Why Does My Vape Taste Burnt?

When you vape, your expectation is that the flavour will be smooth and enjoyable – and when your vape tastes burnt, the flavour is exactly the opposite of that. A burnt vape can make your experience so bad, in fact, that it becomes impossible to enjoy vaping at all. Almost every person who vapes experiences a burnt flavour early in their transition from smoking, and understanding why your vape tastes burnt and knowing how to prevent it in the future is a major component of advancing past the beginner stage in your vaping journey.

Reading this guide, you’re going to learn everything you’ve ever wanted to know about why your vape tastes burnt and what you can do about it. You’re also going to learn what a burnt coil looks and tastes like, and that’s going to help you get to the root of the problem.

Sweetened E-Liquid Can Make Your Vape Taste Burnt

What does it taste like? It tastes like deeply caramelised sugar.

If you used your vape for a while with no issues before it began to taste burnt, it’s likely that the coil is burnt because you’re using sweetened vape juice. Many modern e-liquids are sweetened with a calorie-free sweetener called sucralose, which is sold in stores under the brand name Splenda. A sweetened e-liquid can taste very good – especially if it has a fruity, candy or dessert flavour profile – but sucralose has a major downside in vape juice in that it doesn’t vaporize when it’s heated. Instead, it burns down and creates a dark sludge.

If you’re here because you want to know why your coil tastes burnt after two days, the answer is that you’re probably using sweetened e-liquid. Very quickly, sweetened e-liquid causes a layer of dark residue to form on a vape coil. When the residue first begins to form, you’ll start to taste a slightly exaggerated sweetness. As the residue becomes thicker, though, you’ll start to taste a smoky, caramelised note that becomes more and more prominent as you continue using the coil. Eventually, the smoky flavour will become so overwhelming that vaping becomes completely unpleasant – but you’ll most likely have replaced the coil by that point.

The more e-liquid you use, the more quickly residue will form on your coil – and if you’re using one of the best vape tanks, you’ll probably notice a negative change in the flavour after just a day or two because of the huge clouds that your tank produces.

So, what can you do if your vape tastes burnt because of sucralose residue? In this case, you have two options. You can continue using the same e-liquid and accept the fact that you’ll need to replace your coil frequently, or you can use unsweetened vape juice and enjoy longer coil life. V2 Vsavi Platinum E-Liquid is some of the most coil-friendly vape juice on the market.

You Could Be Using an Adjustable Vape with the Wattage Set Too High

What does it taste like? It tastes extremely harsh and may cause a severe burning sensation that causes you to cough.

Many of the best vapes on the market today have adjustable wattage, and having the ability to adjust your device’s wattage means that there’s also a possibility of setting your device’s wattage so high that the wick can’t supply e-liquid to the coil as quickly as the coil vaporises it.

The way to avoid this problem is by knowing the recommended wattage range for the coil you’re using. When you buy coils, you can find the recommended wattage on the box. It’s also often etched into the coils themselves. Make sure that your device is set to a power level within that range. It’s also important to remember that the ideal wattage for a vape coil depends in part on your personal vaping tendencies. If you take longer puffs, your device’s power level should be lower.

One other key thing to know is that it’s possible to damage your coil permanently by setting your device’s wattage too high because the intense heat produced by a dry vape coil can cause the coil’s cotton wick to burn. At the end of this guide, we’ll explain how to confirm that your coil’s wick is burnt. The important thing to know, though, is that if your vape still tastes burnt after you’ve reduced your device’s wattage, you probably need to replace the coil.

You May Have Started Using a New Coil Before Priming It Fully

What does it taste like? It tastes like burnt or singed cotton.

Even if you know that your vaping device is set to the correct wattage, it’s still possible to experience a burnt hit due to a dried-out coil if you begin vaping immediately after installing a new coil because a vape coil can’t operate properly until the wick is completely saturated with e-liquid. This issue can manifest itself in the same way as vaping at too high a wattage as described in the section above, but you’ll usually experience less harshness and more of a “burnt cotton” taste in this case because the wick will probably have at least a little e-liquid in it. It’s still possible to burn your coil’s wick in this situation, though, which would necessitate replacement of the coil.

The easiest way to avoid a burnt vape due to insufficient coil priming is by priming your coil manually before installing it. You can do that by putting a few drops of e-liquid on each of the coil’s wick openings when installing the coil. This helps to force vape juice into the wick and encourage full saturation. After priming the coil and filling the tank or pod, wait at least five minutes before you begin vaping. If your device has adjustable power, start at a low wattage and increase the power slowly when you’re certain that the coil is operating properly.

If you’re using a pod system that doesn’t have a replaceable coil, there’s no way to prime the coil manually. In this case, you should just make sure that you allow plenty of time for the coil to absorb the e-liquid each time you replace your pod.

You Could Have a Disposable Vape That’s Out of E-Liquid

What does it taste like? It tastes harsh and may also cause a slight burning sensation in your throat.

Although this article has mostly focused on what to do if a refillable and rechargeable vape tastes burnt, it’s important to note that you can also get a burnt flavour with a disposable vape. This happens when the device is out of e-liquid because most disposable vapes don’t have any temperature control functionality and will continue operating even when they’re completely dry. When this happens, you’ll experience a harsh flavour every time you puff on your device. It’s easy to recognise when this is about to happen, though, because a disposable vape’s flavour quality and vapour production will drop noticeably when the device is almost out of vape juice.

There’s no way to prevent a disposable vape from tasting burnt when it runs out of e-liquid, and most disposable vapes sold legally in the UK last just 600 puffs at the most (the Elf Bar AF5000 is a notable exception). For most people, 600 puffs will only be enough for a day or two of vaping. If that’s not sufficient for you, it might be wise to consider switching to a refillable vape. It’s also important to monitor your intake when you use a disposable vape and ensure that you’re only using your device when you actually need the nicotine.

What Does a Burnt Coil Look Like?

The easiest way to understand why your vape tastes burnt is by the specific characteristics of the flavour, which we’ve explained in this article. However, you can also look closely at your coil to confirm the reason why it’s burnt. After removing the coil from your device, examine the heating surface by looking through the top of the coil assembly. The metal should be white. If it has turned dark, residue from sweetened e-liquid has caused your coil to burn out. In this case, you may notice that the cotton wick is discoloured as well.

If the coil’s heating surface is still white, you can disassemble the coil to get a closer look at the wick. Pull the plug out of the bottom of the coil. Under the plug, you’ll see a rubber insulating ring and two wires. The wires are the coil’s positive and negative leads. Use a thin tool such as a toothpick to push the coil assembly out through the top of the coil’s casing. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to peel the cotton away from the coil’s heating surface. If you see dark scorch marks on the cotton, the coil burned out because your device’s wattage was set too high, or the coil was used before it was primed fully.

Looking closely at a vape coil after removing it from your device is an easy way to conclusively determine why it burned out – and once you know that, you’ll know exactly what you need to change in order to prevent your coils from burning out prematurely in the future.