Serious throat irritation, not sure what I'm doing wrong

[deadpenguins]

First, I'd like to say hello to everyone! I frequent this site rather often to read various threads, but until now have not made any posts. Unfortunately, my first post is of a potentially serious issue, but I'm hoping you helpful folks can assist me with it!

I've been vaping for a little over 8 months, and just decided to plunge into RDAs. After lots of research, I decided on an MVP 20W and a magma RDA. I didn't want to get too crazy at first so I bought 30g Kanthal A1 wire and wrap it to 1.8-2.0 ohm spec (single coil). The problem is that when I first began vaping my set up, I was getting this massive throat irritation, shortly followed by pounding headaches. The next morning I had a plegmy coating in my throat I had to cough it up. After doing some research, I decided I'd better clean my RDA from loose metal shavings and/or oil, so I took a crappy toothbrush and cleaned it, followed by a water/vinegar bath (no alcohol handy). I also read many discussions about wicking material. I was originally using random cotton balls I found in my house, but discovered that you need organic cotton (specifically, unbleached organic cotton). I could not find unbleached organic in my local convenient store, so I bought bleached organic with the expectation to boil them a few rounds in distilled water.

This is where I'm lost. It seems the community is torn as to whether or not boiling is an appropriate measure. Some claim that boiling off the hydrogen peroxide creates a perfect medium for hosting spores and bacteria, and can actually be more dangerous than the hydrogen peroxide itself. This makes some sense to me, but wouldn't that mean organic japanese cotton would suffer from the same problem? At any rate, I haven't heard anyone getting the throat irritation/headache I'm getting no matter what type of cotton, just a rather unpleasant cotton-y taste (I am experiencing that too, but it is more of a metallic taste. Maybe I didn't clean my RDA as well as i thought?). I used the organic cotton to no avail, and haven't bothered trying to boil them because it doesn't seem it will fix the issue.

Can anyone enlighten me to something I've perhaps overlooked? I just took a small vape at 2.0 ohms/ 8W and just from that one hit I'm already noticing a headache forming. Sorry for the long winded post, I'm just trying to answer any potential questions I expect to get beforehand. For now, I am using my old cigalike battery and $2 mini tank set up until I can sort this out.

Thanks!

 

[SynRacing35]

What level nic are you using? When I used to dip I found that dipping to much gave me a headache from increased nic intake as well as a sore throat.

 

[yddadoysohw]

Are you vaping on high PG? Lots of people, including me, experience irritation from PG. I personally try to stick with max VG stuff.

 

[deadpenguins]

Ah, forgot to include my juice. I have both 6mg and 3mg, almost all 50/50 mix. I even tried some charlie noble (high vg) juice at 3mg to rule out the juice as the potential issue. Still got a lousy feeling from it. I'm starting to wonder if I didn't clean my RDA well enough because it smells highly metallic. I used to use a metal piece for another habit I had back in the day, and switched to glass because I noticed headaches forming.

EDIT: Although, I didn't use the high VG juice exclusively for the night, so I guess I didn't entirely rule out PG irritation. I guess I can try to rewick and use that juice exclusively for the night to see results.

 

[Thrasher]

Metallic taste- usually a hotspot or dry coil
scratchy throat- hot spot, burning cotton, too much vapor/ nicotine/ flavorings
headach- see 1 and 2

Sounds like there is too much heat, not the proper amount of cotton or dry wicks, and possibly a poor coil not heating properly, it has to glow evenly.

Juice may be a factor as well but I would look at build first.

 

[Hannypoo]

I had a problem with severe irritation and a poisonous taste in the vapor. Being somewhat new to vaping, my first thought was that my plastic tank had been corroded by my liquid and that it was releasing some sort of nasty chemical. So I bought a glass Kanger tank, but the problem didn't go away. I switched out my coils for brand new ones; still, the problem persisted. I then bought an adjustable battery, because I thought I may be burning at the wrong temp. I looked at an ohm chart, set everything up perfectly, and still had the problem. FINALLY, I tried letting my liquids steep with the caps off for about four days, and it worked! I'm pretty sure a lot of my liquids contain ethyl alcohol, which was causing the harshness of the vapor. In fact, I've found that if I put the caps back on them, the problem returns, so I leave them permanently off. I return the caps only long enough to give the juice a daily shake. I hope this is the solution for you. It took quite a lot of research, time, and frustration for me to figure out what was wrong with my vaping set-up.

 

[Hannypoo]

Virgin Vapors sells a line of organic juice that doesn't contain ethyl alcohol. I ordered some sample bottles from them recently, though they haven't yet arrived. Also, they use nicotine extracted from real tobacco plants, instead of the cheaper nicotine salt that some juice suppliers use. Natural nicotine is sweet, while manufactured nicotine can taste quite peppery.

