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One of the most common problems that new and intermediate vapers deal with is a burned taste when vaping. The burned taste might start to creep in after you’ve been using a coil for a while, or it could happen immediately with a new coil. A burned vape is particularly problematic for a new vaper because, if you’re new to vaping, you might not realize that the vapor isn’t actually supposed to taste burned. Vaping is supposed to taste good, and a burned vape is completely fixable. Fix your burned vape with these easy tips.
Always Prime Your New Coils
One reason why you might get a burned taste with a new coil is because you didn’t prime the coil with e-liquid before using it. The heat from the atomizer coil is what vaporizes your e-liquid, but the e-liquid also plays another important role in the vaping process in that it keeps the coil from overheating. If your coil is dry, it’ll produce an incredibly harsh and burned flavor – and that can happen from the very first puff if the coil isn’t completely soaked with e-liquid.
To prime a new coil, use your e-liquid bottle to wet the coil’s wick openings until you no longer see dry cotton. Wet the cotton that you can see through the coil’s top opening as well. Next, assemble and fill the tank. Wait a few minutes before vaping to ensure that the wick has no remaining dry areas.
Adjust Your E-Liquid’s VG/PG Ratio
Have you ever noticed the fact that your e-liquid bottles have their ratios of vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol printed on their labels? If you don’t normally pay attention to VG/PG ratios when buying e-liquid, it’s time to start paying attention if you’re getting a burned taste when you vape. That’s because refillable pod systems are more popular than ever, and pod systems are designed to work most efficiently with thinner e-liquids.
If you’re using a pod system, your e-liquid should have a VG/PG ratio close to 50/50 for best performance. A pod system typically has a very small atomizer coil assembly with tiny wick openings. A thick e-liquid will have trouble flowing through those openings efficiently, and you’ll end up with a vape that tastes burned. The big bottles of e-liquid that you see at your local vape shop are most likely higher-VG blends that are too thick to work well with a pod system.
Keep Your Tank Full
It’s always unwise to use your tank until it’s completely dry. You can see the reason for that by looking at your tank from the side. You’ll probably notice that the coil’s wick openings are slightly elevated from the bottom of the tank. To flow to the wick and keep the coil wet, the e-liquid in the tank needs to touch those openings at all times – and if the level of e-liquid in the tank is low, there’s a good chance that the juice isn’t flowing through the wick efficiently. Keep your tank full.
Don’t Mix Other Ingredients With Your E-Liquid
Some people occasionally feel tempted to spice up their vaping routines by adding other ingredients – such as menthol crystals or CBD oil – to their e-liquid. It is very unwise, though – both for your health and for the longevity of your coil – to put anything other than e-liquid into your tank. Adding CBD oil to your e-liquid, for example, is a bad idea because food oils aren’t safe for inhaling. In addition, your atomizer coil’s cotton wick isn’t intended for use with anything other than e-liquid and will probably perform poorly with additives. If your vape tastes burned after you add something to your e-liquid, you can blame the additive.
Wait Longer Between Puffs
When you sit around vaping mindlessly, you might start chain vaping without realizing that you’re doing it. You’ll end up not allowing sufficient time for your atomizer coil’s wick to replenish itself between puffs. It’s a good idea to wait at least a minute after each puff to ensure that your wick is completely wet before you vape again. If your tank feels very warm to the touch, there’s a good chance that you’re puffing a bit too vigorously.
Reduce Your Vaping Device’s Power Level
The coils for today’s vape tanks can work reliably at fairly high wattages. Some coils even require more than 100 watts of power to operate at maximum efficiency. Before you start cranking the power up, though, you should check the recommended wattage range etched into the side of your coil. It’s usually a bad idea to exceed the maximum wattage recommended for the coil. You should also keep in mind that the recommended wattage range is based on an average puff duration of just two or three seconds. If you enjoy slow, deep puffs when vaping, you should set your vaping device to a lower wattage to avoid a burned coil.
Go Easy on the Sweetened E-Liquid
If you’re detecting a burned taste when vaping after a day or two of trouble-free operation, the reason is almost certainly because you’re using sweetened e-liquid. Sucralose is the most common sweetener for vape juice. It can make any e-liquid taste almost as sweet as candy, and it even leaves a candy-like coating on the lips and in the mouth. If you have a sweet tooth, you’ll probably love the fact that many modern e-liquids are sweetened with sucralose.
The downside, though, is that sucralose drastically shortens the life of a vaping coil. When you vape an e-liquid with sucralose, the sucralose leaves behind a layer of residue that sticks to the atomizer coil and grows thicker until it eventually burns. When the layer of residue becomes thick enough to burn, you’ll taste the change in your e-liquid’s flavor and may also notice an irritating sensation in the back of your throat when you vape.
Once sucralose has ruined your coil, there’s really no fix except to replace the coil. Sucralose residue can collect on your coil extremely quickly depending on the amount of e-liquid that you consume, and today’s high-end vape tanks can consume e-liquid very quickly. If you’re tired of dealing with the burned flavor of sucralose residue, try switching to an unsweetened e-liquid.
