Interesting wiring problem

Okay, so here is something that I've never run across and I'm submitting it
to the community for discussion and (perhaps?!?!!?!) explanation.

I ordered a couple of foil blades from a supplier for one of my students -
pre-wired with a French point. The arrived and I went to assemble the
weapons with his other hardware (grips, bell guards, bell pad, body chord
pug - two prong). One of the blades worked just fine when I plugged it in to
my test box, but the other gave intermittent readings.

So then I dug out my ohm meter, and went to work diagnosing the problem.
When putting one lead to the tip, and the other to the pug where the wire
was connected, I was getting, again, an intermittent signal. Taking the wire
off the plug didn't improve the signal.

I undid the point, and tested directly from the lead in the plastic cup to
the end of the wire. Now the signal was going from bad to worse, practically
none. In desperation (I did NOT want to have to re-wire this thing), I put
one of the ohm meter leads at the very end of the wire, and the other right
at the start of the insulation, approximately 4 inches away.

And there was the problem, no signal there!

A brief rubdown of the bare wire with acetone solved the problem, and I
reassembled the weapon and everything worked great.

So my question is: Has anyone out there seen this before? I originally had
thought it was a bare wire, until I did the test on the bare wire down by
the plug itself. Do some wires come with a bit of "goup" on them underneath
the cloth insulation?

Cheers,
David Sierra

To reply off-list remove NOSPAM from address

Uhlmann wires have a layer of varnish on the wire underneath the cloth
insulation. It's entirely
possible that the manufacturer of the wire for this "French" point (there are
several) was using a
similar kind of wire. I suppose it's also possible, if the wire had been sitting
in stock in a humid
environment for a while, that a thin layer of oxidation might form beneath the
insulation.

-Dave

Graynor wrote:

> Okay, so here is something that I've never run across and I'm submitting it
> to the community for discussion and (perhaps?!?!!?!) explanation.
>
> I ordered a couple of foil blades from a supplier for one of my students -
> pre-wired with a French point. The arrived and I went to assemble the
> weapons with his other hardware (grips, bell guards, bell pad, body chord
> pug - two prong). One of the blades worked just fine when I plugged it in to
> my test box, but the other gave intermittent readings.
>
> So then I dug out my ohm meter, and went to work diagnosing the problem.
> When putting one lead to the tip, and the other to the pug where the wire
> was connected, I was getting, again, an intermittent signal. Taking the wire
> off the plug didn't improve the signal.
>
> I undid the point, and tested directly from the lead in the plastic cup to
> the end of the wire. Now the signal was going from bad to worse, practically
> none. In desperation (I did NOT want to have to re-wire this thing), I put
> one of the ohm meter leads at the very end of the wire, and the other right
> at the start of the insulation, approximately 4 inches away.
>
> And there was the problem, no signal there!
>
> A brief rubdown of the bare wire with acetone solved the problem, and I
> reassembled the weapon and everything worked great.
>
> So my question is: Has anyone out there seen this before? I originally had
> thought it was a bare wire, until I did the test on the bare wire down by
> the plug itself. Do some wires come with a bit of "goup" on them underneath
> the cloth insulation?
>
> Cheers,
> David Sierra
>
> To reply off-list remove NOSPAM from address

On Thu, 04 Sep 2003 15:21:39 -0500, Graynor
<NOSPAMLordgraynor@mac.com> wrote:

>So my question is: Has anyone out there seen this before? I originally had

Yes, I have seen this before. I usually use a little sandpaper on the
bare part to remove any excess gunk.

Uhlmann wires have a layer of varnish on the wire underneath the cloth
insulation. It's entirely
possible that the manufacturer of the wire for this "French" point (there are
several) was using a
similar kind of wire. I suppose it's also possible, if the wire had been sitting
in stock in a humid
environment for a while, that a thin layer of oxidation might form beneath the
insulation.

