Tac Mods USA AR Mod issues. Anyone else have problems?

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CplMajor

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Mar 14, 2014
30
11
Louisville, Ky
Ordered an AR mod from Vapor-Hub and received it on the 10th of this month. Was excited to see it. Looked great, felt great.
She got home from work and put a battery in it. Wolverine could not have done a better job of ripping that battery wrap to shreds. I looked down in the tube and couldn't really see much of what what causing the problem, so I slowly ran my finger on the inside to see what I could feel. BURS! BURS EVERYWHERE! It was like I tried to finger-bang a tiny metal cactus. Along with that, the threading on the switch and top cap were chunky. They would grind themselves in as you tightened them down. It made me cringe every-time we would change batteries out over the next few days. Before we could change the batteries, I had to go to Home Depot and pick up a metal file kit to smooth out the inside of the tube. After that was done, we fired the thing up and hit hits like a rock star! The stock spring is laughably weak in this one. That was remedied by the wife installing the magnets she ordered with it.
So we were off to a rocky start. Happens I guess. I had named these issues before and it was recommended in person at vape shops locally to send the mod back as a QC issue. I explained that although I understand that idea, having paid ~$200 for this American Made mod I felt that once they put it in the box and shipped it, that was them saying ,"This meets our standards". Meaning, I'm not going to send it back. I'll do the finishing work to include making it serviceable for use since it wasn't capable of being used right out-of-the-box.

The wife submitted a review of the issues and why were happy with it once we got it working. Our only complaints were that for this price, there shouldn't be these types of issues at all. It might have been a bad piece, but a bad piece shouldn't have gone out, but we were still happy with it overall.
Since it had negative points, it was pending for 18 days. Yesterday, it wasn't there for submission review and it isn't posted on the site. I'd like to think they aren't screening out negative issues on their review page because that is just
thumbsdown.gif
for me.
Been using it for 20 days as of today. It's been a nice experiance!

And then...
the magnets broke. The wife noticed the firing button was sticking today. She took the switch apart to look at it and found that one of the magnets had snapped into two pieces. 20 days of use. We knew the spring was going to be weak from other people talking about them and that the magnets were an upgrade, but 20 days of use?
nwwm6t.jpg


Also of note, the Cerakote on the bottom ring has come off and been work down to silver just from being put down on a table. In 20 days. . .

2hn3nub.jpg

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TL;DR
So to recap experience, ~$200 for mod with upgraded magnet switch, then out a $12 battery and $10 for a metal file kit from Home Depot to smooth out the inside of the tube and make it usable. Now we have to consider buying more magnets for the switch (the stock spring is laughably poor) or make it our most expensive paperweight to date.
We didn't spend $200 on a mech for the wife to have as a pretty desk ornament. We spent that money on what we thought was a solid mod that could handle being used. Turns out, it couldn't even be used out of the box >.>
Is anyone else having problems? Were we wrong in thinking this was a mod that could handle daily use? Should this have been bought and used 1-2 times a month and then put in a trophy case? Are we actually mislead in thinking that this price point should be above these types of problems for a legit mod?
These are real questions, not meant as sarcasm.
*We don't drop our mods or bang them around. We are delicate and detail oriented people as well.

** Vapor hub sells the magnets for $10 a set. Wife says they are currently on sale for 6.99
People have said they get about 2 weeks out of the stock spring before it fails and I can't justify spending $10 a month on magnets to be able to continue using a $200 mod.
 

Dropkick0311

Full Member
Apr 16, 2014
13
0
Hemet, Ca
I got the black AR MOD because I love the look (Former Jarhead...Couldn't resist anything that looked remotely like a rifle barrel...). The MOD has a great feel and heft and is pretty sturdy.

I have two other Cerakoted items (a rifle and a pair of sunglasses) and I would say the wear on your mod is pretty normal. Cerakote is stronger than paint, but still not entirely resistant to chipping. I just consider them normal "battle scars." :)

Had the same issues with the spring. I think mine dumped out after about 3 days. I agree, that given the price of the MOD, they should have used something of higher quality! Also did the magnet replacement and haven't had any problems with the button since...I glued my magnets into the base and on to the button...don't know if that makes a difference but mine are holding strong after about two weeks.

When I first got mine, I used it with a Kanger ProTank 3 and it seems like the connection was a little testy. I had an episode that I can only assume was a short circuit because the button / negative end of the MOD got very hot, very quickly (bad Kanger coil?...Thankfully was using a quality Sony 18650 so it wasn't catastrophic...). Changed coils and messed with the post lengths but never was able to really resolve the issue. The MOD is a pretty simple machine, so I mostly attribute the issue to me being a noob. Switched to a Nimbus drip chamber and haven't had a problem since.

Overall I like the MOD, still love the look, but I only really use it at home and kind of consider it just a nice part of the gear collection. Given the price, it is not optimal use, but I still get good use out of it and enjoy it as a conversation piece with my old Marine buddies.
 
