Russ WareVaping continues to be a popular alternative to traditional smoking, but maintaining your equipment can be a bit of a hassle, especially when it comes to vape coils. The longevity of vape coils affects not only the quality of your experience but also the ongoing cost of vaping.
Understanding the basic mechanics beneath the metal skin of your vape device and the role of the coil within it is crucial. Coils are the heart of the vaping process; they heat the e-liquid and turn it into the vapor you inhale. However, they are not built to last forever. Factors such as the type of liquid, the frequency of use, and the wattage at which you vape all contribute to how long your coil will last. By tweaking these elements and adopting proper maintenance techniques, you can significantly prolong the life of your coils.
In this article, we go over how you can tell if your coil is burnt, if it’s safe to continue using it, and also provide a few tips to help you make your coils last longer.
How to Tell Your Vape Coil is Burnt?
A badly burnt coil is difficult to mistake for any other vaping problem. It’s similar to the taste experienced when taking a dry hit, like rolling a sheet of newspaper into a cylinder, lighting one end, and inhaling through the tube. That’s not far off from the level of unpleasantness you will experience when vaping with a burnt coil.
There will be a distinct smokiness and harshness to every puff that just won’t go away, no matter how much fruit-flavored vape juice you add to the tank/pod. Even a mildly burnt coil will taste different from usual, again giving a distinct harshness and lack of pleasant flavor.
It is generally the wicking material that produces these burnt flavors, and once the wicking becomes damaged, there is very little that you can do to save a pre-built coil. Assuming that the coil can be removed from the pod or tank (i.e. you aren’t using pods with fixed coils,) and you can see the wicking material, you will often be able to see burnt areas. This will be harder to notice if you use dark-colored e-liquids, but if the material you can see is anything other than white, it is likely burnt.
Is It Safe to Continue Using a Burnt Coil?
Vaping is not entirely safe, and no reputable source should ever tell you different. While it is far less harmful than smoking tobacco, it still can’t be classed as healthy. One of the ways to reduce the risk of harm is to avoid using old or burnt coils.
Several studies have suggested that coils release more particles into vape liquid when they begin to burn. These particles are heated during subsequent puffs and can produce toxic chemicals you don’t want to inhale. The more badly burnt your coil is, the more it will release these harmful substances.
If your coil begins to taste burnt you should replace it with a fresh one as soon as possible. Not only will your chosen vape liquid taste better, but you will reduce the risk of inhaling too many of those harmful chemicals. The same rule applies to coils that don’t taste burnt but are losing their ability to produce flavor or vaporize the e-liquid effectively. These are signs that the coil is finished and likely to be breaking down inside your pod or tank, and it’s time to whip that coil out and replace it with a new one.
Ways to Make Your Vape Coils Last Longer
Thankfully, coils burning out after a few days of use doesn’t have to be a major problem. There are several ways to prevent or reduce coil burning, no matter the type or style of coil your favored device uses. Here are the ones that have worked best for us.
1. Prime Your Coils Correctly
One of the easiest mistakes you can make if you’re new to vaping is not priming your new coils before taking a puff. Priming a vape coil, for those who are unaware, simply means pre-soaking the wicking material before putting any power through the coil with your first puff on the vape.
Priming can be done in a few different ways. The most effective is to add a few drops of e-liquid into the hole at the top of the coil (sometimes called the Chimney) and the small openings on the side where the wicking material is visible. Allow a couple of minutes for the liquid to seep into the coil before inserting it, filling the tank, and taking a puff.
Alternatively, you can add vape liquid to your vape tank or pod and take a few gentle puffs without pressing the firing button. Do this with the pod or tank removed from the battery section if your vape fires automatically when you draw. This will suck e-liquid into the coil chamber and soak the wick, without any heat being applied. Sucking too hard risks flooding the coil, but this is a minor inconvenience compared to a dry hit and a burnt coil.
2. Top Up Your Vape Tank/Pod
If the eliquid level in your tank is low, the wick is exposed to the air and can begin to dry out. At the very least, the wick will struggle to soak up enough eliquid to supply the atomizer head if the wicking ports are not completely submerged. Vaping when either of these scenarios is in play can lead to a burnt coil.
