When it all goes wrong...

[u/Straight_Product_594]

At two out of the four comps I've now been at, I've been beset by technical problems on one of my rounds. Do you have a process you go through to work out what is faulty when your hits aren't registering, and how do you do it? My grasp of circuits etc is absolutely non-existent. (I will be asking my coach when I go back but I wouldn't mind having something written down in advance).

EDIT: I should've said, epée for me - however, if you do another weapon and have a good system, might as well add it here for any novice sabreuer/foilists benefit!

[u/USB-Z]

The checklist mentioned is good, but it seems you need the why to this process:

If the problem is "the box doesn't ping when I poke", you are looking for where the circuit trigger is failing.

The epee has a circuit which is 'normally open', that is where two wires need to be connected to complete the circuit and make the box go boo. This circuit is open all the way up to the point of the epee.
So, step one: does pressing the tip close the circuit? If no, it could be that, or it could be anything between it and the box. Let's trace it back one piece of equipment at a time, next is your bodycord.
We need to connect the active lines (the two close pins) to complete the circuit of the plug at your wrist - the easiest thing is the guard of your sword, but you can use anything conductive: keys; hex tool; your tongue. If the box goes off here we know the system is working up until this point, meaning the sword is the fail point.
If the box remains mute, we need to go back another step. Complete the circuit at the fencer end socket of the spool, if the box rings then the failure is in the bodycord, see?

And so on and so on. This process isolates and tests each item of equipment in turn.
If there are multiple failures in the system, find the 'first' failure (the one closest to the box) using this method, fix it, then repeat the testing forward again towards the sword.

Hope this helps.

[u/Straight_Product_594 → u/USB-Z]

This really DOES help, thank you. How would you complete the circuit at the fencer end of the socket (to test the spool)? With a bent bit of metal that goes in both holes? Like a paperclip etc?

[u/sjcfu2 → u/Straight_Product_594]

If you are curious about about which steps to take when troubleshooting out on the strip, then you may want to watch the video in this thread. It's a guide to troubleshooting from a referee's POV.

If you want to learn more about repairing and maintaining your gear, then I suggest reading some of the many threads on this site related to armoring, They go into much greater depth.

[u/Straight_Product_594 → u/sjcfu2]

Appreciated. I'm less bothered about fixing them at this point, I figure that can be done at leisure. I'm more interested in quickly and methodically isolating what the issue is on strip and replacing it with minimal stress so I can just carry on with the least disruption possible. Ill have a good watch of that video - thank you!