Inconsistent flavor/performance is making me crazy!

[AcesAnd8s]

Hi all, I'm brand new here, and desperately thankful that a forum like this exists.

Quick background. I've been smoking for 15 years. I got really excited when some co-workers started to get into vaping.
So I bought a CE4 at my local smoke shop, and absolutely loved it. And I was satisfied, until I read about different PG/VG mixtures, throat hit vs. vapor cloud, glass vs. plastic, VV/VW versus...you get the idea. A whole new world of exploration opened up in front of me, and I'm a gadget nut, so when I realized I could acquire gadgets that delivered nicotine WITH a flavor other than burnt tobacco? I was stoked!

Fast forward a few weeks, I bought a slightly more expensive unit. It didn't have any brand packaging, I can't find it anywhere on the web; all I can tell you is that it is a USB rechargeable, and has a "LOTUS" stamp on it. It's "variable" in that 5 clicks turns it on at 3.5, 5 more clicks ramps it up to 3.8, 5 MORE clicks up to 4.3, and 5 more still to turn it back off.

I put a Kanger Protank 3 on it, and I was mixing some random liquids I bought at the local head shop. Blah blah blah. It wasn't bad, but the performance definitely fell off after I'd been using it for an hour (and not chain vaping, I mean a puff every few minutes.)

So a buddy of mine gave me a Lavatube 2.5. Holy crap, gadget fever! I put the Protank 3 on that, and I was having an amazing experience. I put a different tank (a 5ml Vapage) on the Lotus, put some different liquids in it, and that was going well too.

Now I have these 3 devices, and all of a sudden...only the CE4 is performing enjoyably. The Lotus remains inconsistent in vapor production/flavor conveyance. The Lavatube (and I"m not blaming the device, or the tank) I'm getting either dry, powdery taste or burnt, horrific taste at no matter the voltage/wattage setting. I don't know what the heck I'm doing wrong.

The stores in my area (Iowa City/Cedar Rapids) are just starting to get on their feet, so I either talk to people who don't know enough about vaping to be helpful, or who are specifically focusing on one brand of product. I would like to settle on one device, with one or more of the same kind of tank that perform well consistently, and find one brand of liquid that I can be happy with.

Any advice on why my devices aren't behaving, or what else I might do without shelling out another $100 to enjoy vaping, would be fantastic. I was prepared, yesterday, to go buy an iTaste 134 and slap an Aspire Nautilus on it, and damn my savings, but...I really don't want to do that.

Thanks in advance!

 

[30+Years]

Have you changed the coils in the tanks?

 

[AcesAnd8s]

I forgot to mention that. Yes, I have.
The Vapage tank came with a replacement coil, it's the type that screws into the top (just like the CE4 tank, is there a term for this? top coil, maybe?) So that tank continues to operate as it did before...which is to say, based (apparently) solely on how the battery wants to behave.

The Kanger, I replaced the coil with Kanger's "new" replacements (longer post) and that SEEMED to be when the trouble started.
I replaced the coil again, just to see if I got a bum coil or something, and no change. I inverted the rubber seal that sits on the post just above the wicks (as I've read some people had luck with that) and no change.

Before, the Lavatube was performing beautifully at around 11-13 watts. Now, if I go above 7, it tastes all burned, and 7 or below, it tastes like I'm vaping talcum powder with a hint of the flavor I bought (in this case, Chocolate Sundae from Cosmic Fog)

 

[30+Years]

Have you always had that flavor? I've never tried any Chocolate flavors but have read that some aren't good vapes.

 

[AcesAnd8s]

Yes and no. When I first got the Protank 3, I was mixing Banana Nut Bread (NicQuid) with a Strawberry flavor I'd picked up (can't remember the brand name, and neither bottle indicated the PG/VG amounts.)

Iowa City just got a new vape shop (Black and Gold Vapors) and that's where I picked up the Chocolate Sundae flavor. When I mixed that in with the remnants of the Banana/Strawberry stuff, it tasted absolutely divine, vaped at about 12 watts, consistently tasted good and produced a satisfying amount of vapor with a decent throat hit.

In the interests of full disclosure, the liquid in the tank definitely seemed thicker than it does now...I'm not sure if it was congealing, or if one of the flavors I'd added at one point had more VG than I realized, or what.

But the powdery flavor is consistent now between the Protank 3 and the Vapage tank, regardless of which device I attach the tank to (the CE4, the ambiguous Lotus, or the Lavatube)

 

[Bigflyrodder]

Hard to say what is going on without more description as to why the flavor isn't good. Is it weak? Burnt? No vapor?

CE4s are, well let's just call them super budget. Protanks can be fiddly for some, I've never had a problem with them. If you are vaping a dark or thick juice I would suggest possibly removing one or all flavor wicks from the Protank coil. there are many good videos you can watch on Youtube that will explain it but basically you remove the rubber condom sort of thing that is at the bottom of the shaft then wiggle the shaft itself back and forth and it will come off. Then you will see some wick sitting on top of the actual coil and wick, you can remove one or all of those strands and reassemble the head then put it back in your tank and see how that works.

The Aspire Nautilus is a fantastic tank, leaps and bounds above any of the Protanks IMO, you should be able to run one of those on a Lavatube just fine without the need to run out and buy a 134.

 

[AcesAnd8s]

It is a weak flavor, now. Before, it was like I was eating a sundae without eating ice cream (absolutely loved it) now, I get just a hint of flavor, and an aftertaste that I can only describe as powdery...like a put a handful of flour in my mouth.

That's at 6-7 watts on the Lavatube. Any higher, I get slightly more flavor, mixed with an unforgivable burnt taste.

Maybe I don't know enough about vaping tech to get this, but...if I remove the wicks, what is doing the work in rendering the e-liquid to vapor?

