At a recent competition, the referees were concerned about a limit switch arm that I bent in order to fit within the 18" size restriction (the switch was there to help prevent the motors on my catapult from breaking my gears). Since the referees considered the limit switch to be an electrical component, the referees were concerned because of <R15>, which prohibits modifying electrical components from their original state. I believed it was legal because 1) the arm on the limit switch was designed to be bendable, and 2) the modification affected only a mechanical part of the component, and did not alter the electronics on the switch.
The question is, is it legal to bend the arm of the limit switch? What defines an electrical component?