Why does my vape taste burnt & how to fix it?
Is your vape burning your throat?
No one likes a burnt-tasting vape. We spend time, effort and money finding the perfect flavour and blend of e-liquid and we always want it to taste great and vape perfectly. Occasionally though, you may get a burnt taste as you inhale on your vape. But what is causing it and how do you stop it from happening?
In this blog, we’ll run through the various reasons your vape might taste burnt and exactly how to fix it.
Your coil needs changing
If you’ve been using the coil in your vape for a while and it tastes burnt it could need changing. It’s essential to regularly change your coil to ensure your vape is working at its best and producing the optimum vapour and flavour experience. Changing your coil is a quick and easy process and replacement coils are relatively inexpensive, especially compared to the ever-increasing price of tobacco cigarettes.
The average vaper can expect a coil to last around 1-2 weeks but if you don’t use your vape too often it could last up to a month.
Fix
Replace the coil in your vape. If you’re unsure how to do it you can check out our handy How to change a vape coil guide or refer to the instruction manual of your device. Alternatively, give us a call or pop into one of our vape stores and our friendly staff will be happy to show you how.
Your tank needs topping up
If there is not enough e-liquid in your vape tank or pod you’ll experience a burnt taste when you inhale on the device. In essence, instead of vaporising the e-liquid in your tank, the coil will be burning the wicking material inside the coil. This will produce a very unpleasant harsh and acrid taste which is something no one will want to experience.
Fix
Keep your tank constantly topped up with liquid and don’t let it get too low or run out completely. This will also help to prolong the life of your coil. In tanks with a large glass section, it will be easy to see when your liquid is running low, however, in devices such as pod kits it may be less obvious that you’re running out of liquid. Best practice is to periodically inspect your pod and top it up with e-liquid regularly.
You haven’t primed your coil
When you first install a brand new vape coil it is important to prime the coil before first using it. Priming is essentially filling your device with e-liquid and leaving it for enough time for the liquid to fully saturate into the cotton wicking material before first using it. If you fire the device before the cotton is fully saturated with e-liquid, you risk burning the cotton which will lead to a very unpleasant burnt taste as you puff on the vape device.
Fix
Prime all brand new vape coils before you fire your e-cigarette. If you’re unsure how to prime your coil you can check out our How to prime a vape coil to prevent burnout
Your power settings are too high
Most vapes have adjustable power settings to allow the user to adjust their device to suit their needs. A lower power setting will produce a cooler less intense vape experience while a higher power setting will put more power through the coil, producing a warmer and more intense vape. However, if you set the power (or wattage) level too high the vape coil will be unable to cope and could produce a burned taste. Also, once the wick is badly burnt it will always taste bad until you replace the coil in your vape with a new one.
Fix
Start with a lower power or wattage setting on your device and slowly increase it until you find the optimum level. If it tastes at all burnt or too hot, reduce the power. You should also check the manufacturer's guidelines on your device to see the recommended wattage for each device or coil resistance. Often, you’ll find the recommended wattage range printed in small text on the side of each coil.
You have the wrong resistance of coil installed
Many vape brands offer their coils in different resistances. When you get a new kit, it may come with two different coils in the box and, more often than not, the two coils will be different resistances. This gives you the chance to try the two options to see which one best suits your vaping needs. However, different resistances will require different power levels to perform optimally.
A higher resistance will require less power than a lower resistance to produce the same amount of vapour and heat from the coil.
Fix
Increase or decrease the power/wattage of your vape to suit the resistance of the coil you have installed. It’s best practice to consult the manufacturer's recommended wattage range for your coil or e-cig device to ensure you’re getting the perfect experience.
You’re using the wrong type of e-liquid
It is vitally important to ensure you select the correct e-liquid for your vape kit. Each vape kit is designed to be used with a specific type of e-liquid and if you use one that is either too thick or too thin, it could produce a burnt taste, damage the coil or even leak.
But which is the correct e-liquid for your vape? The main thing to look out for when selecting an e-liquid for your device is the VG content of the e-liquid. This will determine the viscosity (thickness) of the liquid which will be the cause of a burnt taste from your vape. For simplicity, we can split e-liquids into two main groups.
VG E-Liquids
VG (vegetable glycerine) e-liquid is now predominantly sold in short-fill bottles (50ml or 100ml), with 0mg nicotine strength. Then, you add a nicotine shot to make the liquid your preferred strength (generally 3mg or 6mg). These liquids have a high VG (vegetable glycerine) content, generally 60%-70% and above. VG is a thick substance and is what produces large vapour clouds. Nearly all pen kits and most pod kits are incompatible with high-VG e-liquids.
