foil tip..is it possible??

[glowstix]

ok, i've constructed an electric foil from scratch (done the wiring, constructed the tip, etc..). it seems to be working fine when i test it, i.e. the tip passes the weight test but when i touch the tip there is no motion whatsoever (no travel distance for the tip) but it passes all the tests. is this ok for competition?? i'm assuming not, but the spring was ok and the tip does support the 500mg weight like it supposed to. has anyone seen this before??

[esskreemr]

If there is no motion, how are you breaking the primary circuit?

[glowstix]

If there is no motion, how are you breaking the primary circuit?

thats whats puzzling me. i have no idea. usually there's a millimeter or so of motion but this tip is weird.

[Artisan]

The cup may not be seated all the way down. A couple hard shots, and the travel may improve - but actually you should use a seating tool.

[neevel]

What kind of point is it? Is is a new point, or one that's been in use? Did all the parts for the point come from the same source?

There is no lighting stroke or travel required for foil points, so if it works and passes weight test is will be fine. The fact that you break the circuit when you press it shows that there is enough motion to separate the flange and the bottom of the collar. Still, you're right that foil points usually have a greater range of motion. The QC on point parts frequently isn't that great, though (especially between production runs), so it wouldn't surprise me to come across a tip which had a smaller-than-normal travel range for the sliding collar. If you're re-using a tip that's had the end-flange repeened, that commonly reduces the spacing between the flange and the body of the tip.

Artisan's suggestion of the cup not being fully seated is one possibility.

Also try backing out the screws just a tad. If you've got too-long screws (due to either mixing parts from different manufacturers, or the above mentioned variances between runs), they may be pinching the shaft of the tip and preventing it from moving normally. While one would expect this the cause the weapon to ground, it there's some oxidation on the ends of the screws the weapon can still work.

-Dave

[glowstix]

What kind of point is it? Is is a new point, or one that's been in use? Did all the parts for the point come from the same source?

There is no lighting stroke or travel required for foil points, so if it works and passes weight test is will be fine. The fact that you break the circuit when you press it shows that there is enough motion to separate the flange and the bottom of the collar. Still, you're right that foil points usually have a greater range of motion. The QC on point parts frequently isn't that great, though (especially between production runs), so it wouldn't surprise me to come across a tip which had a smaller-than-normal travel range for the sliding collar. If you're re-using a tip that's had the end-flange repeened, that commonly reduces the spacing between the flange and the body of the tip.

Artisan's suggestion of the cup not being fully seated is one possibility.

Also try backing out the screws just a tad. If you've got too-long screws (due to either mixing parts from different manufacturers, or the above mentioned variances between runs), they may be pinching the shaft of the tip and preventing it from moving normally. While one would expect this the cause the weapon to ground, it there's some oxidation on the ends of the screws the weapon can still work.

-Dave

thanks, my coach said the same thing. and yes the parts have been used before but they all came from the same vendor so i think that indicates compatibility. its my first tourney and i'm just paranoid and worried and excited.

[frenzl]

does it pass the shim test?

[neevel]

does it pass the shim test?

The shim requirement for foils hasn't been enforced for quite some time. Most shim sets sold nowadays don't even have a 1 mm shim.

[rvergara]

I had the same problem, and what happened is that the spring was unusually hard. Also the barrel wasn't screwed all the way in. It was a very old spring by the way.