Penelope Flavor Issues

[Dominicanto]

I received my ready made wires and wick from COV yesterday and went at it to make my first coil. Results, not good. I've followed the how-tos from Imeo and Scott (igetcha69) and I'm getting the following:

- a slightly burnt taste
- the taste of the silica with hardly little taste of the actual juice
- a very airy inhale with not as much vapor as others seem to be getting

Ive used both a 50/50 liquid and a 100% VG. I've tried one wick, two wicks and even three (for the all VG juice).

It fires each and every time on the Provari. I get 1.5 ohms each time I wrap them no matter how many wraps I do around the silica. These things tell me that my setup of the coils is good (I think). I adjusted the length of the pin from the 510 connector to make a tighter draw. I've left the mouthpiece open from 1/4 of a turn to several turns to ensure that it's not a wicking issue.

Things that may be helpful to know. Before putting on the mouthpiece, I saturated the wick from all sides and fired it up to make sure things were good. Though it does fire up, I'm getting popping sounds and then I see things shooting out from the coil with the vapor. It's not balls of fire or anything, but as you hear the pop you definitely see things popping about. For a 1.5ohm coil, I test as low as 3volts so that I don't risk burning anything out and still get the pops. Also, the vapor seems to be carrying what appears to be dust particles (silica?) because when I close my mouth my teeth appear to be crunching on something kind of like when you get ocean water in your mouth and can can cruch whatever salt/sand is in it.

Sorry for the long post and looking for any help you can give. I've got no more coil left so I'm hoping I can fix what I have on the Penelope until I get more in. Otherwise, she's beautiful, but she doesn't seem to like me :-(

 

[ggero]

Are you sure that the wire is tight enough over the wick ?
Also, check that the wick is feeding right with juice... Try to put 2-3 drops of juice at the coil (through mouthpiece) to see

 

[diack]

Try 60/40 or more thin.

 

[Dominicanto]

The wick looks to be feeding right, it's just that the flavor is completely off and it just tastes like silica (with some juice). How tight around the wick should the coils be? They're fairly tight as it is. Wish I could do 60/40 or more PG, but I don't react well to higher PG, unfortunately. I'm sure it's got less to do with the juice than something I'm doing wrong in creating the coil. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until I receive supplies next week. Any other thoughts out there are most welcome.

 

[rocky111]

Did u try torching the wick till it glows before you wrap it? I do that for a second to remove the silica taste, but aside from that make sure ur connections are tight coz somehow if the connection +& - is not tight enough the penelope doest perform well, just try to play with your rebuilds and you will get it right eventually, btw the spacing of the coils plays a big part aswell, try to wrap it close together without touching

 

[HighPlainsDrifter]

For whatever reason, I get better taste and vapor production when my coil/wick sits a little above the cup. Not completely out of it but definitely not set all the way down into the cup.

 

[Dominicanto]

Did u try torching the wick till it glows before you wrap it? I do that for a second to remove the silica taste, but aside from that make sure ur connections are tight coz somehow if the connection +& - is not tight enough the penelope doest perform well, just try to play with your rebuilds and you will get it right eventually, btw the spacing of the coils plays a big part aswell, try to wrap it close together without touching

Torching the silica wick or the wire? I didn't in either case, but sounds reasonable. What type of torch should I use (butane blue flame like you use for pastries or more powerful than that)? I think you may be on to spacing with the wires and I get the sense that they may be too far apart. I'll try to pull the coil out and use a new wick to see (wish I had more wire on hand). Thanks for the suggestions.

By the way, is there simply a break in period that I need to account for?

 

[RiverNut]

I don't seem to need to torch the wick but if you get your resistance wire red hot for a second before you wrap your coil, you eliminate the chance for a metallic taste. You might feel that new wick needs to break in for a ml or so, but it shouldn't be any more than that

 

[Ezkill]

It shouldn't have anything to do with the VG/PG content. I vape everything from 50/50 to 100 percent VG(Boba's Bounty) and it all works really well, that's why you have a juice control.

Sounds like you have a lack of juice problem more then anything fromm your description.

Your coils could be too tight. A good tightness is inserting a straightened paperclip and then wrapping your wick fairly tight. When you are done wrapping remove the paperclip and you are an optimal tightness.

Second suggestion would be using a double or triple wick design. Two or three strands of wick in the top coil. It's a "juicier" hit and it should give you more flavor.

 

[Dominicanto]

It shouldn't have anything to do with the VG/PG content. I vape everything from 50/50 to 100 percent VG(Boba's Bounty) and it all works really well, that's why you have a juice control.

Sounds like you have a lack of juice problem more then anything fromm your description.

