Comments on: Wire for an Electronic Dog Fence

By: bob h

bob h — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:05:00 +0000

I ran my wire around my back yard then came to the house and up the wall 4ft to the left of the patio door. I then continued 4ft over the door then down the wall 4ft to the right of the door. A strange thing is happening. When the patio door is slid open 10″ or less, the collar gives a correction at any height within the opening. If the door is open 10″ or more the collar does not give correction as you pass through. What could be causing this?

ADMIN – Hi Bob,

If the patio door is metal, it could be helping propagate the radio signal. If the boundary wire is run parallel to something metal, sometimes the signal will jump into that metal object. If you want to eliminate the problem, you can move the wires on either side of th door further out, or run them at an angle instead of parallel ot the door.

By: james h

james h — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 19:02:26 +0000

I am getting ready to put my fence in. I live on a pine tree farm and my trees run beside 2 sides of my house. On those 2 sides i am wanting to run my #14 wire through the plastic water line you see in houses today called (peck) I think that is how you spell it? Is there a problem running the wire underground then through the pipe and then back in the ground? I just dont want to trench through the trees

ADMIN – Hi James,

As long as the pipe is not metal, I don’t see a problem with that at all.

By: Chris Lavergne

Chris Lavergne — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:20:37 +0000

HI, I live on 10 acres and I just got a Petsafe stubborn dog electric fence and im looking at wiring prices and gauges and such to in-circle my property.
My first question is, can I use basic wire that I can get from Lowes? Or does it have to be the special ‘Petsafe’ wire?
Whats the lowest gauge I can use with my system? I dont want it to go bad in a few years and I dont mind spending the extra money now to save me alot of time and money down the road trying to find the break in the wire.

Also, I have about 10,000ft of non-insulated galvanized steel wire 14 gauge that we used to fence in horses with, can I use this?

Thanks, this website has been EXTREMELY helpful!

ADMIN – Hi Chris,

You can use pretty much any single insulated wire – you don’t need PetSafe wire or any other brand. Where possible use wire that is direct burial rated. Wire intended for outdoor use has insulation that will no degrade in the soil like regular house wire. This means that the wire has a much longer lifespan. Anything 20 gauge or thicker is fine – we don’t see a lot of benefit from thicker wire from a break perspective. Anything that is going to cut through the thinner wires, such as a lawnmower of edger will just as easily slice through the thicker wire). The wire is available in some Lowes, Home Depot, and Ace. An even better source is your local electrical supply store.

By: Mundy

Mundy — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 18:08:38 +0000

We have recently moved and reinstalled the fence around a new house, double loop to keep the dogs in the back yard but allow them access out the front door and side door. I recently purchased more wire, which I think is 16 g. We connected this with the smaller 20 g wire and was told that it would work fine by the salesman. I’m not sure if the 16 g wire is just old (abt 5 yrs) or if connecting these wires together has caused the problem. The fence works intermittently and will beep a few times a minute indicating a break in the line, but not a continual beep. Should I just start with new wire and toss the old stuff out. We do live in the mountains in Colorado, the wire is somewhat warn because it was not burried.

Thanks in advance!

Mundy

ADMIN – Hi Mundy,

The issues you’re having are directly attributed to the difference in wire gauge. It’s highly recommended to splice together the same gauge and type of wire. If the 20 gauge is solid copper, you’ll want to buy 20 gauge solid copper. You can possibly get away with a gauge that’s one off, like 18 gauge, but you definitely will confuse the transmitter and receive inconsistent operation when splicing something as different as 16 to 20.

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 20:01:20 +0000

I have a Innotek underground system and it worked well for about 2 years and then it stopped working. When i tried to find the break in the 20g wire and repair it, i was unable to repair the area due to the wire being so brittle it just kept breaking everywhere. My dog now realizes that it is not working and is running away so I need to find a solution ASAP. I live in PA, so it gets really cold here in the winter. Would you suggest purchasing 18g or 16g wire and relaying the entire yard? Do you think the brittleness/breaking would occur again despite the thicker wire. Thanks!

ADMIN – Hi Lindsey,

The wire getting brittle is more to do with the insulation failing. You want to be sure when you pick out wire that it is rated for direct burial. Rregular housing wire tends to degrade in the soil. Using a thicker gauge won’t hurt either … but the most important thing is getting that direct burial wire.

