My E-Cigarette Tastes Bad, What’s Wrong with It?
Although it doesn’t happen very often, some vapers have reported burnt or metallic tastes when using electronic cigarettes. There are a number of factors that can determine these off-putting aftertastes and we’re going to go through the most common.
The first thing that comes to mind when detecting an unpleasant taste is there must be something wrong with the e-liquid. It’s true that not all juices are of high quality, and it’s recommended you always source your stuff from a reputable vendor, but most times the burnt or metallic taste has less to do with the e-liquid and a lot more with the condition of the atomizer/cartomizer and the way you’re using the e-cigarette.
Electronic cigarette components don’t necessarily have to be old or overused to produce a fowl taste. In fact, often times, what you’re tasting are are manufacturing and machining residues on brand new atomizers or cartomizers. These include machine oil, coatings, traces of adhesives and coatings on the silica fibers of the wick. Sometimes e-cig consumables contain too much of these things and the e-liquid absorbs them giving you a nasty aftertaste. The best and safest way to get rid of it without damaging your unit is to burn through the residues by using the e-cigarette without inhaling. Just puff on it a few times and you’ll notice the bad taste begins to go away. There are other ways of removing the unwanted chemical stuff on your cartridges, if you’re not comfortable using them in their current condition. You can clear away the excess primer by blowing air from the top and bottom ends of the cartomizer, rinsing with alcohol and blowing again. It’s a very effective method, and beats soaking the parts in water or strong solvents that can affect their performance.
The burnt taste is usually caused by two major factors – a dry wicking material or gunk buildup on the atomizer coil. There probably isn’t a single electronic cigarette user who has never gotten at least a slight burnt taste. It happens every time your cartomizer/cartridge gets dry and the coil starts burning the filler.It’s important to regularly add more e-liquid as you vape, to prevent the polyfill material from getting burned. A clear indicator that you’re running low on juice is the drop in flavor and vapor production when you draw on the e-cig. Although it happens to a lot of vapers, those who ignore the slight burnt taste and continue to vape, will end up ruining the cartomizer. Once a large part of the filler material has burned, the nasty taste is virtually impossible to get rid of, and you need to use a brand new cartridge.
Most electronic cigarette companies will have you believe their cartomizers are disposable components meant to be thrown away after a single use, when in reality they can be refilled and used several times without any kind of difference in performance. But just like the classic atomizers, if you’re using a ticker, vegetable glycerin-based e-liquid, the coil will get covered in gunk residue pretty fast. If this happens, no matter how much e-liquid you keep adding, you’re going to get a disgusting burnt taste with every draw. That’s because every time the coil heats up, it keeps burning the gunk along with the juice. Fortunately, you don’t need to throw your atomizer/cartomizer away if you don’t mind getting your hands a little dirty. A simple rinsing will get rid of most gunk buildups, but in extreme cases you’ll have to use the dry burn technique, which basically means removing any filler from the cartomizer and heating up the coil until all the residue is charred making it easy to remove. It’s a painstaking process, ans commonly used on atomizers, not cheap cartomizers.
In some cases there is actually nothing wrong with the electronic cigarette or the e-liquid. New vapers tend to use the e-cigarette more than they need to and that sometimes mutes their taste buds, making it feel like they’re getting dry hits. Long-term use of menthol has been known to cause this more than other flavors, but it can happen with pretty much any kind of e-liquid that is vaped in excess. Regularly switching flavors is recommended to prevent taste bud muting from occurring. The good news is it’s only temporary and you’ll get you’re taste back in a week or two.
Im curious about the “shards” that build up in my e-cig. Is that youre talking about burning away?
I did something risky as I was getting tired of that burnt taste. I stuck the mouth end of each rechargeable e-cig in some raspberry tea, had my fingers above each cartridge and inhaled. I stopped when the cartomizers cooled above the threadings from the tea rising up. The cartridges were ruined (not really unexpected), but after putting new cartridges on, the taste was much cleaner. You could probably do as I did but with old cartridges and instead just dip the very ends of the cartridges and cartomizers in water, alcohol or tea where the threads are. Tea with sugar added might work better than water since we all know that sugary beverages do a great job at dissolving dried saliva. I would use sugary teas with the fewest ingredients, such Peace Tea, Pure Leaf or a balanced home brew. Sugar water or alcohol may do the trick for all I know, but store bought tea is what I had readily available at the time.
I forgot to mention that with the cartridges I made useless, I had done a few draws pulling the liquid out of the ends of the cartomizers. I would do this before putting on new cartridges because water will ruin the e-liquid in the new cartridges.
Alex, are you using an atomizer with cartidges, or cartomizers?
I hit my vape and it was fine all day, new coil and I soaked the cotton well, but in the evening all the sudden it hit so hard and was metallic almost, set my smoke alarm off and my parents came out, how can I fix it? The flavor was fine all day until now. Smoke is fine and the tank is filled fine too, any suggestions? How can I clean it?
