Have you ever been happily puffing along on your favorite e-liquid when you suddenly wrinkle your nose in disgust due to a horrible dry pull and burnt taste? You frown in confusion because you remember that you just recently changed the coil. When you inspected it, the coil cotton was still white.
Why in the world did the coil die so quickly? Believe it or not, it happens. Coils have no set life span, which means they can last for as long as a month, or as short as two days. Several things can be blamed when you suddenly find yourself the proud owner of a bad coil.
What Factors Lessen Coil Lifespan?
Regularly changing your damaged coils can be annoying. Sometimes, you just want to sit back and relax while vaping using a tank, the best mod you have, or whatnot. But you can’t really do that with a damaged coil, so you need to change it first.
Certain things immensely affect your coil’s lifespan, and you might not be aware that you do it yourself. Listed below are some factors that can prematurely kill your coil.
Tightly Packed Cotton
Sometimes if the coil’s cotton is packed too tightly, it will be impossible for the e-juice to thoroughly soak through the cotton, resulting in a tight pull and the occasional dry hit or burnt taste.
Even if the cotton still looks white, other parts of the inner coil might be burnt. You can try to salvage the coil by vaping less frequently (you’ll even get occasional good hits), but it’s best to grab a new coil from the pack and start over.
Type of E-Juice Used
Another reason your coil might die quickly is because of the e-juice. Some e-juice might have been made with poor quality ingredients, and some e-liquid consistencies are thicker than others.
Dessert flavored e-liquids are usually thicker, such as cake and custard e-liquids. This can clog the coil and make it difficult for the soaked cotton to burn the e-liquid, so you’ll end up burning the cotton. On the other hand, some e-juices can be too watery, which doesn’t soak into the coil properly and leaves the coil dry before you’ve finished your pull.
To check the consistency of the e-liquid, tilt the bottle on its side, and see how quickly it sloshes to the other side. You can use that to determine whether or not you think the e-liquid is right for your tank.
Letting the Tank Go Dry
Another reason the coil may have died is if you consistently wait until the tank is bone dry before refilling it. You might think that you’re being thrifty by only refilling when you finish that tank, but you could be harming the coil by burning dry cotton instead of e-liquid soaked cotton.
Make sure your tank has enough e-liquid to fill at least a third of the tank. Certain tanks use more e-liquid than others, and you’ll be down to nothing by the time you take a few deep pulls.
Chain Vaping
Sometimes you might do something called “chain vaping.” That’s when you don’t allow the coil to cool down after a pull, and vape quickly one hit after the next. If you want to vape that often, your device’s wattage might be too low.
Consider raising the wattage so that you get a stronger throat hit, bigger clouds, and more flavor. Just be sure it’s within the recommended coil range. Vaping at a higher wattage than the recommended is a sure-fire way to ruin a perfectly good coil.
Constant Flavor Change
Another reason the coil can die is the constant change of e-liquid flavors. This can clog the coil since different e-juice consistencies used will be crammed into the coil’s cotton.
If you find yourself changing flavors constantly, consider investing in a dripper instead of a tank. A dripper allows you to vape with as many flavors as you want because the cotton in a dripper needs to be re-soaked in e-liquid every few pulls.
When Should You Change the Coil?
For most vapers, it’s simple to figure out when to change a coil. Constant dry hits are terrible to deal with, and it takes the fun out of vaping. Intermittent burnt tastes are something most vapers deal with because the coil still produces a good bit of flavor and smoke.
However, once every hit tastes burnt, or there aren’t as many clouds as with a fresh coil, it’s time to say goodbye to that coil. Since coils have no set lifespan, it is up to you to decide if the coil is worth keeping or if it’s time to swap it out with a new coil.
Takeaway
Coils, just like any part of the vape, should receive appropriate care. You shouldn’t neglect it just because it can be replaced easily. Not only are you spending money by having to change it always, but you’re also left to deal with tons of damaged coils. A coil, if properly taken care of, can last a long time.