Triton / Kanger T2 rubbery plasticky taste

[Chinook]

I'm having a huge flavor issue with my tanks. I keep getting plasticky/rubbery flavors with my replacement coils. I'm using 3.2 Ohm coils at 3.5 V! ... I get this horrible flavor and also the juice in tanks smells like that too when I take out the mouthpiece to dump it. I've been cleaning the coils and wicks like a mad man...I don't see any burns or gunk accumulation in the coils either.

I think the wicks are getting enough juice since I don't hear much crackling sounds. I put down the silicone sleeve until its top is flush with the top of the center metal post. And screwing in the mouthpiece pushes it further down. With this I minimized the crackling sounds.

Some people suggested that sometimes one of the coil legs gets hot and the rubber grommet gets burned. Is there anyway to test this before using and/or fix it?

Can battery cause this too if something is not aligned? I don't see anything obvious. It's a simple Triton VV anyways. Can its voltage be too much off than what it's supposed to be?

Thanks, any help will be appreciated.

Edit: I just saw this in another forum...

The only time I have had plastic-like taste with a Kanger product was when I was rebuilding coils. If you get a hot leg it can melt the rubber grommet in the head.

I am not sure if the could happen with stock heads but I would recommend cleaning the base with water, drying it well and sticking it on a battery and fire it in 2-3 second bursts until it gets orange. Turn off the lights and see if the leads going to the base are turning orange as well and burning the rubber in the base.

 

[Ladiekali]

I would soak in vodka over night, rinse and air dry thats what i do

 

[Trayce]

@ Chinook: I'm interested in seeing replies b/c I'm having the same problem with my replacement coils, though they are a different brand. (Do you see char marks on the positive post insulator?)

@ Ladiekali: Soaking in vodka overnight will help if the taste is from machine oils in the manuf process, but if the heads have a hot leg charring the positive post insulator it might help more to drink the vodka.

 

[Chinook]

Thanks Ladiekali, but even PGA is not helping...

Trayce, do you mean looking down at the coil assembly from the top with the metal tip and flavor wick off, right under the coil, the white part? I just checked they all look white without any charring.

Do you see any charring in yours?

My other theory is that severe dry burn taste that got infused into the tanks. One day, I vaped from two different tanks and later I realized that the silicone sleeves were pushed down too much. I remember the juices tasted quite weird but I thought they changed after steeping. After a while I realized that actually it was dry burn taste!!! So any new coils I put into those tanks tasted off. However, I didn't check the resistance of the coils. They were supposed to be 2.8 ohms.

Now I just started using new tanks with new 3.2 Ohm coils and I'm getting better results. I put a new coil from this batch into the a problem tank and the weird taste was there.

Have you tried new tanks with new batch of coils?

 

[Chinook]

Trayce, are you cleaning coils before using them and or dry burning them? Some people suggest that the coils should be dry burned damp with water but not soaking. I'm thinking soak/dry burn/soak cycle...
Also, only 2-3 second pulses of dry burning until the coil glows red NOT orange... Orange would be getting too hot.

 

[Trayce]

Thanks Ladiekali, but even PGA is not helping...

Trayce, do you mean looking down at the coil assembly from the top with the metal tip and flavor wick off, right under the coil, the white part? I just checked they all look white without any charring.

Yes. If you disassemble the head, there is a grommet that is tubular AGA Series Positive Post Insulators - 10 pack - Kidney Puncher. One leg of the coil goes outside the grommet (the negative leg), the other leg, inside the grommet against the pin inserted in the bottom (the positive leg).If either leg gets hot it can cause this plastic grommet to add a terrible taste to the vape... like chemicals or rubber burning... people describe it different ways.

Do you see any charring in yours?

I would be hard pressed to see it without taking the head apart. Sometimes it's a tiny bit of discoloration where the leg was touching the grommet.

My other theory is that severe dry burn taste that got infused into the tanks. One day, I vaped from two different tanks and later I realized that the silicone sleeves were pushed down too much. I remember the juices tasted quite weird but I thought they changed after steeping. After a while I realized that actually it was dry burn taste!!! So any new coils I put into those tanks tasted off. However, I didn't check the resistance of the coils. They were supposed to be 2.8 ohms.

