Kat’s Kalamari Klub (Squid Industries Mods)

Status
Not open for further replies.

Nica

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Mar 28, 2015
180
645
Australia
An unhappy & disappointed Nica checking in :yawn::(

My Squid DB V2.1 died this morning. It will start up with the display screen coming on as it should and shows everything is as normal but as soon as the fire button is pressed it shuts itself down. I've tried different batteries and atty's etc all to no avail. It's obviously developed a fault in the board.
RhWERnvEkJWrp0IofjLS.png
mvcACfYziTdlpOtmkIZD.png
WUgADtMLQMyPyivUFoLY.png


It commenced its comfortable life here at Nicaville on 11 May this year. It only had once a week use over its 6 month life at best. Unfortunately the warranty offered by RV's is the same as buying one direct from Squid Industries - 14 days only.

Add to this woe is that one of my Tac21's fried it's board about a month ago (it was in my hand at the time and started sizzling on its own accord - 'and that was all she wrote') so it has also gone to the vaping scrap heap. It was less than 6 months old but did get daily use.

Fortunately, both my TAC21's were purchased from a local aussie vendor who rather impressively cover all their gear with a full 12 month replacement/refund warranty. They fully refunded the $119AUD cost of it without question but they were out of stock of the TAC21's at the time (and still are). And I'm sorta glad they were out of stock of them now tbh given my DB dying today.

I did really like both the DB & the TAC21, great to use and felt good and hefty in the hand but they're not cheap items by any means so I expected a few years use out of them at the very least. Not 6 months.

I still have one TAC21 and it's in daily use but I have very reduced expectations of it lasting much longer now given my experiences. No more Squids for Nica when it dies though.

Naturally, I may have just been unlucky though and YMMV...

^^^ ^^Well that'll teach me - I must've hexed myself
palm
.

My last remaining & functioning TAC 21 (purchased only 7 months ago) also fried its board (again while it was in my hand).

I had picked it up and turned it on with 5 clicks and then pressed the fire button to check what watts I had it set at (no atty was attached to it at the time). I heard a sizzling sound and then small wisps of black smoke started coming out from under the fire button and a strong burnt electrical smell filled my nostrils.
RhWERnvEkJWrp0IofjLS.png


It'll go back to the vendor tomorrow for refund (fortunately my vendor has a 12 month full return for refund warranty policy for faulty devices) but its going to have to be game over for Nica and Squid Industries. Strike 3 and out for Nica :(
 

NolaMel

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Nov 17, 2012
12,815
80,994
New Orleans
^^^ ^^Well that'll teach me - I must've hexed myself
palm
.

My last remaining & functioning TAC 21 (purchased only 7 months ago) also fried its board (again while it was in my hand).

I had picked it up and turned it on with 5 clicks and then pressed the fire button to check what watts I had it set at (no atty was attached to it at the time). I heard a sizzling sound and then small wisps of black smoke started coming out from under the fire button and a strong burnt electrical smell filled my nostrils.
RhWERnvEkJWrp0IofjLS.png


It'll go back to the vendor tomorrow for refund (fortunately my vendor has a 12 month full return for refund warranty policy for faulty devices) but its going to have to be game over for Nica and Squid Industries. Strike 3 and out for Nica :(
I can’t blame you on that :(. Based on what I see people posting, I think I won’t order the v3. My old 3 DBs and Detonator have ticked along without a hiccup, but it does make me wonder about safety and longevity.
 

Katdarling

I'm still here on ECF... sort of. ;)
Supporting Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Jan 25, 2011
32,572
167,592
Utopia
Nica, I'm so sorry to hear this, and I kompletely understand!!! I'm glad you'll get money back on the Tac #2 just as you did with the Tac #1. It won't be a TOTAL loss.

Were I you, I'd steer clear of Squiddies too!

Having said that, Mel, it's GREAT that yours has nary a cough or a hiccup. :D
 

DPLongo22

aka "The Sesquipedalian"
Supporting Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Dec 17, 2011
32,770
181,850
Midworld
^^^ ^^Well that'll teach me - I must've hexed myself
palm
.

My last remaining & functioning TAC 21 (purchased only 7 months ago) also fried its board (again while it was in my hand).

I had picked it up and turned it on with 5 clicks and then pressed the fire button to check what watts I had it set at (no atty was attached to it at the time). I heard a sizzling sound and then small wisps of black smoke started coming out from under the fire button and a strong burnt electrical smell filled my nostrils.
RhWERnvEkJWrp0IofjLS.png


It'll go back to the vendor tomorrow for refund (fortunately my vendor has a 12 month full return for refund warranty policy for faulty devices) but its going to have to be game over for Nica and Squid Industries. Strike 3 and out for Nica :(

Oh, man... I'm SO sorry to see this, Nica, and I'd be in the exact same "place". :(

I can’t blame you on that :(. Based on what I see people posting, I think I won’t order the v3. My old 3 DBs and Detonator have ticked along without a hiccup, but it does make me wonder about safety and longevity.

:thumb:

Nica, I'm so sorry to hear this, and I kompletely understand!!! I'm glad you'll get money back on the Tac #2 just as you did with the Tac #1. It won't be a TOTAL loss.

