Tips on avoiding burnt taste when dry burning and rewicking Kanger OCCs?

[ddirtyvapes]

(I really couldn't figure out based on other posts whether this should be in Clearo or tanks subforum, so sorry if I chose wrong.)

The title is pretty self explanatory, but I have some juices I make that are relatively high in malic acid content and really wreak havoc in the Kanger OCC heads. It's no big deal; when they get really gunked up I tear out the wick, rinse the coil, allow it to dry, dry burn the .... off, and rewick it.

Most of the times this works fine. Often there will be a bit of a burnt taste at the beginning when I've just rewicked and stuck it back in, but it typically goes away as the juice starts flowing.

Some of the coils, however, never lose that taste and only make it through a quarter of a tank before I realize it's a lost cause and time to toss.

None of this is new territory for me, but I just can't figure out why some work so beautifully and others end up tasting so terrible. There seems to be no rhyme or reason. I've had heads that I've dry burned and rewicked 10 times with no problems, and others that I had to throw out after a day because they tasted so bad post-rewicking process.

So.... any tips would be super duper appreciated. I don't know what I could be doing differently, but there's got to be something.

 

[Katmar]

Bump

 

[DavidOck]

You are pre-wetting them, yes?

Check the insulators. Possible that you've "cooked" them. Once burned, they'll impart that flavor (that UGH!! flavor ) for ever...

 

[alexmot]

I don't have this problem, but here are a few thoughts. .

Are you cleaning the inside of the head as well as the coil after dry burning? Run a pipe cleaner through there and soak it in cheap vodka. I sometimes go as far as tossing the whole thing in an ultrasonic cleaner if it still looks dark. I've seen gunk build up on the bottom of the coil on other heads (not obvious looking from the top down).

Burned metal, juice, or other flavor? "Pulse" dry burn the coil, don't light it up like the sun. Check for burned rubber / silicon grommets.

If all else fails, disassemble the entire head before you toss it. You'll probably find the culprit. You'll also see how easy / hard it would be to rebuild the entire head.

 

[Arnold Ziffle]

I've found rinsing it in cold water while it's still glowing ,after you released the button of course, helps quite a bit.

 

[ddirtyvapes]

Thanks everyone for all the replies so far. Let's see:

DavidOck: Definitely pre-wetting, yes! I don't think it's been the insulator historically, but I'll make sure to check each time to be certain. I'm also about 99% positive that I know which part is the insulator, but a confirmation would be helpful.

alexmot: I actually am cleaning the head too, but probably not as thoroughly as I could be. Pipe cleaner in vodka is a good idea. I actually usually use Everclear, but same deal of course. I need to get a new pack of pipe cleaners. It's honestly a little hard to tell if the taste is more burnt juice, metal, something else, or some combination thereof. I've been vaping long enough that I *should* be able to-- and usually can-- tell the difference between those things... it just truly doesn't taste distinctly like any of them, just a non-descript and unpleasant burnt taste. I feel like a dope for not ripping apart a head sooner if it was already going into the trash, but I'll definitely do it next time it happens.

I do pulse as much as possible with the dry burns, but I also feel like I have trouble getting all the crud burned off without giving it a few longer fires. This could be part of the culprit. I didn't think that I was going too far with it (before now, anyway) though it's certainly possible.

I should have mentioned this in the OP in case it tips someone off to something obvious I'm not considering, but a lot of times I find that the less time I spend dry burning, the worse it tastes. It seems like that would suggest that I'm just not getting everything off the coil, but it's not an exact correlation. I don't know, the whole thing is a little weird and perplexing.

Thank you for the suggestion, Arnold. I'm not totally sure how that would work logistically with the devices I'm using (meaning I'd be nervous about getting them so close to water) but it's still something to consider and there may be a safe way to do so.

For what it's worth, I re-wicked a head since I made this post and it was fine. It happened to be a 1.2 ohm but I've had plenty of successful rewicks with the .5s, too. Actually I guess it tasted a tiny bit burnt the first 5 puffs but since then there's no problem. The fact that it's such a here-and-there issues makes it all the more frustrating, in a way.

One more time, thank you everyone!

 

[d4gger]

I "dry" burn four coils per week (about 30mL of juice through each), and only replace them when they don't burn to pretty. If possible, don't keep them red long at all. Frequent running/plunging of/with water will clean coils (ever steam-cleaned curtains?) better than straight pulsing, and incurs less risk of burning insulators (the non-metal plastic/rubbery pieces).

In case that's less than clear - which is likely - don't put your regulated mod below the tap or otherwise under water. A glass of water and frequent dipping of just the coil (as near as possible) will effectively steam-clean your coil, which is, IMHO, every bit as effective as dumping full voltage or pulsing to bare red.

 

[DavidOck]

DavidOck: Definitely pre-wetting, yes! I don't think it's been the insulator historically, but I'll make sure to check each time to be certain. I'm also about 99% positive that I know which part is the insulator, but a confirmation would be helpful.

That would be the non-metal part between the bottom button / contact and the main body of the OCC.

I should have mentioned this in the OP in case it tips someone off to something obvious I'm not considering, but a lot of times I find that the less time I spend dry burning, the worse it tastes. It seems like that would suggest that I'm just not getting everything off the coil, but it's not an exact correlation. I don't know, the whole thing is a little weird and perplexing.

As mentioned, sometimes hard to get everything off the bottom of the coil. Easy to see the top and at least parts of the sides, but the bottom... So continuing the dry burn past where what's visible may be needed. And at thorough rinse after dry burning can help, too.

 

[ddirtyvapes]

Sorry it took a bit to get back but I wanted to try some of the tips suggested so I could report back. Really the only thing I've been able to do so far is try the water bath, pulsing and dipping etc. It DID seem to be less burnt tasting, but it was incredibly harsh to the point of being unusable. I definitely used enough wick and it was definitely wet so I'm not sure what happened there.

Thoughts? I need to pick up some pipe cleaners today (and more everclear to think of it) to try and thoroughly clean out the head. Maybe that will help... that last coil was a lost cause, but I'll clean out the next one I rewick. There also seems to often be the smallest amount of wicking material left in there when I pull out the original stuff no matter what I do. It's a nothing amount but it's still probably not helping this issue. On the other hand, it's never appeared burnt to the naked eye. I dunno.

Thanks again!

 

[DavidOck]

I wonder if your "high malic acid" juice is doing something to either the insulators and/or O-rings? Or even the metal of the OCC itself?