Alright, I'll try my best to be concise here, and will try to get some images up eventually to "showcase" the innards and what we're dealing with.
I tend to get wordy, so I'll stick to the three main offenders, as I see them:
1) This is sold and advertised as a mechanical device. There may be some semantics to debate here, but the device uses a wire, which is soldered to the positive switch. Unregulated, yes. Mechanical, no.
- On that note, the wire is connected to the positive (moving) end and thus moves with every draw. This connection is on borrowed time.
- All of the working components arenestled into a beautifully thought out plastic (maybe delrin) housing that slides in and out of the body to ensure no shorts on the body. Hysterically, the housing is open on either end, so if the wire moves out of place just a little, you have a hard short waiting to happen. Side note, all connections are isolated, so that's something good.
2) The 510 construction houses the pin, top plate and switch mechanism in what appears to be a PEEK block. This poses a few problems in a few areas:
- The 510 pin is held in place by a small metal disc that is not easily removed. It can be done, but I'm not confident most people could do so without breaking something, even with tools.
- Due to the soldered wire, the switch assembly cannot be fully broken down.
- The PEEK block combines with the 510 plate on either side of the body/enclosure, and then is held in place by two tiny hex screws (one of which is obscured by the back panel) that literally pinch things into place. There are no notches or anchor points, you just crush the plastic as much as you dare.
3) Yes, star-head drivers are reasonably easy to come by. No, I dont find it acceptable to need specialist tools to get into my device. Mechanical or not, this is an unregulated device and requires routine maintenance/inspection. Aside from some heavy-handed attempt at forcing consumers into warranty service, I see no reason for this decision.
There are some really nice things going on with this little device, even a couple of slick design moves that should be implemented in future products. But the missteps are big ones and come with very real safety concerns in the long term (and certainly very possibly the short term). Routine maintenance is essentially all but impossible due to the switch design.
I might dig into the nice bits at some point, but since this is a new product from a popular brand, it feels irresponsible to point out anything else right now. I'll try to be in a position to take pics next time I tear this thing down. Given the troubles I've been having I may attempt a full disassembly of the switch too, since at this point what would be the harm?
! I am looking for an alloy squonk, so will add this to the research list.
