Shocking gloves?

[lbmango]

I've recently started getting shocked when fencing foil. After fencing for an hour or so, whenever my tip depresses, I get shocks running up my weapon arm.

It has been suggested that I'm sweating through my glove and that's the problem (I'm not sure how that works, but anyway) so I switched gloves, and it solved the problem.

My question is, why has this just started now? I've been using the same glove for a year now, I've been fencing for many years, and this just started last weekend, and has been happening consistently since then.

Ideas?

Brian Postow

[Asprin]

Is your grip insulated?

[lbmango]

It used to be, but the paints chipped. So, probably not well enough.

[larkmaj]

Maybe it's that black glove of yours...

Seriously though, you may want to consider repainting your grips, or covering them in something a little more insulating, but I doubt that's the problem.

What box are you fencing with? Does it always happen when you're at the same club (or box specifically)?

Tom (RPI Club President)

[lbmango]

No, both times it was a St. George box, once at Charm City in Baltimore, and once at UMD... I really doubt that the box had anything to do with it, as no one else had any problems.

I probably SHOULD re-paint my grips, but then it's just starting to get cold out now...

[Beowulfman6]

Lack of insualtion between your hand and handle (due to missing paint and soaked glove) is cousing the short circuit, but you should not be getting shocked by a modern box- they have fuses and such (suposedly) that are supposed to prevent this. These are two separate but related probelems- solving the insuation issue should prevent the shocks, and likewise using a box that has the corest volatege will eliminate the shocks (a normal box does not send out enough voltage to shock you, or so I am told). It is probably a good idea to fix both, as one is going to lose touches for you and one is a safety concern.

[MyrddinsPrecint]

I knew someone who fences foil who reported getting shocked by his body cord all day.

I can't for the life of me figure out how you'd screw up your body cord so that it would A) still work and B) shock you that couldn't be fixed with a bit of tape........... but he was never the brightest bulb on the holiday tree.........

: )

[JayhawkPawn]

I actually have observed, and have been observed, having the same problem. I simply thought it was due to an uninsulated grip, big sweaty gorilla hands, and crappy BG cords. I have experienced it with Bg, Absolute, Uhlmann, LP, and Duellist cords, Uhlmann and LP sockets. It was the same reel machine. Favero Reels and Scoring machine, both new-ish, and well maintained.

[Beowulfman6]

If you are saying that your getting shocked I think you need to quntify that. Are we talking a mild, barely noticable tingle or a painful amount of current? There is a real difference- the former is reasonable to expect under certain circumstances, the later is a real safety problem that should be adressed.

[SJCFU#2]

Originally Posted by lbmango

No, both times it was a St. George box, once at Charm City in Baltimore, and once at UMD... I really doubt that the box had anything to do with it, as no one else had any problems.

A point of clarity - there were no SG boxes at Charm City this year.

Most likely lbmango was using a Favero FA-01. There were also a few old TCA FIE boxes, but it's unlikely that he would have used one of them since I believe that only one was used for foil and that strip was primarily used for women's foil.

[qatet]

Originally Posted by SJCFU#2

A point of clarity - there were no SG boxes at Charm City this year.

Most likely lbmango was using a Favero FA-01. There were also a few old TCA FIE boxes, but it's unlikely that he would have used one of them since I believe that only one was used for foil and that strip was primarily used for women's foil.

A friend had a similar problem at the Charm City and switched out her glove. (Heh - her ref stared at me in utter puzzlement when I suggested that he needed to confiscate her original glove. Some people just don't get a dry sense of humor.) And while I was down there I got a strange shock from just my bodycord before I'd plugged in, which I've never had happen before.

[rory]

Sweat less.

[lbmango]

I'm sorry, yes, it was a Favero box... And it wasn't a painful shock, just a sort of bubble of shock moving up my weapon arm. I think I'm going to go out and buy some paint this weekend and re-paint my grips...

[Goldgar]

Originally Posted by lbmango

I've recently started getting shocked when fencing foil. After fencing for an hour or so, whenever my tip depresses, I get shocks running up my weapon arm.

It has been suggested that I'm sweating through my glove and that's the problem (I'm not sure how that works, but anyway) so I switched gloves, and it solved the problem.

My question is, why has this just started now? I've been using the same glove for a year now, I've been fencing for many years, and this just started last weekend, and has been happening consistently since then.

