In the previous article, The Vape Club mentioned the problem of burning coils and cotton. You already know the signs when your coil is burning and the causes of this. And today, The Vape Club will give you the simplest methods to protect your cotton coils.
You can read the previous article here .
So what to do to prevent the coil from burning?
As mentioned first, the main issue is that we always have to make sure there is enough essential oil absorbed in the cotton when vaping .
This means you should not dry-fire your coils, as most cotton is made from cotton fibers that will burn if not protected by e-liquid. With ceramic wicks, you can dry-fire, and the worst you’ll get is a slight taste of burnt silica.
The risk is reduced if there is still juice in the cotton, but you still have to take steps to protect your coil. When you press the start button, the juice in the cotton will evaporate, and you always have to adjust the device mode so that the amount of juice absorbed into the cotton keeps up with the speed of your vape.
This is the key to protecting your coil from burning out. But what does this mean from a vaper’s perspective? What do we actually need to do?
7 ways to avoid burning coils
1 - Prime the coil with essential oil before vaping
If you don't prime your coil before vaping, you'll burn out your coil before you even use it.
When you first put the coil in the tank, the cotton needs to be thoroughly saturated. This takes some time, usually you will have to wait about five minutes after filling the tank to take your first puff. If you wait long enough, priming will not be necessary, but the problem is that it is difficult to know if the cotton is fully saturated. And if the cotton is not saturated, when you start vaping, there will not be enough e-liquid in the cotton to dissipate the heat, leading to the situation mentioned above.
Priming the coil is the process of dropping the essential oil onto the cotton before use. Pre-primed coils usually have a cap on the top and an opening on the body to expose the cotton. To prime the coil, you need to drop three to five drops of essential oil onto the cotton, making sure that the oil you drop is completely absorbed into the cotton.
On the other hand, some vapers have used their vape devices without pressing the start button as a way to prime the coil, which will draw the e-juice into the cotton. But you should also be careful, because if you overdo this method, the cotton will be flooded with e-juice.
Now your coil is ready to use. But to be extra careful, you should still wait about five minutes after filling the tank before vaping. This isn’t strictly necessary, but if your coil isn’t primed properly beforehand, all your hard work will be in vain, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
2 - Don't vape constantly
Continuous vaping - this means you will vape continuously until you can no longer see your e-cigarette because there is too much smoke, which will lead to the coil burning out very quickly. This is because of the balance mentioned above: you need to make sure the cotton is still saturated with e-juice before pressing the start button. In normal use, this is not a big deal, because you will be vaping for a while and during that time the e-juice will be replenished into the cotton. However, if you vape continuously for a long time, the cotton will eventually dry out and when you continue vaping, the cotton will burn out.
The solution to this problem is simple: stop vaping for a while. The biggest sign to stop is when the taste of your e-liquid starts to change. This is a sign that there is not much e-liquid left on the coil and it is about to burn out.
3 - Reduce power
When you vape at high wattages, you vaporize more of your e-liquid. This is good if you want to create a lot of cloud, but it can be detrimental to your coils. Since the e-liquid evaporates faster, the cotton can’t keep up with it, resulting in burnt cotton .
Reducing the power of the device is also an effective method.
The solution to this problem is to reduce the wattage of your device. If you feel the flavor is decreasing, it means that the coil is dry and needs some time to re-soak. You will have to stop for a while to let the juice re-soak into the cotton, but to make this problem less likely, reduce the wattage.
There is usually a certain wattage limit that you should use with your coil, and you should be fine just hovering around that. Start low and work your way up. However, if you find that your e-liquid is losing flavor and your coil is burning out at the level you are using, then reduce the wattage.
4 - Keep the tank full
If the amount of e-juice in the tank is too low, it will result in your cotton not absorbing enough e-juice. For example, with some pre-made coil heads, the e-juice must be at a certain level to reach the cotton holes. When the e-juice level is low, the cotton will not absorb quickly. If the e-juice level is lower than required, the coil and cotton will burn very easily.
The neatest solution is to always keep the essential oil in the tank full. When the taste of the essential oil starts to taste strange and fades, it is time to add more essential oil to the tank, even if you feel sorry for the remaining part. You can clean the tank before replacing the new essential oil if you do not want the essential oil flavors to mix.
Another way is to turn the tank upside down so that the remaining essential oil flows back up and soaks into the cotton. However, this method is very ineffective and difficult to perform if there is too little essential oil left, so refilling the tank with essential oil is the most effective method.
5 - Use essential oils containing a lot of PG
PG is thinner than VG so it can penetrate the cotton faster. So you can prolong the life of your cotton and coil by switching to an e-liquid with a PG/VG ratio of 50/50 or 70/30.
6 - Use essential oils that contain little sweetener
With an e-liquid that is too sweet, it will cause your coil to become caked. The sugar in the e-liquid will turn into caramel, which is delicious for dessert, but it is the “culprit” that will ruin your coil. Caked cotton is very difficult to absorb e-liquid, which can cause the problem we talked about (burned coil).
While this is often caused by sweeteners, there are many e-liquids that can cause coil fouling. Coffee and pastry flavored e-liquids are often the biggest culprits.
If your coil is caked with scale, you can try rinsing the coil and cotton to solve the problem, using water or ethanol (not rubbing alcohol). If you use this method, you must let the cotton coil dry for a day before using it.
There is more than one method of cleaning coils, and sometimes even after cleaning the coil, it still cannot be used as well as when it was first used.
The best thing to do is to switch to a less sweetened e-liquid. You’ll have to throw away the heavily caked coils, but it will save you a lot of trouble down the road.
7 - Use TC (Temperature Control) mode
Vaping with Temperature Control (TC) mode can directly solve the problem of coil burnout. By monitoring the change in resistance as the coil material is heated, the TC device will allow you to precisely set the required temperature for the coil.
When the allowed temperature is reached, the device will stop supplying energy to prevent the coil from overheating.
If there’s a neat way to solve the problem of burnt cotton wicks, it’s TC. When you try to vape with a cotton wick that isn’t saturated with enough e-juice, the device won’t work. Even if you try to burn the cotton wick, you won’t be able to. This means that TC can solve the problem without going through the above methods. The only problem is that you have an e-cigarette device and a tank that supports nickel, titanium, or SS coils.
Save money and protect your taste buds
It may seem like a lot to take into account, but I assure you that it is well worth the effort to take care of your coils. Coils and cotton are two of the most important factors in ensuring you get the best experience in both vapor and flavor.
So if you want to enjoy the flavor of your e-liquid, use your coil to its fullest potential, and avoid the taste of burnt cotton, keep these tips in mind when vaping.