Were I you, I'd steer clear of Squiddies too!

Having said that, Mel, it's GREAT that yours has nary a cough or a hiccup. :D

:thumb:
 

NolaMel

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Nov 17, 2012
12,815
80,994
New Orleans
There was a discussion on SVG last night that might be of interest.... a new v of the Tac is in the works. It sounds like they may offer the new board (its all one screw in unit attached to the screen like the DB) as a replacement/upgrade option for original Tac owners.
 

Nica

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Mar 28, 2015
180
645
Australia
^ Thanks you lot. Yeah, really disappointing to say the least they have all failed on me cause they really suited Nica and I did ruly & truly love 'em to bits (while they worked).

That's interesting NolaMel and me suspects failing boards across the board in the original Tac's have likely forced this change perhaps eh?

But, 3 outta 3 Squid Mods dying within months is hard to reconcile as merely 'bad luck' rather than 'bad product' so Nica's divorce papers from Squid have been duly filed for the reason of 'irreconcilable differences' ;)
 

NolaMel

ECF Guru
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Nov 17, 2012
12,815
80,994
New Orleans
^ Thanks you lot. Yeah, really disappointing to say the least they have all failed on me cause they really suited Nica and I did ruly & truly love 'em to bits (while they worked).

That's interesting NolaMel and me suspects failing boards across the board in the original Tac's have likely forced this change perhaps eh?

But, 3 outta 3 Squid Mods dying within months is hard to reconcile as merely 'bad luck' rather than 'bad product' so Nica's divorce papers from Squid have been duly filed for the reason of 'irreconcilable differences' ;)
Oddly, the failures I’ve heard about have mostly been DBs. People do mention their mods dying (both failures and deaths by drops, liquid etc) on SVG. There was one on the FB mtl group that actually vented in the middle of the night, however they did have a dented negative end battery in it fwiw.
No, it sounds like there’s upgrades with the upcoming Tac related only to the board. I believe the form will remain the same, unlike the DB upgrade which required a body change. The upgrade board may be offered to current Tac owners asa curtesy, for a fee of course, but less expensive than buying a whole new unit
 
Last edited:

Nica

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Mar 28, 2015
180
645
Australia
No, it sounds like there’s upgrades with the upcoming Tac related only to the board...

Yep, my point eggszaccary :rolleyes: It was the boards that fried themselves in both my TAC21's. Your news that they may be bringing out a new board leaves me wondering if its a larger issue than is known publicly?
Oh well, I suppose I'll never know but no matter, I don't really need to at the end of the day.

With my best country and western vocal chords twanging away, I'll softly sing along with Tammy Wynette
whistling

' My D. I.V.O.R.C.E becomes final todaaaay...'
whistling
 
  • Like
Reactions: CMD-Ky

frjaldomr

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Verified Member
Apr 20, 2014
287
213
Far West Texas, US
So, I have been fairly unimpressed with my TAC21. I have been using it with 18650s and the battery life is probably the worst of all my mods.
I decided to give 21700s a shot so I broke down and bought some 30Ts and a charger.
This TAC21 is now like a new mod.
It hits harder and I can't even burn through two sets of 30Ts in a day.
It's the only mod I've used since the 21700s came in.
Super happy with the mod at this point. Now I just hope my board doesn't fry...
 

Nica

Senior Member
ECF Veteran
Mar 28, 2015
180
645
Australia
Well the good news is that my Squidly DB V2.1 has arrived back at Nicaville fixed and repaired and back in full working order :banana:

One of the wonderful members at my home aussie vaping forum (Vaping In Australia (VIA)) is experienced & talented in mod repair and small electroincs stuff. He offered to take a look at my DB for me so I posted it to him ( he lives about 1000 klm's away from me in another aussie state).

He dissembled it and found a fair bit of ejuice inside which had caused a short that was shutting the mod down when I tried to fire it. He dried it all out over several weeks, used some special electronics lacquer protector stuff on various areas, re-soldered the affected joints/spots etc and YAY its now all good again.

In case it assists anyone else down the track with a similar issue with their Squid DB V2.1 here's a quote of some of what he told me :

"Well the diagnosis was eliquid on the board corroding things and burning out a few solder joints.. that's why it was shutting down. What a horribly flawed design!

You've had a leak through the 510 and into the board/s.

The design is a huge fall. The new boards in the v3 double barrel are apparently sealed. But this.. nope.

The only thing you can do is not get liquid into it.

I'll clean up all the contacts and header pins etc and dry it and see how it goes (header pins on anything like this is just a flaw waiting to happen). I'll keep drying it and see what happens.

The bridge connection (headers and pins) is a weak spot for that much power. It blew out a solder point because juice had pooled there and it was creating an arc point. I had to re-solder the pin joints all the way along because they were compromised and I've put four layers of PCB protective lacquer on the pins where it failed last time. The pcb are lacquered themselves, so it shouldn't have caused the short.. it's only where multiple power connections meet that it seemed to be an issue. I've also attempted to coat the 510 positive and negative connections on the board.

Even when i opened up the mod again today, the pcb was still oozing little bits of eliquid.. not great. It may well be that only the outer perimeter of the board saw eliquid so having it coming out of the board is a good sign."
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread