Squid Industries PeaceMaker XL RTA Review | Make Tanks Not War

Peacemaker. Also known as a handgun. A missile. A cannon. Even a bomber aircraft but never previously associated with vape tanks, until now.

A rebuildable tank atomiser (RTA) to be more specific and one that is the subject of this particular review with the Squid Industries Peacemaker XL Dual Coil RTA.

Over the last few years, RTAs have evolved and adapted to the point where many intermediate/advanced vapers now choose them over stock coil tanks simply because of their tremendous cloud output and fantastic flavour qualities.

When combined with extended coil life and ease of maintenance it’s easy to see why their popularity has risen to the level it has.

Airflow structure, post and deck design all play an integral part in the success or failure of an RTA, so does the PeaceMaker 28mm dual coil RTA have what it takes to win this particular vape war or does it scamper off into the distance waving a white flag?

What Can We Expect From The PeaceMaker XL 28mm dual coil RTA by Squid Industries?

Squid Industries are probably best known for their Double Barrel 150w box mod, The Detonator 120w box mod, Chief King 25mm RDA and to a lesser extent the Orchid 30w pod system for which a juice line has been specifically created.

The Peacemaker XL dual coil RTA promises to deliver innovation and invention with its dual bottom airflow design and post-less deck for ease of building. The durable stainless steel and acrylic material assures durability while the high capacity tank provides superb flavour and cloud production.

NOTE: This is a non TPD compliant product.

Massive thank you to Heaven Gifts for sending this product free of charge. A product that will receive my full unbiased thoughts and opinions.

In my Squid Industries PeaceMaker 25mm single coil RTA review I found it shot from the hip.

How does its bulkier relative fare?

What’s in the Box?

• 28mm PeaceMaker XL tank ( 5ml ).
• 9ml glass extension tube.
• Bag of spares including two prebuilt coils, spare O rings, hex key, spare grub screws and the obligatory transparent blue screwdriver.

Features and Specs

• Large 28mm diameter build deck.
• Dual coil system
• Extensive airflow construction on build deck.
• 810 drip tip
• 5ml capacity stainless steel / acrylic tank
• 9ml capacity glass extension tube.
• Post-less build deck
• Wide dual cycloptic airflow control ring
• Bottom feed airflow design for optimal performance.
• Sizeable, durable O rings included
• Adjustable 510 gold plated / peak insulated pin

Design and Build Quality

On the outside the XL looks just like a beefed up, heavier version of its slimmer cousin, the PeaceMaker 25mm single coil RTA.

Everything looks that little more magnified thanks predominantly to the extra width yet the design quality lives up to the highly polished stainless steel finish of its relative.

The O ring tolerances look set to just the right degree while the renowned “gun cylinder” style tank with its six vertical acrylic windows remain intact.

To all intents and purpose this is the 25mm version on squidy steroids.

It’s what’s on the inside that counts, they say. So never go on appearances alone. We’ve reached that point in the review that really matters, and there are some significant differences between this and the PeaceMaker 25mm tank.

Drip Tip

Pretty much your standard fare featuring an acrylic 810 tip that is fully compatible with others of your choice, including the obligatory goon style.

Top Cap

Turn this anticlockwise to release. Thanks to substantial knurling this is a breeze and there are no squiddy squeaks coming from the near perfect threads.

Knurling

Six “bullet style” knurling points are etched into the top cap allowing for added grip when tightening and loosening.

Fill Ports

Removing the top cap reveals two substantial kidney sized fill ports capable of handling any nib variant you may decide to use.

Build deck

The heart and soul of any tank.

Turn the base of the deck anticlockwise to unscrew it from the tank. Again the threading is butter smooth offering the right amount of tolerances from those built to last O rings.

The PeaceMaker XL 28mm dual coil RTA features a raised and curved post-less deck complete with nineteen honeycomb style air intake holes. By incorporating the curve, airflow is able to hit both the sides and undersides of the dual coils.

Four rather small hex type screws are located in each corner and can be released by using the supplied key in order to mount the coils.

Two average size wicking ports are on display and again the machining is clean and very well designed around these and the surrounding threads. There is ample space for the saturated cotton to expand under the raised portion of the deck.

Airflow control ring

Featuring two wide cycloptic airflow ports that can be opened fully by turning clockwise and what happens with one port is mirrored by the other. A stopper prevents the airflow ring from spinning freely. It is also possible, while in a fully closed position, to remove the ring from the base of the deck for general maintenance and cleaning.