The apertures that allow e-liquid to flow from the tank or pod into the coil and onto the atomizer head are always positioned near the bottom of pre-built coils, but rarely at the very bottom. Just because you can see vape juice in the tank, this doesn’t mean that it can be soaked up efficiently. Whenever possible, keep your tank or pod topped up to at least a level above the wicking ports.
This is less of a problem if the vape is in your hand or pocket as you move around. The movement will likely mean the remaining liquid periodically reaches the ports and soaks the wick. However, if your nearly empty vape has been standing on your desk for an hour between puffs, be wary before taking a big hit.
3. Vape with Lower Power Settings
Using a higher wattage for vaping increases the amount of e-liquid vaporized per puff, which can be ideal for cloud chasing, but also means that your coils are being utilized more intensively. If the wick doesn’t absorb the e-liquid quickly enough, it risks getting burnt, especially if you take frequent puffs.
To prevent this, consider lowering the power setting. A telltale sign that it’s time to do so is a noticeable decrease in flavor, indicating that the coil is drying out and needs to be re-saturated with e-liquid. Taking a short break will allow the wick to absorb more juice, but for a more permanent fix, slightly reduce the wattage.
Typically, the optimal wattage range for your specific coil is indicated on the coil or its packaging. Adhering to this recommended range should help avoid any issues. It’s advisable to start at the lower end of this range and gradually increase the power. If you find the flavor diminishing or the coils burning even within this range, the best course of action is to dial back the power setting.
4. Vape Less Intensively
Taking too many hard puffs on your vape in a short period, often referred to as “chain vaping”, is very likely to lead to a prematurely dead or burnt coil. As with using unsuitably high power settings, chain vaping makes it harder for the wick to soak up enough e-liquid to supply the atomizer head between puffs. Assuming you aren’t using zero-nicotine e-liquid, chain vaping also means that you’ll be taking in a lot of nicotine in a short period, which probably isn’t entirely wise.
The simplest way to prevent chain vaping from damaging your coil is to stop chain vaping. But at the very least, stop puffing as soon as you notice a drop in flavor. This is likely a sign that not enough vape liquid is hitting the atomizer head, and taking too many more hard puffs at that point will commonly result in a burnt coil.
5. Switch to High-PG E-Liquid
Look at bottles of pure Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerin (VG) side-by-side and you would be hard-pressed to notice any difference between them. However, these two main ingredients of vape liquids have slightly different properties and one of those is that PG is slightly thinner than VG.
Coils and wicks can absorb thinner liquids more easily than thicker ones, so using an e-liquid with a higher proportion of PG can help to reduce the problem of them prematurely burning out. This change is less likely to help if you use a high-power device with a large coil, but could be the answer for someone using a small pen or pod-style vape.
6. Embrace Some Newer Technology
Low-budget or basic vapes can be great for beginners (or for anyone who doesn’t need something with lots of variable settings to mess around with). But if you find yourself constantly burning your coils, and none of the above tips have helped, it might be time to consider a technological upgrade.
You don’t have to jump straight up from a $15 pod vape to a complex mod with a RBA tank as there are now plenty of intermediate options to choose from that include features to help improve your vaping experience. Features to look out for in your next vape device include:
- Temperature Control: This technology ensures a consistent vaping experience by maintaining the same temperature throughout the drag, even when taking longer puffs. Typically, the temperature can be set within a certain range and works by detecting the resistance changes in the coil as it heats up and adjusting the power accordingly to keep the temperature steady.
- Smart Mode: Smart Mode in vaping devices is a feature that automatically detects the type of tank and heating element you are using and adjusts the device’s settings accordingly. These automatic adjustments help in providing a consistent vaping experience, preventing dry hits, and potentially extending the life of your coils.
- Auto-priming: Auto-priming is a feature designed to ensure the coil is adequately saturated with e-liquid before use, usually by automatically drawing in a small amount of liquid after each puff. This technology, like Innokin’s Coil+ auto-priming, helps prevent dry hits and extends the life of the coil.
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