COILS

What are Vape Coils & Replacement Coils ?

Vape coils are the heating element of your vape and are an essential part of every electronic cigarette. They usually consist of a metal outer section with cotton wick inside aswell as a metel section inside in a coil for, however nowadays they are more often in a mesh form (a crossed sheet of metal with punched holes). Coils are usually located in the tank, pod or cartridge. The Coil is connected to the battery base, when triggered, the curreny flows though the tank and to the heating element which intern heats the e liquid which has been soaked up by the cotton inside the coil, though this process the e-liquid then turns into vapour, which is inhaled by the user. Coils come in different resistances and wattages, Each brand has there own configurations such as OXVA, Smok, Voopoo, Innokin and Vaporesso have different types of coils.

All vape kits require coils to use, however when buying replacement coils you need to make sure you’re getting the right coils for your vape kit. Most kits have coils that are specifically designed for that exact kit, however in come cases brands can use a generic coil that can be used in multiple versions of their range of vape kits. Most Sub ohm tanks require specific coils and are separate to there tank / pod. Many MTL devices and pod kits come with inbuilt coils in the pods so once you can buy a pack of replacement pods instead which already have the coils pre-installed and ready to go. Going back to the more advanced sub ohm kits they usually require specific coils that fit with the kit’s tank. . Disposables vapes are completely different, If you’re buying a disposable kit, they come with e-liquid prefilled and coils already in the kit so they’re ready to go straight out the box. Use our easy-to-use coil finder so you can check which coil you need for your vape kit.

High Resistance vs Low Resistance Coils

When it comes to replacing your coils for vaping, one of the most important factors to understand is the resistance of your coil.

Coils with high resistance are generally used at lower power levels and are suitable for use with starter kits and low-powered devices such as MTL(Mouth to Lung Devices). These coils are not reccommened for use with a high VG/PG ratio for example a 7/30 blend or even 80/20). Instead we reccommend using them with e-liquids with a Lower VG/PG blend such as 50/50 or even 40/60 such as Amazonia or Hangsen E Liquid. High-resistance coils are great for mouth-to-lung vaping, this is where the vapour from the vape kit is held in the mouth for only a few brief moments before being inhaled.In higher resistance coils the cotton is more tighly wrapped allowing less air to flow though giving you a hard pull.

Coils with low resistances are designed to be used at high wattage levels. When you vape with a coil resistance of below one ohm, you are know to be “sub-ohming”. Low-resistance coils, especially those well below one ohm, are ideal for use with high VG e-liquids, for example a VG/PG ratio of 70/30 or even 80/20) and are ideal for direct-to-lung vaping or cloud chasing. In lowe resistance coils the cotton is wrapped more loosly to allow more air to flow though the coil which intern gives the productions of dense clouds.

Many tanks come with different coil resistances, allowing you to choose the coil which best suits your style of vaping.

How to get the most out your coils ?

Over the last few years oth the quality and the design of coils have improved greatly, but there are still a number of steps you should take to ensure your coil does not dry burn and lasts as long as possible.

When you first install a new coil the first action should be to prime your coil properly. if your using a basic tank and all it one device, its simple, fill your tank three quaters full and allow it to sit for around 20 minutes so the e liquid can soak into the cotton, we reccommend shaking the tank before use to remove any air bubbles. Once the 20 minutes is over we reccommend you fill the remaining space in your tank with e liquid. Doing with will ensure your coil is fully saturated in e liquid and eliminates the chance of dry burning your coil. Remember priming your coil is important.

If you are using a low-resistance coil, it is worth going the extra mile. We reccommend priming the coil outside of the tank first, you can do this by dropping a little e-liquid into coil ports before inserting the coil into the tank before allowing it to sit for 20 minutes as reccommened before. You can also take one or two pulls without firing up your device aswell as covering the air flow hole of your device in order to draw e-liquid into the coil making sure your cotton is fully saturated - but be careful don’t overdo it, or you can flood the coil.

Vape manufacturers are constantly working on the innovation of vape coils to improve flavour and longevity. Over they last few years they have increased surface area of the coil to the e-liquid by using mesh coils. This has improved the quality and vapour produced aswell as the taste. thus enabling heating a larger surface areas at lower wattages which gives lower battery life and reduces the chances of coils burning out.

