Noob seeking advice on keeping a clean taste

[drthunder]

Hey everyone! I was a smoker for 15 years and i recently switched to vaping. It has been almost 3 weeks now and for the most part vaping has been a very enjoyable experience. I started off with an evod and ego c twist. The juice i had was not really that great, just some 55 and camel flavoring which got me by for 2 weeks. At this point the coil burnt out and i decided to get a mini protank 2 with some hawk sauce from mount baker. I really fell in love with this setup and it is perfect for me. However this time around the coil burnt out after 2 days. this is with 2.5 ohm coils and 4v.

After doing a bunch of research i found out that you could dry burn the coil to clean it. I do exactly as stated in numerous videos, however the coil still smells burnt. On top of that i get this burnt taste in my mouth that ruins my pallet and i can barely taste the e-juice while vaping. I just don't understand why these coils are burning after 2 days. I give them plenty of time in between hits to soak up and i try to take shorter hits. A lot of the videos out there you see the host taking frequent long drags without any problems... not really sure what the problem is.

So basically i just wanted to know how you keep a clean taste. Is it possible to air dry instead of dry burning? Do you toss your e-juice that is inside the tank when your coil burns? How do you make a coil not burn after 2 days? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[Burn_notice_fan_NY]

Sweeter liquids tend to gunk up coils quickly. This could be one potential issue. The dry burning process doesn't 'dry' the coil, but burns off the gunk. You can rinse the heads and tanks in warm water, or place in a vodka solution to further clean. If you are not tasting the liquid, you might have your first bout of vaper's tongue and will have to wake up your buds through any recommendations or just tough it out until it goes away.

 

[mynewtoy]

different juice builds up on the coils at different rates. some juice i can vape for 2 weeks and some only takes a couple of days to gunk up the coil.

i don't really know how to clean a protank coil, but i found this
How to clean your Kanger Protank Coil - YouTube

no you don't have to throw the juice inside the tank away. the juice is not burnt the coil is. just put it back in the bottle

 

[AndriaD]

Hey everyone! I was a smoker for 15 years and i recently switched to vaping. It has been almost 3 weeks now and for the most part vaping has been a very enjoyable experience. I started off with an evod and ego c twist. The juice i had was not really that great, just some 55 and camel flavoring which got me by for 2 weeks. At this point the coil burnt out and i decided to get a mini protank 2 with some hawk sauce from mount baker. I really fell in love with this setup and it is perfect for me. However this time around the coil burnt out after 2 days. this is with 2.5 ohm coils and 4v.

After doing a bunch of research i found out that you could dry burn the coil to clean it. I do exactly as stated in numerous videos, however the coil still smells burnt. On top of that i get this burnt taste in my mouth that ruins my pallet and i can barely taste the e-juice while vaping. I just don't understand why these coils are burning after 2 days. I give them plenty of time in between hits to soak up and i try to take shorter hits. A lot of the videos out there you see the host taking frequent long drags without any problems... not really sure what the problem is.

So basically i just wanted to know how you keep a clean taste. Is it possible to air dry instead of dry burning? Do you toss your e-juice that is inside the tank when your coil burns? How do you make a coil not burn after 2 days? Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Hi Thunder, welcome to ECF, and vaping. I would always rinse my heads/coils in hot running water, dry burn till all the gunk is gone, then rinse again in hot running water, which got rid of the lingering burnt taste -- I noticed that taste too, the first time I did it, and hadn't rinsed *after* dry burning. I let them sit for an hour or two after the rinse/dry burn/rinse, then put on a new flavor wick, and put it all back together, it's good to go. There might still be traces of water in the wick inside the coil, but it vaporizes off very quickly, and doesn't really affect the flavor, might be just a little milder taste for a hit or two, but nothing major.

As for why they're getting toasted so fast, that's probably the e-liquid you're using, I would guess something high in VG; it gunks up coils something fierce (as well as my asthmatic lungs!), so instead of vegetable glycerine I call it 'vegetable gunk'. If you use that kind of e-liquid, that's just a side effect you have to deal with, as well as it not wicking as quickly, making it prone to "dry hits", which also taste burned, and quite awful. A higher level of PG would keep the coils cleaner, longer, and are less prone to the dry hit problem.

