2.1 Clothing
2.1.1 FIE Homologated Clothing
2.1.2 Colours
2.2 Masks
2.2.1 Bibs
2.3 Shoes
2.3.1 Inserts
2.4 Gloves
2.5 Lamés
2.5.1 Repair
2.6 Armour
2.7 Grips
2.7.1 Traditional
2.7.2 Pistol
2.8 Blades
2.8.1 Fie & Maraging Blades
2.8.2 Tangs
2.8.3 Bends and Curvature
2.9 Guards
2.10 Points & Blade Wires
2.11 Body Wires
2.12 Glue
2.13 Scoring Apparatus *** revised
2.13.1 Wireless Systems

Troubleshooting:

2.14 Foil
2.15 Epee
2.16 Sabre

Weapon fails weight test.

1. The spring is too soft. Get a new spring or stretch the old one.
2. Friction between the barrel and point is overwhelming the spring. Clean the inside of the barrel, or replace the entire tip if the barrel or point is bent/warped.
3. Too much tape on the end of your blade is jamming against the sides of the weight.

Hitting the strip produces a light.

1. The strip is not grounded, or is dirty/corroded.
2. The exterior of the foil point is dirty/corroded.

Valid touch produces a white light.

1. Opponent's lamé is not connected.
2. Opponent's body wire is broken. Diagnose by testing at the lame' clip and at the reel wire connection.
3. Opponent's lamé has a dead spot. With some boxes, dead spots can be diagnosed by grounding the fencer's weapon to his suspect lamé, and then probing the lame' with the other fencer's weapon. This does not work with boxes that have an anti-fraud feature.
4. Your foil body wire polarity is reversed. Disassemble and reverse the connections.
5. The exterior of the foil point is dirty/corroded.
6. Foil circuit is breaking just before the touch (see below).

Foil produces white lights when the tip is not depressed.

1. The tip is jammed shut. Spin the point or slap on the floor to free it.
2. Grit in the tip is breaking the circuit. Spin the point or slap on the floor to dislodge the grit.
3. The barrel is loose. Tighten carefully with pliers.
4. The foil wire is broken. If the lights are intermittent, try flexing the blade to trigger the white lights; success means the blade wire is probably broken. If the lights are triggered by shaking the blade, the point or clip may be to blame.
5. The circuit is breaking at the clip. Check that the body cord is held securely by the clip.
6. The body wire is broken. Diagnose by shorting the two connections on the weapon end of the body wire. If the lights continue, the body wire or reel is at fault. Short the two close prongs at the other end of the body wire; if the lights stop, the body wire is to blame. If not see (7).
7. The scoring apparatus is broken. The connections, reel wire, reel contacts, floor wire, or scoring box may be at fault. Short the same wires as in (6) at the various points of connection to successively eliminate each.
8. The guard is loose. Tighten the pommel or pommel nut.

Foil produces coloured lights when the tip is not depressed but is in contact with the opponent's lamé.

1. The circuit is broken; see previous problem.
2. The circuit is breaking when the blade flexes as it contacts the lamé or when the point is jarred. Could be caused by grit in the tip, a broken wire whose ends normally remain in contact, or a separated wire and cup.

There is no light when a touch is made.

1. You are not hitting properly.
2. Friction between the barrel and point is preventing the point from depressing. Slap on the floor to loosen it; otherwise clean or replace the tip.
3. Spring is too heavy. Compress it or heat one end with a match.
4. Opponent is grounding his weapon to his lamé. Tell him to stop; it's illegal.
5. You are grounding your own foil to your opponent's lamé. Improve the insulation on your foible (15 cm is required).
6. The foil wire is shorting to the weapon. Check the integrity of the insulation along the wire and beneath the cushion. Also make sure no wire ends at the clip are touching the rest of the weapon.
7. The scoring box is on the wrong weapon setting.
8. There is a short in your body wire. If there are no lights when the weapon is unplugged, but there are lights when the body wire is unplugged from the reel, the body wire is at fault.
9. There is a short in the scoring apparatus. If there are no lights when the fencer unplugs from the reel, this is the problem. It can be isolated by successively unplugging connections to the box.

Wrong lights go off when a touch is made.

1. The scoring box is on the wrong weapon setting.

Weapon fails weight test.

1. The main spring is too soft. Get a new spring or stretch the old one.
2. Friction between the barrel and point is overwhelming the spring. Clean the inside of the barrel, or replace the entire tip if the barrel or point is bent/warped.

Weapon fails shim tests.

1. The contact spring is too long. Adjust or compress it.
2. Point and barrel are mismatched. Replace.

Hitting the strip produces a light.

1. The strip is not grounded, or is dirty/corroded.
2. The tip is dirty/corroded.

A touch to the guard produces a light.

1. The guard is dirty/corroded.
2. The exterior of the tip is dirty/corroded.
3. The body wire (in particular the ground) is faulty (test against the ground pin of the body cord; if the lights continue, the body wire or reel is at fault).
4. The contact between the clip and weapon is faulty or corroded.
5. The guard is loose.
6. The ground pin socket is loose in the weapon clip.

Epee produces lights when the tip is not depressed.

1. The tip is jammed shut. Slap on the floor to free it.
2. Grit in the tip is shorting the circuit. Slap on the floor to dislodge the grit, or disassemble and clean the point.
3. The blade wires are shorting to each other. Check the insulation, especially inside the guard.
4. The scoring box is on the wrong weapon setting.

There is no light when a touch is made.

1. You are not hitting properly.
2. Friction between the barrel and point is preventing the point from depressing. Slap on the floor to loosen it; otherwise clean or replace the tip.
3. Main spring is too heavy. Compress it or heat one end with a match.
4. Contact spring is too short. Adjust or stretch it.
5. Point contacts are dirty/corroded.
6. The epee wire is broken. Re-wire the blade.
7. The epee wire is shorting to the weapon.
8. Something has come unplugged between you and the box.
9. The wires are improperly fastened to the weapon clip.
10. The body wire is broken.
11. The reel or floor wire is broken.
12. The scoring box is on the wrong weapon setting.

Box displays white lights.

1. The sensor is malfunctioning or jammed.
2. The wire in the sabre is broken, or not fastened securely.
3. The mounting bracket for the sensor is loose.
4. The body wire is loose in the socket.
5. The body wire is broken. Switch to foil setting, and diagnose as for foil.
6. The scoring apparatus is broken. Switch to foil setting and diagnose as for foil.

There is no light when a touch is made.

1. You are not hitting hard enough.
2. The opponent's lamé has dead spots.
3. The opponent's lamé or mask is not connected.
4. The sensor is malfunctioning.
5. The clip is not properly wired to the weapon.
6. The opponent's body wire is broken.
7. There is a break in the scoring apparatus on the opponent's side. This may be in the reel, floor cable, or scoring box.
8. There is a short in the body wire. Switch to foil setting and diagnose as for foil.
9. There is a short in the scoring apparatus. Switch to foil setting and diagnose as for foil.

Box indicates a touch following weapon contact or a parry.

1. You aren't parrying well enough.
2. The weapon is shorting to the lamé. Insulate the edges of the guard and the pommel, or hold the weapon in such a way as to prevent the contact.

Wrong lights go off when a touch is made.

1. The scoring box is on the wrong weapon setting.