Every vape pen is a highly advanced and astoundingly simple electronic device. You could say vaping is a modern marvel of technology. One of the luxuries of being a high-tech society. Each little e-cig, vape pen, or mod box rig has a few essential parts that make vaping possible. There's the battery first. The battery connects to the coil which causes it to heat up when the button is pressed. When the button is pressed, the coil heats the tank of e-liquid which, in turn, heats up the wick soaked in e-liquid which is what creates the vapor.
Why Coils Burn Out
Each part can wear out over time, but nothing wears out faster than the part that heats up. Coils are, by far, the most disposable part of an e-cig design. Sure, wicks come and go, but a wick can last a long time if it's never scorched. Coils, on the other hand, get burned up over time. The wire deteriorates as it is heated up over and over again. It starts offering more resistance for less result, which is why coils often stop getting hot before they truly die. Or too much electricity will burst through the coil all at once, causing it to short out or mega-heat and burn itself out instantly.
Chances are, you've experienced more than one of these results even if you didn't know exactly what was going on. Today, we're here to share the practical ways any vaper can extend the life of their coils and avoid accidentally burning them out too fast.
Don't Overcharge the Coil
When you're vaping, you can only hit the e-cig for so long before the battery stops firing. Do you know why that is? Most coils continue to heat up for as long as you press the button. The button press causes the battery to release electricity which runs through the coils, heating them up. The hotter coils get, the more likely they are to burn out. And the longer the battery fires, the hotter the coils get.
Therefore, holding the button down until it goes out on its own is a fantastic way to get a short lifespan from your coils. If you really want to take some super-long puffs, that's great. But in your everyday vaping, don't overcharge the coil. Keep your button presses short and efficient.
Vape At Lower Temperatures
You'll find the same rule about temperature and coil life continues to apply in a wide variety of ways. Another method to keep your coil alive longer is to vape at lower temperatures. High temps are great for cloud-chasers looking to vaporize a lot of e-liquid all at once. While low temperatures are better for savoring the complexities of your favorite e-liquid flavors.
By lowering your vape temp, you can increase the life of your coil by a few weeks simply because less electricity is running through it with each puff. As an added bonus, you may also discover a richness of flavor in your e-liquids that you hadn't realized before as the low-temp clouds roll around in your mouth.
Ease Into High-Temp Vaping
For cloud chasers who can't stay away from the high temps. Hitting a new coil with full-force electricity can cause it to pop like a lightbulb. Remember to break in your coils gently before exposing to the full blasting force of your favorite high temp. New coils need to be primed not only with e-liquid on the wicks but also with lower temp puffs on the first day. When you first install a new coil, crank back the temperature and then slowly raise it back up again throughout the day. This way, coils have a chance to break in and warm up.
You may also want to warm up the coils at the beginning of each vape session for high-temp vaping.
Do Not Hit the Button Idly
Do you love the sound and feel of clicking the button? For some of us, button clicking is a joy unto itself. And if you aren't a button clicker, you probably know a vaper who idly fires their rig to the soft sound of 'clicky-clicky' through the conversation. It's true, buttons are fun. But pressing the button on your vape pen does more than just click. It fires the battery which heats up the coil which heats up the e-liquid and wick.
Even if you don't fire long enough to create any vapor, you're still juicing your coil over and over again with each click. This is why idle clicking an e-cig is unfortunately not a good use of your fidget energy.
Don't Chain-Vape Like Crazy
Chain-vaping is when you take one big cloud-producing puff right after another. This is great for filling a room, hotboxing a car, or pretending to be a human fog machine. But it is not great for your vape. Not only does chain-vaping dry out your wick (no time to re-soak between puffs) but it also burns out your coil.
Pressing the button rapidly after stopping heats the coil over and over again and can even override the usual safety precautions preventing coils from firing for too long. Chain-vaping can super-heat your coil which puts it at a high risk of burning out early.
Try Temperature Controlled (TC) Vapes
Temperature Control (TC) is a new vaping technology where the battery is smarter than the coil. The battery, usually a mod box or a very nice pen, can sense how much resistance is posed by the coil. As the coils deteriorate with use, the amount of resistance they offer increases. TC devices can sense that change in resistance and adjust the electricity released accordingly.
Stay Away from Sugar-Added Flavors
Natural flavors are your best bet for the health of your coils and your wicks. Enjoying those sugar-added clouds has a negative side-effect that few vaper saw coming: Caramel. The way coils create vapor is to heat the e-liquid in the tank directly. This means that sugary e-liquid is exposed directly to the heating element... where the sugar immediately caramelizes onto the elements forming a sticky residue that is not good for your coil.
A coil can be saved by cleaning, but sugary vape will caramelize every time.
Occasionally Clean Your Vape Coils
Finally, remember that dust, sugar, and other little things can reduce coil performance by making it dirty. If you have a coil that has started to fade, try to clean it at least once to see if the problem was built-up rather than burn-out. To clean your coil, soak it in vodka for 2-6 hours, rinse it, and let it dry overnight.
