Bad News! - Aspire BDC Review

[Fulgurant]

If I go up past this, the taste really starts to taste burnt. 3.8 makes it really bad after a few hits. And it just gets worse from there with my tests.

Just to let ya'll know, I have been using air controllers, and trying my best to put forth what I would consider a "milkshake draw" - nothing seems to make a true difference. Sometimes, the taste is somewhat tolerable, but even then, there's a metallic layer that, like any metallic hit, makes my gums hurt around where I have fillings, so I know it's there. But most of the time, the taste is quite bitter and most of my tests on this device simply make me pucker and go "Blegh". Sometimes it's more of that fish-oil weirdness.

I have one last head left, and I'll be testing Velvet Cloud Vapor's Caramel Swirl which was a free sample. I've already tried the juice in a CE5 and it wicked like a turtle, which points to a problematic liquid. This test will be to prove if thicker juices may somehow have a positive effect on the Aspire's suction and wicking, as another user is having great luck with Aspire + VCV. The juices are %100VG + Distilled Water. Will see!

You might consider washing the last head thoroughly before using it, if you haven't already. It sure sounds like you got a sample of heads coated with leftover machining materials

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Okay, after reading all the posts, I may have missed this, but I'm curious OP, what do you normally vape with that provides the great flavor that you are used to? Maybe that should be your first review. Seriously, I'm curious. I'm a carto tank guy for the most part and do so like my RBA's on weekends mostly and haven't used in a clearo in six months, but I'm always interested to hear what is working for people.

 

[GoodNews!]

It's a bit unbelievable, but I've had some of the best luck, sometimes so, sometimes not, with disposable CE4's. What's even more unbelievable is I'll sometimes buy Blu cartomizers, do some slow priming like one would with a carto-tank, use a somewhat alike juice to the native flavor, and they actually have given me better flavor for my juices without nasty layers moreso than the tanks I've tried (the juice that's already in them always seems to be dried up anyway). At least just for general juice tests, I will not lie, sometimes it gives a great flavor, but this method doesn't really give more good puffs than a normal dripping atty. I just seem to be really sensitive to metallic or oily tastes that I always get in tanks, but the fact that I get burnt hits almost immediately with tanks suggests that something's going on beyond my taste buds, and that there's either a combination of faulty mechanics or that I may just be a super-high ohm type of guy.

I'm actually in a stage where like many users I'm still trying to shift through the gear myself and find what works the best. I'm considering the iClear 30/30S and a few varieties of carto-tanks for future reviews. If I can caress a Blu carto back to life, I believe I may have some luck with carto tanks. It's just that there's so many different cartomizers out there, and finding the one that is the cream of the crop is a hard choice. I believe there's a lot to wicking, and sticking with things like laser punched, two holes, things like that would be my first start, but I've even had people tell me that the strangest of ohms in the cartomizers are what works best. 3.0. 1.25. A lot of strange stuff in that division and it's hard to take the plunge.

But overall, I review things based on a newbie's perspective because even though I've been vaping and trying things out for years, what I want is a easy-to-use device because anything else will make me a cigarette guy. All newbie's essentially want the same thing. Fill and go. I'm a fanatic when it comes to priming and pre-steps, I believe I do everything exactly as the most picky of people would do, but I just keep getting awful results with tank systems. Just about the only thing I haven't tried is letting a tank sit there for days to soak up juice (seems to work well for my local vaping shop's CE4's lol...) but the bad tastes out of these things is getting in the unbelievable zone.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

It's a bit unbelievable, but I've had some of the best luck, sometimes so, sometimes not, with disposable CE4's. What's even more unbelievable is I'll sometimes buy Blu cartomizers, do some slow priming like one would with a carto-tank, use a somewhat alike juice to the native flavor, and they actually have given me better flavor for my juices without nasty layers moreso than the tanks I've tried (the juice that's already in them always seems to be dried up anyway). At least just for general juice tests, I will not lie, sometimes it gives a great flavor, but this method doesn't really give more good puffs than a normal dripping atty. I just seem to be really sensitive to metallic or oily tastes that I always get in tanks, but the fact that I get burnt hits almost immediately with tanks suggests that something's going on beyond my taste buds, and that there's either a combination of faulty mechanics or that I may just be a super-high ohm type of guy.

