Foil - high resistance

[Craig]

Another email - This one on foil...

I have two maraging foils w/ german tips, wires, and pistol grips. Lately both have stopped working. I have disassembled and cleaned the tips. I have also found, with my ohm meter, that when the weapons are cold they produce 2.5-2.4 ohms of resistance, that is half of what it should be. After I warm the foils up however, I have Found that they offer no resistance.
Could it be that the wire is being grounded between the guard and the piece of leather I use in between the guard and the grip? I know for sure that it is not the tip or my body cord. Thank you.

[sallearmourer]

Craig, What are you using to clean your tips with. Now if they were grounding out between the guard and the handle it will show up as a bc short. Try using a teflon base lubeicate to clean your tips. Cold does not affect teflon base lubeicate. Radio shack sell it in a nice little tube.


Tim

[Craig]

Note - It's not me, but someone who emailed the question in to my mailbox.

[neevel]

As with the epee question, more information is needed. By "stopped working", does he mean throwng white lights or grounding. By cold, does he mean genuinely cold (i.e., being brought in after sitting in the trunk on a chilly day)? If it's that, then a possibility is that the cold causes the tip spring to contract a little bit, so that it doesn't connect with the point contact and the tip as securely. The spring expands as it warms to room temperature, making a better connection. Regardless, the difference between 2.5 ohms an zero ohms in not going to make a difference in the functionality of the weapon (the limit for a foil is 2 ohms, btw, and that's an upper, not a lower limit).

One thing people need to be aware of is that you can get a thin (i.e., not visible to the unaided eye) layer of corrosion on the contact surfaces in the point (especially the ends of the spring) that will not be removed by cleaning the point out with alcohol or contact cleaner. You need to lightly sand the ends of the spring with emery paper to clean it up.

-Dave