How Often Should I Change My Vape Coil?
One of the more crucial parts of an e-cigarette setup is the coil. Without it, there will be no vapour; thus, no vape.
When flavour seems to drop off, it may be because your coil has gunked up. When your device stops producing vapour, it may also be because the coil has snapped.
I’m trying to say that when problems arise with your e-cigarette, one of the first things you’ll need to check is the coil.
Coils don’t last forever. While some may last you a week or two, others can live through months of constant use.
Why the disparity? Aside from how you build it, the material used, and what wattage you fire the coil at, sometimes it all boils down to luck.
How Long Do Coils Last?
How long your coils last depends on several factors:
- How you vape
- The type of e-juice you use
- The wattage you vape in
Most vapers, who want to have the best flavour and vapour out of their devices, often swap out coils every two weeks.
This is not a bad practice, but if you feel your coil can still last a bit longer, nothing stops you from delaying the change. It all boils down to what you think.
If, after two weeks, the flavour and vapour is still full, there is no need to change the coil yet, especially if you don’t want to “burn” money by swapping out coils frequently.
What’s Your Vaping Style?
The way you vape affects your coil’s longevity. If you are the type who chain vapes, expect your coil not to last long.
But if you vape a couple of puffs every few hours, you might be able to milk the coil’s lifespan to a month or so.
E-Juice Selection
Then there is the type of e-juice used. Some e-juice can gunk up a coil quickly, thereby reducing its lifespan. Pure VG can gunk up wicks and coils reasonably quickly.
If you do your own coils, you can replace the wick and dry burn the coil to remove excess gunk. But if you are using disposable coil heads, expect to swap them out reasonably regularly.
Sweet flavours can also gunk up coils fast, as do tobacco-based flavours. That makes up more than half of the e-juice flavours available out there.
So if you think you can work around it by choosing non-sweetened, non-VG, non-tobacco flavours, you will find your vaping pleasure significantly reduced.
After all, aren’t the flavours the best part of vaping?
Wattage & Cloud Chasers
Finally, the wattage. High wattage users will find they’ll need to change their coils more frequently than others. If you are a cloud chaser, there’s no avoiding this.
But if you are a nicotine junkie, you can get away with vaping at low wattages, around 7 to 10 watts. This range is excellent for long-lasting coils.
If you vape at high wattages, use pure VG, prefer sweet tobacco-based flavours, and are a chain vaper, I’ll be surprised if your coil lasts more than a few days.
Of course, a combination of all the above determines a coil’s life span. If you vape at high wattages, use pure VG, prefer sweet tobacco-based flavours, and are a chain vaper, I’ll be surprised if your coil lasts more than a few days.
When to Change Vape Coils
When your coil has snapped or when it has started to produce less flavour each passing day, that’s when you know it is due for a change. The usual time frame is between a week and a month.
If clouds produced are weak and it tastes hot and dry, then your coil need replacing
Based on vapour production, if the clouds produced are weak and it tastes hot and dry, your coil needs replacing. If you’ve stopped tasting the supposed flavour of your e-juice, the coil needs replacing.
You might also notice a gurgling sound from your coil. This means it’s all gunked up and doesn’t wick e-juice as efficiently as before. This can lead to furious spitbacks, leaking, and seepage. E-juice might seep into the battery through the connector, resulting in a busted device.
If you notice any one of these, then it’s time to make a change.
Replacing Your Vape Coil
When replacing your coil, know that there are three ways to do it, depending on the type of coil you use.
Disposable Coil Heads
The first type is disposable coil heads. These are sold usually in packs of five, though you can buy them one at a time.
Ready-to-use outside the box, coil heads are easy to install. Once your old one needs replacing, it’s a simple matter to remove it and screwing in a new one.
Be sure to prime the wick and coil with some e-juice first and let it sit in the tank for a few minutes to ensure that it is fully saturated before use. Otherwise, you’ll be greeted by a fresh burst of burnt cotton.
Replaceable Coils
Next are replaceable coils. These are used with rebuildable atomizers and tanks.
This requires more work to replace since you’ll need to cut wires, wind it using a coil-winder (DIY or otherwise), dry burn it, wick it and saturate it.
While more work is needed here than disposable coil heads, what makes this superior to its disposable counterparts is that you are in charge of how your vape will be.
The number of coils and the type of wire and wick contributes to how your device vapes. In short, you custom-make your own vape.
Pre-Wound Coils
Finally, there are pre-wound coils. Also used with RDA decks, but instead of having to cut the wire and wind them yourself, you can buy pre-wound coils and attach them to your atomizer or tank.
Usually, you will have to wick them yourself, though some coils come with their own wicks installed. Using pre-wound coils require less effort than building your own, though you lose a certain level of customisation.
Of the three, the easiest, no-fuss way is to use coil heads. Though you can’t customise it according to taste, it does not matter if you are already satisfied with the built-in coils.
If you love to tinker and discover the numerous possibilities creating your own coil offers, using replaceable coils will be worth it if you have the time.
Finally, if you want the best of both worlds, you can opt to use pre-wound coils.
Just remember to soak your wicks properly before vaping!
