In the previous article, The Vape Club mentioned the problem of burning coils and cotton. You already know the signs when your coil is burned 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 how 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-burn 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-burn them, 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 be vaporized, and you always have to adjust the device mode so that the amount of juice absorbed into the cotton can keep up with the speed of your vaping.
This is the key to protecting your coil from burning out. But what does this mean from a vaper’s perspective? What do we really 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 or not. 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 is completely absorbed into the cotton.
On the other hand, some vapers have used their vape device without pressing the start button as a way to prime the coil, this way will draw the e-liquid into the cotton. But you should also be careful, because if you overdo this method, the cotton will be flooded with e-liquid.
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 wasted, 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 due to the balance mentioned above: you need to make sure the cotton is still saturated with e-liquid before you press the start button. In normal use, this is not a big problem, as you will be vaping for a while and during that time the e-liquid 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 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 harmful to your coils. Because the e-liquid evaporates faster, the cotton can’t keep up with it, and the result is burnt cotton .
Reducing the power of the device is also an effective method.
The solution to this problem is to reduce the wattage. If you feel the flavor has diminished, it means that the coil is dry and needs some time to re-weave. You will have to wait a while for the e-liquid to re-weave, but to make this less of a problem, reduce the wattage.
There are usually some wattage limits that you should use with your coils, and you should be fine. 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 levels you are using, then reduce the wattage.
4 - Keep the tank full
If the amount of e-liquid in the tank is too low, your cotton will not absorb enough e-liquid. For example, with some pre-made coil heads, the e-liquid must be at a certain level to reach the cotton holes. When the e-liquid level is low, the cotton will not absorb quickly. If the e-liquid level is lower than required, the coil and cotton will burn 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 oil. 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 and can penetrate the cotton faster. So you can prolong the life of your cotton and coil by switching to 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 sugars in the e-liquid will turn into caramel, which is delicious for dessert, but it will ruin your coil. Caked cotton will have a hard time absorbing the e-liquid, which can cause the problem we talked about (burned out 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 gunk, you can try rinsing the coil and cotton to solve the problem, using water or ethanol (not rubbing alcohol). If you do this, you will need to let the cotton coil dry for a day before using it.
There is more than one method of cleaning the coil, and sometimes even though the coil has been cleaned, 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 will 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) 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 power to prevent the coil from overheating.
If there’s a neat way to solve the problem of burnt cotton coils, it’s TC. When you try to vape with a cotton wick that isn’t saturated with enough e-liquid, 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.
