Why Does My Vape Taste Burnt? 8 Causes & Easy Fixes

There’s nothing worse than an acrid, dry or burnt vape taste rudely interrupting your vape session. You could be mid-conversation when—WHAM—you feel as if you’ve just inhaled a bar of plutonium! You’d ask yourself, “Why does my vape taste burnt? or “why does my rechargeable vape taste burnt?”

This can be a very frustrating experience for new and seasoned vapers alike, but there’s no need to start shopping for a new kit or coil just yet! If your vape still tastes burnt even when you have a new coil installed, continue reading for tips on fixing it.

How to fix/prevent a burnt vape coil:

Make sure your vape coils are primed
Ensure your vape tank is full
Check that your wattage isn’t too high
Be careful not to chain-vape
Ensure you’re using the correct PG/VG ratio for your coil head
Check your wick hasn’t become clogged
Make sure your coil’s ohmage is appropriate for your power output
Check if your mod has a Smart Mode you can use

Cause#1: You Did Not Prime Your Coils

A close-up photo of a person squeezing an eliquid to prime a vape coil and avoid burnt coil taste

A mistake new vapers tend to make is failing to prime vape coils adequately. “Priming” simply means making sure the wick is saturated correctly before you vape.

How to Fix

After adding your vape juice, wait a few minutes before vaping to make sure your coils are “vaped in.” This effortless and straightforward trick should keep that burnt taste at bay!

To help this process along, we recommended taking a few “primer puffs.” To do this, just take a vape as you would typically without firing up your device. By doing so, you will help draw liquid into the coils and saturate the wick.

Cause#2: Your Tank is Empty

A person showing that a vape tank should be filled up to the ports

A cardinal rule for avoiding burnt hits: Ensure the two wicking ports (the tiny holes on either side of your coil) are never exposed. Failing to do this will significantly decrease your coil’s lifespan and increase the likelihood of hell being unleashed into your lungs!

Vaping while the wicking ports are exposed means you are drawing air into your wicking rather than vape juice, meaning you’ll be partly vaping dry cotton!

Tip: If you are wondering, “Why does my disposable vape taste burnt?” It’s because the pre-filled e-liquid has already run out. Since disposables are single-use vapes and there’s no way for you to top-up the tank, a disposable vape that tastes burnt is an indication that you need to buy a new one.

How to Fix

The obvious solution is to always make sure your tank is correctly filled with e-liquid. But don’t beat yourself up too much if you suddenly find you’ve been vaping with an empty tank. If this happens, just refill your tank and prime your coils again. You may have to insert a new vape coil if that burnt flavour is still creeping in.

Cause#3: You Set the Wattage Too High

A person setting a vape mod to the maximum wattage

It’s fairly common to accidentally vape at too high a wattage, especially when your mod has a touch-screen interface. After all, it’s easy enough to forget to lock it, so it cranks up to the max in your pocket!

As you probably don’t have to imagine, taking a blast at your vape mod’s maximum capacity will not only result in a burnt taste (putting it lightly!) but also the destruction of a perfectly good coil.

How to Fix

It’s essential to take note of the recommended wattage for the vape coils you’re using. This info should be printed on the packaging or the side of the coils themselves. If you do end up exceeding the recommended wattage of your coils, the vape juice in the wicking will vaporise faster than it can re-saturate, resulting in a bouquet of burnt cotton!

So always check your wattage before you vape, and ensure it’s within the recommended range for your vape coils.

Cause#4 You Are Chain Vaping

Taking lungfuls of deliciously smooth vapour in quick succession is far too appealing! It’s when we forget that we’re even vaping—automatically bringing our devices to our lips while engaged in another activity—that we could create some problems. Getting a nasty, burnt taste and prematurely ending the life of a new coil is one of them!

How to Fix

Believe me. I know the solution is easier said than done. But if you want to avoid overheating your e-liquid and improve your overall vaping experience, you’d be best served by taking it a little easier: take a full breath of fresh air between vapes, assign specific times to vape while keeping your device out of sight in the interim, and try to vape more consciously.

I know it can be challenging, so don’t be too hard on yourself when you blast through 3ml in a single sitting. It happens to the best of us!

Cause#5: You Are Using the Wrong E-liquid

a photo collage showing the different types of eliquids

The wattage range of a vape coil will often give you a good idea about what the ideal PG/VG ratio your e-liquid should be. In general, smaller coil heads (like the ones for a pen-style or pod mod) require thinner juice. PG (Propylene Glycol) is the thinner of the two e-liquid components, and the lower the coil’s recommended wattage, the higher the volume of PG needs to be.

How to Fix

A good rule of thumb is to choose your ratio based on the size of the wicking ports on your coil head: bigger means more VG (Vegetable Glycerin); smaller, more PG.

Using a small coil head to vape a high VG vape juice can cause your wick to burn. This is because the e-liquid is too thick to enter the smaller wicking ports and can’t keep the wick saturated in time with your vaping. So, you must check your coils before you decide what PG/VG e-liquid to use, or you may end up with a mouthful of glowing embers!

Cause#6: The Wick is Clogged

A person showing a clean, unclogged vape coil.

Though one of the least common reasons for your vape tasting burnt with a new coil, there are reasons it can happen.

Your wick becoming clogged mainly occurs when you’re using a high flavour, high sweetener vape juice that can caramelise your coils. If you can’t bear to part with your favourite e-liquid, and changing to a lighter one simply isn’t an option, you’re going to have to take extra care that your wick remains free from gunk!

How to Fix

In order not to snuff your poor coils out of existence, we advise that you clean your coils more regularly than the average vaper, and if this fails, you may have to bite the bullet and replace them.

In all likelihood, fiends for the viscous elixir may have to be prepared to go through vape coils at a quicker rate than their contemporaries. But we can sympathise—sacrifices must be made to the vaping gods!

Cause #7: You Are Using the Wrong Coil Ohmage Appropriate For Your Power Output

Vape coils (and disposable pods with prefitted coils) always have a listed ohmage, which acts as a declaration of power resistance. Lower ohmage coils (0.4hm, 0.15ohm, etc) put up less of a ‘fight’ and can take higher power outputs (30W, 60W, etc).

Higher resistance coils (1.2ohm, 1.7ohm, etc) will burn very quickly if made to endure high wattage outputs, and do better at power settings like 9W, 12W, etc. So be sure to check you aren’t trying to force a massive energy load through coils not built to withstand it.

How to Fix

Remove the burnt-tasting coil or pod from your device and look for a number next to a ‘Ω’ symbol. The coil will often list the best power settings for it, either printed on the box or the coil itself.

Cause #8: You Are Using the Wrong Mode

Many power vape kits – both classic mods and newer pod kits – come equipped with an optional Smart Mode. This mode automatically detects the ohmage of the coil or pod you’ve inserted, and immediately sets and appropriate power output for it.

While Smart Modes are not universal, companies as varied as Vaporesso and Geekvape ensure that many of their devices has Smart Modes to prevent new users from accidentally burning their coils.

How to Fix

If your vape device has a screen, try tapping the power button three or four times rapidly to see if a menu opens up with different user modes to choose from.

Conclusion

As you can see, though undeniably frustrating, there are quite a few reasons why your vape might taste burnt with a new coil. Fortunately, they’re often easy to fix. We’re confident that we’ve covered the ones that are likely to be causing you trouble. So follow the above steps and prevent those burnt hits from spoiling your day!

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