Shocking!

[HookUpandFence]

1) There was one strip that did this to me when I scored, and was sweaty. It took me a few bouts to get it figured out. It was at a tournament and I did not have a history with the box and I was focused on fencing.

2) (and REALLY off the wall) When I do pushups with my fingers together (think traffic cop) as opposed to spread out, this causes the nerves in my wrist to generate the same sensation as from a strong current. Could there possibly be something about the way you may tense your hand while using that style grip? I am simply suggesting that there could be a nerve issue, as opposed to an electricity issue.

maybe... Just a thought.

[SJCFU#2]

Originally Posted by fencerbill

By plunger or screw I infer that you mean the retainer on the 2-pin plug.

On every body cord that I have ever seen, the whole retainer assembly should be isolated from any conductor or lead. Look for a stray wire strand when you take the plug apart. They can be very small.

While the retaining clip is usually isolated from either body cord line inside the plug, sometimes it's possible that when the body cord is plugged in the retaining clip will make contact with the metal bracket of the guard socket, forming a short to the C line (depending on the fit between the plug and socket). However other than possibly providing a path to ground it is difficult to see how this would come into play since the weapon already provides a similar path.

[Swordmaster]

I have run across this in two instances. One a young lady was getting shocked on the neck every time her lame was touched and a second one was one particular fencer at a club that I sold a Favero Full Arm 01 to. In both cases these fencers seemed to have a higher ability to conduct electrical current than other fencers at the same clubs. I spoke with Favero and they recommended trying a 9VDC power supply instead of the 12VDC supplied with the machine. Still use the 500ma rating. For some reason some people are able to sense this voltage difference where most are not.
Of course a wet glove, "leaking body cord", uninsulated grip (even in spots), and sweaty fencer all come into play when dealing with this issue.
According to the FIE rules it is not allowed for a fencer to continue to fence with "sweat soaked" glove or uniform. This can cause scoring issues on some machines depending on how tightly they held to the tolerances provided by the FIE.

[emagdnim]

exceptionally fuzzy socks on carpet strips maybe?

[Chuck F.]

In virtually all cases like this, there is some leakage between the (even slightly moist) skin of the fencer's hand and some uninsulated part of the weapon, usually the handle, but possibly the bracket of the body-cord connector. It comes down in the final analysis to a contact between the ground of the weapon and the vencer's hand. Even a slightly moist glove, a slightly moist hand and some point of contact between these two and the ground can cause this phenomenon.

Be thankful that it isn't the good old days when there were 12 volts going down the blade, and when these hit the fencer, he might be knocked off his feet!

Dan

I never would have thought of the socket arm/bracket. I wonder if putting a piece of tape on it would help?

One friend of mine was having a problem with a B-C short that I couldn't figure out. I eventually realized that the tip of the B-pin on her bodycord was touching the inside of the bell-guard. Her bell-guard was really banged up, and looked a little like a Pringle. We were at a tournament and pressed for time, so I just put a piece of tape on the inside of the bell-guard to interrupt the short, until we could replace the guard. It solved the problem fine.