Inner Chimney

The inner chimney can be removed for maintenance by pressing up on it from within the tank itself after having fully removed the deck as it is only reliant on an O ring seal. This exposes some minimal doming and the stainless steel body looks as immaculate as the rest of the tank.

510 Gold Plated Peak Insulated Pin

This is a fully adjustable protruding 510 pin so will allow use with a hybrid / mechanical device.

How Does The Squid Industries Peacemaker XL RTA Perform?

Hey squiddly dee, a vapers life for me!

For the purposes of review I used the included coils that came in the package with the 5ml stainless steel tank.

The coils themselves appear to be Kanthal by way of material, fused Clapton of variety but certainly of 3mm inner diameter.

I used my trusty Geekvape Aegis Legend Dual 18650 and the coils eventually settled and bedded in at 0.15ohm. A little less than I normally aim for but having no information relating to them I just had to suck squid and see.

The juice tested was Riot Squads Bread And Butter Pudding Party range and their Lennon Curd profile which I’ve been familiar with for a good six months or more.

Coil Placement

• Unscrew deck from the 5ml tank in a clockwise motion.
• Loosen the four hex screws located on the build deck.
• Trim coil legs to size ensuring a 2mm height above airflow ports.
• Position coils into place and tighten down the post screws.
• Gently pulse coils to remove hot spots and ensure an even glow.

Wicking Placement

• Trim cotton of choice to size and feed through coils ensuring a snug but not tight movement.
• Trim cotton around the outer perimeter of deck and rake out any inconsistency.
• Gently tuck cotton ends down into and inside the wicking ports allowing space for liquid to enter.
• Prime the coils and cotton with e liquid of choice.
• Screw the tank back down onto the deck in a clockwise motion
• Unscrew top cap anticlockwise and fill tank with e liquid
• Return the top cap and adjust airflow ring to personal preference.

Flavour and cloud production

Reviewing a dual coil RTA sees me back in very familiar territory and the current climate dictates that there are many to rival the best RDA for flavour and cloud production.

Is the Peacemaker XL up to task?

Vaping at a moderately warm 70W

Airflow 1/3rd open

Provides a semi restrictive direct to lung experience and the tank behaves very quietly. There’s very little turbulence and the sicilian lemon from the profile used is quite sharp but flavoursome. The butter element is picked up rather late as a back note.

Cloud production under this restriction is actually disappointing and there remains a slight throat kick on the exhale.

Airflow 2/3rd Open

There still appears to be the same restriction as above. Again no turbulence, all is quiet but now the butter and bakery element is forcing through much stronger while the main lemon ingredient takes more of a back seat yet still very evident.

Cloud production has become significantly thicker but still not what I would expect to find from this 70VG/30PG juice ratio.

Airflow Fully Open

Given that there are two quite wide cycloptic airflow slots I’m disappointed to find that there is still a restriction in place.

That’s really shocked me.

As before the draw is silky smooth with no turbulence of note and on the final exhale there is a fusion of butter and bakery notes that dance around together all in a world of their own, the sweetness of the lemon has gone AWOL but still continues to bully ensuring that it never loses the limelight.

Cloud production has become thick, rich, dense and fully satisfying for a direct to lung experience and the coolness of the exhale now certainly makes for an all day vape.

Using the 9ml glass extension

• Unscrew the 5ml stainless steel tank anti clockwise from the deck.
• Push up on inner chimney to release from tank.
• Insert inner chimney inside 9ml glass extension using the rubber O ring to seal into place.
• Screw 9ml glass extension down onto deck in a clockwise motion. Do not over tighten.

I’m using dual Wotofo N80 fused Clapton coils that ohm in at 0.24 for the purposes of testing this rather large glass extension.

Just Jam Raspberry Scone e-liquid concentrate was tested this time at a 20% mix ratio and a of 80VG/20PG blend.

Vaping at 45W

Airflow 1/3rd Open

I’m still getting the same restrictive direct to lung on the inhale but the flavour notes, especially the authenticity of the raspberry, really shines through while a cream filled scone broadens out the bakery tone very nicely.

Cloud production is thick, while not too dense, but satisfies nonetheless.

Airflow 2/3rd Open

Again there is little difference to the restriction as found with testing on the stainless steel tank. The fruit aspect is more dominant with less of the cream on the exhale.

