Is it the weapon, bodywire, or box?

[remise]

Quick question -

If you have a foil fencer on the strip with a chronic white light, I believe you can short the two prongs of the bodywire against the bell, and if the light goes out, the problem is the weapon. Is there a way to rule out the bodywire and/or the box?

[esskreemr]

Couldn't you short the reel cord, then the ground cord, and finally just plug the fencer's bodycord into the box?

[mrbiggs]

Quick question -

If you have a foil fencer on the strip with a chronic white light, I believe you can short the two prongs of the bodywire against the bell, and if the light goes out, the problem is the weapon. Is there a way to rule out the bodywire and/or the box?

Yeah.

To rule out the bodycord, unplug the body cord from the reel halfway, so that you can see the prongs, but so that the electrical connection to the reel still exists. Then take some piece of metal and ground out the B and C lines, i.e., the middle one and the one farther away from the middle one. If the light stops going off, it's the bodycord. Otherwise, go back to the reel, unplug the floorcord, and ground the same lines. If the light stops going off, it's the reel. Then, take the floorcord halfway out of the machine, ground out the same two prongs. If the off-target stops going off, it's the floorcord. Otherwise, the machine is broken.

Usually, you only have to do the first step of that, or maybe two.

[KD5MDK]

mrbiggs is right

The closer you get to the box (assuming equal quality components) the less likely it is to be the problem.

[foily]

Er, get out the ohmeter and test everything?

[KD5MDK]

If you try that without convincing me it is necessary, that'd be an armorer with a yellow card for disturbing order.

[yeoldearmourer]

If you try that without convincing me it is necessary, that'd be an armorer with a yellow card for disturbing order.

Then the armourer will give you a yellow as well. There is only 3 type of people at a comp: offical, spectator and the fencer. The armourer is in charge of the equipement therefore he can over ruled the referee. The really good refrees would never question a armourer on his job. Plus you never what to pissed off a armourer. There are times the only way to catch a problem is to use test equipement

[foily]

There are times the only way to catch a problem is to use test equipement

My answer was more of a pop-off joking answer by a embryonic maybe-will-be-an-armorer-someday. It's just what I'd do, since I don't know the slique triques yet. And a meter probe is a handy thing to short out those two pins with!

[KD5MDK]

This is where the "convince me it's necessary" part comes in. If the first thing the armorer does is start checking floor cords, unless I've already rules out the weapon before they got there something's gone wrong. I've seen it happen that a test box was absolutely necessary to solve the problem (2 failing foils, each in a different way and one intermittent), but testing everything right off is an unecessary delay.