Andria

 

[drthunder]

Thanks for the replies. Andria i will try the method of rinsing after the dry burn, sounds like a good idea. Would you suggest making cotton wicks if i burn threw coils quickly? I like the idea of just placing in a new cotton wick every time it burns.

 

[DavidOck]

You may not be correctly doing the dry burn. Or not completely, leaving some gunk still on the coil. Do you see all turns of the wire individually glowing? Should look sharp, not fuzzy. If fuzzy, there's still gunk. Pulse some more. And maybe rinse again (or soak) after complete.

What are you doing to replace the flavor wicks? They have to come out for dry burning, and I usually find them not re-uesable. I replace them with a strand of 100% cotton yarn. Or you can use sterile cotton balls to tease out new a one.

My experience with the mini PT2 and similar Davides is that they really don't like high power. The don't seem to wick fast enough for that.

As said, some juices just gunk faster. Once the coil gets covered, flavor goes south. Just a vaper's price to pay for those flavors.

You might try continuing your draw for a bit after releasing the fire button. That will draw out the last of the vapor, so it doesn't condense back onto the coil. May help a bit.

 

[drthunder]

Thanks David for the reply. I will try to draw out the vapor like you said. These forums are amazing .

 

[AndriaD]

I got some organic cotton to use with this kayfun (rebuildable) I just got, and the other night I decided to try some of it in a T3S (kanger) coil. It's amazing, really; I didn't have good luck at all with cotton yarn, it just doesn't seem absorbent enough to hold enough liquid to keep it from burning, so I had started using silica or ekowool again in the T3S coils. I was just stupefied by how much the taste improved, just by using a well-compressed coil and organic cotton to wick it. It's not as intense as the kayfun, but the taste is just as good.

So yes, keep up with the dry burning, as DavidOck said, till the whole coil is glowing red, pulses, like 3 seconds on; I turn mine around between pulses, sort of the physical equivalent of counting 1-thousand-2-thousand-3-thousand-... Once the entire coil glows red quickly and looks sharp and clean, that's enough, and you can and probably should rinse again in hot running water, to get rid of the lingering taste of the dry-burn itself. Also, even though the silica in the coil can be dry burned a number of times, after about 3-4 times it's probably best to rewick; silica is quite hardy to high heat, but not completely impervious, and it will break down over time. And as I found, organic cotton for wicking is absolutely primo, no matter the size of the coil. You don't even have to boil it, in fact I found that with the organic cotton balls, it tastes better if you *don't* boil it.

Andria

 

[TrendyPete]

Would you suggest making cotton wicks if i burn threw coils quickly? I like the idea of just placing in a new cotton wick every time it burns.

If you can rewick or rebuild the coils, that would help a lot and you could just rebuild instead of trying to clean the coil head. However if you're using cotton wicking then you should probably avoid dry burning. It works with silica wicks but probably not so good for cotton.

You could also consider a dripper, which is easier to rebuild than a coil head. Use your dripper at home and the tank for out and about. That way you dont have to worry about putting as many hours on the tank coils.

Sent from my ZTE V768 using Tapatalk 2

 

[MrPlink]

After dry burning I liked to rinse mine off to clear off any carbon on the wicks.

However

This is kinda the nature of the beast.

The coils and wicks are mass manufactured and the quality control is all over the board. I have had some last well over 2 weeks. I have had more than a few that were dead after 2 days, and even a few that were DOA immediately.

Your options are -

-Buy them in bulk and hope for the best.
Make sure you buy authentic Kanger replacements. Also be aware some juices will kill wicks and coils faster than others.

-Learn to rebuild the heads on your own.
Coil building isnt hard per se BUT rebuilding a Kanger head can be challenging because of how small they are.

- Do what most vape vets do and get a rebuildable atomizer to get optimum consistent performance.

 

[Merryhellion]

gunky coils and apathetic flavor drove me to get my first trident v2 rda. Since I vape more at home than out and about, dripping has worked out pretty well for me. well worth the effort imo!

