So I posted a thread not long ago about my first rebuild and the above title was one of my issues then, and is still an issue (although not as bad). It seems everytime I rebuild my bcc's and fill it up with juice I get a slight burnt/sour taste for probably about an hour and then it dissipates and tastes fine. Any idea as to why I'm getting this burnt taste? I condition the coils until I get a nice even glow, prime the wick and coil with a few drops of juice, then let it sit for awhile to allow wicking to take place. Am I forgetting something or is this normal?
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Are you using silica wicks? I torch my silica until it glows white before I do my rebuilds on anything, seems to shorten the break in time of a new setup.
Should've specified, yeah I'm using 2mm silica and 32g Kanthal. No I didn't torch the silica, I did my first time but on the last thread I posted about my first bcc rebuild I was told that I shouldn't
I am a convert and would recommend cotton to avoid the burnt silica taste. I went through 5 or 6 different types of cotton, trying to find some that didn't have its own taste. Now that I found some, cotton is so much better, imo.
The first handful of vapes have a slight cottony taste (like the first minute or two) but it quickly goes away and leaves nothing but flavor... and vapor. Just can't dry burn it like silica but that's no problem. Can pull the wick out of the coil to dry-burn the coil if needed, then put a fresh cotton wick back in. As long as it stays wet you can chain-vape it without it developing that burned taste silica gets.
Many people swear by the CVS rolled sterile cotton. I did not try that one. Others swear by WalMart's Peaches and Cream yarn, which I also did not try (locally out of stock). I did try two other 100% cotton yarns, one organic. Yarn needs to be boiled for 20 min and dried before using. I did not like the yarn as it had a bad taste to me.
Still others use J&J Q-Tips made of 100% cotton. I tried that and it was better than the yarn but still tasted bad to me.
What finally worked for me was Whole Foods 365 100% certified organic cotton balls, boiled for 20 minutes in distilled water in a pyrex bowl in the microwave, then air dried for 2 days. I boiled 4 cotton balls and it's enough wicking material for a year.
If you like playing with stuff I recommend trying your hand at cotton and seeing what you think.
The first handful of vapes have a slight cottony taste (like the first minute or two) but it quickly goes away and leaves nothing but flavor... and vapor. Just can't dry burn it like silica but that's no problem. Can pull the wick out of the coil to dry-burn the coil if needed, then put a fresh cotton wick back in. As long as it stays wet you can chain-vape it without it developing that burned taste silica gets.
Many people swear by the CVS rolled sterile cotton. I did not try that one. Others swear by WalMart's Peaches and Cream yarn, which I also did not try (locally out of stock). I did try two other 100% cotton yarns, one organic. Yarn needs to be boiled for 20 min and dried before using. I did not like the yarn as it had a bad taste to me.
Still others use J&J Q-Tips made of 100% cotton. I tried that and it was better than the yarn but still tasted bad to me.
What finally worked for me was Whole Foods 365 100% certified organic cotton balls, boiled for 20 minutes in distilled water in a pyrex bowl in the microwave, then air dried for 2 days. I boiled 4 cotton balls and it's enough wicking material for a year.
If you like playing with stuff I recommend trying your hand at cotton and seeing what you think.
I am a convert and would recommend cotton to avoid the burnt silica taste. I went through 5 or 6 different types of cotton, trying to find some that didn't have its own taste. Now that I found some, cotton is so much better, imo.
The first handful of vapes have a slight cottony taste (like the first minute or two) but it quickly goes away and leaves nothing but flavor... and vapor. Just can't dry burn it like silica but that's no problem. Can pull the wick out of the coil to dry-burn the coil if needed, then put a fresh cotton wick back in. As long as it stays wet you can chain-vape it without it developing that burned taste silica gets.
Many people swear by the CVS rolled sterile cotton. I did not try that one. Others swear by WalMart's Peaches and Cream yarn, which I also did not try (locally out of stock). I did try two other 100% cotton yarns, one organic. Yarn needs to be boiled for 20 min and dried before using. I did not like the yarn as it had a bad taste to me.
