How often do you think about recharging your vape battery? Probably every day, or every few hours, depending on how often you hit your pen. What about the frequency you change your cartridge or refill it? Every week? Two?
But how often do you think about the other parts and pieces of your vape? Unless you regularly build custom rigs, you may not even know how your vape pen works or what all the parts are.
The truth is there is some extra work you need to do to keep your vape pen in good condition — most importantly, changing out your vape coils. If you have no idea what that means, don’t worry, we’ve got your back.
Here is a guide on when to change your vape coil, some basic info on what it is, and how to replace it. Let’s dive in!
What Is a Vape Coil?
This is your wake-up call if you’ve never heard of a vape coil. Whether you are vaping to quit smoking or are a lifelong vaper, you should know how your device works to make informed decisions about different devices. Your vape coil is perhaps the most important part of your vape.
Your vape coil is the part of your atomizer that heats up to create vapor you can inhale. To understand your coil, we need to take a quick look at how your vape pen works.
How a Vape Pen Works: Abridged
Your vape pen works by providing electricity from a battery to an atomizer, a device that heats a piece of metal to produce conduction. This heat energy vaporizes the e-juice or vaping liquid soaked into a wick through capillary action.
The vape coil is a piece of the atomizer, the metal coil that is heated in the device to vaporize the liquid. Most vaping devices require you to press a button; this completes the electrical circuit to your vape coil, which then heats up to hundreds of degrees Fahrenheit, almost instantly vaporizing your liquid from the coil.
Different types of coils using different metals can give you different effects from your vapes and require different battery requirements to be effective. Make sure you know what material and resistance your vape coils are so that you can replace them with a similar coil.
How Will I Know When To Change My Vape Coil?
Think about your vape like a lightbulb. When you put energy through your vape, you heat a piece of metal. In the case of a lightbulb, you get light energy predominantly, and in a vape pen, your coils mostly give off heat energy. But just like your lightbulbs, your filament (the metal you are heating) will eventually break.
This can also happen in your vape, giving you unsavory effects and making your device work in less than satisfactory conditions. But unlike a lightbulb, you don’t have to replace your whole vape when this happens (unless you’re using a disposable one). Instead, you can just change out your vape coil and go back to vaping as you were.
Here is a look at the top signs that you should change your vape coil immediately.
Burnt Flavor Vape
The first and most common sign that you should change your vape coils is when your vape starts to develop a burnt or burning flavor. This is due to severely burnt metal in your coils, which will only worsen once it starts.
Not only is the burnt taste capable of ruining the flavor of your hit, but it can also be dangerous. If you are consistently hitting your vape after it develops are burnt taste, you could be exposing yourself to heavy metals that can be unsafe. If your vape tastes burnt, change your coils asap.
Strange Noises
Like any good machine, a vape pen will start to make strange noises when it isn’t working as it should. You should trust strange noises as a sign of something wrong and look to assess the problem. While not all strange noises will be coil related, many of them could be.
A gurgling noise is usually a good sign that your coil needs replacing. If you replace your coils and the gurgling sound continues, you should take your device to a smoke shop. This means something more serious is wrong with your device that needs fixing.
A Leaky Vape
If your vape starts to leak, it could be a few issues, but there is potential that it is a coil-related issue. You can always check and see if your coil is the source of the problem before switching it out; it should be rather obvious. If your coil is the source of the issue, you should get it fixed immediately before leaking more of your juice everywhere.
Weak Clouds
If your vape suddenly starts producing much less or weaker vapor than you are used to, it is almost certainly because you are out of liquid or your coil is busted. You should swap out your coils for a new set if you are getting weak clouds with a full tank.
You Haven’t Changed Your Coil in a Month
At the end of the day, whether you are a frequent vapor or only hit your pen a few times per day, your vape coils won’t last forever. About once a month is as long as you can get if you vape daily.
If you vape a lot, your coils might only last a few days. Keep track of how often and when you are changing them out to keep your vape pen fresh.
How Do I Change My Vape Coil?
Now that you know the signs and symptoms that you need a replacement vape coil, you’re probably wondering how exactly you’re supposed to do that. Well, the good news is that you can do it all by yourself in most cases and with a lot of ease.
Here is a brief guide on how to replace your vape coil in just a few steps.
Step One: Take Apart Your Vape
You’ll have to take your vape apart to change the vape coils, which can be a little concerning if you have never taken your vape apart before. Rest assured, this is something they are built to do so that you can replace your coils.
Every pen is different, but typically you will only have to unscrew the tank at the bottom of your vape, and the entire assembly should come out. You can check the manual of your vape for the manufacturer's instructions on disassembly.
Step Two: Empty Your Vape Tank
Now that you have your vape apart, you can empty the tank. There are almost always a few extra drops to pour out. Be careful not to let it stain anything, and it can be smart to empty it into a bag and then dispose of the bag in the trash.
Step Three: Soak the Wick
As mentioned earlier, your vape has a wick that is saturated with vaping liquid. But to give it a good start, you must give it a few drops of vape liquid. Otherwise, the dry wick will burn when heated by the new coil, and you won’t love the results.
Step Four: Replace the Coils
Now, all you have to do is simply unscrew the old coil and screw in your new coil. It is almost always that simple and doesn’t have to get any more complicated.
Step Five: Replace or Refill Your Tank
You can either replace or refill your vape tank depending on its condition and the flavor you want. You should replace your tank every few refills and only use one flavor per tank to keep the flavors from ghosting.
Step Six: Reassemble
The final step is to put the pieces back together and screw your pen shut again. Your pen is ready to go with a new coil for perfect vaping conditions.
Expert Tips
You might know the basics about changing your vape coil, but here are a few expert tips that might make the process even easier.
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Use a Paper Towel. Always use a paper towel to cover your hands when taking apart and handling the inner pieces of your vape pen. Vape oil can often leak into the chamber and will stain clothing and furniture, so be careful and stay clean.
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Use Prebuilt Coils. Prebuilt coils are a brilliant and carefree way to replace your vape coils without hassle or stress. Prebuilt is the way to go if you are new to changing your vape coils. If you make custom vape rigs, you may enjoy building coils to create the densest, biggest clouds.
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Know Your Resistance. There are vape coils at many different resistances, which determine the amount of electrical energy it can transport and turn into heat. Higher resistance coils require more energy and use more liquid, but provide cooler, denser clouds. Lower resistance coils are the opposite.
Where Do I Get Vape Coils?
There are plenty of great places to get high-quality vape coils. You can buy them at your local smoke shop and vape store. Depending on the size and quality of the store, you can find a wider or smaller variety of options.
Make sure that you are getting your coils from a source you can trust and that they use trustworthy materials. If it seems sketchy, then it probably is sketchy. Trust your gut and go with high-quality coils.
Changing Your Vape Coils: Takeaways
Whether you vape to quit smoking or vape daily, your vape coil is perhaps the most important piece of your vape pen. Change your vape coils regularly if you want your pen to last, and continue giving you high-quality vape clouds.
Keep an eye out for signs like a burning taste, leaking vape, strange noises, or weak clouds to signal that your vape coil is ready for a swap. Changing your vape coils is easy on your own; take your vape apart, unscrew the old coil, and screw in the new one.
If you want a great rechargeable vape pen for your 510-size cartridges, check us out at California Honey Vapes. We have tons of cool designs for rechargeable vape batteries with USB chargers that you will love. Just don’t forget to change the coils every once and a while!
Sources:
Health Effects | Smoking and Tobacco Use | CDC
A Randomized Trial of E-Cigarettes versus Nicotine-Replacement Therapy | NEJM