Your coils could be too tight. A good tightness is inserting a straightened paperclip and then wrapping your wick fairly tight. When you are done wrapping remove the paperclip and you are an optimal tightness.

Second suggestion would be using a double or triple wick design. Two or three strands of wick in the top coil. It's a "juicier" hit and it should give you more flavor.

Thanks for the suggestions. I've actually tried double and triple wicks with no success. It's just a metallic, airy and mostly flavorless vape. That said, the way I'm putting my coils together and how tight they are could be the issue. When I get new coil, I'll try the paperclip trick and see how that goes.

I've had the juice control completely opened and no improvement.

 

[ChrisEU]

Two other things to look for:

- Make sure you don't damage the wick when you assemble the inner part. The nut that holds the inner part in the base can scratch the wick in the channels and hinder wicking
- Try loosening the wick a tad in the top corners of the channels, where there is a 90 degree angle from the channel to the coil area. If that bend is too sharp, juice can not wick into the coil.

 

[unloaded]

It sounds too me like you're getting too much juice. I've had that happen and got similar results. Lots of sizzling and popping, seems to make more a mist than a vapor. Lots of throat hit and little vapor. Close the liquid control all the way and vape for a while. I expect it will start getting better and better then start to drop off on the dry side. Once it starts getting dry then you need to start opening the control. It'll take a bit to find the sweet spot but you'll get there. I've been running my pre-made wire for about a week and its still going strong. It measures 1.6ohm and I do 3.8-4.0v depending on mood. I've got a thinner juice in it probably 80/20 pga/vga

 

[Beco]

Put 510/510 connector between Penelope and mod you are using.

 

[Dominicanto]

It sounds too me like you're getting too much juice. I've had that happen and got similar results. Lots of sizzling and popping, seems to make more a mist than a vapor. Lots of throat hit and little vapor. Close the liquid control all the way and vape for a while. I expect it will start getting better and better then start to drop off on the dry side. Once it starts getting dry then you need to start opening the control. It'll take a bit to find the sweet spot but you'll get there. I've been running my pre-made wire for about a week and its still going strong. It measures 1.6ohm and I do 3.8-4.0v depending on mood. I've got a thinner juice in it probably 80/20 pga/vga

Loos like you're explaining what I'm getting. I'm also pre-saturating the wicks (as many videos have done) to test the wick and it could be that I'm putting too much. Thicker juices may cling on longer to the wick and I have been opening the flow control thinking my problem was the opposite (not enough juice). I'll try out your suggestion and see how it goes. Thanks!

 

[Dominicanto]

Put 510/510 connector between Penelope and mod you are using.

Lol - I tried that, too and still the same (less airy, though). Thanks.

 

[Ezkill]

I can also see how it could be too much juice.

I know this all sounds rather complicated and finicky. Too much juice, too little juice, coils too tight, coils not tight enough. Once you build it a few more times I'm confident you will iron out your issues and have an "Aha" moment. It's really not as finicky as it sounds and the second you get it working you will likely never have an issue again.

After I solved my initial issue I can say that I've rebuilt dozens of coils on all of my devices(due to experimentation not failure)and not had a single problem. Takes all of a few minutes to do it now that I'm well practiced.

As far as the juice control goes. Keep it closed and vape a bit when you first do a fill. Make sure it's closed as you're filling. You may get a bit of flooding when you first fill depending on how you close your top cap. Vape it for a while as it will clear. Even with the thickest juices I've only had to open the coil 4 twists(not turns) in order to get proper wicking. I would start with 2 twists on a thinner juice once you have any excess juice cleared and adjust from there.

 

[cazmo]

Did u try torching the wick till it glows before you wrap it? I do that for a second to remove the silica taste, but aside from that make sure ur connections are tight coz somehow if the connection +& - is not tight enough the penelope doest perform well, just try to play with your rebuilds and you will get it right eventually, btw the spacing of the coils plays a big part aswell, try to wrap it close together without touching

Thanks for mentioning the torch method. I recently switched to flavorless, and dealt with the silica taste for a few hours till it broke in. Did a new coil/wick lastnight without any silica taste. Thanks!

 

[Dominicanto]

I don't seem to need to torch the wick but if you get your resistance wire red hot for a second before you wrap your coil, you eliminate the chance for a metallic taste. You might feel that new wick needs to break in for a ml or so, but it shouldn't be any more than that

What type of torch would you recommend I get. Please bear in mind that I live in a city apartment so something small that I can conceal from my little ones, but can get the job done, would be ideal. Thanks.

 

[Ariel_MX]

A gas stove works also.

 

[Dominicanto]

Thanks, Ariel. That would be perfect. A few seconds over the blue end of the flame and that's it - correct?