Help me Trouble Shoot

[InFerrumVeritas]

So I was practicing today and had some weapons (maybe?) problems.
Problem: I hit my opponent and my light did not go off.
First Solution: I ignored it. These things happen in foil.
Then it happened again.

Second Solution: I may have hit flat, so I tried a different attack.
That didn't work. Sometimes the light would go off (usually on my remise).

Third Solution: Maybe my tape is ripped, pushed down, etc. Checked it, it was fine, but I grabbed a new weapon that was freshly taped anyway.
Problem persists (now on my third bout). Again, sometimes the light would work, but not always. Also, by now I had switched opponents.

Fourth solution: Maybe my glove (which was sweaty) was causing the weapon to ground through the uninsulated parts of my grip. I switched gloves and weapons (I had one with a freshly painted grip).
Again, the problem kept happening. I'm stumped.

Could this be the body cord? The floor cord? I'm really baffled.

[Empty Wallet]

I thought body wire. You did not seem to change this.

Floor wire, do others have the same problem? Did you fence on another piste and still get the same problem?

The black hole machine?

[InFerrumVeritas]

Originally Posted by Empty Wallet

I thought body wire. You did not seem to change this.

Floor wire, do others have the same problem? Did you fence on another piste and still get the same problem?

The black hole machine?

I didn't change the body wire because I couldn't figure out a reason to. Why would the body cord cause this?

The floor cord, I don't know about the others, I was too busy examining my weapons (we only did electric for about an hour and I was up for most of it).

So, if it is the body cord, how do I test and what exactly could cause this?

[Empty Wallet]

Now you have to wait for the armorers to come along and talk about multimeters and all that technical mumbo jumbo.

The simplest level it to unscrew the plugs and make sure all the wires are attached to the various contacts. Look at the pins and make sure they are not broken or corroded (my kids have had pins break off). Basic wear and tear stuff, useage, bending of wires, pulling them out too hard or at the wrong angle. Pulling on the wire rather than the plug is a bad habit that breaks wires.

You can try and look through the outer coating plastic to see if there are any evident breaks.

[InFerrumVeritas]

Originally Posted by Empty Wallet

Now you have to wait for the armorers to come along and talk about multimeters and all that technical mumbo jumbo.

The simplest level it to unscrew the plugs and make sure all the wires are attached to the various contacts. Look at the pins and make sure they are not broken or corroded (my kids have had pins break off). Basic wear and tear stuff, useage, bending of wires, pulling them out too hard or at the wrong angle. Pulling on the wire rather than the plug is a bad habit that breaks wires.

You can try and look through the outer coating plastic to see if there are any evident breaks.

Actually, I use a bayonet. I pulled back the sleeve and made sure that everything was attached. I didn't notice any breaks or anything like that. Everything tested fine on my testing box (not sure of the brand, I ordered it from TCA a couple years ago). Also, I can't pull on the wire, I just twist the plug (and I have to, as it is virtually impossible to twist the wire and get the plug to come out). The spring takes care of the rest.

Just to note, it is an LP bayonet, but I'm not sure on the manufacture of the sockets. I don't think that they are LP. They have a red plastic casing.

[Purple Fencer]

Originally Posted by InFerrumVeritas

Actually, I use a bayonet. I pulled back the sleeve and made sure that everything was attached. I didn't notice any breaks or anything like that. Everything tested fine on my testing box (not sure of the brand, I ordered it from TCA a couple years ago). Also, I can't pull on the wire, I just twist the plug (and I have to, as it is virtually impossible to twist the wire and get the plug to come out). The spring takes care of the rest.

Just to note, it is an LP bayonet, but I'm not sure on the manufacture of the sockets. I don't think that they are LP. They have a red plastic casing.

They're probably older LPs....see if LP's logo is stamped on the bracket.

As to your problem...

So I was practicing today and had some weapons (maybe?) problems.
Problem: I hit my opponent and my light did not go off.
First Solution: I ignored it. These things happen in foil.
Then it happened again.

Presuming it was a solid more-than-15ms hit, the circuit's grounding...i.e. not breaking. Remember, foil is a normally closed circuit...depressing the tip breaks contact....breaks the circuit.

If you depress the tip and there is no response, SOMETHING is keeping the circuit closed...it could be a stripped wire in contact with teh blade or barrel, a bent spring in contact with the barrel, a wire pinched under the nose of the grip, a bit of wore at the socket touching the guard or the bracket, etc....a LOT can go wrong.

Second Solution: I may have hit flat, so I tried a different attack.
That didn't work. Sometimes the light would go off (usually on my remise).

That COULD be a stripped wire or bent spring...the initial hit knocking it back into place.

Third Solution: Maybe my tape is ripped, pushed down, etc. Checked it, it was fine, but I grabbed a new weapon that was freshly taped anyway.
Problem persists (now on my third bout). Again, sometimes the light would work, but not always. Also, by now I had switched opponents.

It COULD be a 2nd weapon with the same issue, but now that you've switched out weapons, that really tends to eliminate the weapon....so now you're at the body cord.

Fourth solution: Maybe my glove (which was sweaty) was causing the weapon to ground through the uninsulated parts of my grip. I switched gloves and weapons (I had one with a freshly painted grip).
Again, the problem kept happening. I'm stumped.

That elimintaes the glove

Could this be the body cord? The floor cord? I'm really baffled.

You should have continued the isolating the issue process by switching sides and seeing if the problem stayed or moved...if it followed it'd be your gear (likely the cord....there could be a stripped section somewhere that allowed wires to touch). If it stayed on the same side, it could be the floor cord, or more likely the reel.

Did anyone else have a problem on that side? Did you have the same problem on other strips??

[Empty Wallet]

Don't forget to check the end that plugs into the reel (not just into the foil), and also the alligator clip. Anywhere that there are connections can come loose or break.

[InFerrumVeritas]

Originally Posted by Purple Fencer

...
You should have continued the isolating the issue process by switching sides and seeing if the problem stayed or moved...if it followed it'd be your gear (likely the cord....there could be a stripped section somewhere that allowed wires to touch). If it stayed on the same side, it could be the floor cord, or more likely the reel.

Did anyone else have a problem on that side? Did you have the same problem on other strips??

Unfortunately, I was at the community college, where most people fence dry because they don't have electric stuff, not my regular club. I was the only one to fence on that strip. Since that strip was open all night, I just stayed up on it. I was doing drills for most of the relatively short class (only about an hour and a half), and so this was happening over the course of only three five touch bouts.

Since I had had the problem with three different weapons, I was fairly certain that they all didn't have the same problem. The strange thing, like I had said before, was that when I was using that cord on my test box everything was working fine, which leads me to suspect that it was the floor cord.

[KD5MDK]

Originally Posted by Empty Wallet

Don't forget to check the end that plugs into the reel (not just into the foil), and also the alligator clip. Anywhere that there are connections can come loose or break.

The crocodile clip is completely and utterly unable to cause a foil to not go off.
His A line (the crocodile clip on his end) is not involved in his weapon going off.
If his opponent's A line was bad, he would register off-target when he landed.

[Empty Wallet]

Originally Posted by KD5MDK

The crocodile clip is completely and utterly unable to cause a foil to not go off.
His A line (the crocodile clip on his end) is not involved in his weapon going off.
If his opponent's A line was bad, he would register off-target when he landed.

Oops, thanks for the correction. I guess I was concerned the OP seemed to only be looking at the connections at the foil not the rest.