Many Leading brands such as Innokin, OXVA, Voopoo, Vaporesso, Aspire and Smok are continuously innovating in this sector, but one key development has been mesh coils, which are coils with hundreds of tiny holes in them. More recently in 2022 they have started testing the different types of cottons used in coils, the race to product the best coils is on.

Do port size's matter ?

when it comes to coils, It’s not just resistance that determines what e-liquid a coil can be used with. E-Liquid with a high VG ratio requires larger ports in the coil, as high VG e-liquid is thicker than high PG e-liquid. although as low resistance coils usually have larger ports, and high resistance coils, conversely, have smaller ports.

What are coils made up of ?

The wire coil inside your vape coil is made up by a number of materials. Each of these vape differently and depending on the type of wire you might need specific Configuration on your e-cig to use them with.

Kanthal
This is the most common wire type when it comes to vaping, but is actually a general name name. This is an mxiture of three different types of metals and works incredibly well as a vape coil. Unless stated on a coils specification, your vape coil will most likely be made of Kanthal or Nichrome. It is the most common wire for a reason. It is durable and long lasting aswell as taking power well and come in different sizes to really cater the coil resistance. with this you don’t really need any special features or settings to use a Kanthal coil with your vape kit.

Nichrome
This is very similar to Kanthal, but is composed of two metals instead of three. It is also a much thinner and heats up quicker, so its reccommened for sub-ohm coils. Again, with there types of coils there are no special settings required.

Stainless Steel
Stainless steel can be as a vape coil wire. It can be used in straight wattage mode or fixed mode, however is also compatible with temperature controled vaping. This wire is widely available, has a quick ramp up time and hold its shape well and the longevity is great.

Titanium
Titanium wire arnt as comming but are easy to work with and can only be used with vape kit that has temperature control function. It will not work or perform in straight wattage modes. So if you are looking at coils and see one with Ti or any abbreviation of this and you don’t want to use temperature control vaping, avoid these coils as there not for you.

Nickel
This is another tempreture control only wire, it doesn’t work with wattage modes. It is made of just a single compound, nickel. It is a very thin wire that is very pliable, so if you are building your own coils it can be difficult to get your perfect coils that holds its shape.

What are the different types of coils ?

Now were familiar with the types of wire and their wire gauge, we can understand the types of coil these can create. Each wire gives a slight variation on your vaping experience and can really help you understand what type of vape coil to choose.

Vertical coil

This is the most popular type of coils. It will come as a singular wrap of wire, in a coil shape running from the bottom of the metal casing to the top. The cotton material will be wrapped around it so the air moves through the centre of the coil wire.

Dual coil

This is the similar to a vertical coil except there are two wraps of coil wire usually running side by side. When we start to move past just one wire coil, surface area starts to become more important. If you have double the number of coils, you have double the surface area of the elements heating your e-liquid and this produces more vapour.

Triple coil

The same as a dual coil, but there are three of them runnging side by side which gives even more surface area, these would be classified as sub-ohm coils and will produce large amounts of vapour.

Multiple coils

This usually means more than three. Yes, there are vape coils with multiple wire coils, some eight and upwards. They have a hugh surface area, will be only for sub-ohm vaping, specifically for direct to lung vaping and will require a high powered device to produce huge clouds of vapour.

Twisted coils

These are abit different, All of the coils we have discussed previously have been singular strand of wire wrapped into a coil. Twisted coils are abit diffrerent they have multiple strands of wire, wrapped around each other, or braided around each other, then made into a coil. Again, this is all about surface area, expect to get great flavour from a twisted coil.

Mesh coils

The are fast becomming the most common type of coils now. when talking about mesh coils we move away from strands of wire. These vape coils are wire, but not in a coil, they literally look like a piece of mesh with small holes. They have hugh surface area, and are for higher resistance or sub-ohm vaping, These are great for maximum flavour.

Net coils

These are a variation on mesh coils, these are very similar but with bigger holes so it looks like a fishing net. with these there is more surface area covered but less contact between the metal wiring and the cotton, Also give great flavour.