9 Ways to Stop Your Coil from Burning

Oops! Your coil is out again! It can be a harrowing experience having to replace your coil too often. The bad news is, at some point, your coil will give out and you have to replace it. The great news is, there are a few tips you can use to get more from your coil before you have to replace it.

Why Do Coils Get Burnt?

Before you get some tips on prolonging the life of your coils, you need to understand why coils get burnt in the first place so you get everything into perspective.

When vaping, the heat given up by the coil is taken up by the e-juice which is soaked into a wick. That turns the juice into vapour. The action of the juice taking up the heat from the coil keeps the temperatures of the coil manageable.

Every time the juice is vaporised, the wick gets a little dry so it sucks up more juice from the tank ready for you to take another puff. This cycle continues until the tank runs dry or you end your vaping session.

Why not also read: Why Does My Vape Taste Burnt?

If the juice is not enough, the coil heats up when you hit the fire button the additional heat increases the temperature of the coil. If this happens, there are two undesirable results;

• The extra hot coil overcooks the juice breaking down the PG to formaldehyde which has a repulsive taste.
• The dry wick might also burn out if it’s exposed to the glowing hot coil. In some cases, the wick might actually burst into flames. And yes! That’s a scary experience.

It’s clear that having juice in the tank can easily save you from an unwarranted trip to the vape shop to get a new coil for your e-cig.

So, now that you know how coils work and the potential risks, here are a few tips that will help you get a longer life out of the coil.

Countdown to stop new coils from burning

1. Prime the coil

Before using a new coil, it has to be primed. When installing the coil, the wick is completely dry so you have to give it a few minutes to get it fully saturated. The only challenge is, you never know when your wick is fully saturated and you don’t want to strike when the wick does not have enough juice. You can manually soak the wick by adding a few drops of e-juice directly on the wick. This is what is called priming. It ensures the wick is properly soaked before firing the coil.

2. Quit chain vaping

If you want your coil to last longer, you have to adopt some healthier vaping habits. One of the bad ones you have to kick is chain vaping. Vaping constantly puts a lot of heat on the wick and the coil. Eventually one of the two has to give up. Give some time for the wick to re-saturate. The best yardstick to use when you need to know when to take a break is a diminished flavour. You just need to take a break of about 10 minutes to get the wick saturated and the coil to cool down.

3. Lower the settings

Vaping at higher settings vaporises more juice with each puff. It works great if you want big clouds but it doesn’t come without cost. It needs more time for the wick to soak up the juice and the coils burn hotter increasing the chances of burning out. By reducing the heat setting, you can enjoy vaping for longer while putting less stress on the coil and the wick.

4. Keep your tank full

A low tank means a harder time for the wick to soak up the juice. By now, you know how devastating a dry wick can be to your coil. If the tank is constantly topped up, the wick easily soaks up the liquid and keeps the coil from frying itself.

5. Quit laying your tank down

If you use more than two tanks, you could be the reason for the sudden demise of your coils. By allowing the tank to lay on the side, it’s harder for the wick to soak up the liquid adequately. This is more so the case if the tank is less than half full. Try to always store your tanks in an upright position.

6. Go for E-juices with a higher PG ratio

Juices with have higher PG ratio are thinner compared to their VG counterparts. It makes them easier and faster for the wick to soak up. Not only do such liquids do a better job of keeping the coil cool but they also need less time between puffs so you get to vape more often.

Why not also read: Vaping For Beginners Ultimate Guide

7. Less Sugar in your E-juice

You might also have to do with a little less sugar in your juices for the sake of your coil. Sugar can gunk up the coil as it caramelises and sweet as it may sound, it can destroy your coil. The gunk collected because of the caramelised sugar makes it hard for the wick to soak up new juice which increases the chance of being dry and consequently the coil overheating.

8. Take advantage of technology

Sometimes, all it takes is some innovation to drastically improve the life of your coil. Temperature control is one of the most effective and proactive ways to protect your coil from premature failure. It monitors the detectable changes in resistance and adjust accordingly. With most of the TC devices, you simply set the maximum temperature and when the coil hits the temperature, the TC stops power from being delivered to the coil.

9. Clean Regularly

Lastly, you should do some due diligence and keep the coil clean. Sugar is one of the ingredients in juices and as you may have learned from your culinary experiences, it caramelises when heated. If not cleaned out, it limits the flow of the juice to the wick so it doesn’t soak up properly.  

There you have it. Great ways you can use to prolong the life of your coil and save yourself money in the process.