Is my Walmart vg clogging my coils?

[pineappledan]

I buy the humco vg from Walmart for fit because it's cheap and convenient. I've mixed 3 or 4 different flavors with it and run about 70% VG to 30% PG ratio. I only get about a day or two out of my coils before they are completely gummed up. That's about 10 to 20 milliliters at 50 Watts on 26/32 Clapton coils on average. Is this normal for my vaping Style? Am I running the juice too hot? Or is the purity of this vg too low at 99.5% pure and the impurities are causing a clogging issue?

 

[Hoosier]

It's not the VG. The majority of non-VG portion of VG is water.

The usual suspects in coil clogging are sugars, fats, gums, and particulates.

I have a couple recipes that clog about as quickly as you indicate. Sweetener and particulates are the reason. They are good enough that I forgive the clogging, but I wouldn't use them as ADV's.

 

[Bonskibon]

Certain juices I vape I have to change out the cotton every couple of days. Quick dry burn, wick and good to go again. It can be a pain sometimes, but I enjoy my juices and willing to put up with it. Other juices I can run the coils for weeks.

 

[susscrofamorte]

I have found that coils which have a longer "ramp up time" also have a longer cool down time. Try releasing the fire button a little before you finish your draw. This will cool the coil a little faster and prevent juice from "cooking" on the coil.

 

[pineappledan]

I have found that coils which have a longer "ramp up time" also have a longer cool down time. Try releasing the fire button a little before you finish your draw. This will cool the coil a little faster and prevent juice from "cooking" on the coil.

OK I'll try that and see if it helps. I hate swapping coils every day, luckily I use rebuildables

 

[zoiDman]

I buy the humco vg from Walmart for fit because it's cheap and convenient. I've mixed 3 or 4 different flavors with it and run about 70% VG to 30% PG ratio. I only get about a day or two out of my coils before they are completely gummed up. That's about 10 to 20 milliliters at 50 Watts on 26/32 Clapton coils on average. Is this normal for my vaping Style? Am I running the juice too hot? Or is the purity of this vg too low at 99.5% pure and the impurities are causing a clogging issue?

Just curious. But do you add any Water to your VG before you do your DIY Flavor mixes? Or do you use Straight VG?

And what type of total Flavoring/Sweetener percentages are in one of your Averages mixes?

 

[dannyv45]

The sweeter and darker the mix the faster the coils clog. You can try reducing the heat a bit which will make the coils last a little longer. But if you vape sweet mixes then it's an issue we all have to deal with. And as you said thank god for rebuildables. I vape nets and some sweet desert mixes and go through the same thing. I like the vapes that I came up with so I'd rather put up with the small inconvienence then try to modify the recipe.

 

[pineappledan]

Just curious. But do you add any Water to your VG before you do your DIY Flavor mixes? Or do you use Straight VG?

And what type of total Flavoring/Sweetener percentages are in one of your Averages mixes?

I do not add water to my mix. I use 3mg/ml nicotine, 20% e-liq root beer flavor as my daily vape. I've cut the flavoring down to 15% but still clogged just as fast.

 

[zoiDman]

I do not add water to my mix. I use 3mg/ml nicotine, 20% e-liq root beer flavor as my daily vape. I've cut the flavoring down to 15% but still clogged just as fast.

After some amount of ml's, there is a point where a Coil just Clogs. And maybe for your e-Liquids, Coil Type, Wattage, Airflow, etc, that point is where you are?

I would try a Test Batch of Flavored DIY using Diluted VG as apposed to Pure VG. You might find that you Need Less Total Flavoring also when you use "Thinned" VG verses Pure VG.

 

[Zipslack]

I would say it's the Root Beer. Try doing a batch of unflavored using the same VG and PG and be amazed how long your coil and wick lasts.

Been using Walmart (Humco) VG for 3 years with no problems.

 

[pineappledan]

After some amount of ml's, there is a point where a Coil just Clogs. And maybe for your e-Liquids, Coil Type, Wattage, Airflow, etc, that point is where you are?

I would try a Test Batch of Flavored DIY using Diluted VG as apposed to Pure VG. You might find that you Need Less Total Flavoring also when you use "Thinned" VG verses Pure VG.

That sounds like it could be fun. How much dilution do you recommend, 10%?

 

[zoiDman]

That sounds like it could be fun. How much dilution do you recommend, 10%?

10% Might be a Tad too much. I would start with 5% and see what happens.