 

[classwife]

Metallic taste- usually a hotspot or dry coil
scratchy throat- hot spot, burning cotton, too much vapor/ nicotine/ flavorings
headach- see 1 and 2

Sounds like there is too much heat, not the proper amount of cotton or dry wicks, and possibly a poor coil not heating properly, it has to glow evenly.

Juice may be a factor as well but I would look at build first.

Some good stuff here ^^^
Check your build

 

[Fox11]

From what you've said, these could be some potential problems that spring to my mind:

-You're using storebought cottonballs- the bleach and whatever else in there could possibly be an issue.
-You're not priming the wick enough/the wick isn't getting enough liquid- in this case you're gonna be inhaling more metallic smoke from the coil and cotton than vapor! haha, make sure that sucker is wet!
-You're taking too strong or too frequent drags on a much stronger setup- this can lead to more nicotine than you're used to all at once, which can cause headaches, and could be irritating your throat! Remember your new RDA is a lot stronger than that "cig-a-like battery and $2 mini tank" you used to use!

When you go to try out the RDA again, take it slow this time and don't rush into it- that might help you better identify what's going wrong! Good luck!

 

[deadpenguins]

Metallic taste- usually a hotspot or dry coil
scratchy throat- hot spot, burning cotton, too much vapor/ nicotine/ flavorings
headach- see 1 and 2

I guess my noobiness in building could be the problem. What I've learned from the videos I've watched is to make sure the coil never overlaps, to make sure the wire is in the posts securely with the legs trimmed as down as much as possible, and your coil should be heating from the middle outwards when you fire. It's also a good idea to prime it with a torch or fire it on the battery without a wick, followed by squeezing it with some needle nose pliers (I do the latter). I definitely made mistakes on my first few attempts (a little overlapping, the resistance measurement sky rocketing as I vaped), but I think my last build worked out okay. I could always take a picture because it's definitely a possibility this is due to some sort of building error.

I had a problem with severe irritation and a poisonous taste in the vapor. Being somewhat new to vaping, my first thought was that my plastic tank had been corroded by my liquid and that it was releasing some sort of nasty chemical. So I bought a glass Kanger tank, but the problem didn't go away. I switched out my coils for brand new ones; still, the problem persisted. I then bought an adjustable battery, because I thought I may be burning at the wrong temp. I looked at an ohm chart, set everything up perfectly, and still had the problem. FINALLY, I tried letting my liquids steep with the caps off for about four days, and it worked! I'm pretty sure a lot of my liquids contain ethyl alcohol, which was causing the harshness of the vapor. In fact, I've found that if I put the caps back on them, the problem returns, so I leave them permanently off. I return the caps only long enough to give the juice a daily shake. I hope this is the solution for you. It took quite a lot of research, time, and frustration for me to figure out what was wrong with my vaping set-up.

I haven't had any problems with any of my juices in my previous set up, so I don't have any reason to believe the problem lies within the liquid (unless it is pg/vg related).

From what you've said, these could be some potential problems that spring to my mind:

-You're using storebought cottonballs- the bleach and whatever else in there could possibly be an issue.
-You're not priming the wick enough/the wick isn't getting enough liquid- in this case you're gonna be inhaling more metallic smoke from the coil and cotton than vapor! haha, make sure that sucker is wet!
-You're taking too strong or too frequent drags on a much stronger setup- this can lead to more nicotine than you're used to all at once, which can cause headaches, and could be irritating your throat! Remember your new RDA is a lot stronger than that "cig-a-like battery and $2 mini tank" you used to use!

When you go to try out the RDA again, take it slow this time and don't rush into it- that might help you better identify what's going wrong! Good luck!

Right now, I'm leaning towards it being either the cotton or some metallic element I'm inhaling, so store-bought cotton could be the problem, but why has no one else experienced this? It is such a horrible feeling that I can have one small pull at 6.5W and it immediately hurts my throat and my head a few seconds later. I'm pretty certain I am being very generous in my juice application and make sure there are no dry areas. I should also throw out there that I've used my friend's 0.2 dual coil build which creates insane vapor and it doesn't irritate me at all, so I'm certain this issue is device specific.

 

[Hannypoo]

I haven't had any problems with any of my juices in my previous set up, so I don't have any reason to believe the problem lies within the liquid (unless it is pg/vg related).

I used the same liquid without any problems for awhile. I don't know why it suddenly started (even with the same bottle!), but the steeping and airing out really helps, even if it doesn't make sense. If you can't figure out another solution, you may want to try it. I was hesitant to say anything, since you've been vaping for months, but then I figured it might help someone else, if not you. Good luck! I hope you get it figured out soon.