-Dave

Graynor wrote:

> Okay, so here is something that I've never run across and I'm submitting it
> to the community for discussion and (perhaps?!?!!?!) explanation.
>
> I ordered a couple of foil blades from a supplier for one of my students -
> pre-wired with a French point. The arrived and I went to assemble the
> weapons with his other hardware (grips, bell guards, bell pad, body chord
> pug - two prong). One of the blades worked just fine when I plugged it in to
> my test box, but the other gave intermittent readings.
>
> So then I dug out my ohm meter, and went to work diagnosing the problem.
> When putting one lead to the tip, and the other to the pug where the wire
> was connected, I was getting, again, an intermittent signal. Taking the wire
> off the plug didn't improve the signal.
>
> I undid the point, and tested directly from the lead in the plastic cup to
> the end of the wire. Now the signal was going from bad to worse, practically
> none. In desperation (I did NOT want to have to re-wire this thing), I put
> one of the ohm meter leads at the very end of the wire, and the other right
> at the start of the insulation, approximately 4 inches away.
>
> And there was the problem, no signal there!
>
> A brief rubdown of the bare wire with acetone solved the problem, and I
> reassembled the weapon and everything worked great.
>
> So my question is: Has anyone out there seen this before? I originally had
> thought it was a bare wire, until I did the test on the bare wire down by
> the plug itself. Do some wires come with a bit of "goup" on them underneath
> the cloth insulation?
>
> Cheers,
> David Sierra
>
> To reply off-list remove NOSPAM from address

On Thu, 04 Sep 2003 15:21:39 -0500, Graynor
<NOSPAMLordgraynor@mac.com> wrote:

>So my question is: Has anyone out there seen this before? I originally had

Yes, I have seen this before. I usually use a little sandpaper on the
bare part to remove any excess gunk.

Uhlmann wires have a layer of varnish on the wire underneath the cloth
insulation. It's entirely
possible that the manufacturer of the wire for this "French" point (there are
several) was using a
similar kind of wire. I suppose it's also possible, if the wire had been sitting
in stock in a humid
environment for a while, that a thin layer of oxidation might form beneath the
insulation.

-Dave

Graynor wrote:

> Okay, so here is something that I've never run across and I'm submitting it
> to the community for discussion and (perhaps?!?!!?!) explanation.
>
> I ordered a couple of foil blades from a supplier for one of my students -
> pre-wired with a French point. The arrived and I went to assemble the
> weapons with his other hardware (grips, bell guards, bell pad, body chord
> pug - two prong). One of the blades worked just fine when I plugged it in to
> my test box, but the other gave intermittent readings.
>
> So then I dug out my ohm meter, and went to work diagnosing the problem.
> When putting one lead to the tip, and the other to the pug where the wire
> was connected, I was getting, again, an intermittent signal. Taking the wire
> off the plug didn't improve the signal.
>
> I undid the point, and tested directly from the lead in the plastic cup to
> the end of the wire. Now the signal was going from bad to worse, practically
> none. In desperation (I did NOT want to have to re-wire this thing), I put
> one of the ohm meter leads at the very end of the wire, and the other right
> at the start of the insulation, approximately 4 inches away.
>
> And there was the problem, no signal there!
>
> A brief rubdown of the bare wire with acetone solved the problem, and I
> reassembled the weapon and everything worked great.
>
> So my question is: Has anyone out there seen this before? I originally had
> thought it was a bare wire, until I did the test on the bare wire down by
> the plug itself. Do some wires come with a bit of "goup" on them underneath
> the cloth insulation?
>
> Cheers,
> David Sierra
>
> To reply off-list remove NOSPAM from address

On Thu, 04 Sep 2003 15:21:39 -0500, Graynor
<NOSPAMLordgraynor@mac.com> wrote:

>So my question is: Has anyone out there seen this before? I originally had

Yes, I have seen this before. I usually use a little sandpaper on the
bare part to remove any excess gunk.