Petsafe Wire - Standard, Solid Core and Upgraded Wire

It is important to understand what it is that you are buying when
you see the terms standard wire, solid core and upgraded wire in okay
listings.
Firstly, lets look at solid core versus stranded wire.
Standard or stranded wire is more prone to corrode in a shorter time
because all the individual strands of wire cause a greater surface are
of copper to be exposed.Since corrosion is caused
byoxidization of the wire, the greater the surface area the faster
the corrosion.
The other problem isthatstranded wire is prone to a
degradation of signal if some of the strands break. Trying to find a
wire break in a case like this is almost impossible and you may end up
having to replacethe whole wiring.
Justremember that if you put a shovel through a solid core or
stranded wire it will break; If acritter decides to bite through
it, it doesn't really care what type it is.Solid coreis a
little harder tobreak than the stranded, but it will break.
The gauge of the wire is less important, whether it is 18 gauge or
20 gauge, it really makes no difference to the performance of the
system.

It is important though not to mix stranded with solid core and
Mixing 18 and 20 gauge of the same type will notcause a problem.
There is also really no advantage to using 14 or 16 gauge wire, in
fact, it is much less pliable makingfor aharder
installation.
There are two things that I feel are more important than
thegauge and coreof wire you use and that are likely to
make you fence last longer.

The first is the type of splicing connector you use, these need to
be waterproof and rated for direct burial applications. Most fences
fail because of corrosion of the wire at the splices.
We ship two types of direct burial, waterproof splices manufactured
by Snaploc and 3M. This simple act of using a good connector will add years to
the life ofthe fence.
If you do not use waterproof connectors you run the risk of
premature corrosion of the spliced connections and a lot of work
tracking down those pesky breaks.

The other thing that is more important than the gauge or core type
is the coating on the wire, thisis what is meant by the
term'upgraded' wire.
Upgraded wire has a much thicker coating than that which gees with
the standard wire and is generally blackin color. This coating is
much more resistant to the elements and in particular to UV light and
the constant dampness when buried in the ground. Also, if you are
planning to install the wire above ground or in rocky soil, this is the
wire you should use.
Upgraded wire also gees in 1000ft and 500ft reels which means less
splicing, and therefore less chance of corrosion, than stranded wire
that only gees on 500ft reels.
It is important to note thatsolid core does not necessarily
mean upgraded,if you are going to pay the extra money you
need to make sure that you are getting the upgraded coating.
In summary,

Premature failure of the fence will occur especially if you do not use waterproof connectors.
Make sure if you pay the extra money that you get the upgraded
coating, not just a solid corewire. It is the coating that gives
it its durability.
Choose upgraded if you are going to install above ground or in rocky soil.
If you only plan to only stay in your home a few years, the stranded wire will do the job just fine.
That's everything you need to know about the wire that gees with our systems. Click here for more information on the Petsafe kits available in my store.
One last thing, contrary to what some retailers are saying, you can
splice the standard stranded wire together without a problem. There is
a reason Petsafe sells Boundary Wire Kits seperately, it is to expand the
standard 500ft kits they sell.

You can use up to 4000ft of wire with the 25 acretransmittersand 2800 ft with the 10 acre transmitters.