electric fencing

[trinder]

hi peps .my question is more electrical than computing. My livestock grazing is currently being "managed" by an electric fence. I have begged two old batteries that have a little life left in them ( not good enough to use on a car) and i am charging one for a day then changing the batteries over.
i have a few questions.
firstly is there any way that i can check for life without having to touch the d### thing? also i have seen solar powered chargers advertised for not much money (less than £10) would that be good enough if i left it attached to the battery to keep it charged? and therefore not have to keep swopping them . thanks in anticipation..

[Helsbells]

I know you can buy battery testing kits, not sure how much though. Slightly safter than using a finger!

[trinder]

thanks Helsbells. . being a bit dozy. i think the thing you are talking about tests the life in the battery. now i am sure thats important, but how much life in a battery will be strong enough to blip the fence?

[contadino]

AFAIK, the batteries don't normally attach directly to the fencing wire. There's a box between the two which acts as a capacitor. That way the battery only needs to deliver a small current in order for the fence to work. A charge on a car battery should last weeks - obviously depending on how stubborn your animals are.

You can test the charge of a battery using a standard multimeter, I think.

Sorry for being a bit vague, but I've only done a little preliminary research as part of our planning for livestock.