how to prevent vape coil gunk

Avoiding Coil Gunk

• Use Less VG. Typically, anything 70VG or higher is considered “Max VG”. Although rare, it’s possible to find liquids...
• Eliminate Sweeteners. There are lots of great e-juices that don’t use sweeteners. If you can avoid it, try switching...
• Change Your Vape Practices. Arguably the easiest choice, simply changing your settings, technique and frequency of...

Full Answer

Can you avoid coil gunk when vaping?

You can’t completely avoid it all the time unless you’re very careful about the juices you vape and how you vape them. Even if you’re absolutely careful, your coils will get gunked up eventually. However, you can drastically reduce the chance of getting coil gunk by taking some simple steps.

How do I Stop my coils from Gunking?

Turn the power down: Reducing the power setting you vape at can reduce the risk of coil gunk. If you find that your coils don’t last long, even if it isn’t related to gunk, turning the power down and chain vaping less can help anyway, so this is definitely something to try.

How do I avoid coil Gunk in my e-juice?

Change your e-juice flavor: Switch to a different e-juice flavor if you want to avoid coil gunk. Black Note’s NET blends don’t include sweeteners and are some of the only NET blends that don’t have an issue with coil gunk, but the most important thing is to avoid e-juice with a lot of sweeteners or darker, sweeter flavors in general.

What is vape gunk and why does it matter?

The gunk is essentially residue from e-liquid that hasn’t been successfully vaporized. Some components (often sweeteners or other ingredients from sweet flavors) are left behind, and as you continue vaping, these components are heated over and over again and turn dark.

How do you prevent coil gunk?

From the discussion, you must consider the following to remove coil gunk.Using an e-liquid without added sweeteners.Using low wattage devices generating less vapor.Try to use clear liquids from reputed sellers.Avoid using NET e-liquids giving ashtray taste as these contain unfiltered matters.More items...•

How do you clean a gunky vape coil?

1) How to Dry Burn Vapes Dry burning is a process many vapers use to get the gunk off their coils. It involves pulling the wick and heating up the coils to a 'red hot' temperature where the buildup either falls off or gently flakes away.

Why is brown stuff coming out of my vape?

Many e-juices are made with artificial sweeteners that caramelize after being exposed to heat. This caramelization causes the sugars to break down or separate, which results in the vape juice turning brown. As a result, the more you vape, the darker your e-juice becomes, producing a gunky buildup on the atomizer.

How do you keep coils clean?

How to clean your CoilLet your coil soak in ethanol, vinegar, or cheap vodka for at least a couple of hours.Place it under the tap and rinse.Rinse once more with some distilled water.Blow air on the open side of your coil to force water to the wicking holes.Set it aside until all water has evaporated.

Why do my coils gunk up so fast?

The gunk is essentially residue from e-liquid that hasn't been successfully vaporized. Some components (often sweeteners or other ingredients from sweet flavors) are left behind, and as you continue vaping, these components are heated over and over again and turn dark.

How often should you clean your vape coils?

Signs It's Time to Clean the Vape Tank For heavy vapers, it's best to clean your vape tank once a week with a quick rinse. For moderate vapers, clean at least once every two weeks. This is about the same frequency that experts recommend replacing the coil, about every two weeks.

How do you clean a burnt coil?

How to Clean a Burnt Coil?Remove your coil from your vape.Soak it in ethanol or vinegar for several hours.Rinse with water.Leave to air dry.

How long does a vape coil last?

between one to two weeksA new coil should last between one to two weeks. However, most e-liquids leave a thin layer of residue when they are vaporized. This builds up around your coils and wicks and can end up clogging your device in the long run.

Is oxidized vape juice bad for you?

You have nothing to worry about. This is just a natural progression. However, if you recognize a drastic change in its color, then that means oxidation has occurred on a much larger scale. When this occurs, you should not vape this juice.

How many puffs Should a coil last?