Vape kits that are compatible with VG e-liquids will generally have some or all of these features;
1.Sub-ohm coils i.e. the resistance of the coil is below 1.0ohm (generally 0.2ohm to 0.6ohm)
2.Large wicking holes in the coil – this is so the thicker liquid can easily soak into the cotton wick. The coils themselves are generally quite large too compared to those in regular vape pens.
3. High power/wattage – most kits compatible with VG e-liquid will have an output range up to 50w, some even go up to 220w and above. However, just because your device goes up to these levels it doesn’t mean your coil will be able to handle that maximum power and it doesn’t mean it is compatible with VG e-liquid.
4. Airy draw – you’ll want a device with an airy or loose draw rather than a tight draw that’s like smoking a cigarette. The airy draw is so you can inhale the vapour directly into your lungs (DTL) rather than into your mouth first (MTL).
PG E-Liquids, 50/50 E-Liquids and Nicotine Salts (Nic Salt or NS)
PG (propylene glycol), 50/50 and Nic Salts are the types of e-liquid sold in 10ml bottles and come in varying nicotine strengths from 0mg all the way up to 20mg. These three types of e-liquid all have one thing in common; their VG content is no more than 50%. This will mean that the e-liquid is thinner and that coils with small wicking holes will be able to sufficiently wick the e-liquid to the coil. These liquids are perfect for devices such as pen kits, pod kits and devices that use coils above 1.0ohms such as Aspire’s BVC coils, Nautilus coils and many more.
Using these liquids in devices designed for high VG liquid can be fine though quite harsh (some vapers like that!), however, there is the possibility that the tank will leak, due to the thinner liquids flooding the coil, and your vape may taste burnt as the e-liquid is too easily vaporised by the coil.
Your disposable vape tastes burnt
If your disposable vape tastes burnt it’s likely that your vape is running out of e-liquid. In most cases with disposable vapes, the battery will run out before the e-liquid, however, occasionally it’s the other way round.
Disposable vapes often suggest a number of puffs that you can expect to get out of them, however, these are often based on small and short puffs. If you take long deep puffs on your disposable vape you could expect significantly fewer puffs from the device.
Fix
If your disposable vape is tasting burnt, you could try the following to see if you can get a bit more life out of it.
Leave a longer time between puffs. This will allow the wick to re-saturate with e-liquid.
Give the vape a shake to help distribute the e-liquid in the wick to the coil
Take smaller puffs
What causes a burnt hit?
Burnt hits are the result of powering an atomizer when there is no liquid or not enough on the wicks. Without liquid to vaporize, the coils start burning the wick, and the user essentially inhales burnt cotton. Here are some of the most common reasons behind burnt hits and some advice to help you avoid them.
High wattages
Vaping at wattages that exceed the coil limits will vaporize e-liquid too fast. When that happens, the coils can burn the wicks, even when there’s still some juice there. Always stay inside the recommended wattage ranges.
Chain vaping
When taking many puffs in a row, the wick will dry up fast. If you sense that a burnt hit is coming, by noticing a slightly roasted taste, put your vape down for a moment. This will allow liquid to cover the dry spots of the wick.
Vaping with high-VG e-liquids
Not all vapes are made the same. Some vape tanks will allow for high-VG juice, while others will often require 50% PG or more to function properly. A good rule of thumb is to check for the size of the wick channels. If the holes are of a small diameter, chances are your tank will not bode well with high-VG juice.
Not priming coils properly
is probably the most common issue of the list. Priming your coil heads is essentially the process of getting them ready for first use by allowing the wicks to get saturated with e-liquid. If you want to avoid getting a burnt hit, remember to always prime your coils properly
Does your new coil taste burnt?
If you have properly primed your new coil, but it is giving you a burnt taste—or any weird taste for that matter—replace it. Chances are you got a dud. Not all coils are made equal, especially when you consider the large numbers that are getting produced every day. Some coils are bad out of the box, maybe due to a production error that caused a bad fit or a loose connection. Luckily, it’s fairly rare these days for large-scale “bad batches” of coils to be on the market.
That said, if you ever do get a bad coil that didn’t perform how previous ones did, it’s likely that you’ll get more bad coils from that pack. To safeguard yourself from not having any good coils, consider buying more than one box of coils when you re-up. If you can, think about buying the same coils from another shop because it’s a better chance the batch will be different.