Still others use J&J Q-Tips made of 100% cotton. I tried that and it was better than the yarn but still tasted bad to me.
What finally worked for me was Whole Foods 365 100% certified organic cotton balls, boiled for 20 minutes in distilled water in a pyrex bowl in the microwave, then air dried for 2 days. I boiled 4 cotton balls and it's enough wicking material for a year.
If you like playing with stuff I recommend trying your hand at cotton and seeing what you think.
Thanks for the suggestion, I've been seriously considering cotton recently because I've been very unimpressed with silica. Is it absolutely necessary to boil the organic cotton balls? I thought that they would probably be fine right out of the bag.
There are different ideas about this, but the main one from people who know more than I do is that formed cotton (like yarn) should be boiled whether it is organic or not b/c apparently they use some kind of additive to help the cotton yarn keep its shape, and it's best to boil that off. (I really don't think anything that carries the "certified organic" seal can have such additives, but ... doesn't hurt to boil it anyway.) Because the other reason to boil yarn is that some of it tastes bad unless you do.
Sterile rolled cotton (like the kind that comes in a box at CVS) apparently does not need boiling because it is sterile. So you might just pick some of that up. CVS/pharmacy - CVS Rolled Cotton customer reviews - product reviews - read top consumer ratings
I have also read that people who use Q-Tips don't boil. (Kinda small to boil a tip of a Q-tip.) But I tried it, like I say, and to me it tasted too strong of cotton.
As for 100% certified organic cotton balls, there shouldn't be anything on the cotton at all. In my case, however, the cotton balls were hanging in the soap and cosmetic aisle of Whole Foods, and they had absorbed the soapy, perfumey smell of that aisle... unless they put some kind of organic scent on the cotton to make them "more appealing" to the women they are targeted to who use them for cosmetic reasons. IAC I pulled off a small bit and made a wick and the vape tasted just like the smell... like soapy perfume. It also had a strong cottony taste.
When I boiled in the microwave the air became heavy with the scent of that perfume or smell they'd picked up. At the 10min mark I dumped the water (I used distilled) and refilled to boil another 10 min. and then there was no smell anymore. It DOES take a long time to dry, but once you have one batch, you have plenty of time to make more at your leisure without ever having to "wait" again.
So bottom line... I guess if your cotton balls are certified organic (not just organic, but certified organic), and hasn't picked up any smells, you probably don't have to boil. If you try it and it tastes funky, you can always boil afterwards.
But again to avoid all this, might just try the CVS sterile rolled cotton first. I went the cotton ball route because I wanted organic cotton and CVS is not organic cotton, AFAIK.
EDIT: Just FYI a product label can say "organic" if 95% of it is organic. Only products that are 100% organic can carry the USDA certified organic seal, or say "100% organic" on the label, [which the Whole Foods cotton does]. If you get a cotton that just says "organic" I would boil it for sure, as you don't know what additives it might have.
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Hmm alrightey, I'll keep that in mind, thanks for the info! I don't have a CVS but I do have a Walgreens which sells organic cotton so i'll go pick some up probably this week, as to whether it's 100% organic I don't know but I'll take your advice and boil it unless it states that it is
I've never had to boil cotton more than 5-10 minutes. I set the stove to high, get a nice rolling boil and let most of the water boil off. After that, I squeeze off the excess, place the cotton on a microfiber towel to speed up absorption and in about 24 hours it's ready to vape on.
I boil about 5-6 cotton balls at a time and then string them out once dried. To date, cotton is all I use and probably will use unless we find something that's 10x better. I've eliminated burnt tastes, stopped leaking on BCC's (i.e. Protank II) and can chain vape when I want to.
Sometimes cheaper is better.