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CplMajor

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Mar 14, 2014
30
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Louisville, Ky
Semper FI, Wife and I were active duty Marines.
Love the look of it for the same reasons.
Looking around it seems like it can be a crap shoot on getting a solid one or a lesser quality mod.
We still love using it but just didn't imagine the pain it could be.

Regardless of whether it becomes a shelf piece or an active use mod, it looks damn good paired up with my V3Tronix .50 cal mod!
 

Indege

Full Member
Apr 30, 2014
12
2
Deridder, LA
wish I saw this post earlier. I might have known what to expect lol. I got an AR mod a couple weeks ago and I have had the exact same issues. Burrs, magnet just broke today actually...Just like your pic. and my insulator on the top cap has worked its way loose. I still love it for the look and feel and the weight of it is perfect. If the replacement magnets break the same way i will just be getting thicker ones from amazon or something i guess.
 

anavidfan

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Jun 14, 2012
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Just my perplexed 2 cents........ I just dont understand ,( maybe I just dont have as much money?) how anyone can spend 200.00 or more and not be upset if its full of burrs, and any other imperfections. I think its unacceptable. ITs made in the USA and it also represents our esteemed and honorable Marines. Is this acceptable to others? WHere is the pride in the craftsmanship? There are not many US made vaping devices and to have what I feel is sup-par manufacturing and finish does not do the Devil Dogs nor the image of American craftsmanship justice.

Did any of you with 200.00 conversation paperweights contact the maker?

Im sorry if this sounds witchy, but my hard earned money is too hard to come by and as a device designed in honor of our Marines, its not very honorable.........

* anavidfan , ducks and takes cover for the onslaught of heavy fire *
 
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Bad Ninja

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ECF Veteran
Jun 26, 2013
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God's Country
Wow.
I played with a clone of this mod yesterday and while the switch was crunchy it was smooth inside with no burrs or problems with the battery getting scratches.

I would have expected the original to have better QC than the clone.

I guess "made in the USA" doesn't mean what it used to.
And you definitely don't get what you pay for.

I would send the mod back and explain that level of shoddy craftsmanship is unacceptable at a $200 price point.
 

bluesbishop

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Sep 27, 2012
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Jacksonville, FL
Semper Fi! This former 0311 ( Rifleman... A grunt for you non marines)... Would take that mod and send it right back with some pretty strong words to the company!

It is totally unacceptable to spend $200 for a mod and have issues! Heck... If this was a $20 mod from fast tech, and you spent a hour tweaking the switch to make it smooth, no biggie. But this is an American made, fairly high priced mod!! You should expect more!! No product should ever leave a shop that they wouldn't give to there mother. It should have been perfect.... So not cool!

Sent from my LG G2 on the Sprint Spark Network
 

bsoplinger

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Apr 13, 2010
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Capitol District New York
Sounds like you're much better off spending $30 for the clone at FastTech than getting an original. Of course I'd be upset if a clone arrived as badly machined as the OP original, but I'd have spent the time and effort to file and add magnets and just mutter about cheap clones the whole while. I'd never accept that from an original that cost $200

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Xparent Purple Tapatalk 2
 

jkc64

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May 23, 2013
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tn
I got my black/green AR on Friday and broke the first set on magnets trying to get them right(noob mistake) the switch only fires if you press it just right and the brass adjustment on the 510 was stripped Friday night. I ordered the silver contact upgrade and more magnets and received them today(Monday) I also asked about the switch and was told that the magnets would make it better. I got the magnets in it tonight and it does fire a little better. The silver contacts had burrs all over the threads for the 510 piece, I cleaned them up with a small file then twisted the 510 pin in half trying to install it. This is my first authentic mech mod and I am very disapointed in the quality and have requested a refund. My 3 clones work 10x better than this authentic.
 

cslee0811

Full Member
Sep 1, 2013
10
2
Los Angeles
Man oh man... picked up the AR Mod 2 days ago... loved the look and the heavy duty feel... everything is nice except my firing button gets EXTREMELY FREAKING hot whenever I take a drag!!! I adjusted the pins accordingly, hoping that any adjustment might change it. But it was all a fail. The only way to slow it down from getting freaking hot is to take short drags and semi push the button in, risking the event of it sometimes not even firing... I just think it's ridiculous that I have to baby a heavy duty rather expensive mod. I definitely get more bang for my buck with my clones...
 

anavidfan

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Jun 14, 2012
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I got my black/green AR on Friday and broke the first set on magnets trying to get them right(noob mistake) the switch only fires if you press it just right and the brass adjustment on the 510 was stripped Friday night. I ordered the silver contact upgrade and more magnets and received them today(Monday) I also asked about the switch and was told that the magnets would make it better. I got the magnets in it tonight and it does fire a little better. The silver contacts had burrs all over the threads for the 510 piece, I cleaned them up with a small file then twisted the 510 pin in half trying to install it. This is my first authentic mech mod and I am very disapointed in the quality and have requested a refund. My 3 clones work 10x better than this authentic.

So did you get to return it? I just dont understand how people dont complain. If they are a reputable company they should exchange or return the item and either give up and stop selling badly made devices or make fixes and offer those with crappy switches new/ replacement parts.
 
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