How to find a break in an invisible dog fence

Step 4 Tune in

The fence emits a radio signal that is picked up by a reciever on your dog's collar when it gets in range, causing a warning signal or an electric shock. You should be able to detect this signal in the lower AM range. The signal of my fence was roughly 600 kHz. When tuned to the right frequency, you will hear the signal as you pass the radio over the ground. It may be necessary to turn up the intensity of the signal at the tranmitter, although I didn't have to (there should be a numbered dial somewhere on the transmitter, just remember to turn it back down later so you don't fry fido!)

Comments

[herbt]

Update #2   Attaching wires to connector in terminal no longer a problem.  Will retry getting a signal with the better connection tomorrow.

[docden]

Herbt--  you can avoid all these problems and have the fence break located and fixed in a bout 15 minutes if you just buy a real locator that doesn't require trying to "fool" your transmitter or using an AM radio.  Invisible Fence will charge you probably a hundred bucks each time to come fix it so take that money and buy the real locator and you'll never have to pay for a wire break service call again.

[herbt]

docden- I'm ordering the $129 wire break device you recommended.  Our little poochie today discovered the front yard barrier is no longer -- the incentive to find the break had dropped to 0 since the boundaries were adhered to until today. We're in FL now but our system up north also has a break so it will be worth it to have a reliable device.  One concern- the demo video at DFNA uses equip that does not resemble the $129 package?  Anyway thanks for the detailed info you provided-- it was very helpful.

[504main]

Here is link to the PetSafe Wire Break Locator for $ 53 :
http://dogfencediy.com/store/accessories/petsafe-boundary-wire-locator.html

[ollieduke]

 Herbt,whats the number of the wire break device and where did you buy it. My fence is about 5 acres and is about 12 years old. Was just thinking last week,how in the devil would I ever find a break. Lucky I found this site while looking for cheaper batteries. I will first try the choke and radio on a test break to see if it works and if not order the factory one. Thanks in advance, and very glad to find such an informative web site about radio fences.

[herbt]

ollieduke- invisibleservices.com  (Dennis Hogan 509-991-0385).  Check out his web site-- very informative.  Cost of device $129.95.  I've only spent a short amount of time using the device but have not yet found the break.  Dennis offered to listen to the signals over the phone if that would help.  Since our little 7 yr old puppy still thinks its working in the back yard finding the break is not the top priority (for me--wife is after me to fix it!).  I would ask Dennis if it will work on 5 acres-- that may exceed its range.  Let me know if the choke works for you.  Herbt.

[ollieduke]

 Herbt,thanks for the comeback. Tried the RS coil and think it might work. Since I wasnt using a Digital radio,had to guess on Frequency.  It had a station on it and when I went over a good part of the fence,the station got lauder. Since 3/4 of my radio wire is on the bottom wire of a 4 wire horse fence,it was really loud when checking the wire on the fence. I guess the wire magnified the signal. Normally I could just walk the fence and check it,but over the years,brush and small trees have grown up along a lot of the fence. Thanks for address,as if I have trouble using this,can order the better one. John

[docden]

Herbt
The correct website is   www.invincibleservices.com not invisible

[docden]

This locator  is self contained and therefore can be used on any length of system.  You can take the locator out and attach it to your perimeter wire midway and locate in both directions.  All this is covered in the instructions.

[docden]

herbt,
The locator in the video is exactly the same.  You may only be seeing the antenna in the video but believe me they are exactly the same.  If you watch at the end of the video you will see a demonstration of how to put it in the case and it is the exact same locator.  Hope this clears it up.

[docden]

Also wanted to state for anyone interested that using the proper splices is very important in repairing the wire.  Do not simply buy waterproof splices at the hardware store.  Take a look at the splices and video on the www.invincibleservices.com website and make sure you use the same type or you could just be asking for more problems down the road.

[afattore-brozek]

Thank you Thank you Thank you- This was awesome! It took me all of 10 minutes to find the break. Thanks for saving me hundreds of dollars!

[hockeymama]

Hi! Cannot find the break. I know this probably is a dumb question but can't I just leave the RF choke in place as a workaround. The dog can't find the break either! :)

[amcguire069]

Why wouldn't you just use the dog collar to do the same thing? Instead of having to disconnect the wiring, and so forth, save the $20 and your time and just use the warning signal on the dog collar. Am I wrong?

[eric42]

You need the choke to trick the unit into sending the signal. You might be able to use the collar, but the signal is very faint and might not trigger the collar beep. Also, I have found the collar to be slow in repeated detection, like once a second. The radio method is sensitive and quick to respond. In essence, you mount the radio at the end of a pole and wave it over the ground, like a metal detector. With the radio, you can "redetect" as you swing back and forth every second. The collar would be annoying slow to cycle through and redetect.