I boil about 5-6 cotton balls at a time and then string them out once dried. To date, cotton is all I use and probably will use unless we find something that's 10x better. I've eliminated burnt tastes, stopped leaking on BCC's (i.e. Protank II) and can chain vape when I want to.
Sometimes cheaper is better
.I've never had to boil cotton more than 5-10 minutes. I set the stove to high, get a nice rolling boil and let most of the water boil off. After that, I squeeze off the excess, place the cotton on a microfiber towel to speed up absorption and in about 24 hours it's ready to vape on.
I boil about 5-6 cotton balls at a time and then string them out once dried. To date, cotton is all I use and probably will use unless we find something that's 10x better. I've eliminated burnt tastes, stopped leaking on BCC's (i.e. Protank II) and can chain vape when I want to.
Sometimes cheaper is better
Idk how many times now people have suggested "oh just use cotton", but given how cheap and readily available it is along with all the good things I've heard about it, I have no excuse no to try it
whenever I get around to getting some and rebuilding with it I'll probably make another post (with pictures maybe) on my first rebuild. Thanks for all the help guys, but...if I find that I do love cotton, what will I do with all my leftover silica? 
Be sure to thoroughly torch the kanthal wire before wrapping and then dry burn it before putting in the wick. Any oils on the wire from manufacturing or even from your fingers will cause a bad taste until it burns off.
I didn't torch it but I did dry burn it until the coils glowed evenly. I'm still getting a bit of the burnt flavor and idk why, I switched it out with a stock coil until I can figure out what's up with it. On my first rebuild with 2mm silica and 32g Kanthal I forgot to condition the coils and I had a bad taste right off the bat, but it didn't last long (maybe an hour).
If you let the water boil off you are essentially depositing everything that came off in the water, back into the cotton as the water evaporates, leaving the cotton behind in a small amount of "polluted" water. Same problem if you boil cotton and then pour the whole thing into a sieve... the cotton will "filter" the water and pick crud back up (if any crud exists). The idea is to discard the boiled water to get rid of what it pulls from the cotton, without re-exposing the cotton to the contaminants. The cotton Wiki actually recommends adding fresh water to the already-boiled bowl so that any crud in the water which will be floating on top overflows out and away from the cotton. Just a thought...
Sometimes cheaper is better
And ain't it nice when it is.
Not that silica is a wallet-killer but a bag of $3 organic cotton will last forever whereas $3 worth of silica will last maybe a few months. Not to mention that you don't have the potential health concern of inhaling silica motes.
Hello, my friend.
I used to but now I just use my gas stove.
Yes, butane lighter works fine to cook the Kanthal. Don't most of us ex-smokers have a few lying around? 
Yes, butane lighter works fine to cook the Kanthal. Don't most of us ex-smokers have a few lying around?
Unfortunately all of our lighters usually end up lost somewhere in the bottom of my wife's purse....along with everybody else's lighters.
Yes, butane lighter works fine to cook the Kanthal. Don't most of us ex-smokers have a few lying around?
Lol this is true. I have a bic and three zippos (although I have no fuel atm)
Cotton works great in bottom coils, just redid one with eko wool and that taste like crap. Going back to good old peaches and creme cotton yarn
If you let the water boil off you are essentially depositing everything that came off in the water, back into the cotton as the water evaporates, leaving the cotton behind in a small amount of "polluted" water. Same problem if you boil cotton and then pour the whole thing into a sieve... the cotton will "filter" the water and pick crud back up (if any crud exists). The idea is to discard the boiled water to get rid of what it pulls from the cotton, without re-exposing the cotton to the contaminants. The cotton Wiki actually recommends adding fresh water to the already-boiled bowl so that any crud in the water which will be floating on top overflows out and away from the cotton. Just a thought...
I don't let it boil all the way off to the point of drying up and out
. I also have a filter on my faucet - blame the S/O on that as she doesn't like drinking tap, so the water is filtered through charcoal and whatever else is in that filter first, then added to the pot, boiled and drained. I squeeze the water out myself.- Status
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