWatch system and the leads come into the control box via a plastic plug fitting – so I’m wondering how to get the two ends of the choke into the control box. Do I need to cut the wires off the fitting and connect the rf choke to the fitting and then wrap the leads onto that? Or can I just separate the fence wires and wrap the rf choke wires around the separated wires? Thanks for any advice.
ADMIN – Hi Jessie,
Can you unplug the plug? If so do that and squeeze the choke into the two holes, then wrap the wire around the legs of the choke.
If not, you will have the cut the wire and attatch the plug end of the wires to the legs of the choke. And then wrap the fence end of the wire around the respective legs.
Thanks for your article on “Finding and Fixing a Wire Break” in a dog fence. In the article you say “Next take the two wire leads and wind the insulated section around the each of the legs of the RF choke.” Do you instead mean UN-insulated or bare sections?
ADMIN – Hi Greg,
The test is correct. We do mean that you should wrap the insulated section (i.e. the section with the plastic covering still over the wire) around the RF choke lead.
I have tried the method with the rf choke and am radio but i get a very weak to no sound on my radio. Is there a way to increase the signal strength
Hi JP,
You can turn up the boundary width on the dog fence control box to increase the sound level on your radio.
I bought the choke and an AM radio, but I find the pulsing sound strengthens and weakens every few feet, making it impossible for me to determine where the problem really is (short of digging up wire every few feet). I found the area where the signal seemed to be weakest and replaced a large portion of wire, but my unit is still giving me the red flashing error. Is there any other way to find the break?
ADMIN – Hi Rosann,
Let’s try it a different way. This is how a lot of our older guys do it. They swear it is easier, because it gets you around the waxing/waning problem you describe. Try connecting only one of the wires to one of the legs of the RF choke. Leave the other wire disconnected and not at all near the RF choke. This will make only one of the two wires ’sing.’ Follow it round until you get to the point where all singing completely ends. Now you know the break is in that area.
WILL A AM/FM RADIO WORK OR DOES IT HAVE TO BE A AM RADIO ONLY!
ADMIN – Hi Charles,
Am/FM works, just set it to AM 600.
DogWatch says they use an FM signal – so does this choke/AM Radio method still work ?
ADMIN – Hi Tim,
I am afraid we don’t have the answer to that one, Dog Watch is the only one that uses FM and we have never had occasion to service one of those units. I presume that the AM radio will not work with an FM based system, but perhaps using an FM radio instead would work. We will look into that one and if anyone knows the answer we would love to hear it.
I tried with both wires connected to the RF choke and got a reasonably decent signal all the way around. Then tried with the red (positive?) wire connected to the RF choke (connected to the red wire’s screw on the box) and got a reasonably good signal all the way around on that. Then I tried with the black wire connected through the RF choke and got some strong deep sounds, sometimes lighter almost like crickets singing and sometimes hard to hear, but could always find something. The light on the box is red with a faint warning sound audible up close when it is connected normally. With only one (either) wire the warning sound is quite loud. Any clues what to do next? I’m going to be livid if I can’t do this myself. Gave the Invisible Fence folks $650 to fix breaks and supply a new collar last summer. Can’t keep shelling out big bucks to them!!! Thanks for ANY ideas.
ADMIN – Hi Elizabeth,
Feel your pain! Installing fences is a lot of fun, it is pretty easy, the results change the dog/owner’s life, and they think it is the best money they every spent. Finding breaks is not so fun .. you just have to be slow and methodical as you wonder through people’s bushes listening to static like a cheap mystic. I hate charging people for fixing the break, nobody wants a break, it is just another unexpected and unwanted expense. We first got on the web to show customers how to find their own breaks, to try and give customers the option to do it themselves. Sorry for the sidebar!
Connect the RF choke to the two terminals. Do you get getting a green light? If you do, you are all set to use your radio to find the break. Just connect one wire to each of the legs of the RF choke. Now you are all set to use your radio to find the break. If there was no green light, there is something wrong with your control box, time to call back Invisible Fence.
Thanks for the idea and approach! I had a similar experience as Elizabeth, in that with both wires connected, I had a signal all the way around my (4 acre) fence. So I tried the “older guy” method described above, with only one wire connected, and found I still had a decent signal all the way around, but it would get weaker the farther away I got from the control box. I figured that was reasonable given the long run of wire. I did find that one side of the loop (one wire) would create a stronger tone than the other side (other wire), when switching back and forth. After some thought, I decided that that the break must be in the twisted section between the control box and the start of the loop at the edge of the yard. So working from end of the twisted section farthest from the control box, I began to to work my way in from the loop back to the control box, stopping to listen to the change in tone as a helper swapped the two wires at the choke. Once I reached an area where there wasn’t a change in tone, I decided the break had to be between there and where I started at the edge of the loop. I couldn’t narrow it down much beyond that, but the break was located somewhere between, and I was able to splice in around that section. I think the “bad” wire was picking up the RF signal in the twisted section, albeit weakly, from the good wire, creating a situation where it was very difficult to locate the precise break.
Will a 100uh rf choke for wire break detections work in Australia? Thanks
ADMIN – Yes. The rf choke will work in Australia, Canada, Britain, etc