Where am I going wrong?

[Philx123]

I got a Riva 501, and initially loved it, but after about a month, four atomizers and a bunch of tester bottles, I seem not to be able to get the formula right.
Half of the time, when vaping with VG, I get lots of smoke, but hardly any taste, then with PG, I get much less smoke, but with too much afterburn in my mouth. I generally vape 18mg or lower nic, finding anything higher just burns my mouth. I prefer VG for the vapour porduction, but I just can;t seem to get any taste. Sometimes it's there partially, but only on the exhale.

I decided to try some dual core cartomisers with some tobacco flavour liquid, a mix of PG and VG, all around 18mg, but after a few vape sessions, I find the PG too hot and strong. The cartos are 2 ohm, and I knew this increased the strength, and flavour, but I find it too much now. It's like smoking rough tobacco in a pipe, but with little taste. I'm not sure if I'm overfilling or underfilling them, though, which confuses matters even more. One makes a lot of hissing and popping when I vape it (drum PG, 18mg) but with not that much smoke. I don;t know if this means I've flooded it, or if it's burning too dry.
I'm not sure why I'm having such problems with taste, unless it's just that all liquids have really subtle flavours, and I expect too much.
That said, though, I got some cheap PG cappuccino liquid, and I find the taste too sickly.
Anyone know where I'm going wrong?

 

[Rosa]

Have you tried mixing the PG and VG together? Most vapers prefer a mix of about 70%PG with 30%VG.

Vg will provide lots of visible vapor, but it mutes the flavor and throat hit.
Pg gives tons of throat hit (perhaps the throat irritation you are experiencing) and a cleaner flavor, but not as much visible vapor.

Good luck!

 

[Standpoint]

I find getting the right flavor to be a very daunting task, also. Been at this on and off for over a year. The most likely culprits are your liquid or atomizers. I found that when I use cartomizers instead of atomizers/cartridges, that I get a very different flavor between the two using the same liquid. Maybe go buy yourself a cartomizer and give it a try?

The hissing/popping atty is either flooded, wet from water, or bad. Blow out the liquid, if no go then clean and let dry for a few days, if no go then it is bad and toss it.

 

[violetvoo]

Hello and welcome! It's not unusual for your taste buds to change when you first start vaping.
A mix of 70pg/30vg will help the throat hit/vapor problem.
Find a good juice vendor in flavors that sound good to you, lots of the cheaper
juices are weak tasting or taste perfumey or like chemicals...good quality juice
makes all the difference....Good luck and happy hunting...

 

[keyzygirl]

I vape a 80/20 mix but you could go 50/50 and it may work better.Next juice order get double flavor and maybe that will help.

 

[swedishfish]

Do you have a standard 510, the mini style or the ego 510? If it's the standard 510 you can't really use the dual coil cartos on it. A lot of VG you're going to have a pretty muted taste in dual coils. That's what I've found anyway. One of my juices is all PG and I get a pretty strong flavor. My peach juice is 60pg/40vg and the flavor is very muted. Next time I'm going to get it in 70/30. It's fine in a regular carto, but a little muted in the dual coil cartos. Maybe try a box of regular boge 2.0 cartos. See if you like that better.

 

[Boodle]

Fining outstanding equipment is easy. Your perfect juice... Not so much. I'd suggest trying the top vendors you can read about on ECF. The fan base for KickBassVapor (KBV) is ginormous. FreedomSmokeUSA (FSUSA), Nhaler, Alien Visions and Halo are also popular. I ran though threads looking for members who had been around a year or more and read until I was foggy. My conclusion was to order only the top few sellers in sample sizes from popular suppliers. If they didn't list their top sellers I called and asked. I have three flavors out of 100+ tried that are my go-to juices and another 10 or so that are occasional fun juices from places like gourmet vapors, mrs. T's, ect. I order extra flavor if its an option. Good luck!

 

[WomanOfHeart]

The hissing and popping in a carto is a good thing. When it sounds like it's gurgling that means it's flooded. Rosa already posted about PG and VG, but I'm going to second what she said and add this; both PG and VG have a dehydrating effect, so it's very important that you make sure you're drinking plenty of water.

When the vapor starts to drop off (and you won't get much with straight PG) or you get the slightest burnt taste, it's time to top it off.

Hope this helps! Happy vaping!

 

[Iffy]

The hissing and popping in a carto is a good thing.

Oh yeah, just like bacon! Actually it's good for carts and tanks also. Those sounds mean that your atty is hot, juice is present and you're not flooded.

 

[Philx123]

Thanks for that. I have a standard Riva 501, and have done okay with it. I'm still trying to perfect my method, though. Bizarrely, I recently found some old carts from a cigarette style e-cig. They had filling, but rather a little tank. I succeeded in taking the tank out, popping them and, with difficulty, getting the liquid, which I suppose is PG and rated as high, Virginia, into a standard cart. Used with a standard atty, I found the vape to be just right, enough smoke and a delicate, pleasant tobacco like flavour. Unfortunately, I have no idea who the vendor is, and whether they do it as a liquid alone. I bought some Virginia high of the people I thought the carts were fromj, but it bore little resemblance. A real pity.
I just had another go, and found it was better without the cone on with the PG. I suspect this is because there's more air to dilute the liquid, but it's still not ideal. The only liquid that seems to be working for me is USA mix tobacco from Liberty Flights (forget the exact name). I only got the small sample bottle, though, so will run out soon.
The one I liked best so far is flue cured tobacco. Ironically, the first I got. close second come black clove and Cubana, all from LF. All VG. I'll order some more, in the bigger bottle, but the last few weeks I've been trying to hunt down the definitive tobacco taste.
I'd heard Drum double strength from OKsmoke was really up there, but in the cartomizer, it's just too strong for me. Of course the cartomizer is full, so it will be a while before I can drop some VG in to dilute it.

Thanks for the help, though, and the ideas.

All the best

Phil

 

[Chrissie]

Hi Phil

I've had OK Smokey's DF Drum & really liked it. When you say it's too strong for you, do you mean flavour wise or nic wise?

These days I buy most of my juice from paradise vapes - really like their LnB & surprisingly loved their apple flavour

Paradise Vape UK