Why are my wicks looking charred?

[GoodNews!]

Hey ECF, I've been doing some simple tests - no sort of hardcore vaping - with some clearomizer models at 3.3-3.8V and heads that are anywhere from 1.8-2.8. However, after failing to get much of any good experience from them, I go to inspect the heads, and quite a few of them look extremely charred. Shriveled up where the coil is, the wick completely charred, they look like they were set on fire, and I'm quite concerned since A. Silica is supposed to be heat resistant and B. My battery shouldn't be doing this to wicks this quickly (obviously a burnt wick will taste bad or put out no taste) at the settings I use. I have indeed had my battery tested and there seems to be no voltage issues - using thin juices by major brands. To put it frankly, these wicks make Tim Heidecker covered in Cigarette juice (see below!) look downright pleasing.


Any answers? What do your wicks look like after a few short periods of vaping?

 

[cmdebrecht]

Usually just the ends of mine get a little schmootsy looking.

 

[EvilZoe]

Usually just the ends of mine get a little schmootsy looking.

"Schmootsy" should be entered into the vaping lingo glossary...lol

 

[stevegmu]

If they were charred, they wouldn't turn white again after holding them under a faucet for a minute. I think the nicotine discolors them, pretty much instantly.

 

[GoodNews!]

Well, I discovered that it's less the wick and more the coils. The coils look nuts.

 

[stevegmu]

That would be caramelized juice, then. Do you vape dark or sweet juice?

 

[FlamingoTutu]

Schmootsy! Love it. Second that it gets enshrined in formal vaping lexicon.

Yep, mine get schmootsy on the ends too.

 

[GoodNews!]

Well, virtually every juice in the world is either dark or sweet. Not sure what would cause this over virtually a few hours of simple testing.

 

[stevegmu]

Power too high, vaping faster than wicking can handle, viscosity of juices, not 'breaking in' wicks. I have found lighter juices- not only color, but not so sweet, perform quite well in ProTank 2's. My favorites being the teas by Alice In Vapeland.

 

[WillyZee]

"Schmootsy" should be entered into the vaping lingo glossary...lol

lol ... this Mulberry Melvin is making my wicks a little schmootsy

 

[ScandaLeX]

Well, virtually every juice in the world is either dark or sweet. Not sure what would cause this over virtually a few hours of simple testing.

This is not true.

 

[Susan W.]

Okay, just for you, I've been vaping MBV Mudslide for about 2 hours on a new Protank head. I took it apart so I could look at the coils. The flavor wicks are wick inside the coil are kind of beige colored. I washed the head with warm water and most of the beige is gone and I can see the coils just fine. Nothing looks wrong with them. They look fine. It's a 1.8 head and I'm running at 3.4 volts.

I usually have to lower the voltage on sweeter vapes or they do taste burnt. I'm not big on clouds of vapor so as long as the flavor is good, I'm a happy camper.

 

[Ryedan]

Hey ECF, I've been doing some simple tests - no sort of hardcore vaping - with some clearomizer models at 3.3-3.8V and heads that are anywhere from 1.8-2.8. However, after failing to get much of any good experience from them, I go to inspect the heads, and quite a few of them look extremely charred. Shriveled up where the coil is, the wick completely charred, they look like they were set on fire, and I'm quite concerned since A. Silica is supposed to be heat resistant and B. My battery shouldn't be doing this to wicks this quickly (obviously a burnt wick will taste bad or put out no taste) at the settings I use. I have indeed had my battery tested and there seems to be no voltage issues - using thin juices by major brands. To put it frankly, these wicks make Tim Heidecker covered in Cigarette Juice (see below!) look downright pleasing.

Which clearos are you using and are they name brands?

When you say not a good experience, what do you mean? No vapor, or taste is burnt?

I've never checked a clearo after a few hours, just clean and dry burn them when the performance drops. With CE4's and Vivi Nova's, both Vision, that happens every few tankfuls depending on how schmootsy (I love that word!) the juice vapes.

If the wicks are silica, they do not burn or melt in use or when dry burning. They will deteriorate after a while, but by then the coil is shot too. If your wick is actually burning, it will eventually burn through and you can simply remove the halves. I had an off brand CE4 do that to me once. Garbage.

I start the voltage at resistance in ohms plus 2 in volts, minus a bit. So a 1.8 ohm coil + 2 = 3.8 - abit = 3.5 volts. If that does not burn the juice I increase the voltage in steps until it just starts to burn. A bit less than that is the maximum for that juice in that clearo and I pick the spot below that where the juice tastes best.

 

[cmdebrecht]

We need Anjaffm here. I think schmutzig is German. My grandma and a whole slew of great aunts (just a generation or two removed from der Vaterland) always used this word

I like schmootsy better though.

 

[cmdebrecht]

lol ... this Mulberry Melvin is making my wicks a little schmootsy

Bwahahaha! Love it!

 

[madqatter]

I think schmutzig is German.

Yep, it is

 

[EvilZoe]

We need Anjaffm here. I think schmutzig is German. My grandma and a whole slew of great aunts (just a generation or two removed from der Vaterland) always used this word

I like schmootsy better though.

........still a good word.

 

[FlamingoTutu]

lol ... this Mulberry Melvin is making my wicks a little schmootsy

I do believe you're getting the hang of it.

 

[GoodNews!]

To be completely forward and honest, I have many a vaping year on my backside, I do know all the math and physics stuff, not to mention all the tips and tricks. Like a post a few posts back, I'd expect a coil to be beige after a few hours. Not charcoal black and charred. One of my coils even looked that way after just 10 puffs, with a dark chocolate juice. I'd have believed my battery was putting out 10V's. And I keep it on 3.3-3.7.

It just seems to be an epidemic lately. If I was any sort of nuts, I'd suggest that big tobacco has somehow infiltrated each and every vaping manufacturer and has paid them to make each and every device as faulty as possible yet only to the point we're all able to say "it just tastes burnt!" and yet we can't tell what the mechanical problem is.

Or, more like the real world, I'm starting to think there's way too many clones out there. But even beyond me, it seems like there's a wave of users on this forum, just looking through, that are getting horrible results with everything they buy. I won't beat around the bush, I'll say that I haven't gotten a decent vape in months. Beyond squirting liquid down the center shaft, and vaping these things without juice, I don't see why so many users are having problems - that is, they are indeed having realistic, unsolved problems, and I can't figure out what is universally wrong, even as a reviewer.

 

[Ryedan]

Then is the wick burning? Can you pull it apart, in half? If it's burning you have nothing to lose by testing it. That's easy for me to say though ...