On average, a decently constructed coil for a sub-ohm tank should last you 4 days to 1 week. If you vape less because you cannot vape during work hours, or you do not vape throughout the day, then your coils are likely to last twice as long.

Can you wash a vape coil and reuse it?

Replaceable coil heads that come with sub ohm tanks and clearomizers can technically be cleaned, but it won't completely revive them. Best case scenario, you get an extra few days out of a tired coil head.

How do you know when coil is bad vape?

Watch out for these warning signs that your coil is past its prime:It tastes burnt. You can't miss the taste of a burnt hit. ... The flavour isn't distinct. Last week, you vaped through a tank of mint-flavoured e-juice—this week, it's cake. ... You hear a strange noise. Old vape coils can sometimes allow e-juice to leak.

How to clean a burnt coil?

How to clean & fix a burnt coil? 1 Using an e-liquid without added sweeteners 2 Using low wattage devices generating less vapor 3 Try to use clear liquids from reputed sellers 4 Avoid using NET e-liquids giving ashtray taste as these contain unfiltered matters 5 Unflavored juices reduce the coil gunk issues 6 Use e-liquids with low VG

Can you rebuild a coil?

Though the name creates confusion, the truth is that you can rebuild the pre-built coils too. A simple atomizer design allows you a quick rebuilding. You can quickly unwrap the wick from the coil, replace it with a new wick, and assemble the atomizer again.

Does sweetener cause coil gunk?

Sweetener liquid causes coil gunk but does it mean that people won’t use them? No, but it does not mean that Sweet e-liquid isn’t a major reason behind coil gunk.

Does dry burn clean coils?

Dry burn cleans the coil in the most effective way. However, even after cleaning, you may notice a bit of a carbon substance stuck on your coil. Unless you are removing every single trace of the gunk from your coil you won’t be able to achieve the perfect cleaning.

What is Coil Gunk?

Coil gunk is the leftover vape juice that does not evaporate. It includes the sweeteners, the flavorings, and other ingredients of e-liquid. They are created directly on the coil, hence the name coil gunk, and after a time, become dark and solid.

Avoid High VG E-Liquids

Although coil gunk is unavoidable, there are things you can do to slow it down or make it less likely to happen. For example, one thing you can do is avoid high vegetable glycerin e-liquids. As you probably know by now, the two most important ingredients in vape juice are vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol.

Sweeteners in Vape Juice

Another reason why you might be experiencing coil gunk buildup is that the vape juice you’re using has too many sweeteners. Dessert, fruit, and candy-flavored vape juices tend to have sweeteners that enhance and create the flavors. However, this also has the unintended effect of easily clogging your coils with coil gunk.

Avoid Dark E-Liquids

Another possible culprit responsible for creating coil gunk is dark e-liquids. Some people say that dark e-liquids, which always tend to be sweeter (which means they use sweeteners) rather than light e-liquids, have a tendency to create more coil gunk.

Avoid Flavored E-Liquids Altogether

Something you could do is avoid flavored e-liquids altogether and switch to unflavored vape juices. Unflavored vape juice has zero artificial flavorings, zero sweeteners and only has the three most important ingredients: vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, and nicotine, which can also be optional.

Conclusion

Coil gunk is inevitable, but there are ways to avoid it for as long as possible.

What does coil gunk mean in vaping?

What does Vape Coil Gunk mean? Coil gunk comprises of many things. It can be the accumulation of unvaped e-juice left behind after your daily use. But other things determine the cause and frequency of coil gunk. More so, it is super easy to spot coil gunk.

What causes coil gunk?

Several factors can cause coil gunk, including: VG Ejuices: You are likely to have at least a bottle of high CG- e-liquid if you are a cloud chaser with a decent sub-ohm device. But the massive clouds produced by VG can destroy your coil and cause coil gunk.

What is the max VG for a coil?

Use less VG. Anything 70VG and more is considered “Max VG”. But to protect your coil, ensure you choose an e-liquid with 60VG or less. You will find many manufacturers offering 60VG as their default, but some will give you the chance to select the VG/PG level that you prefer to save your coil.

