Langdon, is yours not of the dual power type - I'd double check as the one I've got was similar in that it toook two of the big torch batteries. We used the conversion kit on it to attach a 12v battery onto it and now it gives one hell of a kick and I've had few expereinces of getting shocks from it (one time i got stuck between strands, long story, but essentially got zapped off the bottom one to the top one and then back again four or five times!)