Cloud production has remained the same as with the airflow one third open which is a disappointment.

Airflow Fully Open

Finally, with airflow wide open the raspberry is beginning to take on a synthetic, perfume like edge and is very much a watered down version of what it is capable of.

The creaminess has also been diluted and there’s next to no sign of any cake / bakery mix.

Cloud production is marginally improved but not as much as I would have liked. They are dense enough but arrive at the expense of flavour overall.

As with the stainless steel 5ml tank there was no turbulence to the airflow which is impressive given the much smaller 2.5mm diameter coils being used.

Shooting From The Hip | My Thoughts

So having spent time with the PeaceMaker XL 28mm dual coil rta, what are my thoughts?

In the case of the 5ml stainless steel tank I have to say that I am impressed with the overall design and there has obviously been some thought put into it, ensuring that just like it’s namesake is almost bullet proof.

Threading and knurling help keep maintenance and filling relatively easy but those strong O rings sometimes mean you will be unscrewing the tank from the deck as opposed to unscrewing the top cap. Of course, there’s always work arounds but it was an issue for me.

Attempting to attach the tank to the deck was extremely annoying at times and I had issues locking in on those threads. It also takes an unnecessary amount of turns to seal down onto the O rings as well. I found the best way of attachment was via a mod itself allowing for an even downwards, vertical motion. That seemed to solve things.

As much as I’ve praised the build quality, the machining on the inside of the top cap is quite horrendous with some weird etchings around the fill ports. Noticeable enough for me to mention.

Just like many bottom airflow designs, the Peacemaker XL RTA is prone to leak during use but when left to stand overnight it was fine. Generally speaking it was an improvement over the single coil 25mm RTA.

Coil installation was very easy once the legs had been cut to the appropriate length and I found the tank to prefer the 3mm diameter thickness over the 2.5mm for placing and clamping down.

Yet flavour and cloud production was on par for both the included coils and the Wotofo N80 as used on the 9ml glass extension.

Wicking will require a certain amount of experience with RTA’s but the substantial size ports are quite forgiving provided you don’t cram thick amounts of cotton inside them.

On the subject of the glass extension.

As cool as it is to have this e liquid capacity swill around there is minimal chance that you’ll be able to adjust the airflow control ring because its bulky size gets in the way of your fingers.

Pros

• Large juice capacity with either 5ml tank and especially 9ml glass extension.
• Exceptional build quality. The stainless steel finish is superb.
• Generous airflow slots on control ring.
• Compatible with most 810 drip tips.
• Minimal leaking. (Improves on the 25mm RTA).
• Substantial O rings and tolerances.
• Silky smooth threading.

Cons

• Poor machine quality around juice fill ports.
• Significant resistance even with airflow wide open.
• Awkward to attach the deck to the tank.
• It’s possible to inadvertently remove the tank from mod instead of the top cap.
• No knurling on base of deck.

Final Verdict

The big question is – Would the Squid Industries Peacemaker XL be an RTA I would buy?

When it comes down to reliability, yes. I found it very easy to place and position coils thanks to the post-less deck system.

Wicking was very forgiving thanks to sizeable ports that allow you to see how much cotton you’ve used and I suffered with minimal leakage.

As far as usability is concerned, no. The XL suffers from a few major flaws.

There’s no knurling around the base of the deck and it’s quite easy to find your fingers sliding around during attempts to unthread which made things very frustrating at times.

Re-connecting the deck to the tank was also troublesome and on more than a few occasions I almost stripped the threads.

Absolute precision is required and the best way of achieving this is by screwing the deck section down firmly on to a mod first.

I also doubt the integrity of the post hole screws as they appear soft and easy to strip over a short period of time although in fairness there are spares in the accessory bag. Something to watch out for.

The flavour production from this RTA is very, very good and does well with recognising major tones as well as subtle back notes, something that I always look for and welcome in a tank. So that’s another yes from me!

Cloud production works decently enough across the board and even with the smaller Wotofo coils they billowed out reasonably thick and dense but still falling marginally short of what I expected.

Would I Recommend It?

Only to someone that has adequate experience with building on a post-less deck and has faced similar design flaws thus knowing how to deal with them.

The Squid Industries PeaceMaker XL RTA can become very frustrating, very fast, but with knowledge and patience offers very good performance in both flavour and cloud production.

Have you used the Peacemaker XL RTA? We would love to hear your thoughts or questions in the comments below.