Introducing and question

[Foxysmom]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the vaping thing. Have a Pico with the melo 3 tank. Using .3 ohm coils with 12mg nic juice.

All was good with the coil that came in the tank. Right off the bat, I purchased a package of extra coils so I wouldn't be without. Ever since then, no matter what I do, I get a few (maybe 10) nice vapes and then the nasty burning dry hit/ coil burnt thing.

I have primed the coils (putting drops of juice on the cotton before putting it in the tank), taken pulls on it without hitting the fire button, let it sit for half an hour, starting out at low wattage and working up, all of the above and still the same thing. I've gone thru 5 coils in the last week trying all manner of different things to get that nice, smooth vape I had in the beginning to no avail.

At this point I'm at my wits end as to what to do or what could be the problem and I'm about to give up on the whole thing... which I don't want to do because I really want to quit the cancer sticks and enjoy all this tasty juice I have.

With the first coil I was vaping at about 30-40 watts, depending on the juice, and in the last week or so have not been going above 25 watts and getting the nasties.

Help!!

 

[djsvapour]

Welcome @Foxysmom

The Melo 3 isn't 100% perfect, nor are many others. However, I really do rate the Eleaf EC coils (0.3/0.5) despite the occasional slow wicking. I use them in other tanks as well and think I know what you are experiencing.

What is your VG/PG ratio?
When you say it's good for 10 do you mean puffs in a row? Constantly hitting on it can cause problems - I've not tried more than 10 in a row...but I sense it gradually gets less soaked (the cotton) so the more in a row the more likely, I guess.

Sadly, I have to admit that today my Melo 3 is off to a better place (I'm giving it away) because I just don't think it's up to the job.
Maybe other people who use these coils can comment. I find they work worse in the Melo 3 than the iJustS and Atlantis EVO.

I prime but I rarely 'sit' - not that sitting for a while* will hurt.
I do however make sure I leave it be for a while between vapes.

*We know these coils get very wet indeed (flooded) if you leave them too long (days), so there must be an ideal amount of time to let the juice 'refresh' between vapes... they clearly do suck up juice, just maybe a little too slow for your needs.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

Somehow, the juice is not wicking to the coil. The 10 or so drags you get are from the juice you primed with. Once that's gone, there's nothing to feed the coil and... burnt cotton.

Are you filling the tank completely, submerging the coil?

Also, clone coils are notorious for poor performance. Make sure you're using authentic Eleaf coils rather than "generic" offerings.

 

[Carl2]

It is possible it could be the PG, VG ratio of the juice you are using. PG is quite a bit thinner than VG and would flow through the cotton quicker. I'm now using a 65 PG 35 VG ratio which is less than I used previously. It is said that PG
carries the flavor and VG produces the clouds. For the problem you are having I'd try a higher PG.

 

[Foxysmom]

Thank you @djsvapour. Yeah, it's good for 10 puffs, not chain vaping. Might do 2 or 3 pretty tight together, but then let it sit for a while. I'm using vape wild juice at either 65/35 or 50/50. My initial thought after bad coil was that the 65/35 was the culprit, so switched it out to the 50/50 when I switched out to a new coil.

@IBCR Media, yes, I'm filling the tank completely. I've thought that it was a bad batch of coils (originally purchased from direct vapor), so stopped at my local B&M last week and picked up some Atlantis coils. Same deal with them.

@Carl2 yes, as you can see above, I've tried switching juice to 50/50 and having the same issue.

I'm just not sure what's going on with these coils not wicking. My latest thought is maybe something wrong with an o-ring causing a tiny air leak that's preventing it from wicking properly. Gonna have to suck it up, dump the juice and tear the thing totally apart. Meanwhile, I've got all these coils that I'm not sure are even still usable. I didn't continue using them after the nasty hits, so maybe once I get it wicking properly again, I'll be able to use them.

 

[Coastal Cowboy]

I wouldn't count on using those coils again. Unlike silica wicks, cotton burns and once burned badly enough, it's impossible to get rid of all of the burnt flavor.

