Newbie question about gunk

[sofarsogood]

So I haven't been DIYing for long but long enough to notice that the coil gunking annoyance is greatly reduced. After a couple of days with store bought liquid the coil is very gunked up, flavor is muted, throat hit gone, etc. I'm good at coils now but after almost 4 days on my DIY liquid the coil looks almost like new. I'm pretty sure I used a lot lower percentage of flavoring than what would be expected in pre mixed liquid. Is the amount of flavor a big determinant of gunking? If it is I want to work on that. It would be very nice to get a couple weeks out of a coil instead of a couple of days.

P.S. I worked some math. A week supply of eliquid is costing a few cents less than what I paid for just 3 cigarettes. That's crazy.

 

[Sgt.Rock]

Sweetener is a big coil killer--or at least it leaves a "shell" on your coils.

You can dry burn and rewick when that happens but typically I just run about 100 to 120 ml of my DIY juice and then change both coil and wick. It's so cheap (and kinds fun) to build a new coil that I don't bother dryburning at all.

And yeah man...around 3 cents per ML my cost is awesome sauce for sure.

 

[Marc411]

So I haven't been DIYing for long but long enough to notice that the coil gunking annoyance is greatly reduced. After a couple of days with store bought liquid the coil is very gunked up, flavor is muted, throat hit gone, etc. I'm good at coils now but after almost 4 days on my DIY liquid the coil looks almost like new. I'm pretty sure I used a lot lower percentage of flavoring than what would be expected in pre mixed liquid. Is the amount of flavor a big determinant of gunking? If it is I want to work on that. It would be very nice to get a couple weeks out of a coil instead of a couple of days.

P.S. I worked some math. A week supply of eliquid is costing a few cents less than what I paid for just 3 cigarettes. That's crazy.

There are a lot of bonuses to DIY, coils lasting longer, less expensive and getting to tweak your flavors just the way you want them to taste. I enjoy the cleanlier and less sugary flavors I make now. Now here's the downside, pretty big one to..... you'll let your friends taste them and they will want you to mix for them all the time.

I have one person that I'm pretty good friends with that I mix for and the rest I tell them I will share the recipes.

 

[sofarsogood]

There are a lot of bonuses to DIY, coils lasting longer, less expensive and getting to tweak your flavors just the way you want them to taste. I enjoy the cleanlier and less sugary flavors I make now. Now here's the downside, pretty big one to..... you'll let your friends taste them and they will want you to mix for them all the time.

I have one person that I'm pretty good friends with that I mix for and the rest I tell them I will share the recipes.

Yup, my vaping buddies at work are VERY interested in my DIY. I'll share some samples on the shop floor and have offered to help with a group buy when they are ready. I will mix for my brother for a while then start giving bad service so he becomes self sufficient. Part of the hobby for me now is encouraging smokers to quit. DIY is a goood tool for that. Free stuff is popular.

 

[Steamix]

Depends on their formular for mixing a certain flavour vs. your own recipe. Know of ready-made vanilla thats just vanillin and sugar. Cheap ingredients. Tastes artificial and the sugar caramelizes fast. Second refill and coil's clogged up completely. Done a vanilla myself, with a hideously expensive natural extract and just a wee bit of ethyl maltol. Coil is ticking over nicely after the 4th refill. Dakrer sweeter - gunks faster.
Mixin pure menthol for a buddy - one of his coils lasted a whopping 4 months...

 

[classwife]

Moved to DIY E-Liquid from General E-Liquid Discussion

 

[dannyv45]

As mentioned above the biggest killer of coils is overly sweet flavorings and even worst adding even more sweetener. But if you have to have that super sweet vape then you need to put up with cleaning, re-wicking and rebuilding more often. It's what I do.