The center post of my vision vivi nova tank keeps collecting water condensation at the point that connects to the atomizer. I’m not sure why this effects the flavor and vaping so much but it does. I have to screw off the replacement head to clean the center post of moisture, which is not e-liquid, and in the process, waste whatever was in my tank or else vape in frustration. The fogging happened during dry burn as well, and I opened and cleaned the center post several types of tiny water droplets until it stayed dry
And now flavor and enjoyment has dropped off again, pretty sure the moisture is back. Has anyone else encountered this frustration? It’s as if the moisture hinders an adequate connection to the atomizer/ wick from the battery… It’s driving me crazy! Any ideas on how to prevent the condensation? Thank you!
i just bought a new cartrige and it tastes like burning, i tried to puff at it and twist it and it still does taste bad, this is so annoying as i just bought it.
Same here & it’s been happening a lot more frequently now. I’ve never had that problem til just last month with my Logic e Cigs. I literally only had 5 puffs and this thing tastes awful. Of course since I spent money on it I’m going to force myself to finish it… but I shouldn’t have a nasty tasting product an hour after I bought it.
If you are using a non-disposable e-cig, when you first buy it you have to “prime” it. You do this by sucking on the mouthpiece with the e-liquid in it while holding and letting go of the airhole to let air through the coil without hitting the power (vape) button.
You keep taking these dry hits until you start tasting the e-liquid. It is important to do this without pressing the vape button because if you don’t prime it and take a vape hit, it will burn the coil up in a way that it leaves a metallic/burnt taste permanently unless you want to buy a new atomizer.
i have a hot vape e go twist and im getting horrible dry hits Ive had it for about 2 mouths now and ive gone through 4 wicks already idk what to do
Iv had 3 tops and 3. Batterys in less then a week with 3 different lIquids and everyone one of them after a couple of hours taste burnt the battery and eveything smells burnt what is wrong with it
Just got the pcc itaste AIO. the personal charging dock is awesome but every juice cartraige ive tried just tastes burnt and no vape comes out. the battery is fully carged and i tried 6 cartraiges all taste terrible and give me no draw of vapor. Did i buy a bad batch or am is this operator error here?
if you taste ammonia on and off then you may have a kidney problem, in which case you may want to pace yourself and look into that.
As soon as I added some more liquid the burnt taste went away. I just got my e cig and have a clear mini tank I thought it had enough fluid.
Try halo g6 e cigs they are very well made. I just got one and it’s great!!
I have tried at least four different varieties of e-cigs and I, too think the G6 Halo is the best. It is a comfortable size, high quality oils in a variety of flavors and strengths, and it is convenient to carry everywhere.
Kangertech pro tank 2 is the way to go, and always make sure your priming the wicks before you use them, meaning draw on the tank/cartridge several times before pressing the button, failure to do so will result in burnt wicks, especially so in long wick setups
Thank u james never knew u needed to prime the e cig and I do have the pro tank 2!
Hi
I rinse my Kangertech Protank components
under the steam jet of my espresso machine
and this gives good results. It blows out the nasty carbon particles and because its so easy to do
I tend to clean more or less each time i fill the tank.
Hope this helps you guys
the burnt taste for me, was caused by vapeing on a low or empty cartomizer. this causes the coil toburn & then i always tasted the burnt taste until i replaced my coil & refilled my tank (cartomizer) hope this helps. the vapor cig has helped me quit smoking cold turkey. i wouldn’t trade it for anything.
I’m upset with this… I’ve had my e-cig half full while having to suck very hard for long periods of time. I’m guess this lead to irreversible residue build up. (To an extent)
Each puff taste like a sweaty gym sock left in a zip lock for days. It’s horrid. I’ve tried burning it while giving the odd puff. It did not get any better.
I hope this hasn’t cause any short term effects on me. I kept smoking it for a week with not too horrid taste, but very noticeable.
I thought it was due to me puffing on it all day and my taste buds getting used to the good taste and only tasting the bad. (Over use.)
I’ve been feeling pretty shitty from it, and again I thought maybe it was due to the amount of nicotine. Maybe it was, I’m not sure if nicotine level 18 is bad to be puffing it all day.
This has helped a lot. Also I’d like to say I’ve only had these two e-cigs for a month, max. I will now take it easy when using, and keep the juice topped up.
Thanks so much!
Any info, questions, or comments on my situation, feel free to email me at [email protected]
I’d appreciate some more insight.