---

You can also take a New Coil and Wick and prime it with your Regular Flavored e-Liquid. Then Fill your Tank with Unflavored.

You might be Very Surprised how much Flavor you actually get doing this.

 

[pineappledan]

10% Might be a Tad too much. I would start with 5% and see what happens.

---

You can also take a New Coil and Wick and prime it with your Regular Flavored e-Liquid. Then Fill your Tank with Unflavored.

You might be Very Surprised how much Flavor you actually get doing this.

OK, I think I'll hit my mixing table now and see what happens thanks

 

[whiteowl84]

Could be your tank. My first rta was the Aromamizer. No matter how I'd vape, the coils and wick would be black in a day. I thought that was normal for months till I got a Griffin 25. I vape around 80w on fused 26 and the wicks last about 4 times longer than they did in the Aromamizer.

 

[TVC70]

I agree that I think you can rule out the Humco as the cause of your issues. I use very high VG unflavored juice, and I haven't noticed a diff between Walmart Humco and the VG I get from RTS, in terms of coil fouling.

 

[pineappledan]

I did add 5% water to my juice and ran 1 tank through so far, I noticed it spits a little more, a tfv4 micro with dual coil rba, but time will tell if I can get another day out of it.

 

[IDJoel]

I buy the humco vg from Walmart for fit because it's cheap and convenient. I've mixed 3 or 4 different flavors with it and run about 70% VG to 30% PG ratio. I only get about a day or two out of my coils before they are completely gummed up. That's about 10 to 20 milliliters at 50 Watts on 26/32 Clapton coils on average. Is this normal for my vaping Style? Am I running the juice too hot? Or is the purity of this vg too low at 99.5% pure and the impurities are causing a clogging issue?

Hi pineappledan,
I have a pretty similar set-up. I have been using the Walmart Humco VG in a 30PG/70VG 9mg/mL unflavored juice through a Geek Vape Griffin built with 3mm dual Clapton coils (26/32)(total build resistance is 4.75 ohms)at 50 to 55 watts for the past two months. I run it with both airflow and juice controls wide open. In that time I have gone through more than 350mL (12 oz.) of the juice and I have dry-burned the coils (and changed the KGD cotton) 3 times. I have NOT replaced the coils at all. So I feel fairly confident it is not the VG.

I do seem to find that once I take an accidental dry hit (from not paying attention to the juice level in my tank), and start the carbon build-up on the coil, it tends to snowball. So I have gotten in the habit of refilling my tank before it is completely empty.

I tend to agree with @dannyv45 that it is most likely the root beer. I have not been a root beer user so I can't speak with certainty, but when I first started vaping, I was told by a sales person at my local brick and mortar that the "dark" flavors like Coffee, Chocolate, Licorice, and Root Beer were all coil cloggers. So what Danny says makes sense to me.

And, like @Bonskibon says, the flavor can be worth the added nuisance/maintenance.

I did add 5% water to my juice and ran 1 tank through so far, I noticed it spits a little more

I have experimented with distilled water as well (I was looking for help w/dry-mouth) and had the same results (spitting/popping). I was told this is because water has a much lower boil/steam point that either VG or PG. I didn't need it to aid wicking (the 30/70 wicks just fine w/o dilution), and I didn't receive any other benefit from its addition so I quickly dropped it. I am glad that it works for some; it just didn't work for me.

 

[pineappledan]

Yea it must be my root beer. I ran about 5 ml's through it with5% water and looked at the coils. They were gunky, but not burnt like normal. It reminds me of spraying a squirt of water into an engine to decarbonize it haha! It's a real bummer because I love my root beer but it's a lot of work to tear down everyday. I might have to find s new all day vape.

 

[Forkeh]

You don't have to swap the coils every day. Just dry burn them clean and rewick.

 

[zoiDman]

Yea it must be my root beer. I ran about 5 ml's through it with5% water and looked at the coils. They were gunky, but not burnt like normal. It reminds me of spraying a squirt of water into an engine to decarbonize it haha! It's a real bummer because I love my root beer but it's a lot of work to tear down everyday. I might have to find s new all day vape.

Well at least it sounds like you have Narrowed Down the Culprit.

Because I kinda thought it was your Flavoring. Especially at those Percentages. But before you considered Ditching your Favorite Flavoring, I wanted you to Rule Out that it was the Pure VG.

Is lowering the Total Flavoring percentage an Option?