25, 40, 50: Evolution of the Roller / Dingo

The design of the Roller started in early 2012 as the first team project of Atmizone, without much fanfare or promises. At the time, the project was little more than a proof of concept for an unconventional mod with a top-side mounted, fully repairable and lockable switch, unlike anything that existed in the market at that time. Up until the summer of 2012, atmizoo.com was only a journal about the project’s development – and a way to keep a direct communication channel with anyone interested to participate with their ideas or questions.

When the first Roller batch – RO25 – was launched, it aspired to win the hearts of only a few hardcore vapers — those who had found atmizoo.com and had followed the project closely since its inception. No units were given away and not a single announcement was made on any international, high-traffic forum. The Roller started as a project and, although it was finally made available with a price tag, we did our best to keep its open nature intact — and still do.

Although the first Rollers generated a great deal of positive feedback, they were designed for vapers experienced in mod maintenance. The switch contacts of all RO25 units were made of brass and the switch was not completely liquid sealed, which meant that it required frequent cleaning. Moreover, the design of the first exchangeable connectors hinted strongly at the proof-of-concept roots of the project.

The warm reception of the first Roller batch meant 2 things:

1. Some units ended up in the hands of vapers not so keen in devoting time to maintaining their units, who outlined the device’s weaknesses – with good reason.
2. Many vaping veterans picked up our call for involvement and stressed the need to make the switch more robust and user-friendly, going as far as to send us direct feedback with their ideas and suggestions. This thread is only a small indication of the value the community has added to the project.

Before bringing yet another batch to production, we decided to take a break and develop the project even further. We combined the community feedback with our own plans for refining the original switch and, after a great deal of prototyping work and testing, the RO40 Roller was ready. Credit was given were it was due: Every RO25 Roller was upgraded for free. By that time, other manufacturers had already started to follow suit, coming up with switch designs strikingly similar to the one found on the RO25 Roller.

The most important changes on the refined, RO40 units are located on the top section of the device: the switch. The new switch, which is completely liquid sealed, is still a double-break design, much more robust and almost maintenance-free compared to its RO25 incarnation. Following the industry-standard at these power levels, the contacts are plated with a thick layer of silver, which possesses self-cleaning properties at mid/high currents. The result is that, even with heavy use, the contact areas will remain shiny clean, even when the areas around them start to oxidize. Unlike gold, which slowly evaporates from the surface of contacts at these power levels, silver will last for much longer. By making the fixed contacts hexagonal, we made the switch 5 times more robust – when / if the plating on one of the sides wears, there’s still 5 fresh ones left.

The second notable change introduced with RO40 is the exchangeable connectors. Originally available only in brass, the previous design was slightly raised from the top section, to maximize airflow when using atomizers with a bottom air intake. The new brass connectors are available in two redesigned styles – a ‘Classic’ (raised) and a ‘Recessed’ (flush) one, to keep everyone happy. The best news is that both of them are included in every SS-M/P package and, for those that prefer stainless steel, the option is finally here.

So, what to expect from now?

No matter how well a design is executed, there’s always room for improvement. The new, RO50/DI50 batch is almost ready and puts an emphasis on the machining quality of all components: The most notable improvement is quality of all threaded components, which have already been regarded as top-notch since the launch of RO25.

Moreover, a new, more compact 100% mech mod project is about to start, which *might* make you want to put your Roller aside when out and about. More info on that soon!

Got any suggestions or ideas? Feel free to share them!