(It’s an EVOD)
Cale- you mean you have nicotine level 1.8, not 18 I would imagine? If it’s Logic there are different nicotine levels that are labeled and have a specific name. There is Logic Zero- 0% a nicotine free, Logic Gold 1.4%, Logic Black Label 1.8%, and Logic Platinum 2.4%. But I know you can personlize your level and flavors but don’t think they have 18%. I’ve been using 1.8% and I don’t feel like it’s too high, buy sometimes I just smoke it too much. . Not realizing how many puffs I’ve taken or how long Ive been using it. I have used Logic Power Series a lot, as well as Black Label, and Platnum amd they all taste burnt when you getting low on liquid and need to change cartridges. The filter paper is drying out or dry and starts to burn. But I have the Logic Proand that’s where I have this problem with new liquid catridges. Never happened until onr day I was drinking coffee and smoking it and must of had a drip of coffee get in. The menthol flavor was terrible mixed with a caramel flavored coffee taste and I threw the 95% full cartidge out. No problem for alil then I noticed putting a new one in and it having a burnt taste after about 10 pulls? Took it out put a new one in and no problem. I’ve thought it was the cartridges in thay pack, then maybe the distributor/ the store, or even the logic pro bc of the drip of coffee I got inside. (I thougjt it only tainted the cartridge bc I never tasted coffee after that?) But I bought an entirely new Logic Pro and I’m still making my bf check, does this taste right? Now he even thinks he got a bad cartridge. LoL so maybe it’s needing to clean the Logic Pro and watching out for bad packs of cartridges? That’s why I’m reading this. Also, trying to make sure Logic doesn’t have diacetyl.. aka causes popcorn lung. Look it up if you haven’t heard.. it’s a flavoring that used to be in some popcorn factories causing lung problems that limit breathing by narrowing airways and eventually needed a transplant.
Evods are awesome for the price.as long as you’re using good juice they have an awesome taste.using 100% vg will burn out the atomizers pretty quick.good news tho.they’re cheap.I’ve tried alot of the cheaper vapes including the kinds that mimic cigarettes (i.e.blu) no comparison.a variable voltage battery helps too.
I use jac vapour great product no issues
Am a roll up smoker just bought a blu vap never had one before it’s working fine but I can’t take it down have primed it but it hurts my chest is it me hhheeeeeelp want to like it but can’t smoke it
I tried Blu.. tasted bad in my opinion.. i like Logic and Logic Pro.
So so I have read a bunch on this stuff over the past few days, I had two just fog’s which lasted a bit now now are impossible to fix. Replacing coild may help, but my honest opinion is just clean them with warm water every day. I have just switched over to the t3s and it’s great for like 20 hours then I get the burnt taste, I rinse the coil throughly blow dry it clean and bam perfection. Of you do rinse them and still get a burnt taste, something else is wrong. I have over dry burned my coils and neglected to properly clean them. Do not dry burn the coild when you first get them just simply rinse, only dry burn if you cannot fix the burning taste by rinsing. If you still have problems, it may be your battery.
What a learning curve, wish I knew this stuff before wasting so much money on new atomizers and coils.
This looks like a GREAT place for info
I just hope I can find what I need-I DO NOT want to smoke cigarettes!!!
And dont want to have to change equipment once a week if thats possible
i DO NOT suck on this thing like its a baby bottle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I recently bought 3 different flavours, but when i opened them, they all had this same stale smell, so i tried them all and they all had this horrible stale taste too, nothing like the flavour it says. This has only happened to me once before with one that was suppose to be strawberry. Is this a thing? Like, do companies sometimes send out dodgy liquids that have expired or something? I feel like ive been robbed since i spent £20 on those flavours and they are un smokable
Ithink there is a dry hit in my E-cig as when I am vaping the flavor is tasteless and its bad even after cleaning it it is giving bad taste.
I have a Atlantis sub tank and my smurf juice only tastes good if I drip oil onto the coil. It’s still vapes after it’s burnt off from juice in tank. But then it starts to loose lots of flavor. Please someone tell me why
I tried everything to get this god awful flavour out of my ecig. From carefully cleaning it to buying new components. Even trying to breath in any microscopic vapour droplets that may be in it and getting completely different liquids yet it still tastes like burnt metal.
I have a tc60w istick E leaf i it good flavor awesome hit I’m a cloud chaser so I’m so in
Logic recently not only increased the price of refills but also changed the taste. It is inferior, and frankly, soapy tasting. I am done with Logic.
I have a vape mini brand new from vape shop they hooked it up got me liquids n I was on my way.. well for days now it’s got a burnt taste n smell… I replaced liquid etc help!
I have bought SEVERAL packs of vuse only to find they are either defective or they taste like socks. Dirty socks. It sucks! I actully love the taste or the lack of over powering flavor of the original.
2 days ago I bought my last pack of cartridges in favor of the Mark 10s. The flavor is a little different with a tea taste. . Goodbye vuse.
All my e cigs tasted harsh, not burnt or dry but every throat hit was so harsh I wasn’t enjoying vaping anymore. After trying everything possible without success I then read the problem could be sucking too hard. I’d become so frustrated I was indeed sucking too hard and as soon as I stopped this the harshness has gone and I can now enjoy vaping again.
I’m using an ecig with an tank with disposable coil heads,I started getting a burning taste and I just followed your reviews,by taking out the coil head and running it under water and sucking the spout and spitting out the water lots of times,I looked through the holes and no blackness,and I’ve just put it back in and started vaping again,im using 1.2ohm coil head with 50-50 eliquid,so I guess my problem was gunk burning because this coil head is new in today,so whenever I get burning taste im going to repeat this,thanks everyone.
if you taste ammonia on and off then you may have a kidney problem, in which case you may want to pace yourself and look into that.