Now I just started using new tanks with new 3.2 Ohm coils and I'm getting better results. I put a new coil from this batch into the a problem tank and the weird taste was there.

Have you tried new tanks with new batch of coils?

I washed my juice out and replaced it just because I wanted to switch flavors.

Trayce, are you cleaning coils before using them and or dry burning them? Some people suggest that the coils should be dry burned damp with water but not soaking. I'm thinking soak/dry burn/soak cycle...
Also, only 2-3 second pulses of dry burning until the coil glows red NOT orange... Orange would be getting too hot.

I am rinsing coils before use and can taste the diff between the awful machine oil taste and the awful grommet taste... plus when I disassembled I saw very light char marks. Also, I do test-burn my coils as I rebuild them using cotton and my own kanthal. All was going peachy until this batch of heads... odd, that. But I will try soaking the new heads in vodka just to get rid of the machine oils better... however that won't fix the hot leg problem. (I'm old enough to remember when Rod Stewart's song "Hot Legs" meant something positive.)

 

[Chinook]

Thanks.

I assume that there is no way to prevent one of the legs getting too hot to start melting the grommet, right?

I'm soaking a new head now in hot filtered water for 1 hour. I'm also thinking if PGA would start effecting the non metal parts of the coil and add to the taste somehow.

Check this out. I just posted this... You think a head like this will screw up the taste by the legs getting hot?

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...placement-coil-odd-geometry.html#post11072259

Please feel free to comment in that thread

 

[TarFreeMe]

I was experiencing the rubbery taste too. What has worked for me is using 1.8 ohm heads and turning the voltage way down to 3.3. I also remove one flavour wick and flip the little silicon cup upside down which increases wicking for worlds better flavour and vapor production (50/50 juice). I'll occasionally get a little leaking but it's more than worth it for the much better vape. YMMV

Edit: just saw that you're talking about T2s. I'm talking about Protanks and the like, not sure how similar they are. Sorry if this post is not applicable in any way.

 

[Chinook]

Thanks, TarFreeMe. Yeah it's a different setup, but more knowledge is better It'll help the other Protank users...

 

[Trayce]

@ TarFreeMe: I actually was referring to the PT2 and Aro pyrex tanks, and am using Aro heads which are exactly like Kanger heads except the Aros have a narrower collar .... hence the Aro heads work in the PT2 and EVODs but the Kanger heads with the wider collar won't work in the Aro tanks. I figure a burning grommet problem would be possible with any head with a hot leg, so was hoping the OP's solution would be applicable regardless of head brand.

I appreciate the lower ohms/lower power solution but what bugs me is that it shouldn't be necessary, but optional, to use low ohms/low power. But if the head design is flawed, why does this problem only occur in some heads and not all? Like I'm wondering if the grommets used in the 'bad heads' are made of inferior rubber/silicone that melts at a lower temp or something, so that if a leg is even just warm (but not "hot") the grommet starts outgassing at the point where it's heated.

As to avoiding a hot leg, that's what I am trying to get to the bottom of.... one veteran suggested a hot leg comes from incorrect tension on a leg or leg-wrap.... then on a standard coil an incorrectly wrapped coil can cause a hot leg, such as if two of the wraps are touching or overlapping.... then on a micro-coil all the wraps MUST be touching or you'll get a hot leg... but I've been careful to avoid all these, and like I say, for a month everything was peachy then suddenly with these replacement heads.... they're doing this right out of the box.

As for flipping the silicone cup at the top of the stem, if dry burns are the problem, then that's a good thing to try so the OP may want to give it a go. It won't do anything for a hot leg problem though, and in my case when I tried it (before this came up just to try) it caused flooding and gurgling. But I use cotton which wicks way better than silica, and I also use near-100% VG, so YMMV.

 

[Chinook]

Boy now that I'm looking at coils more closely, it's like jungle out there! Lot of variation in the way my coils are wrapped!

Trayce, I haven't thought about the coils touching each other and causing hot legs. I suppose that heat can be concentrated on my side and heat up one of the legs?

Another thing you mentioned is very possible: the quality of rubber is used.