Can you replace coil gunk?

More so, it is super easy to spot coil gunk. Yeah, it is a black, sticky, tar-like substance that accumulates around your coil, leaving you with no option than to replace them. There are different measures to adjust coil gunk.

Can you run at a loss with a sub ohm vape?

You might have experienced coil gunk if you are using a traditional or sub-ohm vape. This substance can be very annoying can ruin your day. Besides, it can make you run at a loss as it can rack up vape coil cost.

Can you use dark e-liquid?

Sweet, Dark E-juice: Many ingredients are used for e-liquids, and some may not be friendly to your coils. If you use a dark e-liquid (meaning it contains some sweetener), it may not vaporize well, and this can cause the crystallized e-juice sweetener to clogs the rest of your gunk, killing your coil and ruining the flavor.

What is vape coil gunk?

Vape coil gunk refers to the concentrated caramelized blob of residue deposits on the atomizer and vape coils. It becomes thicker and darker gradually and severely impacts your vaping experience and the longevity of your vaping device.

What causes vape coil gunk?

You can avoid vape coil gunk by knowing why it happens. Its leading causes are:

Tips to avoid vape coil gunk

You cannot wholly avoid vape coil gunk, but you can certainly minimize it by following the below-mentioned tips each time you vape.

1 Choose e-juices without sweeteners

Sweeteners are added to vape juices to enhance flavors, but it also causes significant gunk buildup. It caramelizes when you heat the liquid and leaves a nasty deposit on the vape coil. You might need to change the coil in less than two to three weeks.

2 Avoid chain vaping

Chain vaping refers to frequent vaping. It can not only be detrimental to your health, but it can also shorten the life of the device and several vape kits online like the vape coil, wick, batteries, etc.

3 Avoid Max VG liquids

VG is the heavy, dense liquid component of e-juice that contributes to large cloud formation. Hence, most cloud chasers like to choose an e-juice with Max VG, i.e., its concentration is 70% or more compared to PG. It also gives you a smoother hit, but it is a killer for the vape coils as it causes faster buildup on them.

4 Avoid e-juices with poorly filtered tobacco extracts

Most smokers who switch to vaping prefer tobacco-flavored juice for a more realistic experience. Given that, most vape juice manufacturers have tried to perfect the refreshing flavor of tobacco. A popular method for it is to create juices by infusing natural extracts from real tobacco leaves.

How to degunk a coil?

Liquid Cleaning. You can actually do a lot to de-gunk your coils simply by using a bit of liquid. After removing the wick, unscrew the coils from their posts and drop them in some very hot water. After a bit of time, the coil gunk will start to fall off.

What is coil gunk?

Coil gunk is an e-cigarette problem that many e-smokers know all too well. How many times have you experienced this scenario? You’ve been using your favorite sweet and creamy e-liquid non-stop for a few days, and you begin to notice a change in the flavor. You ignore it at first, but before long, it tastes like you’re getting dry hits even though your tank is full or your wick is yet. You look at your atomizer coil, and this is what you see:

Why does my vape taste like it's burning?

Eventually, the crust becomes so thick that you can taste it when you vape — most likely because the coil is actually burning some of the gunk off.

How to clean a coil?

To dry burn your coil, simply pulse the fire button a few seconds at a time until the coil begins to glow red. During the dry burn, the coil burns away the gunk.

How to re-wick a pre-built atomizer?

Whether you can do it easily, though, depends on the atomizer’s design. With some atomizer heads, you can simply pull the pin and insulator off of the bottom and push the coil and wick through the top. Unwrap the wick from the coil, replace it with a new wick and reassemble the atomizer. Make certain that you return the coil’s positive and negative leads to their original positions. One is usually slightly longer than the other; that one goes between the pin and insulator. The shorter lead goes between the insulator and the body of the atomizer.

