Why Does My Vape Taste Burnt?

If you’re in the mood for a laugh, go to Google and type “dry hit meme.” See anything familiar? We bet you do, because every person who vapes has experienced a burnt taste at one time or another.

Your inhale can transform from delicious to vile in an instant.

Happily, you can reduce the chances of experiencing that horrible taste.

Why does your vape taste burnt?

If you get a burnt taste when vaping, there are two possible causes of the issue:

1. You’re getting a dry hit. This is what happens when e-liquid fails to feed through to your coil’s wick. When you fire the device, the wicking is dry, there is no juice to vaporise and the wicking material burns.
2. Your coil is covered with residue. The residue is usually sucralose, the most common e-liquid sweetener. Sucralose doesn't vaporise. It creates a layer of coil gunk that thickens, darkens and eventually burns. A thin layer of sucralose residue on your coil will create a flavour that tastes like burnt sugar. A thick layer will prevent e-liquid from reaching your coil efficiently, creating an effect much like that of a dry hit.

How do you avoid dry hits?

There is much you can do to prevent dry hits:

Keep Your Tank or Pod Full

The most common cause of dry hits is actually incredibly simple. Dry hits happen when your tank or pod is empty. If there's insufficient e-liquid to cover the holes on the side of the atomiser head, the wick will be dry. Don't forget to top up your tank or pod!

Reduce Your Wattage or Puff Duration

Dry hits can happen if your coil burns e-liquid away more quickly than the wicking can be replenished. This will happen if you have selected a wattage that is too high or you are puffing too deeply when vaping. Lower your device’s wattage or reduce the duration of your puffs.

It's important to establish the right wattage for your juice. Sweet flavours require lower outputs while some blends may benefit from ramping things up a bit.

Choose the right base liquid ratio for your coil

All e-liquids feature a blend of vegetable glycerine (VG) and propylene glycol (PG) but in varying ratios. VG is much thicker than PG. High resistance coils (those with resistances of 1.0 ohm or more), are compatible only with e-liquids that are at least 60PG. Coils with resistances of 0.6 ohm - 0.9 ohm are ideal for 50VG/50PG flavours. Those with lower resistances are suitable for e-liquids that are at least 60VG. To learn more about base liquid ratios, read our dedicated guide.

Check for Hot Spots When Building Coils

If you use a rebuildable atomizer and build your own coils, you will already be familiar with the importance of checking for hot spots because you do it every time you mount your coils to your atomizer. Did you know, though, that it’s equally important to check for hot spots again after you’ve threaded your wick through the coil and added e-liquid? If you don’t have firm contact between the coil and the wick, you’ll experience dry hits even when your coil seems completely wet.

Don't Chain Vape

Chain vaping is like chain smoking. It's the practice of taking puffs in quick succession and without a break. Unfortunately, chain vaping is a common cause of dry hits as it does not allow sufficient time for coil wicking to absorb e-liquid. If you find that you need to chain vape, it could because the nicotine strength of your juice is too low. Investing in e-liquids with a higher nicotine strength might solve the problem. You should also consider nic salts flavours as salt nicotine tends to provide longer-lasting relief of your cravings than freebase nicotine. Maybe your chain vaping is merely habitual or the result of loving your flavour. If so, try to take fewer puffs while vaping.

Can you rectify the cause of dry hits?

It is possible to clean removeable coils and their wicking material but doing this isn't really worth the hassle. If you experience dry hits, your coil's wicking is burnt and you will need to replace the coil. If you use vape pods with built-in coils, you will need to replace the entire pod.

How often should you replace your coil?

Steady, prolonged use will eventually diminish the performance of any coil, even when you have chosen e-liquid with an appropriate base and you have refrained from chain vaping. No coil will last forever and you should replace your coil as soon as you feel that the flavour of your puffs has diminished.

Why does your vape taste burnt even with a new coil?

If you replace your coil or pod and still experience a burnt taste, you have likely not primed your coils. Priming is the process of allowing a coil to absorb e-liquid. After replacing a coil or pod, fill the tank or pod with juice and then wait for at least five minutes before taking a puff.

Can you prevent coil residue from forming?

Coil gunk is mostly caused by sweeteners, dark/complex flavourings, and heat caramelizing residue on the coil. You can’t eliminate it entirely, but you can dramatically slow down the build-up of residue. Here’s how:

• Choose “cleaner” e-liquids - avoid juices with sweeteners and dark, syrupy flavours. fruit and menthol flavours are more coil-friendly.
• Consider your VG ratio - ensure that the VG ratio of your juice is appropriate for your coil.
• Moderate your wattage - lower wattage and stay within (or slightly below) the manufacturer’s recommended range.
• Adjust your airflow - increasing your airflow will keep your coil cooler.
• Refrain from chain vaping - leaving time between puffs will allow coils to cool.
• Prime coils correctly - a well-saturated coil burns cleaner.
• Keep Your Tank Clean - old residue in the tank can re-deposit onto the coil.
• Store e-liquids correctly - keep bottles in a cool, dark place. Don’t use expired or overly darkened juice.

In summery

No coil will last forever and every vaper will occasionally set an inappropriate output or forget to top up their pod. But by making the right choices, remembering to fill your pod and refraining from chain vaping, you can reduce the chances of experiencing unpleasant dry hits.