(By the way, thanks for trying to help here, guys, I really appreciate it.)

 

[jefsview]

Since you have stopped smoking, your tastebuds are going to wake up and flavors will taste differently. If it's been a few weeks, well, you will begin to taste and smell things you haven't in years.

The first few months in switching to vaping is one of transition, and that means, unfortunately, you may have to spend some money and time discovering what will keep you going. Sometimes it's as simple as cleaning more often, adjusting your VV/VW, fine tuning your experience. Your taste in flavors will definitely change, and the hunt is on. Whereas once you never noticed how much your favorite liquid tasted like chemicals -- suddenly it's all nasty.

Transition.

And troubleshooting. You might have a pack of bad coils, or didn't tilt the clearo or it needed a dry pull and got burnt.

The first few weeks are the hardest. After that, it becomes relaxing and fun and most satisfying. I know I haven't answered any questions directly, but, although you might not be able to post in other sections of the forum until after your 5th post, you can certainly looking for answers directly related to your equipment to try to troubleshoot.

 

[Blackboar]

A lot of the chocolate flavors gunk up your coils pretty fast. You may try to soak you coil heads in a cup of vodka. It should dissolve some of the gunk, then dry burn on the Lavatube with *short* pulses. If it's a coil issue, that may fix the burnt taste.

Also, the resistance of your coils may be lower than the first ones you tried. So if it's a low resistance coil, like 1.8 ohms, it may be burning the juice at above 7-8 watts.

My experience with the Kanger coil heads revolved around leakage and gurgling, at times, but flavor was not an issue for me.

 

[Tom Fuller]

I forgot to mention that. Yes, I have.
The Vapage tank came with a replacement coil, it's the type that screws into the top (just like the CE4 tank, is there a term for this? top coil, maybe?) So that tank continues to operate as it did before...which is to say, based (apparently) solely on how the battery wants to behave.

The Kanger, I replaced the coil with Kanger's "new" replacements (longer post) and that SEEMED to be when the trouble started.
I replaced the coil again, just to see if I got a bum coil or something, and no change. I inverted the rubber seal that sits on the post just above the wicks (as I've read some people had luck with that) and no change.

Before, the Lavatube was performing beautifully at around 11-13 watts. Now, if I go above 7, it tastes all burned, and 7 or below, it tastes like I'm vaping talcum powder with a hint of the flavor I bought (in this case, Chocolate Sundae from Cosmic Fog)

I don't see the ohm rating of the coil that tasted fine and the one you are getting a burnt taste from. But here are some mechanical things to consider when vaping. Our goal is to get the juice to critical temp where it will vaporize. So final temp plus air exchange and fluid flow all need to be in balance to maintain the temp and saturation needed. I have found a light draw on the Kanger pt3 gives a burnt taste due to not pulling enough juice in to maintain saturation in effect over heating the juice. Solution pull harder. Most of us had flooding with the oring on the bottom of the head twisting on the last 1/4 turn onto a mod and with a dry oring it makes a gap between the legs of the coil and the pin making it flood like mad. We then try to draw softer and softer to eliminate the flood but the leak is below the coil so that light draw just makes it taste burnt. Lube the oring with ejuice before you install a new head and then pull as hard as you want and enjoy.


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[Maestro]

Look up vaper's tongue. And drink lots of water for a while

 

[GPC2012]

Sounds like a gunked up coil and burned wick

 

[Tom Fuller]

Just had the powder burnt taste for about five toots. I pulled they head ran it under warm water dry it off install burn off the water prime and puff burnt gone.


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[dice57]

Welcome to the frustrating beginners vape curve. you'll get there, I did, but it's amazing the vape great gear can provide, once you learn how. I found vapenes through regulate mods and re-buildable atomizers. Things just seemed to evolve on their own accord since then. The 134 and Nautilus would be a good vapegining. With all atomizers, prober wick saturation, air flow and power consideration, care and maintenance are all required learning.

 

[chrisbru]

Just wanted to say welcome from another Iowa city member! I get all my stuff when I'm in Des Moines. My brother works at a b&m there.

My best set up is a provari mini with aspire nautilus. For a bit cheaper, you can snag a few different mods that would do the job. I like my itaste svd with smok cartotanks for a setup you can get for $60 or so out the door.


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[bgold]

I have gone through 2 mini pro tank II's, and 1 pro tank 3, and I have to say my experience with these kanger pro tanks is similar to yours.

I had tried everything. New atomizer, different rated atomizer, new o-rings, taking them all apart and putting them back together, etc.

Best case it would work good for a day. And when the pro tanks are working good, they are splendid.

But common case, I would be lucky to even get 3 hours out of it without either liquid going everywhere, mostly into my mouth on sudden notice, or spilling out below into the battery, or a dry/burnt hit. Or even if it was useable, it would be gurgling like mad.

I think it has a lot to do with that i bicycle as my transportation everywhere and its always in my pocket. The temperature change + constant shaking of my bicycle I think just made the tank un-easy.

And then there is the whole thing with most bottom coil devices where if you don't keep it 3/4 full or more, the pressure changes, and that can cause a lot of these issues.

I keep trying all kinds of new clearomizers, but I keep coming back to the Kanger t2 series. It's a little older, but I have yet to have any of them leak on me. Sometimes with the T2 when it gets below 1/2 you have to remember to tilt it up a bit to encourage the juice to go to the front (because it has a top coil) but i'm willing to put up with that for a reliable clearomizer that needs virtually no maintenance except new coils occasionally.

Anyways, it gets better. there is a plethora of devices and hardware out there. Don't stick with the frustrating stuff it its not working for ya and you've tried everything.. good luck!