Stupid German Tip!!

[lefty_monster]

OK, so this epee was acting up and the wire accidentally/on purpose broke. I rewired it (German) and now it's acting weird. Something about putting the big spring in makes it ground. (Red light on the cheapo tester I use) Take the spring out, and it works fine. Rotate big spring, it works intermittently (sometimes red and green together, sometimes just green). What can I do to keep it from grounding itself out?? (I'm not rewiring it again- I don't get paid enough for these jobs to do that.)

[Taomagicdragon]

How does an epee's wire break on purpose?

Your weapons are very vindictive!

[lefty_monster]

After spending an hour trying to fix the darn thing, euthanasia seemed to be the most humane option.

[Purple Fencer]

I suspect there's a nick in the insulation under the cup and when the spring is inserted, the pressure the tip put on it when depressed moves the cup and that exposed wire touches the blade.

The spring itself is not directly the cause...it;s not part of the circuit in the French/German design.

Take the tip and spring out and insert a screwdriver...move the cup around....if you get a short, that's the problem.

[Fechter1]

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

I suspect there's a nick in the insulation under the cup and when the spring is inserted, the pressure the tip put on it when depressed moves the cup and that exposed wire touches the blade.

The spring itself is not directly the cause...it;s not part of the circuit in the French/German design.

Take the tip and spring out and insert a screwdriver...move the cup around....if you get a short, that's the problem.

Agreed. Looks like the problem's at the bottom of the cup. Either a nick in the insulation, or one of the wires may have come loose (but still held somewhat in place). This usually happens when either the wire was not seated properly, or was seated before the barrel was tightened (i.e. the wire was twisted). If that's the case, I'm sorry to say that nothing short of a rewire will fix it.