First Rebuild and Juice Mix Disaster

[b2darizzle]

I'd been buying replacement EVOD/T3 heads and $5+ 10ml bottles of juice for too long, so I decided to step up my game and get into DIY. Not sure exactly what went wrong where, but I might as well be vaping garbage out of a garbage machine.

The juice

I bought all my stuff from ecigexpress - the PG/VG 50%/50%, the 60 mg/ml nicotine, and the Desert Ship and Vape Wizard from FlavourArt. I had a good mix (IMO) going for a while:

17 drops	Nicotine (60 mg)	100% PG​	34.0%​
25 drops	PG/VG	50% PG / 50% VG​	50.0%​
5 drops	VG	100% VG​	10.0%​
3 drops	Desert Ship	100% PG​	6.0%​

The nicotine was strong (the throat hit was pretty amiable to my liking) and the flavor was bold enough to make me realize I was vaping something other than pharmaceuticals. Unfortunately, as each hit progressed, the taste got more and more gross.

The Setup

I've been using the same eGo Twist for sometime now, switching back and forth with shelf juices between 4.2 and 3.8 volts with no trouble at all. But upon using it with the mix I made, it seems like I have to go down to 3.4 and below to achieve a drag that doesn't taste like coil or burnt garbage.

Out of a stock T3, the flavor is "kinda" there, but there's always this overwhelming taste of metal or something (or, honestly, whatever it is, it's not the flavor that I put in).

I decided at some point to change the juice because - yuck - it tasted like the .... crack of a nuclear fallout. When I poured more of my mixture on top of what I already had in the T3, this is what it looked like:

Checking the voltage and seeing the 3.8 reading, I was confused. Seeing the definite separate of the blackened old juice from the brighter new, it had obviously gotten burnt in some fashion. This may have attributed to why the juice tasted "kinda" good on the first hit, but progressively got worse as the use went on.

I have had trouble with stock heads in the past tasting burnt or irregular in some fashion, so I figured I might as well try rebuilding and see what I could come up with.

The Rebuild

Seriously, I must suck at this.

I watched this video and followed it to the letter. After checking my coils and not seeing any touching, and also, after dry burning and not smelling anything burnt, I filled an EVOD with my mix and tried it out.

It. Was. So. Damn. Gross. Metal like the 80's. When I crank the VV down to 3.2V, I can "barely" taste the juice's intended flavor.

To be clear, what I'm using is 30 gauge Kanthal wire and 2mm silica wick. I'm aware that this will put me at lower than 1.8ohms for this head, so a lower voltage would be needed (right?).

The Question(s)


What is happening? Why is the juice burning on stock heads? What could be wrong with my rebuild?

I'd love to save money by rebuilding and mixing my own juice - but, dude - this is not acceptable.

I understand I have no idea what I'm doing, even with the guidance of the internet, but I feel like I'm doing everything right to some extent.

Am I missing something?

Honestly, any help and/or guidance is appreciated. Also, sorry for the novella.

 

[b2darizzle]

Any suggestions whatsoever.

Even if it's "shorten your post."

 

[The Goo]

Usually a metallic taste is due to it not wicking properly.

 

[keelalagirl55]

Well, I can't help ya on the flavoring issue as I don't use that particular flavor, but the color difference in the tank....when a coil gets gunked it does darken the liquid and depending on the flavor and level of gunk, will give it a burnt taste.

As for your build (I hope you have an ohms checker of some sort to test those coils) ..... no matter what I do, there is a break-in period for me with Kanthal. I get a slight metallic off taste with a brand new coil and it usually lasts for a good while through the first ml of juice.

 

[gingersnaps]

Definately sounds like a wicking issue on the flavor. I never had a t3 but if its like the t3s there are 2 extra wicks sitting on the coil that can be removed after taking the top peice off the atty part. I heard to only remove 1 but I use high vg so i removed them both and it works with no leaking. Also if ur using a vv you can lower the voltage if you have it set high. I'm guessing by the % of flavor you used its flavor art. Mine seems to do best between 3.8 and 4.0 v on a standard 2.2 ohm carto.

Also a lot of people have to let flavor art flavored juice steep a couple days especially if you just bought the flavoring. Once I've had it about a month i don't have to steep my juice. A cheat is to use a few drops 5-10% of ethyl maltol to smooth it out instead.


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[we2rcool]

Juices can turn brown due to gunk on the coils going into the juices
Juices can turn brown simply because they turn brown (or other colors) when exposed to heat
Juices can turn brown/other as they steep (there are some that turn almost black after a month or so)

I hope you have an ohms checker of some sort to test those coils

ditto

We've never gotten a metallic taste from Kanthal wire, but apparently others have

For almost all tobacco flavors to 'come into their own', they need to steep. Some as little as a week; some as much as a month. It's VERY hard/impossible to know what a tobacco juice is going to end up tasting like in the first few days after you've mixed it. Of all the 'flavors' there are, "tobacco" is the trickiest to "get right" (unless you're using Hangsen tobaccos or the VZ SC's (alcohol based Super Concentrates...which are pretty-much a "slam dunk" at 2.5%)

I think I'm understanding that there's a metallic taste in both devices - if so, it's probably not your devices or your rebuild, it's probably your juice.

Mix a batch of VG/PG with a nic level to your liking, and vape it straight (in a clean tank/device that's "normal" for you) - and see if you can discern any metallic taste. If not, you'll know it's not your VG/PG/nic or tank/device...yay! Then you can start narrowing it down from there.

Vape Wizard (fyi) is NOT a "flavor" - it actually/literally alters the taste receptors/taste buds to lessen certain tastes & enhance others. It could be that the Vape Wizard is messing with your taste receptors. I'd definitely mix up a small batch of the Desert Ship without it, and see how that works for you.

I suggest starting with flavors that are known to be "easy". There's some great 1/2 flavor recipes here: Simple recipes

Be sure to read the 'stickies', Hoosier's blog, and some of the long threads on the different flavors/vendors...and don't get discouraged. There can be some serious ups n' downs with DIYing, but before you know it, you'll be mixin' up winners and sharin' recipes!

 

[dannyv45]

Ahh I know exactly what your talking about, The blackened juice, the metalic taste etc....

I also rebuild my T3's and have run into this on many occasions. I can tell you that it's the way your rebuilding your T3's. Firstly I use awg 32 wire and 2 mm silica. Don't give it any more then 5 wraps and make sure you fold the wick over the top of the coil before capping and cutting so you have a double wick (One through the coil and one laying on top of the coil). Before capping it dry burn it until the coil glows red. then cap it (Putting the post and seal back on). Some wire will give a metalic taste but that should subside after an hour of vaping. It's not uncommon for the juice to darken as the coil darkens with use but I've never had it effect the taste of the juice. If it is effecting the taste of the juice it's because your running it to hot. So on your VB lower the voltage. I find 3.5 to 3.7v good. Also spread the windings a little bit (Don't have them to close or touching each other). To prevent juice from darkening clean the coil every day or 2 dry burn and replace the upper wick.

 

[FinallyQuit]

Also I have used 4 different providers wick, and they all 4 taste different at first. You are oxidizing your wire 1st? It could have oils leftover from machining. Just run it through the blue part of a flame until it glows read. I dry burn the coil to clean the wick before I use it.

My liquids always turn dark in my T3's and Evods, don't taste different. If you leave a little in the tank, then fill it, you can tell there are 2 different colors, and you can shake the heck out of them, they don't blend in right away. No difference in taste.

I think you need to steep before you can tell what tobacco tastes like. I tried mine weekly until it tasted good, about 4 weeks. Man, the 1st day, ewww!!!!!

Good luck!