Strange problems with my Nemesis - suggestions for solutions?

[djironic]

Have an hcigar SS Nemesis that has been great from day one. But recently, a couple of strange things have been happening that I haven't been able to diagnose.

First, the switch. The switch has always been great, with either the spring or the magnet upgrade that I added. But recently, it will occasionally misfire if I don't press it "just so." It almost seems as though there is, maybe, too much play, or a little "wonkiness", in those situations? Like it will push in farther than it should and not fire? Maybe. I can't really tell, since the action can also feel identical on fires and misfires alike. I do notice that the button can occasionally be slightly crunchier than when it was new.

The pin is screwed all the way down (I put a silicone washer under the pin to shorten the throw by about a mm while also keeping the pin from unscrewing itself) and not loose. When I play with the switch out of the body, I can't see anything wrong with the action or the pieces. I also clean and polish it on a regular basis, and coat the outside threads with NoAloX.

The magnets seem to be fine, and the only other "mod" I made was replacing the easy-to-lose rice pin with a snipped piece off a coat hanger.

Second, if I leave the mod sitting locked and unattended overnight (or for any length of time), I notice that the battery will be discharged to a noticeably lower voltage than when I left it. This makes no sense to me, as it's not auto-firing the atty, and I'm not aware of any vape gremlin infestation in my house, so I can't figure out how the power could be getting sapped from the battery (no tears/holes in the battery wrap, either). It happens to both new and old batteries (I use VTC4s and VTC5s), so I'm pretty sure it's not the battery itself.

Any thoughts or solutions?

 

[duc916]

Sounds like you did all your due-diligence. Only thing I'd suggest is a different grease. Noalox is only intended to prevent formation of aluminum oxide, but doesn't really prevent brass/copper/steel oxidation. I always recommend Ox-Gard, $4 at Lowes. Do you polish the pin threads on the switch too? Both pin and socket should be thoroughly clean. I clean the socket end with a poly rag, alcohol and a small allen wrench to shove the rag into the hole, then a light coat of Ox-Gard and never have firing issues. If they're anything but silver-plated they can get intermittent without some kind of antioxidant.

 

[djironic]

Shoot - and here I just purchased that NoAlOx, lol! Oh well - back to the store.

Definitely clean everything with alcohol, a UC, and q-tips (including pin and socket), and I polish the pin.

Generally, I only take special care on the smaller switch pieces when I start getting a hot switch - otherwise, it's just the general alcohol soak and UC bath. Will make sure to get some Ox-Gard down in the socket, though the switches are *supposed* to be silver-plated (though who really knows...).

Thanks for the insights!

 

[duc916]

No problem. So I took apart my Nemesis' switch to re-familiarize myself with it and thought about the silicone washer you installed under the pin. Since the washer would effectively insulate that area from electrical contact (the shoulder of the switch to the head of the pin), you're sacrificing all that prime electrical real estate, and the threads become that much more critical for the current path, and in my opinion, is too much of a burden for just those threads. I would either look for an alternate metal washer (I know, it would have to be pretty dang thin and hard to find), or try to do without it all, and see if the problem goes away.

For the crunchiness/wonkiness, when i first got mine, the delrin ring around the switch housing was just slightly cockeyed because the inner diameter of the delrin was too small. The action was smooth with the switch out of the mod, but once installed and pushed up against the battery, it forced the switch assy to go cockeyed and crunchtastic. After filing down the delrin ID to make it sit flush, it was butter. Might be worth looking at that delrin ring a little closer.

As for that parasitic current drain, I've looked at my Nemesis up and down, and I'm gonna go with vape gremlins.

 

[djironic]

Interesting.

It seems the silicone washer is touching nothing but the backside of the contact. If I'm looking at it correctly, the currently travels up through the threaded "pin" of the contact to the plate, and the contact side opposite the washer delivers the current to the battery. Am I looking at that correctly? If so, then the washer shouldn't interfere with the current, I wouldn't think - it's touching the bottom of the contact plate on one side, and air on the other.

Also, I'm wondering if my rice pin was cut too long. It runs pretty much the whole length of the switch, touching the contact plate when the switch is not being pressed. Could that pose a problem? I was leaving the pin long to prevent wobble/crunch, but maybe I need to shorten it up a bit? Hmmmm...

 

[duc916]

Sorry, I'm not sure I get what you're describing. Here is a cross-sectional view that I drew of the switch, and if you're installing it the way I think you are, you have it sandwiched like this (in blue). If my drawing is correct, then yes, you're limiting the current's ability to jump across the two parts because of less metal to metal contact. I get that shortening the throw is nice, but for performance, more metal to metal is always better.

It's possible the longer rice pin is creating some crunchiness. You might have to find a happy medium between wobble and crunch. Personally I'd take more wobble any day.

 

[hurricanegirl100]

Duc up there is WAY more knowledgeable than I am, but just a quick note: I take the battery out of my copper Nemmy every night before I call it a day. Call me stupid, and I'd get that, but because the firing pin and the button are copper, I thought that leaving the battery in there overnight might create a small drain on the battery.

 

[cstone1991]

As far as crunchiness, I fixed it on my Nemesis clone by polishing all of the sliding surfaces of the switch with a buffer wheel on my dremel. It took about 5 minutes including disassembly, cleaning, and reassembly and it completely resolved my crunch switch.

 

[93gc40]

Shoot - and here I just purchased that NoAlOx, lol! Oh well - back to the store.

Thanks for the insights!

Well it says what its for in the name.. NO ALuminum OXidation.

Oh and Silver plated is another word for, future conductivity issues.. When the plating is worn-off.