As a liable dog owner, it's obvious to install an electric fence to ensure your dog's safety. Usually, electric dog fences work very well, and most customers can have them for many years with no issues. But, sometimes, wire breakdown happens that requires prompt repairing. Several external factors, such as bad weather, gardening, small burrowing animals, landscaping, excavation, etc., are responsible for this type of disturbance. Although, we highly recommend all customers install the best quality wire of K9 Electric Dog Fence so that the fence will remain active when worn out. This type of invisible electric fences has the best cable.

In contrast, the low-quality wire will make the fences stop working and increase the risk of escaping your dog. 

This article will go further about identifying the wire gap, repairing it, and discussing the necessary precautions that can help avoid future problems with undeground dog fences.

How to Repair Electric Dog Fence Wire?

Identifying a gap in your fence is essential before repairing the wire. And immediate correction is necessary to contain your dog here securely. In case of a break in the boundary line, a signal usually comes from the transmitter placed inside of your house. Besides this, when a wire break occurs, the signal got interrupted, and eventually, the fence stops working. Therefore, we always suggest clients contact our electric fence contractors when they hear any beep sound or alarm from their device. K9 Electric Dog Fence provides a wide range of warranty obligations. Therefore, you can always trust these professionals.

If by any incident your wire breaks and you need to repair the fences by yourself, we have some tips for you to follow. Our experts widely practice these methods. These include:

1. Tie both ends of the extra wire and wire break

The first step includes tying the one end of the extra wire with the one side of the wire break. You need to tight both the ends strongly to make sure that they both didn't get apart further. Cut the wire ends to an equal length if they are not even.

2. Exposing the copper core by striping the wire coat

After tying, you can use a wire stripper or handy pliers to remove the coating of the wires. You need to expose at least half an inch of copper wire on each end. Don't worry if you break a couple of strands from the copper core. If you break too many strands, then again start from the first.                  

3. Joining two wires (previous and extra wire) by butterfly twisting method

This step is so easy and simple. Just overlap the two exposed copper wires, and the butterfly twists the ends together. You can also use a plier to make these ends even tighter. Finally, if there is any loose end, just cut it. 

4. Make a knot near the twisted area to strengthen it.

In this step, you need to tie a knot at the end to make the copper as close as possible. This ensures a strong connection between both ends and won't pull apart easily. Now, use the orange nut from the k9 splice kit and twist together until snug.

5. Use a blue gel capsule to wrap up the exposed copper wire.

This step includes wrapping our newly made joint with a blue gel capsule. It is effortless. Just grab the capsule and open it to push the wire nut in. Be careful about not letting any copper wires outside of the capsule. Finally, seal the capsule off after spreading the wire inside of it. 

6. Repeat this process for the other wire end

Finally, after fixing one broken wire end, look for the other one. Then, just repeat the whole process from step 1 to step 5 to repair it. Our experts suggest checking the wire tension even after closing the capsule. A final check will always help you to avoid any further wire breakage problems. 

So, whenever you face any problem regarding wire breakdown and thinking about how to repair the cut underground electrical wire, just contact us. Our electric fences contractors are available anytime at your service.

How Much Does It Cost To Repair An Electric Fence?

As we discussed earlier, wire breaking is the typical problem with canine electric fences. This difficulty requires professional assistance to fix it quickly. Also, sometimes, experienced dog owners can restore it by following the DIY guidelines. So, even if you wondered how much it requires repairing an electric dog fence and what wire to use when fixing an electric dog fence? Here's your answer.

Usually, the repairing cost of an electric fence with broken wires depends upon the number of gaps. It's easily conceivable that a longer electric fence is more prone to a higher number of wire splits. The typical cost for fixing a wire break requires $115 to $350 on average. The lower end may charge $70, while the higher breaks even cost you up to $700. Canine dog fences usually come with various gauzes of wires such as 20-gauge, 18-gauge, 16-gauge, or 14-gauge wire.

Increasing the number of gauzes indicates the smaller diameter of the wire, which means the 20-gauze wire, is the thinnest, and the 14-gauze wire is the thickest among all. While fixing the electric fence, professionals use similar types of wire to avoid any further problems. Remember, the largest diameter of the wire will transmit the greatest amount of electricity. 

The easiest way to repair the wire breakage is by using an underground splice repair kit. As we said, just find the two exposed ends, and all you need to do is to twist these together. Then insert them into a capsule and close the lock. The cylinder of these splice locks is usually waterproof and more secure than just wrapping tape. 

Finally, there are several ways to prevent wire breaking in your fence.

First, you should let your contractors know about the buried site before starting their projects. These include lawn aeration, snow plowing, tree removal, gardening, etc. Before beginning every project, always draw a map and identify the potential areas for hidden electric fences. If you've any questions regarding wire breaks, don't hesitate to contact our local contractors.