Heh, the spring wasnt /that/ hard - there are little gaps where the CHI badge snaps in, that you can fit a screwdriver in to maneuver the spring. It also had a neat little oversized bushing that went inside the spring, to hold it in place while you reassemble the other side.
I checked continuity on the element that was next to the board, but not the one in the other half of the unit, so I will have to check that.
I agree with the PWM/TRIAC part, theres a single part in the middle (which Im in the process of removing all the #$*@'ing epoxy from) which looks to be the TRIAC, a little SOIC-8 part which Id assume is the controller, and a handful of transistors, with some diodes on the back (for rectification after the TRIAC). Hopefully Ill be able to piece together a schematic over the weekend, that should help a lot too.