Common Electronic Cigarette Coil Problems

If you're going through your e-cigarette coils (you probably know them as atomizer heads or burners) faster than you think, or you're feeling burnt or bad taste, check out our troubleshooting to see if you can solve your problem.

There are many factors that can affect the life of the coil, but the average expectation is 1 to 3 weeks. This is a very general guide because it depends on how much you pump, thicker, more viscous e-liquids will clog the coil faster than thinner ones.

Do not subject the new coil to excessive voltage/power.

The high voltage or wattage on the new coil will likely make it "pop", causing you to think you have a duff coil actually you don’t.

Note that some coils are not rated very high, so you need to make them take less power than you might think.

More and more coils have their range written on them, but it's safe if they don't start low.

If you have a variable voltage battery, start with the lowest setting on the standard coil and after about an hour you should be able to turn it up to normal.

On a sub-ohm coil, start at the lowest value of its range (which should be written on the coil) and within a day you can turn it up to your desired level.

Coils are easily burned by chain e-cigarettes, i.e. excessive smoking over a period of time.

E-cigarette coils are not designed to fire continuously.

Chain e-cigarettes can significantly shorten the life of the coil.

Although most devices have a 10-second shutdown time, make sure to turn off the device when not in use (such as in your pocket). You may be an opening fire in your pocket without knowing it!

If you get a burnt smell, make sure it's not because you're vaping.

Despite the urge to chain the vape, the only solution is to wait longer between puffs, around 20 seconds should be fine depending on the device, but may take less or more.

If you use the e-cigarette when the liquid in the tank is below the saturation hole in the coil, this can cause your coil to burn out and you may experience a burnt taste or a dry feeling.

The liquid needs to cover the coil, so make sure your tank is topped up and don't let it run too low.

The higher the amount of VG (vegetable glycerin) in your e-liquid, the thicker (more viscous) it will be, and some flavors have more sugar, and create extra viscosity.

In some cases, the wicking material inside the coil may not saturate fast enough before the coil is heated, so the coil will get hot, but there are dry parts inside the coil, which will burn, and when this happens, performance and coil lifetime is severely hindered. 

Not only does it taste bad, burning coils, especially cotton coils, produce unhealthy chemicals.

If you're using a basic or standard ecig coil (i.e. a coil with a minimum resistance of 1.5 ohms, so also 1.8 ohms and 2.5 ohms, etc.), you don't need to use high VG fluids. These coils are ideal for 70% PG / 30% VG mixes.

PG stands for propylene glycol and is thinner than VG. While VG is thicker than PG, there are a few other things to keep in mind. Some flavorings in the liquid are high in sugar and can cause the wick to burn when heated too hot (actually it's more like the sugar caramelizes when heated), which has the same effect as burning, and when the coil is clogged it does so will not be saturated.

Liquids with a high sugar content will shorten the life of the coil compared to thinner and sugar-free liquids.

Leaks around the area where the coil is at the bottom of the tank are usually due to the O-ring being absent or not in place, meaning the coil is not sealed and liquid can flow through it and out of the bottom of the tank.

You may also experience liquid coming out of the pores.

By the way, leaks can also be due to over-evaporation and the coil and tank getting hot enough that the liquid starts to flow out because it doesn't evaporate fast enough.

Check that the coil O-ring is where it should be (if not sure, check the new coil) and check that it is tight, kind of like elastic.

Check that you have screwed the coil in until it feels snug (not too tight; not too hard).

If you can't find the problem and you have multiple batteries or mod devices, check that this is not just happening on one device.

You could also try loosening it up a bit (unscrewing the tank) and see if that makes a difference.

Leaks can also be caused by very thin liquids (eg more PG than VG). If you're using a very low ohm coil and a thin e-liquid (like 70/30 PG/VG), then you're not using the high VG fluid that sub-ohm coils are designed to use.

The above describes the common e-cigarette coil problems and their solutions in detail. If you want to buy a new e-cigarette, please contact us.

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