Dan, this switch didn' t come from VVRC. It came from Skyward Hobbies. In my opinion, the solder joints on the back look safe. This switch unit is actually 2 separate switches. The receiver will be powered from a separate switch than the engine.
I may be understanding this wrong, but the Gas engines for Newbees was written 6 year ago, before the 2.4 FASST radio systems were the normal system used. I think then there was a lot of potential for interference to you receiver. Now, with the 2.4 FAAST, the radio interference is eliminated. Would appreciate some feedback on this.
Speedracer, you mentioned that you think that my setup may be overkill. I have read in several posts, suggesting using a manual switch, along with the optikill switch. It made sense to me to have both. The manual switch to easily kill the engine on the bench, and also preventing a trickle drain of the battery, which can also happen with only the optikill switch in the circuit.
Lamar