In my case, it pays to hold off on buying, as I browse through and read all the different things about this tank from day one, I have to tell you that with so many different tanks on the market never have I seen one with so many issues as this one. yes the few that the tank has performed correctly for I give kudo's to, as lady luck gifted them that, but from a percentage point of view, most do not. Again I say I am glad I held off.
I understand there are many fans with this tank, but the market holds many others that need not so much "Experimentation" to work correctly
I understand your point of view, but I would add that I have 3 of these tanks. 2 of the V1 and one of the V2. None of mine leak. They operate as they should. Am I that lucky on the draw? I doubt it. There have been a couple of thousand of these tanks sold and not 5% of the buyers are on this forum. Those of us here have had mixed results (although mine have been issue free) and there is no doubt that there were (are) some bad ones out there. Please note that most of the individuals with issues are staying in this forum and sticking with the tank but are kind enough to share their experiences and solutions with the lemons they were unlucky enough to have received. I agree the QC could have been better. But the vast majority of these tanks work with no issues. This particular thread is such a small sampling of the Merlin users and it is not the best way to make a decision on this tank. But again, you are correct there are plenty of choices for other tanks out there. For a single coil tank, there are not many that match the flavor I have been able to get from my Merlins.