When to Change Your Vape Coils

Dec 12, 2023Updated Sep 17, 20266 min readVape School

Every vape with a coil will eventually need a new one. The coil is the small heating element inside your atomizer that turns vape juice into vapor, and it wears out with use. Sometimes it’s hard to tell exactly when that point has arrived.

Change it too late and you get burnt hits and muted flavor. Change it too early and you’re throwing away coils that still had life in them. Here is how to tell when a coil is done, what shortens its life and how to get the most out of each one.

What a coil does

Every atomizer, whether it’s a tank, a pod or a rebuildable, uses a coil of resistance wire paired with a wick, usually cotton. The wick soaks up e-liquid, the coil heats it, and the juice turns into vapor.

Each puff leaves a little residue behind. Over time that buildup, along with wear on the wick, changes how the coil performs, and several factors decide how quickly that happens.

Signs it’s time for a new coil

It tastes burnt or harsh

This is the clearest sign. If your vape suddenly tastes burnt, bitter or just unpleasant, and topping up the tank doesn’t fix it, the wick is likely scorched or clogged. A single dry hit can happen when the tank runs low, but a burnt taste that sticks around means the coil is done. See why your vape tastes burnt and what a dry hit is for more.

The flavor is muted

Before a coil tastes burnt, it often tastes flat. If a juice you love suddenly seems dull, or the last flavor keeps showing up in a new bottle, buildup on the coil is a likely cause.

You get less vapor

A clogged coil can’t wick or heat as well, so clouds get thinner even though your settings haven’t changed.

The tank gurgles, spits or leaks

A worn coil can flood or spit hot juice. If cleaning the tank and checking the seals doesn’t help, try a fresh coil.

The coil looks dark or crusty

If you can see your coil, take a look. A dark, crusty coil or a brown, hardened wick means it’s time for a replacement.

Your device reads the resistance oddly

If your device shows a resistance that keeps jumping around, or says no atomizer is connected, the coil may be failing or not seated properly. Reseat it first, then replace it if the problem continues.

How long a coil lasts

There’s no set lifespan for a coil. One can last a few days or a few weeks, depending on how you vape and what you put in your tank.

What wears coils out faster

• Sweet flavors. Dessert and candy flavors with a lot of sweetener leave residue that builds up faster than it does with less sweet juices.
• High-VG juice. Vegetable glycerin is thicker than propylene glycol, and e-liquids with higher VG ratios tend to gunk up coils faster. Learn more in What Are PG and VG?
• Dark juices. Some darker e-liquids, such as many coffee, tobacco and custard flavors, can leave more residue too.
• Too much power. Running a coil above its recommended wattage range, which is usually printed on the coil, wears out the wick faster and makes burnt hits more likely.
• Chain vaping. Taking long puffs back to back doesn’t give the wick time to soak up more juice.
• Low juice levels. Letting the tank run nearly empty leaves the wick exposed and makes dry hits more likely.

How to make each coil last longer

1. Prime every new coil. Put a few drops of e-liquid on the exposed cotton, fill the tank and wait five to ten minutes before your first puff.
2. Start low. Begin at the bottom of the coil’s wattage range and work up over the first few puffs.
3. Keep the tank topped up so the wicking holes stay covered.
4. Pause between puffs to give the wick time to resaturate.
5. Match your juice to your coil. Thick, high-VG juice suits sub-ohm coils with larger wicking holes, while higher-PG and nic salt juices suit mouth-to-lung and pod coils.
6. Mix in less sweet flavors. If you vape a lot of desserts, alternating with less sweet bottles means less buildup on each coil.

Switching flavors often? Strong flavors such as menthol and cinnamon can linger in a used coil. If your Zamplebox Club box mixes menthol, fruit and dessert bottles, keeping a spare coil on hand for big flavor changes helps each bottle taste like itself.

Rebuildables: re-wick or replace?

If you use a rebuildable atomizer, such as an RDA or RTA, you don’t always need new wire. Often the cotton is the problem, and you can pull it out, clean the coil and re-wick with fresh cotton to get your flavor back.

Re-wicking has its limits, though. When the time between re-wicks keeps getting shorter, and you need fresh cotton more and more often to get a pleasant taste, it’s time to replace the coil itself. Our guides to building a basic coil and choosing wicking cotton can help.

Stock coils for regular tanks and pods are different. They’re sealed units that aren’t designed to be re-wicked or washed, so when one is worn out, replace it. If your pod has a built-in coil, replace the whole pod.

How to change a tank coil

1. Turn off your device and remove the tank.
2. Empty any leftover juice, then unscrew the base or pull out the coil, depending on your tank.
3. Remove the old coil. This is a good time to rinse your tank and let every part dry completely.
4. Install the new coil, making sure it screws or clicks in snugly.
5. Prime it with a few drops of juice on the cotton through the side holes and a drop or two into the top of the coil.
6. Reassemble, fill the tank and wait five to ten minutes before vaping, starting at low power.

Always use coils made for your tank or pod, and check the resistance and wattage range printed on each one. If you’re not sure what those numbers mean, see what ohms and sub-ohm vaping mean.

Common questions

WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical. For adults 21+ only.