Due to other things I needed to get to I had to stop at 20,000 presses but here are the results. There were 15,000 presses using a 0.17 ohm build and a VTC5A battery, recharged every 200 presses. Then there were 5,000 presses using a 0.09 ohm build with stacked (series) VTC5A’s recharged every 200 presses.
Note: NEVER attempt to vape using a 0.09 build in a series mod! This was done merely for testing the button’s resistance to arcing in extreme setups.
This button does not use a sliding pin type contact method, as it appeared to do in the rendering posted by VandyVape. It uses a steel bar wth swaged-in contacts at either end to bridge the contacts swaged in to each of the two terminals for the external connections. The actuator presses the bar down and the two terminals are connected through the bar. A spring and silicone cone help to push the bar and actuator back up after the button is released.
This button was originally advertised as having a 30A continuous rating, which was ridiculous. VandyVape has removed that claim and it now has no ratings and only states that it is an “intelligent fire button”. I think this is a translation issue as there is nothing other than basic button components inside, no MOSFET or protection of any type. This reference to it being intelligent is probably just a poorly translated way of saying it is a smart or intelligent design.
After 20,000 presses the button never failed to work and didn’t get mushy or gritty or stuck in the on position. Nothing got even warm using the 0.17 ohm build but the terminals (only) get very hot even with momentary button presses with the 0.09 ohm series build. This is quite understandable though as that is a LOT of current.
The arcing damage that accumulated from these 20,000 presses was not bad. Especially considering the huge current flow with the series build. I think the overall life of this button will be good for the average user. However, since the contacts cannot be cleaned or maintained the damage might eventually cause problems for super-subohmers. This is not the target user for this single-battery squonk box though.
While my testing was not comprehensive, I would like to have done 100,000 presses, I don’t see any big problems using this button without a MOSFET in this device for the typical user. However, this is no guarantee that every person who buys this device will have zero problems using this button for years. I do feel better about it now than I did before the testing though and will be getting at least one of these mods for myself.
Disassembly photos: https://imgur.com/a/DVDxB
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