New Coil Tastes Burnt: How to Prime It

Technical guide · Puff Club Vape Leduc

Part of Coils, priming and burnt hits

Why it happens

Every replaceable coil holds a heating wire wrapped inside an absorbent material, usually cotton. That cotton is called the wick. The wick soaks up e-liquid and carries it to the wire, where heat changes the liquid into vapor.

A new coil ships with dry cotton. If you install the coil, fill the tank, and press the fire button right away, the wire heats dry cotton instead of soaked cotton. Dry cotton burns quickly, and the burnt layer stays sealed inside the wick. After that, every puff draws air through scorched material, so the vapor tastes burnt even once the rest of the cotton is wet.

This is called a dry hit, and it is the main reason a fresh coil tastes burnt on the first use. Once the cotton has scorched, the coil usually cannot be saved, because the burnt section sits inside the metal housing where it cannot be rinsed out.

The same burnt taste can also come from firing at power above the coil's printed range, taking many puffs in a row without letting the wick catch up, letting the tank run too low, or using e-liquid that is too thick to soak into the cotton quickly.

Step-by-step fix

Priming means wetting the wick by hand before you apply power. Do this with every new coil.

1. Remove the old coil and rinse out the tank. Let the parts dry before reassembly.
2. Look at the new coil. Find the wicking ports, the small openings in the metal side where the cotton is visible.
3. Drip e-liquid directly onto the exposed cotton. Put a few drops into each side opening, then a few drops onto the cotton visible at the top of the coil. Do not drip down the open centre airway, which leads straight to the air path and can flood the coil. Turn the coil as you go until every visible patch of cotton darkens with liquid.
4. Install the primed coil into the base of the tank, fill the tank to its normal level, and reassemble the device.
5. Let the full tank sit upright for five to ten minutes. This gives the liquid time to travel from the outer cotton into the wire at the center.
6. Take several dry pulls. A dry pull is inhaling through the mouthpiece without pressing the fire button. Closing the airflow most of the way makes each pull draw more liquid into the coil. A few small air bubbles rising from the coil show that liquid is moving in.
7. Start low. Set the device to the lowest number printed on the coil, and take short, gentle puffs for the first few minutes.
8. Raise the power slowly, one small step at a time every few puffs, until you reach your normal setting. Spread this out over ten to fifteen minutes.

If the burnt taste is already present before you prime, the cotton is scorched. Stop, replace the coil, and prime the new one from the beginning.

Prevention

• Prime every new coil by hand, then wait five to ten minutes after filling before you fire.
• Begin at low power and increase gradually. Most coils show their power range printed on the side; stay inside it.
• Keep the tank filled above the coil's wicking ports. A low level exposes the cotton and lets it dry out.
• Space out your puffs. A short pause between puffs lets the wick soak up more liquid.
• Match the liquid to the coil. Thicker, high-VG liquids need larger wicking ports and more power; thinner, high-PG liquids suit lower-power coils. If wicking is slow, check the vegetable glycerin (VG) and propylene glycol (PG) numbers printed on the bottle.
• Replace the coil when the taste fades or turns. A rough guide is every week or two, but the signs matter more than the calendar, and heavy use shortens coil life.

This guide is general technical information and is not medical or legal advice.