 

[DavidOck]

If you can rewick or rebuild the coils, that would help a lot and you could just rebuild instead of trying to clean the coil head. However if you're using cotton wicking then you should probably avoid dry burning. It works with silica wicks but probably not so good for cotton.

You could also consider a dripper, which is easier to rebuild than a coil head. Use your dripper at home and the tank for out and about. That way you dont have to worry about putting as many hours on the tank coils.

Sent from my ZTE V768 using Tapatalk 2

Well, sure, cotton won't dry burn. When dry, it just burns. But that IS and easy way to get the old wick out Then complete the cleaning of the coil, put in new cotton wick and flavor wick. (I use silica for the main wick when I rebuild Kanger style heads, with cotton yarn for the flavor wick. That way I can dry burn numerous times before needing to rebuild, just replacing the flavor wick. On my Kayfuns I just use sterile cotton teased out to make the wicks. And don't bother boiling it, either.)

I find drippers great for taste testing, but not my style for "regular" vaping. Too fiddly for my habit

 

[AndriaD]

Well, sure, cotton won't dry burn. When dry, it just burns. But that IS and easy way to get the old wick out Then complete the cleaning of the coil, put in new cotton wick and flavor wick. (I use silica for the main wick when I rebuild Kanger style heads, with cotton yarn for the flavor wick. That way I can dry burn numerous times before needing to rebuild, just replacing the flavor wick. On my Kayfuns I just use sterile cotton teased out to make the wicks. And don't bother boiling it, either.)

I find drippers great for taste testing, but not my style for "regular" vaping. Too fiddly for my habit

I got my first RDA yesterday, but I'm not sure it's for me *at all*... I have asthma, and it seems every time I take a hit, it just takes my breath away -- coughing fit, where's my inhaler?!? But the kayfun, now that's a champion. I got a clone, the Tobeco, for an *excellent* price on ebay, but the quality is just fantastic. If a clone is this good, then someday down the road I'm going to *have to* get hold of a "real" one -- and probably several more clones!

But I gotta keep trying with this RDA, because it really is a great way to do taste-testing -- and it does give a very clear taste -- I'm finally able to taste HDV's Constant Comment; whether that's because I let it steep for a month, or because of tasting it in my new Caterpillar, I can't say for sure, maybe both, but at least now I can taste it enough to know what's lacking -- the taste of HONEY! Gotta find a genuinely honey-flavored ejuice, because I *always* put honey in my Constant Comment tea.

I might need to start a new thread, RDAs for asthmatics, to see if other asthmatics have solved the takes-breath-away problem with them.

Andria

 

[jpasint]

Can't really help with the burn because I just replace my coils when they are done.
I can tell you that since I started using a VS DNA mod, my coils last a lot longer.
I chain vape sometimes and that seems to be what gunks up the coil faster than anything, from my experience.

The DMA mod is a serious chunk of metal that helps keep the entire 510 connector from getting too hot and I think that is what really helps my coils from gunking up. Just my experience.

 

[webfeet]

I'm pretty new to this also and was told by the lady who mixes my juice to use cheap vodka, I use it to clean my tanks and carts and use a vodka q-tip on the heads.....if I'm wrong someone please guide us to the right source (btw: never use canned air to blow out a clean cart, cotton everywhere)

 

[DavidOck]

Some soak the heads in cheap vodka for cleaning. You actually want to avoid rubbing the heads since you're likely to degrade the wicks. And just blot dry.

Canned air, eh? I can visualize that !!

 

[AndriaD]

Some soak the heads in cheap vodka for cleaning. You actually want to avoid rubbing the heads since you're likely to degrade the wicks. And just blot dry.

Canned air, eh? I can visualize that !!

In a carto? It would look like a pillow fight! Or maybe an indoor snow storm!

Andria

 

[drthunder]

Rinsing the coil after dry burning helped somewhat, but i still seem to burn threw the wick quickly. It must be the hawk sauce that i am using. I decided to get some organic cotton. There is much more flavor, cleaner hits and the wicks last longer. Seems to be the way to go!