Serious problem with taste of vaping, very weird, help appreciated....

[flea77]

This is going to sound insane, if you are not willing to take some Advil you might want to avert your eyes now, heh.

I started with Blus. The first drag off a Blu was great! They went downhill rapidly in both battery life and atty performance. I figured that was just the way they were....until now.

I purchased an eGo kit, then another one, then another one for the wife, life was good. I purchased lots of flavors, in lots of mixtures, from lots of vendors. Here is what I have struggled with so far:

1) Standard 510 atty that came with the eGo kit. Harsh is the best word, flavor is weak, metallic taste, burn to the throat (NOT a throat hit) and mouth sometimes. I only have one of these attys but I have two that look just like it from Volcano (their Magma ones) and although I do not really "like" them, they do not suffer from the same problems, they are just a little too hot and do not give me as much flavor as I would like.
2) eGo cone attomizer with cart. If you get the balance just right, works great! 40% of the time it floods, 40% of the time it is harsh as above with weak flavor and throat burn, 20% of the time it works great!
3) eGo cone atty dripping. Forget it, 99% of the time it either floods or is too harsh.
4) eGo-T tank system. Weak flavor, harsh, metallic taste, throat burn. Occasionally a small hint of a plastic taste.
5) e2 XL Clearomizers. Four out of five started FANTASTIC! Best ever! Then started producing burned plastic taste that made me want to wash my mouth out with pee as that would be a better alternative to what it already tasted like. One of the four started out that way and never got better. Tried taking one apart, cleaning in vodka, cutting the wick, reassembling, same results.
6) eGo Mega Cartomizers. Best so far. Never any burned taste, flavors come out great, always work. This incidently was the first way I used the eGos when they arrived so they are now my benchmark.

Now lets clear some things up.

Q:Have I tried multiple items?
A:I have used multiple attys, not just one. If one doesn't work right, I have tried cleaning in vodka and boiling, no help. Both the eGo-T and eGo cone attys I have multiple of, and yes I have tried multiple tanks on the eGo-t. For the clearomizers I have tried five. For the carts and cartomizers, more than five each.

Q: Could it be your juice?
A: I have tried 50/50 mixes from WordUp, 70/20 PG/VG mixes from VaporBomb, two from Johnson Creek, and some 80/20 mixes from Backwoods Brew.

Q: Could it be just your tongue is screwed up?
A: Well I verified all of this with my wife before coming to you, so it would have to be both of us. My wife did mention that although the clearomizers had a plastic taste it was not as bad as I seemed to think it was. She also has better luck with the eGo cone attys, but better luck just means she gets 30% good use out of them instead of my 20%.

Q: How about your batteries, if they are the wrong voltage or something?
A: Two 650mah from WordUp, two 650mah USB from Vapor Kings, one 900 and one 1000 from Volcano, same results all around.

Q: So the flavors are not to your liking and some are a bit harsh, deal with it.
A: You seem to be missing something. For example, the clearomizers, when they hit with the plastic taste it is all I can do to not vomit, seriously. When the eGo cone atty has a harsh hit I am in serious physical pain, this is not a nic throat hit which I enjoy, this is PAIN.

Q: So you do not have this problem with Mega Cartos? At all?
A: Nope. The worst thing that has happened is one stopped up because of the super thick Swiss Dark from Johnson Creek and when they run dry the taste goes away and the vapor that is produced becomes very dry and a tad harsh, then I know it is time to refil.

So my question is this: What the heck is going on? My wife and I can not be the only people on the planet this picky. And we can not be this dang picky, what are we doing wrong? I am currently sitting here vaping BB Strawberry from a Mega Carto and all is well. The problem here is the cartos are a little messy to fill and carry, and I never know how much is in them, and I have yet to find a good way to clean them out. I would LOVE for either the clearomizer or eGo-T system to work for me, but I just can not get them to.

HELP!!

Allan

 

[WomanOfHeart]

Attys need time to break in and I would suggest flushing out the Clearomizers to see if that helps with the taste.

If you're trying to drip and it keeps flooding, then you're adding too much juice. Blow out your atty and try this:

Start with 3 drops in the atomizer and vape until the flavor changes and vapor production starts dropping off. Add two more drops and vape. Repeat the two drops again when the flavor changes and vapor production drops. I drip almost exclusively and rarely encounter flooding when I use this method.

I was never fond of the eGo Mega Cartos. They're too much of PITA. There really isn't a way to clean them effectively and I thought they were harsh and made my juice taste like dirty mop water. Some juices can also have more of harshness than others. I have a 50/50 Chocolate Eclair that vapes smooth as glass. I also have a 50/50 Peach that vapes a bit harsher. Both are also 18mg strength, so the nic level isn't the issue. It's just the way some juices are.

The mAh of your batteries isn't the same thing as the voltage. The mAh determines how long the battery life is between charges. The voltage of your batteries is 3.4V and probably around 3.2V under load.

 

[flea77]

Attys need time to break in and I would suggest flushing out the Clearomizers to see if that helps with the taste.