So it's quite possible that the way a coil is wrapped might be "off" and at the same time it might have a ready-to-melt rubber insulator too...

This is pretty ridiculous though paying extra $$ for convenience of having ready to go heads, but between the cleaning, quality of vape and time spent it's not worth it. I might as well start using RBA tanks!

 

[Trayce]

Weird, I responded to this post earlier but it never showed up.

Trayce, I haven't thought about the coils touching each other and causing hot legs. I suppose that heat can be concentrated on my side and heat up one of the legs?

From what I gather, yes.

Another thing you mentioned is very possible: the quality of rubber is used.

So it's quite possible that the way a coil is wrapped might be "off" and at the same time it might have a ready-to-melt rubber insulator too...

Especially with (at least some) replacement heads, I am seriously wondering if this is the case, b/c it seems like it is. At least it is a plausible explanation and I have no other but am open to others. Just seems odd the heads that come with tanks don't seem to have this problem, then you buy replacement heads, and they all taste like *&^% from the grommet. Hmmmmmmmm. Maybe the tank manuf's buy a better quality head to put in their tanks, but then some suppliers of aftermarket heads cut corners... just saying.

I am having a similar conversation in another thread here and the member there, Zippoz, tried replacing the grommet with silicone tubing which is food grade and has a higher heat resistance (I'm almost certain) than the rubber grommets. He said it did resolve the burny taste but he's also dealing with other issues. It was enough to get me looking for silicone tubing though. I'd LOVE to replace these nasty little rubber grommets with a silicone alternative, if possible.

This is pretty ridiculous though paying extra $$ for convenience of having ready to go heads, but between the cleaning, quality of vape and time spent it's not worth it. I might as well start using RBA tanks!

IKWYM.... I have considered trying a carto tank but that's another kind of hassle. AND more money.

 

[Chinook]

Especially with (at least some) replacement heads, I am seriously wondering if this is the case, b/c it seems like it is. At least it is a plausible explanation and I have no other but am open to others. Just seems odd the heads that come with tanks don't seem to have this problem, then you buy replacement heads, and they all taste like *&^% from the grommet. Hmmmmmmmm. Maybe the tank manuf's buy a better quality head to put in their tanks, but then some suppliers of aftermarket heads cut corners... just saying.

Have you been checking the heads to make sure that the coils are wrapped OK ? I haven't done this before and that'll be the first thing I check now.

I have a very old multimeter and if it's revived with a fresh battery, I'll start measuring the resistance of the coils!

 

[Trayce]

I don't vape with the stock coil. I tear the head apart and rebuild it, but yes, coil wraps are again done by hand in China where (sadly) human labor is cheaper than buying assembly machines. So there won't be machine-like uniformity and the quality does jump all over the place.

As for a VM, happily my mod ($37 Vamo) checks ohm resistance of anything attached. You might consider getting one if you can swing it, as it's so convenient. It's also a VW and VV device. Of course if you don't have an 18650 mod already you will also need batteries and a charger, so it does add up.

 

[Chinook]

If you are already rebuilding, why don't go with an RBA? I was just wondering...

Regrading the coils, the original ones in the tanks seem to be better though. I guess they choose the best for those.

What do you think about this?

$37.21 INNOKIN iTaste SVD Telescoping Variable Voltage E-Cigarette Mod / Battery Compartment at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping


I might graduate to this in 2-3 months.

 

[Trayce]

If you are already rebuilding, why don't go with an RBA? I was just wondering...

I'm not sure what this is... I thought a rebuildable atty is what a head is.

What do you think about this?

$37.21 INNOKIN iTaste SVD Telescoping Variable Voltage E-Cigarette Mod / Battery Compartment at FastTech - Worldwide Free Shipping


I might graduate to this in 2-3 months.

It is a very nice device that has virtually the same features the Vamo does with the same protections. But the Vamo has a nicer (imo) OLED screen. However I'm sure you'd enjoy the iTaste SVD and they are comparable devices.

 

[Chinook]

I replied to the RBA on the other thread...

Thanks for the comment on the SVD Mod. I have some time to decide... I need to stop spending money on this stuff for a while