I'm actually in a stage where like many users I'm still trying to shift through the gear myself and find what works the best. I'm considering the iClear 30/30S and a few varieties of carto-tanks for future reviews. If I can caress a Blu carto back to life, I believe I may have some luck with carto tanks. It's just that there's so many different cartomizers out there, and finding the one that is the cream of the crop is a hard choice. I believe there's a lot to wicking, and sticking with things like laser punched, two holes, things like that would be my first start, but I've even had people tell me that the strangest of ohms in the cartomizers are what works best. 3.0. 1.25. A lot of strange stuff in that division and it's hard to take the plunge.

But overall, I review things based on a newbie's perspective because even though I've been vaping and trying things out for years, what I want is a easy-to-use device because anything else will make me a cigarette guy. All newbie's essentially want the same thing. Fill and go. I'm a fanatic when it comes to priming and pre-steps, I believe I do everything exactly as the most picky of people would do, but I just keep getting awful results with tank systems. Just about the only thing I haven't tried is letting a tank sit there for days to soak up juice (seems to work well for my local vaping shop's CE4's lol...) but the bad tastes out of these things is getting in the unbelievable zone.

CE# are your favorite then. Ok, then you like top coils. You may like the dual coil iClear30's then. Too many wicks soaking up too much juice for me, and I prefer bottom coils. When I graduated from clearos to carto tanks, I tried Boges, like Phil suggested, and I found I like them and I double hole punch my own. I tried different resistances and find I like the 2.0 Boge cartos. I have tried both Smoktech and Ikenvape's, and all things considered, price, vape, flavor, etc. still like the Boges. YMMV. Hard to beat making your own coils. I did rebuild my own clearo bottom coils the last few months I used clearos, and had good luck with cotton wicks and 32 Kanthal using a 6/7 wrap providing a 2.0 ohm coil. I did try a Protank II and a Davide and liked them both, preferring the Protank II the best. I could vape on that, I just know that cartos are better for me over the last six months. I cannot stand anything but the best flavor, so I admit it, I replace my cartos every day. This is way more than everyone else does, but between the fact that vape wrong and use all the wrong juices, both of which I love, that's it....one day. However, my coils only lasted two days, also way less than others get. I never bothered to clean them after rebuilding started, as I can replace them for about a nickel, and they taste better anyway.

Lately, I've been using some nice RBA's and had excellent results with cotton wick and mesh wicks. Basic stuff, but it's easy enough, and the flavor is great. Also, I have found that battery voltage regulation plays a part in great flavor as well. The Vamo vapes better than the ego, the MVP better than the Vamo, the eVic better than the MVP, the Provari better than the eVic, the Semovar better than the Provari. Yes, the battery regulation does make a difference. So, truthfully, like everything else in life and in vaping, the high end stuff does vape the best, imho, YMMV. Good luck in your reviews and welcome to the Forum. Liked what I've read so far. I like your passion most of all! Great to see! Like you, I call them the way I see 'em, without regard for popularity or the wrath of others, though, like you, I also try to be diplomatic. Good luck to you!

 

[xppterz]

Got some aspires coming in the mail. Hope they work out ok. Still testing out tanks and whatnot. Just got my rocket (kayfun clone) seems to be working well now that I adjusted the center pin. Been using protanks 1&2 which I love and an iclear30 I'm 50/50 on this one. Will try the new iclear30s when I get the chance. Thanks for the review.

 

[GoodNews!]

Just to ask, when it comes to batteries, I'd have found it hard pressed to say that a battery could make a big difference between models (say, if they were all set to a certain voltage) but I just want to ask and make sure if there's any factors to do with my battery that could be eating up heads? Do the eGo styles of VV have any sort of issues with jumping around in the voltage range, or performing in some sort of way that burns heads up? I was very tempted to buy and try an MVP not long ago, I'm truly hearing a lot better things about Innokin than other brands out there, but decided against it.

And between top coil and bottom coil, to be honest, for me, what I consider good is simply something I can say "Ah, I taste this, this tastes good, I want another hit!" Between top coil models and bottom coil models, the models that have given me sass talk both performed just as bad, I didn't see any positives over the others. It just happened that some random CE4's, not all of them that I've tried by any means, but just a few random ones came through and worked right for a couple days. These few gave me a crystal clear taste, a great taste, and made me quite addicted to them in a short time. Then I'd turn around and fill up another completely new CE4 with a new head (the CE4's don't have replaceable heads) with the same juice and it'd be awful; burnt, metallic, hazy.