Yep, see #4 above, took one completely apart, cleaned in vodka, dried, retried, same thing.

If you're trying to drip and it keeps flooding, then you're adding too much juice. Blow out your atty and try this:

Start with 3 drops in the atomizer and vape until the flavor changes and vapor production starts dropping off. Add two more drops and vape. Repeat the two drops again when the flavor changes and vapor production drops. I drip almost exclusively and rarely encounter flooding when I use this method.

Should have mentioned this. When the Blus started failing I dripped for several weeks because the carts just would no longer work. I have lots of experience with it (I dripped exclusively, I had already quit analogs so this was the only way to feed my pack a day habit). The problem I have is I put on two drops, try and nothing happens, very harsh, nasty taste. So I drop a couple more, now it is flooded. I blow them out and add one drop, works fine for about two puffs, then add two drops, this either is not enough or it floods. I either blow it out and add one drop or add another drop which floods it, then I blow it out and add a drop and it is good for about two puffs. I should mention this is with the eGo cones, I have absolutely no problem dripping with the 510 standards from the Volcano Magmas.

I was never fond of the eGo Mega Cartos. They're too much of PITA. There really isn't a way to clean them effectively and I thought they were harsh and made my juice taste like dirty mop water. Some juices can also have more of harshness than others. I have a 50/50 Chocolate Eclair that vapes smooth as glass. I also have a 50/50 Peach that vapes a bit harsher. Both are also 18mg strength, so the nic level isn't the issue. It's just the way some juices are.

Funny that I have exactly the opposite. My Mega Cartos are the only thing that actually has flavor, hit and no bad taste until they are empty. Even then, it is not that bad.

The mAh of your batteries isn't the same thing as the voltage. The mAh determines how long the battery life is between charges. The voltage of your batteries is 3.4V and probably around 3.2V under load.

I fully realize that, I used this just to show that it could not be the battery because I had used three different sizes from three different vendors. You could in theory have a bad batch of 650mah batts for example, but that would not be the case as I tried 900s and 1000s as well. One vendor could impropperly store their batts causing different sizes to all malfunction, but that would not be the case as I tried three different vendors.

Thanks for the reply, see how weird this all is?

Allan

 

[Elvis Veiz]

yea i dont particularly like those products either. Debidge and dewick you regular 510 atty and it should not get the burt or harsh taste anymore. But you wont be able to use carts anymore only drip tips. LR 510 attys work amazing and so do the lr 306 from cisco. Again i always drip so if you dont want that the regular 510 cartomizers work good. Boge are good but i prefer slb way more vapor and taste. I get them from wordupecigs.com there is also lr cartomizers 1.5, 1.7, 2.0 .

 

[AttyPops]

WOH summed it up pretty well. Some additional thoughts if I digested that properly (no advil required):

1) Don't use Vodka... it still may have some natural sugars in it that have not converted to alcohol. Would give a burnt taste.

2) Use a regular atty for an experiment (this avoids the complications with cart stuff):
...A) Clean it out with water (ideally distilled) or isopropyl alcohol (can remove paint). Dry.
...B) Use a cart with 2 mm of the plastic end trimmed off, or a drip tip
...C) put 3 drops into the atty, vape a couple of times (don't inhale em)
...D) put 2 or 3 more drops in
...E) vape. Drip when taste changes, vape. Repeat.


That is as simple as it gets and avoids as much mechanical issues as possible. How's the juice? Still need to wash your mouth out to get rid of the taste? If, yes, rinse out again and DRY BURN.

3) LR atties get quite hot and IMHO "burn" some juices.... but not to the extent you described.

Also, some juice gets a burnt taste easily when the atty starts to get a little dry.... lime for example does this for me.

The atty is probably flooding after 2 drops because it is not clean and not heating/vaporizing the juice properly. This results in burned taste with flooding.

P.S. Oh yeah.... cartos suck IMO... many people just love em.... I use em when driving sometimes, but in general they can have issues with burnt taste, burnt filler, clogged hard-to-clean atties, etc. OTHO... they are disposable. So if it is an issue with a carto, toss it.

 

[flea77]

Attypops,

OK, I have both the eGo cone atty and eGo-T cleaned in isopropal alcohol now waiting on them to dry. I will test them out tomorrow to see if they are any better. I am mainly posting this to impart one piece of info. The eGo-T went into the alcohol black which matched all the rest of my eGo stuff, it came out silver, the paint fell right off. Might want to warn people of that before they do it, someone might get mad.

Allan

 

[AttyPops]

Sorry about your paint! (Now you have a cool two color silver-and-black "mod"... ahem). Also, I did suggest you use a standard atty as an experiment.... like your #1... for starters.

The maga ones may be different resistance... do you have a multi-meter? What are the atty ohms???

I have many atties that I clean in alcohol and they still have paint! I did have some non-joye that were scratched and the paint came off when the alcohol got under the paint... but it happened so long ago I guess I just forgot about that. Thought they fixed that.....Sorry again. I'll try and remember to mention it. Also, you don't need to soak em long; I usually dip em and let the alcohol run through, dip, run dip, run...

