Having a problem; unsure of cause

[H. Wordsmythe]

Hi, all. I'm having a problem, but because I'm unsure of the cause, I'm posting in the general forum. If a mod feels that this should be moved, that's cool with me.

Okay, so I've been vaping since December of 2010, and in all that time I've never run into this. I'm suddenly getting a NASTY taste from my vapor. It's a bitter chemical taste that I can only describe as melting plastic; that's not quite right, but it's the closest I can get to explaining this taste. I'm vaping on a Magma clone (been using it for three months, with no problem) at 25 watts on a regulated mod. The build is a twisted 28 gauge single coil at 1 ohm, about a month old, but recently dry burned and re-wicked with organic cotton. My juice is DIY: Desert Ship (FlavourArt brand) mixed with ecigexpress nic base, 50/50. I've checked the post insulator, and it's not damaged or melted at all. Also, this isn't the first batch of juice I've mixed from these bottles of flavoring and base, and as a matter of fact, this bottle was tasting fine for the first few days after I mixed it. I'm stumped. Could the plastic of the bottle be suddenly deteriorating and contaminating the juice? I keep taking the cap off to smell it, and sometimes I think I can detect the nasty taste I'm getting, but other times it smells perfectly fine. Any ideas? Hardware or juice?

 

[erikbal]

Sounds like a juice issue to me. Do you have any other kind you can try?

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

 

[edyle]

Hi, all. I'm having a problem, but because I'm unsure of the cause, I'm posting in the general forum. If a mod feels that this should be moved, that's cool with me.

Okay, so I've been vaping since December of 2010, and in all that time I've never run into this. I'm suddenly getting a NASTY taste from my vapor. It's a bitter chemical taste that I can only describe as melting plastic; that's not quite right, but it's the closest I can get to explaining this taste. I'm vaping on a Magma clone (been using it for three months, with no problem) at 25 watts on a regulated mod. The build is a twisted 28 gauge single coil at 1 ohm, about a month old, but recently dry burned and re-wicked with organic cotton. My juice is DIY: Desert Ship (FlavourArt brand) mixed with ecigexpress nic base, 50/50. I've checked the post insulator, and it's not damaged or melted at all. Also, this isn't the first batch of juice I've mixed from these bottles of flavoring and base, and as a matter of fact, this bottle was tasting fine for the first few days after I mixed it. I'm stumped. Could the plastic of the bottle be suddenly deteriorating and contaminating the juice? I keep taking the cap off to smell it, and sometimes I think I can detect the nasty taste I'm getting, but other times it smells perfectly fine. Any ideas? Hardware or juice?

magma, 3 months, twisted 28 gauge single coil at 1 ohm; coil is about a month old;
If the coil is about a month old I'm guessing this isn't the first dryburn, right?
I usually dryburn once a week;


plastic bottles;

I've been suspecting some plastic issue myself with my own magma and mix bottle;

btw does your magma clone have the big white block of plastic in the middle?

 

[H. Wordsmythe]

Sounds like a juice issue to me. Do you have any other kind you can try?

Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk

No, I don't have any other juice. I'm an odd one - I've been vaping nothing but Desert Ship since spring of 2011. I've never gotten tired of it, and I never lose the taste, though I know that's fairly common for people who vape one flavor for a long time. Don't know why, but it's never been a problem for me, and I've never had Vaper's Tongue. I should mix up another bottle out of this batch of ingredients to see if I get the same result. I just hate the idea if giving up on a nearly full 30ml bottle.

 

[tmel]

Drip some unflavored nic base and see if it tastes like it should.

 

[edyle]

No, I don't have any other juice. I'm an odd one - I've been vaping nothing but Desert Ship since spring of 2011. I've never gotten tired of it, and I never lose the taste, though I know that's fairly common for people who vape one flavor for a long time. Don't know why, but it's never been a problem for me, and I've never had Vaper's Tongue. I should mix up another bottle out of this batch of ingredients to see if I get the same result. I just hate the idea if giving up on a nearly full 30ml bottle.

Do you have it in a clear plastic bottle or do you have it in one of the frosty white dripper bottles?
I suspect the frosty white dripper bottles are better for not reacting

 

[H. Wordsmythe]

magma, 3 months, twisted 28 gauge single coil at 1 ohm; coil is about a month old;
If the coil is about a month old I'm guessing this isn't the first dryburn, right?
I usually dryburn once a week;


plastic bottles;

I've been suspecting some plastic issue myself with my own magma and mix bottle;

btw does your magma clone have the big white block of plastic in the middle?

I usually dry burn every week or two, but this last build was doing so well, and the wick was performing like a champ, so I left it alone. This flavor dilemma is what made me pull the wick and dry burn, actually.

Yep, my Magma has a white plastic (delrin, I presume) insulator between the posts. That was my first thought - the insulator must have melted. But I broke it down, cleaned it out, and inspected it closely - looks pristine.

 

[H. Wordsmythe]

Do you have it in a clear plastic bottle or do you have it in one of the frosty white dripper bottles?
I suspect the frosty white dripper bottles are better for not reacting

Frosty. Repurposed 30ml, originally from freedomsmokeusa. But in its former life it held 36mg juice, so I'm wondering if the nic might have caused corrosion? It's only had 18mg in it for a while now, but if there's some kind of cumulative effect...

 

[H. Wordsmythe]

Drip some unflavored nic base and see if it tastes like it should.

That's a great idea. Honestly, I wonder why I didn't think of that!

 

[edyle]

I usually dry burn every week or two, but this last build was doing so well, and the wick was performing like a champ, so I left it alone. This flavor dilemma is what made me pull the wick and dry burn, actually.

Yep, my Magma has a white plastic (delrin, I presume) insulator between the posts. That was my first thought - the insulator must have melted. But I broke it down, cleaned it out, and inspected it closely - looks pristine.

Oh; ok so the problem did not start after dryburn.

As far as the plastic in the magma, I have the impression that it does contribute to the taste; and I am suspecting that it does react with some flavors; and the reason I am saying that is I got my magma the same time as I got my veritas, and I consistently notice better flavor on the veritas

 

[Kevin littell]

beg borrow or steal another atty and try your juice in it....


Kanthal or nichrome?


cover off, put some juice in it and light it off....Any glowing coils? (completely escaped me to look one time, drove me nuts for weeks) The Nichrome has a weird taste when it glows Kanthal not as bad but there.....


I think its the juice though.


I have also heard of mod center post's going into melt-down and the fumes coming up thru atty due to proximity of the air inlets.

 

[Spencer87]

ive actually had some strange tastes in mine as well. It usually passes... dunno why it happens... but.. changing the wick... and using less wick might help

 

[H. Wordsmythe]

beg borrow or steal another atty and try your juice in it....


Kanthal or nichrome?


cover off, put some juice in it and light it off....Any glowing coils? (completely escaped me to look one time, drove me nuts for weeks) The Nichrome has a weird taste when it glows Kanthal not as bad but there.....


I think its the juice though.


I have also heard of mod center post's going into melt-down and the fumes coming up thru atty due to proximity of the air inlets.

I might be able to borrow an atty from my brother-in-law. If I don't get this sorted out before I next see him, I'll try that.

It's kanthal. I checked, and there's no glow. Just vapor.

I'll try some unflavored, and I'll put a new coil and wick in. Basically just start from scratch. Hopefully I can get this straightened out, because I don't have any backup. I should, but I've always been the kind of vaper who finds the one thing that works for them and then sticks with it for the long haul.