If you're in the states you should give Imex a call on Tuesday. Ask for Erik. If you do have a defective switch, the worst case scenario is probably that you'd have to buy a new switch, but they're relatively cheap. Ask Erik what he thinks. I bet you'll be happy.

If you're gonna have tanks, you're gonna have to have a decent charger and at least a couple of extra batteries. Do you have a local hobby shop close by? The one near me sells Onyx 3000 mah nimh batts for about $23 with tax. If you go bigger than 4000 mah it can get pricey. I got a good dual charger for nimh batts when I got my first tanks and it was about 90 bucks, but four years later it still works like a champ. I later got into lipos and got separate chargers for those, but that's another story.