Yes, I've been trying to vape for 4 years... a majority of the time, it's been buying a device, having it fail, and working for months to get some extra money to purchase something new. No doubt about it, I've had random, one-day luck with some devices out there, and virtually anything I try on someone else's set-up always tastes perfect - I know it's not my inhalation method as I can vape on someone else's device until I'm blue in the face and it still tastes great. I'm buddies with all sorts of vendor owners and they've all watched me assemble my devices or have listened to my techniques and no one can figure out what's going on.
I mean, I'm not the only one with this issue - a shop owner about an hour away from me always tells me how he had the exact same pattern with any pre-made head device, and that he did not ever get a good vape himself until he switched to rebuildables. He literally stopped carrying about half the things he originally sold because he was convinced it was all junk, and his customers even had bizarre problems. Personally, I think this pattern actually reflects reality, and that %75 of the people who have problems with all devices just give up, never sign onto a forum, and keep smoking, but somewhere, this is got to give. And the vendors are even more secretive about it, trust me on that one.
I mean, I'm all for rebuildables, but it comes to a point where I have to face reality and I know that rebuilding is something that I don't need to face if I hope to actually quit smoking. If it were my preference, I'd have a ionized mesh-wrapped organic wick in a good old atomizer, but it's not something I can do. I'd pay $10+ for any coil someone could make me, but without that type of availibility, that side of the vaping world is just not going to be the hobby I get into. I'd rather just purchase some dinky strawberry flavored disposable from a gas station because they actually always work right.
One thing though, in all reality, devices like the iClear 30 and Aspire can't be fiddled with too much concerning the heads or the tear up. Some things just really aren't rebuildable. If I get anything like connection issues or leaking, I'm the guy that can solve it, but this burnt taste is just something I can't figure out. I know what a good vape should taste like and I'm just not getting it. I'm the leak master. I'm the connection master. I never have issues like that, and if I rarely do, I always can solve them (unless something is seriously wrong with the tank - defects have existed). But this taste thing is beyond belief.
I'm almost getting to the point though that I sometimes believe that the vape from these devices actually tastes burnt to a lot of people, but that they like it because it reminds them of cigarettes. I have had a few instances too where I'll taste someone else's device and it tastes so harsh and dry, and yet they love it. But I've tasted way many more good devices, and I know the direction this should go in - I'm not an extremely heavy smoker and I have really sensitive taste buds. I know the cool, moist, flavorful vape I should be getting by heart, because it's a great thing to experience, but all of my devices literally taste like poorly made mechanical garbage.
*So far, the Aspire has something going on with it that has presented a better vape to me than any other device, but it still tastes really unhealthy and gives no flavor (and sometimes very odd flavors like fish oil or salt.) I can't get the thing to taste burnt or dry really. It seems to wick better than many.
