It can be frustrating when you're vaping, and the flavour is just not there. But when your vape tastes burnt, it's downright repulsive. This is not an uncommon problem and can happen for many reasons, but why does this happen?
First, you need to understand why your vape tastes burnt and how to avoid it. Vape pens are designed with atomisers that heat up e-liquid and turn it into vapour. The atomiser is usually made of a coil that heats up when you press the button on your pen, or when you inhale. When you take a hit, the coil heats the e-liquid until it becomes vapour.
When you take a hit, the atomiser coil burns some of that e-liquid as well. This can result in an unpleasant taste. However, another issue may be at play here if you notice this happening more than usual. So, some of the possible reasons behind the burnt vape taste include the following:
Chain Vaping
Chain vaping means vaping continuously without putting the device down and allowing the coil to cool down. The more you vape, the hotter the coil gets, and that's why your vape tastes burnt after a while. You can prevent this by taking breaks every 15 minutes or so.
Running Low on E-Liquid
If you run out of e-juice and continue to vape without any e-liquid, then it’s likely that your coil will become burnt. When there’s no more e-juice to vape, then it just becomes dry heat which causes dry hits and makes your coil burn out faster than usual. To prevent this from happening, always remember to stock up on e-liquid so that you never run out while vaping! You can usually tell if this is happening because your vapour will become noticeably harsher or dryer than normal. If this happens often enough, it will damage your coils and degrade their performance over time until they break down completely.
High Power Vaping
If you are vaping at high wattage, then this can cause a burnt taste. Most vapers start with low-powered devices such as pod mods and move up to higher-powered devices like box mods and sub-ohm tanks. This can lead to accidentally over-vaping your e-juice, which results in a burnt taste. To avoid this, always use your device's recommended wattage and lower wattages if you want to get more flavour from your e-juice.
Vaping the Wrong e-juice
The type of e-juice you choose also affects whether or not you will get a burnt taste from vaping it. If you aren't sure about what type of juice is right for your device or how much nicotine strength to choose, you may need to consult before settling on a random e-juice.
You May Have Old Coils
If you have been using your refillable vape pen for a long time, then your coils may have become old. When this happens, they don't heat up as efficiently as before and may even produce a burnt taste when you take draws from them. You can prevent this by replacing your coils regularly or cleaning them using alcohol wipes.
Unclean Coils
If you are using a mechanical mod, this is usually caused by unclean coils. The coil must be soaked in alcohol or cleaned with an ultrasonic cleaner. If you're using a rebuildable tank atomiser, you can clean your coils with a cotton bud dipped in alcohol.
Excess Cotton on the Coil
This may sound weird, but it happens. If you leave too much cotton on your coil and it touches the top cap or inner tube of your tank, then it will burn off when you vape and leave a burnt taste in your mouth. So you need to ensure that there is no excess cotton on the coil before vaping.
How to Fix the Burnt Taste in Your Vape
You don't have to be a professional vaper to enjoy a nice, smooth hit. But if you're new to the game, it can be tough to avoid that burnt taste.
Here are some tips on better controlling your vape and avoiding getting a burnt hit.
Keep Your Tank Filled
A full tank helps in preventing burnt hits. If your tank is empty, you need to fill it up before vaping again. When you are vaping from an empty tank, the coil heats up quickly and produces dry puffs resulting in a burnt taste and flavourless smoke. A full tank ensures enough liquid for the coil to heat up properly and produce a great taste.
Replace Your Coils Regularly
If you use a rebuildable dripping atomiser or RDA, you need to change its cotton wicks every few days or weeks. This will help you avoid getting burnt hits because of dry wicks. When wicks get too dry, they lose their ability to absorb e-liquid, resulting in poor flavour production and hit quality. Also, if your wicks are too wet, they can easily overheat, resulting in burnt puffs.
Practise Priming Your Coils
When you use a new coil or rebuildable atomiser (RBA), you need to prime it first. This means filling up your tank with e-liquid so that it flows through the entire system and saturates all of the cotton inside. This allows for a more consistent vape throughout your session and ensures you don't get any dry hits.
Vape on Low to Moderate Wattages
If you're vaping on higher wattage settings, then more heat is generated by your coils, which means there's more potential for burnt hits to occur over time if they aren't maintained properly. Try lowering your wattage to avoid this problem altogether!
Clean Your Coils Regularly
The first thing to do is clean your coils regularly. If you build coils, you already know how easy it is for them to get dirty, especially if you're a heavy vaper. This doesn't mean you need to clean them every time you change your cotton or change flavours, but giving them a quick rinse once every few days or so is a good idea.
Avoid Using Excessive Wick Material
Another way to prevent burnt hits is by using less wick material than what is recommended by the manufacturer. There are two main reasons why this might happen: either the wick material has become too saturated with e-liquid, or there isn't enough airflow through the coil (which can also be caused by too much wick). In both cases, using less wick will help prevent burnt hits because less liquid will be available to burn on the coil if there isn't enough airflow.