 

[Foxysmom]

Yeah, probably not going to be able to use them, but I'm trying to be a hopeless optimist in this situation. LOL

Upon some further investigation and the help of my Google-fu, I've determined the wicking issue is vapor lock. If I unscrew the top cap a bit every couple puffs, a big bubble comes up from the bottom of the tank. Screw the cap back on, take a couple more puffs, rinse and repeat. Now to find a more permanent solution than unscrewing the cap every couple puffs.

 

[zoiDman]

... Now to find a more permanent solution than unscrewing the cap every couple puffs.

Hi Foxysmom. Welcome to the ECF.

A Nasty Burnt Taste is almost always cause by a Dry Hit. And a Dry Hit is caused by Not Enough e-Liquid reaching the Coil for a given Wattage/Airflow setting. So Anything you can do to Increase the Amount of e-Liquid reaching the Coil should Help.

I would suggest taking a Pin or Small Needle and poking the Cotton thru the Holes on the side of the Coil Head. Not a Lot. Just fluff it up a tad. If the Cotton is packed too tight in the Coil Head, it can keep e-Liquid from reaching the Coil fast enough.

 

[zoiDman]

BTW - I think the Melo 3 Tank can take either 0.3 or 0.5 Ohms Coil Heads.

If you stay with the Melo 3, you might try the 0.5 Ohm Coil Heads and see if they work better.

 

[Grimwald]

The ECR head might be a possibility. It is comes premade at 1.0 oHm or you could rebuild it higher and adjust the cotton content. I'm not completely sure if it is compatible with the melo 3 (it is for the melo 2). Just a thought.

 

[r77r7r]

Yeah, probably not going to be able to use them, but I'm trying to be a hopeless optimist in this situation. LOL

Upon some further investigation and the help of my Google-fu, I've determined the wicking issue is vapor lock. If I unscrew the top cap a bit every couple puffs, a big bubble comes up from the bottom of the tank. Screw the cap back on, take a couple more puffs, rinse and repeat. Now to find a more permanent solution than unscrewing the cap every couple puffs.

I used to have a tank that I used to have to leave unscrewed also. When I learned to totally saturate the coils, it then worked normally.Gl and welcome to the forums.

Still, I started at way low watts until I was sure..

 

[batteredwombat]

Can't help you, as I do not use coils like that, but please don't let your mitts touch another cancer stick. You will find what device works for you, try and stay patient and you will be glad you did, just takes time.

 

[Carl2]

"unscrew the top cap a bit every couple puffs, a big bubble comes up from the bottom" I remember this when going with the RBA's and also had to much cotton wicking blocking the liquid flow. I never burnt coils because of this though.

 

[BrotherBob]

Hi everyone. I'm new to the vaping thing. Have a Pico with the melo 3 tank. Using .3 ohm coils with 12mg nic juice.
All was good with the coil that came in the tank. Right off the bat, I purchased a package of extra coils so I wouldn't be without. Ever since then, no matter what I do, I get a few (maybe 10) nice vapes and then the nasty burning dry hit/ coil burnt thing.
I have primed the coils (putting drops of juice on the cotton before putting it in the tank), taken pulls on it without hitting the fire button, let it sit for half an hour, starting out at low wattage and working up, all of the above and still the same thing. I've gone thru 5 coils in the last week trying all manner of different things to get that nice, smooth vape I had in the beginning to no avail.
At this point I'm at my wits end as to what to do or what could be the problem and I'm about to give up on the whole thing... which I don't want to do because I really want to quit the cancer sticks and enjoy all this tasty juice I have.
With the first coil I was vaping at about 30-40 watts, depending on the juice, and in the last week or so have not been going above 25 watts and getting the nasties.
Help!!

Welcome and glad you joined.
Being new to vaping, you have selected an advanced vaping device. If you choose to stick with the tank, could read:
Tank type atomizers... For new vapists - how they work | E-Cigarette Forum
Wattage vs. Flavor | E-Cigarette Forum
All About Sub-Ohm Vaping | Spinfuel VAPE
or
Could consider a simple non sub ohm Tank until you get the hang of things.
Tanks-I would check out:
The Tron-S, with the CLR coils,the EHpro Kayfun Lite V2, Kayfun V5, and the Subtank Mini with the RBA