Notes on Switch Assembly Use and Maintenance

Without regular maintenance or proper handling, the contacts of a mechanical mod may start to overheat, which can cause damage to their silver plating and as a result, misfires.

Some usual causes for contact overheating are: i) juice leaked into the switch, ii) dirt or dust, iii) hard, violent, long short-circuits, and iv) successive presses of the switch with very low force, for example when forgetting a mod unlocked in a pocket.

Preventive maintenance and proper handling are very important when using a mech mod:

1. The contacts of your mod’s switch should be wiped with isopropyl alcohol every other week, and ideally: i) all parts should be blown with compressed air, and ii) the mating surfaces of the contacts should never be touched with bare hands.
2. Always press the switch with at least 500-700g of force! The force applied on the contacts can make quite a difference in long-term reliability. Never forget your mod unlocked when carrying it in pockets. Accidental, intermittent, light presses of the switch can easily cause contact overheating and permanent damage. The worst thing about this is that you won’t even know how your mod got damaged!
3. Be careful to avoid short-circuits and do not “pulse” your mech mods to oxidize meshes: Always test new builds by measuring the resistance of your atomizer on its 510 pole before firing them up.
4. Additionally, it is a *very* good idea to get the contacts of your mod re-plated every few months, since the silver plating layer slowly gets worn off with use. This is inexpensive and can be done at any jeweller’s – just take the contacts with you and ask for a thick layer of pure silver!

When the contacts of your mod overheat, a thin layer of carbon will start to accumulate on them. This layer of grime, which consists of burnt juice or other particles, is non conductive – as it builds up on the contacts’ silver plating, it causes intermittent firing and indirect damage to plating layer, due to the heat and higher forces required to activate the switch.

In extreme cases, the amount of heat produced by a switch contaminated with liquid, dust or debris can result in a temperature higher than 150*C, which will cause permanent damage to the thermoplastic components of the switch. A temperature in the range of 150*C is the chemical stability limit of certain battery chemistries, which is why the switch is designed to fail as a last safety resort, to prevent the heat from being directly transferred to the battery. Under normal conditions, the internal temperature of a clean Roller / Dingo and Lab / Guppy switch will always be lower than 60*C.

If you own a top-firing mod, you need to make sure that the device is properly assembled to prevent leaked juice from entering the switch and that it is always kept clean and free from debris and dust fibres.

Labs and Guppies are 100% liquid-sealed from the atomizer side and do not need any special attention. However, they need to be disassembled and cleaned at least once every couple weeks to remove dust and debris. Use only isopropyl alcohol to clean the surfaces of all plastic and metal parts and clean the silver-plated parts with “silver wipes” at least every second or third maintenance session.

Rollers / Dingos are a bit more complex and must be assembled carefully to ensure that the switch is sealed. To keep the switch assembly of Rollers / Dingos dry and the device operating trouble-free, follow these two tips:

1. Do not remove the connector or main tube without cleaning the area around the pole screw from any leaked juice. Not doing so may allow liquid to enter the switch, resulting in misfires / tarnished contacts.
2. Do not remove the main tube (in the case of the Roller, it’s the Inner one) when an atomizer in mounted on the device and always keep it fully tightened. The main tube keeps the switch assembly locked in place and pressurises the liquid sealing grommet under the connector — removing it with an atomizer mounted will result in difficulties and component wear when reassembling the device. Batteries should be inserted through the bottom-cap only. In short, always tighten your atomizer *after* fully screwing the main tube of the device.

Let’s take a look at a the internals of a misfiring Roller, which had juice leaked into its switch. This is what the Switch Assembly looked like after it was removed from the Housing:

Now that’s quite a lot of juice! However, it takes much less than this for the misfires to start. See the grime on the contacts? The more you use a misfiring mod, the worse it will get, since the localised arcing and heat will start to damage the silver-plating layer on its contacts rather fast.

Note that misfires may not be directly related to the switch – for example, bad contact between the atomizer pole and the mod’s pole screw is a common cause for misfires. Intermittent heavy voltage drop issues may also be perceived as misfires!

An inspection of the switch internals always reveals quite a lot. Follow the disassembly guide until you have all parts lined up in front of you! Look for traces of leaked juice, but also for tiny pieces of plastic and dirt *everywhere*, especially around the contacts.

Then, clean all plastic and metal parts thoroughly with isopropyl alcohol, wipe them and let them dry for a few seconds. The most important thing, though, is to clean the contacts very well with some cream for silverware or “silver wipes”: Use a dry, soft cloth (not sandpaper or anything that can cause damage) and polish the contacts, focusing on the tarnished / black areas. You should be able to restore the contacts in just a few seconds – you’ll know you are done when the contacts get their shiny silver look again. Take a look at the contacts in the attached image – yep, they are the same as the ones pictured earlier. Well, time to reassemble everything, then!

Some things to keep in mind:

1. If the damage on the contacts is excessive, then polishing them will not be a long term solution, since the silver-plating layer will be damaged. You can tell if the plating layer is intact by closely looking at the polished contacts: If the black areas have a more localized, bright yellow tint after the cleaning, then it means that the plating layer has been damaged, leaving the brass core exposed. You can still twist the fixed hex contacts, in order to get a fresh side pointing up, however, if the moving contact rod is in a similar condition, it might be a good idea to get the contacts re-plated. Take them to your local jeweller’s and ask for a thick silver or -better- rhodium plating***, and the device will be like new again. One more reason to love mech switches.
2. Do not apply Noalox or other similar products on the contacts of non-sealed make-break switches! Noalox will quickly gather dust and dirt, which will eventually trigger an overheating mess.
3. Both Rollers / Dingos *and* Labs / Guppies have a black delrin washer mounted around the button of the device. The primary function of that washer is to keep some dust out of the switch. However, it complicates the disassembly / reassembly process slightly. If you clean your mod frequently and prefer to speed up the disassembly / reassembly process, you may choose not to install that washer at all.
4. If you are a sub-ohm vaper, read this.

* Don’t use gold, since it’s only suitable as a dry (non-arcing) contact plating material in low-power circuits.