Since switching gloves solved the problem, it's reasonable to assume that it's at least partly due to some quality of the glove. Have you ever washed this glove? Maybe you've built up such a lot of salt in the fabric of the glove, from repeatedly sweating in it over the course of a year, that any moisture makes it a good conductor. Wash the glove and see if the problem goes away.

[shlepzig]

Just wondering?

What is the voltage one should see on a reel between the appropriate + and - terminals.

It strikes me that the general resistance of the body should be enough to keep the shocks below the threshold that should be felt (such as if you happen to touch the leads when plugging in or whatever).

This scoring machine is producing shocks that can be felt, there is possibly another malfunction in the box that is a concern.

Shlep.

[brtech]

Originally Posted by shlepzig

Just wondering?

What is the voltage one should see on a reel between the appropriate + and - terminals.

It strikes me that the general resistance of the body should be enough to keep the shocks below the threshold that should be felt (such as if you happen to touch the leads when plugging in or whatever).

This scoring machine is producing shocks that can be felt, there is possibly another malfunction in the box that is a concern.

Shlep.

Typically between 5 and 12 V. Current limited to be tens of milliamps I believe. Well isolated from line voltage, but you don't get a real good "green wire ground" from the AC power system to the chassis of the box; many of the systems are two conductor power. Now, there SHOULD be a (single) connection from the green wire ground to the DC ground in the power supply, and there SHOULD be a (single) connection from the DC ground to the chassis in the machine. That SHOULD keep both ends from floating up anywhere.

[lbmango]

Originally Posted by Goldgar

Since switching gloves solved the problem, it's reasonable to assume that it's at least partly due to some quality of the glove. Have you ever washed this glove? Maybe you've built up such a lot of salt in the fabric of the glove, from repeatedly sweating in it over the course of a year, that any moisture makes it a good conductor. Wash the glove and see if the problem goes away.

I have washed the glove, although perhaps not recently... I was going to throw it into the wash this weekend, so we'll see if that helps any...

[Beloit Fencer of Old]

Rather than paint, I would use Plasti Dip...it's a good insulator, improves grip and doesn't chip like paint does.

I remember seeing this guy get shocked literally to death once at a tournament in Hawaii. No, wait...that was on Magnum PI...

[Mauler]

Originally Posted by qatet

A friend had a similar problem at the Charm City and switched out her glove. (Heh - her ref stared at me in utter puzzlement when I suggested that he needed to confiscate her original glove. Some people just don't get a dry sense of humor.) And while I was down there I got a strange shock from just my bodycord before I'd plugged in, which I've never had happen before.

At last year's Sacramento Summer Nationals, well into Div-IA (maybe Div II?) MF...

Halfway through the bout, one of the fencers make a wonderful Epee touch to the forearm (we're talking about Foil fencers, btw) and a valid light goes on. One fencer's jacket is fully soaked in sweat and gloriously conductive. I confiscate the fabulously fragrant jacket and have him obtain a replacement. His teammate was readily stripside and eliminated in prior round. So after an exceptionally short downtime, and we move along.

Apparently, however, one of the parents (of neither fencers) had called an Armourer over to our strip about "very strange happenings."

Unaware of the nature of the problem, as communicated by layperson, Armourer reports to the strip carrying EVERYTHING he can and scans the Sports Zone for any sign of helplessness and confusion in general (which is a good indication of which strip he/she should report to). A bit confused, because we seem to be carrying along just fine without his expertise (which wasn't formally requested), Armourer approaches me and asks if we need his help.

I look at him for a moment, and then I walk over to the table, grab the sweat soaked jacket, go up to the Armourer and request:

(Mr Roboto face)

"Sir. Would you please test the conductivity of this jacket?"

............

Armourer looks at the jacket, which is literally DRIPPING with sweat, looks at me, looks at the puddle forming on the floor as I wring the trophy of hard work and dedication, looks back at me with a "You got me here for this?" look, then walks away. Carrying back EVERYTHING he brought with him.

[Mauler]

Originally Posted by Beloit Fencer of Old

Rather than paint, I would use Plasti Dip...it's a good insulator, improves grip and doesn't chip like paint does.

I remember seeing this guy get shocked literally to death once at a tournament in Hawaii. No, wait...that was on Magnum PI...

Who was the referee? Or rather, which referee did the actor portray?