[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmTdSRcGF1I[/youtube]
Why some CR2032 failed?
I went through the long thread, hope I did not miss anything, I also opened every layers of the fob and measured everything, and I have solved this mystery completely. Here is the summary:
1. China Sunbeam 2032 did not work. But no one in this thread said that if they actually measured it to confirm it is 3.2 mm. I suspect they are larger than 3.2mm It would be nice if someone in this thread measured the thickness.
2. Other non Sunbeam were fine.
3. No one reported any damage to the fob.
4. One side of the PCB is the negative battery contacts. I looked at the other side of the PCB.
4a. There are four small switches soldered on the PCB. Each switch protrudes 2.4mm above the PCB. You have to press hard to hear the clicks (which means the switches are turned on).
4b. Next to the PCB is the rubber padding with four holes (the hole is 1.4mm deep).
4c. The rubber padding is not uniform thickness, the thinnest is 0.8mm, the thicker base is 2.2mm, the thickest for the four holes is 3.1mm
4d. since the hole is 1.4mm deep and the the switch proturdes 2.4mm, the top of switch must already pressing into the rubber for 1mm already. However since the switch need to pressed pretty hard to turn it on, this 1mm is just build in the tolerante.
4e. The four switches are aligned to these four holes.
4f. Next to the rubber padding layer is the four buttons. The surface with the buttons is not flat, it is curved, meaning the center is higher than either sides. There are 5 spaces,
i. Nissan logo
ii. lock
iii. unlock
iv charge hold
v panic
5. The door unlock button is at the center. Since the center is higher (see 4f), there is more space in height. Thus if the space is really tight, then first will stop working must be the v. panic button. The next will stop working would be either the lock or charge_hold. The unlock will be the last. Some people in this thread reported with Sunbeam 2032 the unlock worked but the panic did not. I think I just found the reason why it failed.
6. Anyway, I don't think a thicker battery would damage the fob, but it could prevent the panic key from working. So my advice is, if you are able to close the halves, try to push the buttons, if you hear the clicks sound, it should work. If you hear clicks for unlock but don't hear the click sound for panic, then you can add some padding between the rubber and the plastic casing, it should prevent the switches too far into the rubber hole.