Get notified if there's a break in the wire?

We have an invisible (buried) dog fence. The transmitter is in the detached garage. I would like to try to figure out a way that I can get a notification if the wire breaks and therefore the fence is no longer working. Seems like it would be pretty straightforward, but I’m not sure where to start. I was thinking maybe a door/contact sensor, but how would I set it up? Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

Ecolink makes a contact sensor that has dry contacts in them. I believe that Monoprice makes one as well. You would simply close the loop by wiring to the dry contacts. When there is a break, the contact sensor will report open.

I just bought one of those a couple weeks ago. I’m using it as a contact sensor, so I didn’t pay that much attention to it, but I don’t recall seeing dry contacts. Unfortunately, it’s not accessible to me at present.

I could be wrong, but I’d double-check before ordering.

Thanks for your reply. I happened to have a Smartthings leak detector laying around and wondered if I could use that, as it has two probes on the top. Unfortunately, when I touch the ends of the wires to each probe, it shows as wet, whether the wires are connected or not. Am I missing something? Or will the leak detector not work in that way? I’m comfortable switching out device handlers if there’s something I can do on that end. Thanks in advance.

the ecolink does have secondary dry contacts inside of the cover. i am using several as door/window contacts and they work well with a relay, that i use to monitor power circuit branches. you should be able to use just the power relay $7. one side the live wire 12-24v connects to and the other side connects to the ecolink internal secondary terminals. the point of using a relay is that you cannot connect a live wire directly to the ecolink terminals, just open or closed (short terminals). note that using the internal secondary terminals may or may not require the magnet to be against the primary ecolink sensor. when the power is on the relay is closed, shorting the contact terminals together; when the power is off the circuit is broken thus the contact terminals are open.

Too bad they don’t ship to Canada, I could use the power out kit

it appears to be your basic relay. when power is supplied to one side it closes the other side, similar to the magnet being against the reed switch. when there is no power it give a broken circuit, like the door is open.

note that $30 for the ecolink contact is full price and you can get a zwave+ version for less then that on ebay.

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I think you’re right. I didn’t see any dry contacts in the pictures or description, so I ended up going with another one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MCSQFHJ

I’ve wired the dry contacts to the ends of the dog fence wire, and it works just as I had hoped. Now I have an Alexa routine set up so that if there’s a break in the fence, I’ll get an announcement throughout the house, as well as a push notification on my phone in case I’m not home. No more unaccompanied adventures for Cleo and Maisey!

Thanks for your reply. I didn’t see any dry contacts in the pictures or description, so I ended up going with another one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MCSQFHJ

I’ve wired the dry contacts to the ends of the dog fence wire, and it works just as I had hoped. Now I have an Alexa routine set up so that if there’s a break in the fence, I’ll get an announcement throughout the house, as well as a push notification on my phone in case I’m not home. No more unaccompanied adventures for Cleo and Maisey!

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Just to close the loop here, I’m back where the EcoLink is. There are a set a terminals inside, but the documentation doesn’t discuss their use.

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Awesome! Don’t forget to mark my response as the solution so others that may happen upon this thread will have the answer!