That's a type of standard I could let slide with maybe a CE4, but if the results I'm getting out of Kanger and Eigate are even worse, it really takes its toll on me - I like reviewing, but I'm not doing this for fun, I'm doing it because I'm as passionate as everyone else about finding a vape that vapes like a vape lol. I have to have it, I'm as addicted to cigarettes as anyone else...

I just think every vaper here, no matter who they are, just has an ingrained standard where no matter how complex or simple of a vaper they are, they know if a juice just doesn't taste right enough to say "This device is at least working properly." I think everyone here would know a burnt or metallic or bitter taste when they taste it. That's why it's the darnest thing how many users do have great experiences. Reviewing these products so far, the biggest thing I could point to is that maybe these devices at large have some sort of coating or metal shaving dust on the heads, causing a bad reaction with the coils and causing an improper wicking. The Protank head wicks certainly look awful and somewhat black on the ends where they are cut off, at least on my batches.

 

[B1sh0p]

I would prime that last head before you test it.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

Genuine ego batteries are regulated better than similar clones and that will affect the vape, for sure. You do have to clean the gear when it comes in and clean the heads before you use them. Some replacement heads are just aweful and can have the bad taste you are experiencing. I had enough trouble that I recoiled my own and then that problem went away forever. Something you might want to look into since the stock coils aren't working for you. Cotton is the ticket, imho, YMMV. Much better and more saturated flavor and very unlike the silica replacement heads. This simple practice of recoiling Kangers led me all the way to RBA's and RDA's, which I really enjoy. Also, I found making my own juice to suit my own flavor preferences worked way better than buying juice. I can make way better juice that I can buy, because I can tailor it to my own preferences, and keep experimenting until I get it right. That being said, it took many months before it was really good, with only one ADV in the first six months. Now I make juice all the time, almost every day and I'm usually making juice about 5 weeks out, so plenty of steep time, even for more complex recipes. Good luck to you. My two cents.

 

[GoodNews!]

Any tips on what I could do with the last Aspire head to make sure it performs as best it can? I do let these heads sit in the tank and prime for forever, but I haven't let them soak in distilled water (I'm afraid my jug of distilled may have gotten a bit dusty on the inside, I lost the cap for a couple days) and I haven't tried dripping any juice inside the head because there's not much opening to see what I'm doing.

And concerning rebuilding my heads, I'd be perfect if I did have a shop near me that has employees who rebuild and could help me set one up, but my local shop wants nothing to do with it. I'm also ever so slightly concerned about the safety of cotton (you always hear things about employees in cotton factories...) but at this point, I'd be willing to vape anything just as a test. It's something I truly want to try and see the results.

 

[B1sh0p]

There are videos about priming these heads. You don't need to let them sit. That's not really priming. Try the Nhaler site.

 

[GoodNews!]

Welp, this test is going to be a tough one for sure. I will try dripping a few drops, but at the same time, I'll be using a %100Vg+distilled water juice because for now, I'm still giving the Aspire one last chance and telling myself that my other juices could possibly be funky. Virgin Cloud Vapor's juices are the only two fresh bottles I've received in a little while, and they are thick. Another user reported great results with this juice in an Aspire, so it will be tested. I'm a big fan of Virgin Cloud Vapor's organic motto, and their shipping time was fantastic, so I do need to make it a point to find things that are VG friendly.

 

[B1sh0p]

100% VG juices notoriously perform poorly in BCC's. Don't be surprised if you still experience poor wicking.

 

[Jsucool76]

I have the aspire BDC, and my first head just died on it. Jumped up to 5.6 ohms and then shorted. Ordered more replacements, waiting for them in the mail, but things I have noticed about this bcc...

flavor seems pretty muted....
I tend to get a burnt taste a lot, no matter what kind of airflow i'm getting...I find myself having to flip it upside down and back right side up, then i'll see bubbles come out of the wicking holes and know juice went in

 

[Asbestos4004]

ummm....although it's been entertaining to read, I find myself scratching my head trying to figure out if this is real or not. I'd be lying if I said I never thought about doing it just so people would send me lots of free stuff...but some really good reviewers already beat me it.