Also, post #5 edited to this effect.

P.S. Be real sure to get all the paint out of the atty.....

Also, I don't have an eGo-T, but see this cleaning demo link from cozzicon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Owoe5XoS4uI
He cleans em on camera and it's fine. Hmmmmm. And it's a black one. I'd say don't soak it too long, especially if it is scratched. How did the cone atty come out?

 

[cozzicon]

Sorry about your paint! (Now you have a cool two color silver-and-black "mod"... ahem). Also, I did suggest you use a standard atty as an experiment.... like your #1... for starters.

The maga ones may be different resistance... do you have a multi-meter? What are the atty ohms???

I have many atties that I clean in alcohol and they still have paint! I did have some non-joye that were scratched and the paint came off when the alcohol got under the paint... but it happened so long ago I guess I just forgot about that. Thought they fixed that.....Sorry again. I'll try and remember to mention it. Also, you don't need to soak em long; I usually dip em and let the alcohol run through, dip, run dip, run...

Also, post #5 edited to this effect.

P.S. Be real sure to get all the paint out of the atty.....

Also, I don't have an eGo-T, but see this cleaning demo link from cozzicon:
YouTube - eGo-T Atomizer Cleaning Demo....
He cleans em on camera and it's fine. Hmmmmm. And it's a black one. I'd say don't soak it too long, especially if it is scratched. How did the cone atty come out?

I remember the reports of a small minority of atties de-painting themselves in alcohol back when I first posted the atty cleaning how-t months ago.

Has to be a bad enamel or paint job.

 

[classwife]

Another thought on the leaking and harsh taste....and overheated atty will leak...and if you are overheating you are out vaping the wicking capabilities (harsh taste)....sometimes (still) when I chain vape I have to clean off my hands, PV, connections, and blow out the atty and start over...remembering that I really should take at least a few breaths in between vapes !

 

[AttyPops]

remembering that I really should take at least a few breaths in between vapes !

lol
nice bird.

Also, flea77, don't forget to blow the atties out after cleaning them so you get the extra liquid out of the "cup" in the bottom of the atty.

 

[Slickstick]

If you clean any device with isopropyl alcohol make sure you rinse it very good with very hot water afterwards.
You do NOT want to be vaping that.

 

[Big Hitter]

My two cents ......

Three things.

1) get a handheld steam cleaner for atty cleaning. The Shark or Bissell work great.

2) for dripping try some cisco 2 ohm 510 attys from avid vapor and never look back.

3) for cartomizers get some Boge 2 ohm cartos from various places (iVape dot net) and you will be in heaven.

Really #1 is most important. I had all kinds of atty troubles and wound up throwing a bunch away that were only days old.
Then I tried the Shark steam cleaner on them and now I have attys 3-4 months old that taste better than new.
I even steam clean my new ones before fist use..... Its AMAZING !!

 

[AttyPops]

If you clean any device with isopropyl alcohol make sure you rinse it very good with very hot water afterwards.
You do NOT want to be vaping that.

lol. Yeah... it's good advice. However, if I dual-rinse (water and ISO) I often do the iso afterward...lol. It helps drive the water and any minerals out. Speeds evaporation. Then blow it out and dry it. ISO dries with no residue. That's why I use it. My water is hard, so I don't have to mess with distilled water all the time... I usually just use ISO.

Trace amounts won't even bother you (as a generalization). That's not to suggest you vape it, and definitely don't drink it. But... meh. Use your head, think, that's all that's necessary. I've used em in a pinch by just blowing them out and warm-burning them, then blowing a few drops of juice through em. (the last-working-atty-needs-cleaning phenomenon)

How'd the atties perform flea77?

 

[flea77]

So far I have just tried the eGo-T and a low resistance 510.

The eGo-t is a little better, but I noticed after the alcohol evaporated I still had a strawberry odor which is what I was vaping before I cleaned it. Seems the alcohol can not penetrate everywhere in the atty, even when it strips the paint, heh. The eGo-T is better but is still blown away by the standard eGo mega carts. If I take very small drags with long pauses between then it seems OK but a little weak. If I vape like I do with the mega carts, I get a plastic taste and very little flavor, it is really nasty. I also get some burn.

The low resistance atty still stinks. Way too harsh (it is a 1.7ohm as compared to the ones that work great which are 2.6). I am pretty sure I am going to PIF it or trade it (I really want some blueberry 18mg, preferably 70/30 or 80/20 pg/vg and I can't stand the atty anyway so it might as well get traded off instead of sitting in a box).

Now, I felt like some people were thinking that I just did not know how to drip and that was causing the problem with the attys. I just spent the last two hours with my wife dripping on the standard 510 atty with all different flavors to see what we wanted to order more of. I probably tried 15 different flavors, once I flooded it because the dropper I was using misfired, heh. Other than that the standard atty performed flawlessly for several hours through about 15 different juices so I would say I am doing it propperly.

Allan