Two Prong

[Engfoil]

Hi, I switched over recently to the german 2-prong system for purely logistical reason but I'm having some problems. While the 2-prong plug seems to be well clipped to the socket, the white light (off target) goes off during my bouts. If the plug is hit or moved, the white light will go off again. I'm reasonable sure that the rest of the weapon is in working order and have isolated the problem to the plug. Has anyone ever had this problem? Any body have any suggestions on how to get a better fit between the plug and the socket? I'd really appreciate the help, this is driving me up the wall!

[damianip]

Try shorting the plug on your weapon bell and wiggling the wire. Does the OT light go off? Sometimes they are poorly assembled and the contact in the plug is intermittent. By shorting the plug on the bell, you eliminate the weapon as a variable.

Is body cord a real German (Uhlmann or Allstar) or a knockoff? The cheaper ones don't always fit as well.

Did you eliminate the reel as a possibility? Switch sides and see what happens.

I'm sure Tim and Dave can give more in depth advice.

Paolo

[Inquartata]

If it's not the weapon, as Paolo suggested:

Often the prongs are just too loose in their sockets. Try inserting the point of a knife or a thin screwdriver blade into the joints of the prongs ( they're made in two pieces ) and gently spreading them a bit. That'll make then fit more snugly into the sockets. Otherwise it's probably a wire that's not fully connected to the pin, inside the plug; you'll have to open it up and see...

[neevel]

Inquartata covered the possibility of the pins being needing to be spread to seat better in the socket. The other possibilities are that the contact screws are loose, or that the wire is broken inside the insulation right where it emerges from the plug and flexes. In both cases, you'll need to take the plug apart (the retaining clip needs to be disassambled first, taking care not to lose the spring). Once that's done, try tightening the contact screws on the back of the pins-- if they were loose, that's likely your problem. If they're tight and you still get the break when you flex the wire, trim back the wire a few cm and the put the pins back on and reassemble the plug. While you're at it, it wouldn't hurt to open up the 3-pin plug and check the screws there for tightness, too.

You can use a little bit of threadlocker (hand-tool undoable like blue (242) or purple Loctite) to make the screws less likely to loosen up. All types of bodycords (except the Italian bayonets, which are soldered) need to have contact screws tightened from time to time-- they're just more trouble to access in the German design.
Even new cords can have the screws loosen up due to vibration while being shipped. Blue Gauntlet's "Easy-Fix" cords are a nice German-style design which leaves the screws exposed for tightening-- the materials quality isn't quite as good as Uhlmann or Allstar, but it's also less expensive. Avoid the split-solid-pin German-style cords, as they are more prone to getting bent out of shape and not establishing a good contact with the socket.

-Dave

[edew]

Summarizing:

1. foil wire to socket is not tightly connected. Some people forget to screw the bolt securing the foil wire down tightly. After some banging around, the bolt does come loose sometimes. Gotta tighten it down well.

2. the pins are too narrow. You can check this very easily by first seeing if there is any give. Then, gently twist the plug to see if it will set off the off-target. Unfortunately, Uhlmann quality control on their body cord items are currently the pits. They're farming the fabrication of the prongs out to some third-party and there is absolutely no QC. I've gotten prongs which are too big to fit (which is worse, because you basically have to dump that pin and go hunt another around), too small, or break too easily. Spread the leaves to get the pins to make tighter contact.

3. loose/broken wire within the plug housing. It's actually right where the wire comes out of the housing. You can check by wriggling the wire near there while holding everything else stable. If the light goes off, you know it's the wire. Take the thing apart and make new connections.

I wouldn't recommend the BG easy-open plugs. While the concept is nice, I've seen too many break apart. A good whack to the plug will almost shatter the thing. And whacks do occur.

[Puppet Master]

So what brand of bodycord would you all recommend?

[latenight]

I like Uhlmanns and PBT's. The PBT's I have fit extremly tight in the German sockets I have. The reverse was also true unfortunatly, my German cords fit very loose in my PBT sockets. So I stretched the prongs out a little on my german cord and I got by ok

[edew]

At this time, given the problems with the Uhlmann-style housing, I'm tempted to go back to the bayonet style Leon Paul. For me, I've already bought too many Uhlmann body wires and two-prong sockets. All my LP body cords are gone and it'll take me a long time to get them fixed up.

I could just buy the LP bayonet plugs and do a combo Uhlmann back-end and LP front-end. But I would really prefer the LP wires as well, since they're thinner and more supple. The Uhlmann wires, even the current clear/copper ones are stiff and too thick to work with the LP. And I've had fellow fencers complain of the wires corroding very soon after use (like in a few months).