 

[Bill's Magic Vapor]

I guess I'm not clear. Are you trying juices that you use on other toppers with great results, or are you using new juices that you haven't tried before and then finding them dreadful on this topper? 95% of every juice I ever bought or made tasted awful to me. I DIY and have taken close to a year to get just 20 that I like, out of several hundred attempts. I get juice samples all the time from many different places, which many vapers swear by. The vast majority of them don't work for me, and I find, it's not so much me, as everyone has this issue. While we may all have our preferences, they are certainly not the same preferences, and getting in "great" juice is the rare exception, not the norm. YMMV.

 

[crxess]

I never read a part about (After thoroughly WASHING the tank)
A contaminated tank will wreak havoc on flavors and it will not get any better with a distilled water rinse and dry.

I'd soak all the Coils in PGA/ wash the Tank thoroughly and start the test over.

 

[Fulgurant]

I guess I'm not clear. Are you trying juices that you use on other toppers with great results, or are you using new juices that you haven't tried before and then finding them dreadful on this topper? 95% of every juice I ever bought or made tasted awful to me. I DIY and have taken close to a year to get just 20 that I like, out of several hundred attempts. I get juice samples all the time from many different places, which many vapers swear by. The vast majority of them don't work for me, and I find, it's not so much me, as everyone has this issue. While we may all have our preferences, they are certainly not the same preferences, and getting in "great" juice is the rare exception, not the norm. YMMV.

Yeah, I confess I'm curious too. It almost sounds like the OP doesn't have a firm idea of what his juices should taste like, which makes me wonder how he can judge whether any particular delivery device is giving the juices a fair showing. I don't mean to be too critical; I could be misinterpreting him, but I think it's worth re-emphasizing Bill's point:

There's a very strong chance that you're gonna hate most of the juices you try. That's not necessarily a flaw in the juices or in the equipment you're using to try them; it's just that our taste for vapor can be very particular. Personally, I hate (unambiguously despise, cannot stand) probably 70-80% of the juices I try, and can only scarcely tolerate most of the remaining 20-30%. It's a rare juice indeed that genuinely sparks my interest -- which is funny because I'm about the least picky eater you'll ever meet. Your mileage may vary.

It's also worth pointing out that freshly delivered juices can sometimes have an unpleasant, soapy/chemical-like flavor/aroma. Their intended flavor can also start out muted or even seem to be entirely absent. That's why people around here recommend aging (steeping) juices. Regardless, you really should be familiar with how a juice tastes (and, needless to say, whether you like the juice) before you use the juice to test how well a new device conveys its flavor.

On a related note (and as mentioned previously), new hardware can sometimes arrive coated with residue leftover from the manufacturing process. That residue generally doesn't taste good. It's common practice to wash everything before you use it, similar to the way you'd wash just-bought dishes before eating from them. Personally I like to rinse my stuff thoroughly and then soak it in vodka; it's easy, fast, and fairly fiddle free. Other people might have more elaborate procedures.

Of course, none of the above is to say that hardware should arrive with manufacturing residue, or that juices should (or always will) arrive in dire need of steeping, but if you're gonna pan a product you probably should make a good-faith effort to eliminate all of the little incidental variables that might contribute to your perception that the device itself is flawed.

 

[Ladiekali]

Also keep in mind the many different aspire bdc's.
The ones from nhaler are dofferent than others.

UNFORTUNATELY foe me, i wanted to love these but they tasted like burnt rubber.
The two ce5 style i boughtnfrom nhaler came apart when washing with really hot water.

The mini nova style i bought from nhaler as well, that i did not wash in hot water just fell apart tonight.

Its very dissapointing. $30 wasted. For me.
Im considering trying one from another vendor perhaps the ce5-s model.

But find it funny that all 3 i bought are junk unless i pull out super glue, to reflue it together!

id also like tomadd that 3 over night soaks in vodka did not get rid of the taste, the hot water did get rid of burnt taste,
although i did NOT USE dish soap my juices all had a soapy after taste. I took juice i waa vaping in a T2 by syringe, and put it in my aspire and the taste was definately soapy.

i assumed this was justmfrom being needing to be broken in.

 

[Asbestos4004]

why does it appear you are smoking a giant cigarette on your signature picture advertisement thingy?

 

[K_Tech]

Just to ask, which flavors are everyone getting a good experience from out of the Aspire?

So far, Vapor Chef Honey Pearry, Pink Spot Chocolate Hazelnut, D&D Vapor Apple Fritter.

The only bad (so far) has been with Azure Vaping's Vanilla Cream, but I think that was more the juice than the device because it was kinda "meh" when I tossed it in a cartomizer.