If the wire is breaking down, I would not bother repairing it … I would just replace it all.

By: Myra

Myra — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:27:53 +0000

Can the terminal begin and end with the braided, non active wire? I need a square containment area with a break in it to allow access to the deck .It is at the same corner of the house where the transmitter will be located.. Can I use the braided wire at the beginning to get to my start area( just a few feet) and then end with it for about 30 ft to leave a gap for access? I was considering the idea of running it up the downspout as suggested, but the deck and my bedroom are higher and that downspout is right outside my bedroom window, I was afraid they would get corrected in my bedroom and possibly on the deck if they were wresting and jumping around. My Dane stands a couple feet high, so I wasn’t sure. Thanks so much for any help you can offer. As a single mom of two, I have become very DIY..lol

ADMIN – Hi Myra,

You can use the twisted (braided) wire to connect the system from the terminal block to the start of your square containment loop. That is the most common use for twisted wire, it gets you from wherever you put the control box, to where you want the active containment loop to start.

By: chris

chris — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:04:08 +0000

I have a petsafe unit with 18g wire underground. i had a break in the back from some construction that was going on. the easiest way to fix was simply run all new wire along hte back of the yard. the local stores don’t have the petsafe 18g wire only the 20g which is what petsafe recommended. can i splice the current 18g wire with 20g for the 100ft section i need?

ADMIN – Hi Chris,

You can mix together different gauges of wire, but the sections with the 20 gauge wire will have a slightly narrower boundary width.

By: Scott

Scott — Sun, 30 May 2010 12:59:20 +0000

We just moved into a house w/ an existing Invisible Fence system and the collars we bought from Invisible Fence aren’t working and Invisible Fence of WNY won’t return phone calls. We made sure the frequency was correct and that we have a green light in the transmitter but the new collars still don’t work. I’d like to purchase the Innotek system and replace the existing transmitters and receivers. Will the existing wire from Invisible Fence work w/ the Innotek system?

ADMIN – Hi Scott,

The existing Invisible Fence wire will work with any inground system, such as an Innotek. If you already have the Invisible Fence, it may be worth calling the Invisible Fence national number (1-866-804-1250). There is some regional variation in franchisee quality – but they are generally of a very high standard. I would be very surprised if they could not help you out. The price is high, but the service is usually very good.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 28 May 2010 03:35:38 +0000

Great website. I’m doing a DIY buried install, and recently a professional installer advised me to buy his 16g wire rather than the Lowe’s/HD 16g wire, because his wire is designed for underground use and will last longer. Is there anything to this claim, as the installer’s wire is about twice the cost of big box wire? Specifically, how long would Cerro from Lowe’s/HD last versus a product with (presumably) more sheathing. If it helps, I’m not really concerned about having wire that will last and not corrode for 15 years, more like 5 to 10. Thanks in advance for any help.

ADMIN – Hi Dave,

No, he’s correct. The wire we sell is solid copper core insulated wire that’s rated for direct burial. The wire you’re using may work fine, but you may need to re-install new wire after 3 to 5 years. This is dependent on how acidic your soil is. You can buy direct burial wire from any local electrical supply store. Most Lowes and Home Depot stores don’t carry direct burial wire. However, some do.

By: Larry

Larry — Tue, 11 May 2010 20:21:55 +0000

I currently have Invisible fence Brand system in place with 10g wire. i run the wire into the lake for access but need to extend it because the signal seems to be stronger instead of weaker and i would like to give her access to the whole dock. i dont want to splice it in the water but hate to buy 300′ + of 10g. I had the guy at lowes tell me i needed outdoor wire…is thyere a different coating i should look for? also they have stranded but not solid (which is what i will be splicing to). can i mix the types and whateffects doess a smaller guage have?

ADMIN – Hi Larry,

Outdoor wire (It will say rated for direct burial or something similar) is better because the coating will be more resistant to water, soil acid, etc. Outdoor wire is usually some PET mix, rather than being PVC which is used in cheaper wire that is more suitable for indoor use. There is no difference between solid and stranded from a performance perspective. But, if possible when doing it underwater get solid – if the insulation fails and water gets in, solid will hold up better to corossion than stranded.

Try to use similar gauges in your installtion. When you mix wire gauges, the thicker gauge sections will have wider boundaries width than sections with thinner wire.