How to tell if you're killing your wick?

If you’re using a tank system, it’s not so easy to tell whether you’re killing your wick. It’s probably safe to assume that you are, though, if you need to replace your coil every day. If you look inside your coil and see black after just a day of use, that’s another likely sign.

Do coils last forever?

No atomizer coil lasts forever, but there are some conditions that contribute to rapid coil gunk buildup. The good news is that those conditions are, for the most part, completely avoidable — a good thing if you’re using a tank with pre-made coils and can’t afford to drop a new coil in your tank every day.

What is Vape Coil Gunk?

Coil gunk is a mixture of several things. It’s mostly made up of unvaped e-juice left behind during daily use. But the cause and frequency of coil gunk will be affected by other things as well.

Intense Vaping Practices

There are plenty of subtle ways to change your vaping technique. But if your habits happen to strain your vape, this could lead to gunk.

Avoiding Coil Gunk

Now that we know what causes coil gunk, we can easily figure out our solutions. Not every one of these will be the right choice for you, either due to strong preferences or lack of options. But even trying one change will give your coils a little extra life.

How to get rid of coil gunk?

Above, we described the six factors that contribute most strongly to coil gunk. If you want to eliminate coil gunk, you’ll need to eliminate those factors. In short: 1 Switch to an e-liquid with no added sweeteners. 2 Switch to a vaping device or tank that generates less vapor. You may need to increase the nicotine strength of your e-liquid to compensate. 3 If you like NET e-liquids, avoid any e-liquid with an “ashtray” taste that indicates an inadequate filtering process. 4 Try an e-liquid with a lower percentage of vegetable glycerin. 5 Use clear e-liquids whenever possible. 6 Try an unflavored e-liquid for maximum coil life. Menthol is OK as it doesn’t contribute to coil gunk.

How to remove coil gunk from a tank?

The simplest way to remove coil gunk is by removing the coil head from your tank and cleaning it with a long dip in hot water or a strong alcohol such as vodka. Drop the coil in a cup, swish it around and let it soak for a day or so. Use a backup coil in the meantime.

How to tell if an atomizer coil is good?

To find out whether an atomizer coil is a good candidate for rebuilding, look at the coil from the top. If the coil has a mesh screen covering the wick and heating wire, you’ll need to remove the screen with a pair of needle-nose pliers. The screen helps to prevent atomizer spitting.

Why are my wicks dark?

The dark color comes from caramelized sweeteners and other ingredients in your e-liquid, and all of that caramelization can eventually become detrimental to the vaping experience. Some people find that they can extend the life of their RBA coils simply by replacing the wicks each day.

How to clean RBA coils?

If you’re replacing the wicks in your rebuildable atomizer anyway, why not clean your coils while you’re at it? The most popular way to clean RBA coils is by dry burning. After removing the wicks, press your device’s fire button in brief pulses to make the coils glow dull orange. You’ll see smoke rise from the coils; that’s the coil gunk burning away. After a few seconds of dry burning, you should see that the coils have just about returned to their original silver color.

How much does it cost to build coils for a sub ohm tank?

A box of pre-built coils for a sub-ohm tank typically costs about $2-3 per coil. If coil gunk forces you to replace your atomizer coil daily, that’s a pretty big expense. Compare that to the cost of getting a rebuildable atomizer and building your own coils.

How to clean coils on a atomizer?

The simplest way to remove coil gunk is by removing the coil head from your tank and cleaning it with a long dip in hot water or a strong alcohol such as vodka. Drop the coil in a cup, swish it around and let it soak for a day or so. Use a backup coil in the meantime. After giving your coil a long soak, leave it out for a day to dry. If you soaked the coil in alcohol, rinse it first. If you clean your atomizer coils without disassembling them, you’re probably not going to get rid of every trace of coil gunk. Cleaning a coil also won’t fix a burned cotton wick. You may find, though, that cleaning your coils allows you to continue using them for an extra couple of days.