What You Need to Know About Fixing and Preventing a Burnt Alto Pod

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Get your puffs back to normal in no time

Co-authored by Carmine Shannon

Last Updated: April 14, 2025 References

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Fixing a Burnt Taste

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Preventing Burning

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Upkeep

You just cracked open a new Alto pod, snapped that bad boy in, and took a couple of hits. Everything’s going swimmingly, until a puff hits your throat and BLEH! It tastes terrible! If you’re an avid Vuse Alto user, you’ve probably had a pod (or several) start tasting burnt after only a few puffs. It’s an annoying problem, but luckily there’s a quick fix. If you’re tired of pods burning your throat, read this article to learn about solutions, prevention, and vape care. No more throwing away new pods!

Things You Should Know

Alto pods start tasting burnt when the wick isn't in contact with enough juice. Cover the bottom hole and quickly blow into the pod to push liquid to the wick.
Priming your coil will help prevent a burning taste. Suck gently on the pod while covering the bottom hole with your finger to prime.
Keeping your vape clean, upright, and away from heat will improve the life of your pod.

Section 1 of 3:

Fixing a Burnt Taste

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Repressurize the pod. Take the vape cartridge out of the battery, and find the hole on the bottom. Cover the hole with your finger, and hold the pod upright. Blow into the pod for a split second, and that’s it! Your pod will start tasting normal again in the next couple hits.^{[1]
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- When you take a hit, the liquid around the coil gets vaporized and sucked up through the chimney. Sometimes, however, the liquid doesn’t settle back down around the coil. When the coil heats up dry, the vape starts tasting burnt.
- The burnt taste is often caused by a pressure imbalance in the pod. This happens when air can’t get back in through the chimney, so by blowing in you normalize the pressure.
- You don’t have to take the pod out to do this. You could just blow right in, but this can cause the battery sensor to get confused and heat the wick up until the light starts blinking.

Section 2 of 3:

Preventing Burning

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Prime pods by puffing. Alto pods can start burning quickly, but there’s a way to stop the problem before it starts. Ensuring your wick is completely saturated by priming your coil makes it much less likely to burn in those first few hits.^{[2]
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- When you get a fresh pod, hold it straight up and slowly turn it so the mouthpiece is upside down. An air bubble will float up towards the coil. Turn the pod so the bubble goes through the coil, then put it right-side up again.^{[3]
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- Cover the bottom of the vape entirely with your finger, and take two gentle pulls, like sucking through a straw. Be sure not to suck too hard, or you can mess up the coil and break the pod.

Section 3 of 3:

Upkeep

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Store your vape upright in a cool place. Vape juice is heat sensitive—no surprise there, so leaving it out in the sun isn't the best way to preserve your puffs. Keep your vape hitting cleaner longer by storing it in a cool, dark place.^{[4]
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- Another great way to keep your vape from burning is to always store it upright, but if you’re keeping it in your pocket that’s not always possible. Just keep in mind that letting the air bubble float around the coil is likely to dry it out.
- How long a pod lasts will depend on several factors, but an Alto will last 275 puffs for the average user.
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Keep it clean. To get the best vaping experience, clean your pod regularly. Take out the pod and clean any residue out of the battery terminal with q tips and rubbing alcohol or compressed air. Use another q tip to clean off the bottom of the pod itself. Soak the mouthpiece in hot water to dissolve any sticky excess liquid.^{[5]
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- Anything in between the battery and the pod will be sucked into the coil and cause your hits to taste less than perfect.