When to Change Vape Coil: Look For These 4 Signs

Disposable vape pens are very popular, commanding over 23% of sales in CO. Most vaping enthusiasts will prefer something a bit more long-term, though. A proper vaporizer will produce better vapor while reducing the cost per-puff.

Part of achieving this superior end-product is learning how to maintain your vaporizer. Whether you’re using a pen or a desktop vaporizer, cleaning and maintenance are vital. You might as well pay the premium for disposables if you’re not invested in the details of vaping.

With that said, if there were one part of the vaporizer you should pay attention the most, it’s the vape coil. Maintaining and knowing when to change vape coil parts will determine your vapor quality. If you hang onto a vape coil well after it’s expired, you’re in for some bad times.

Avoid bad flavor, bad vapor, and potentially ruining your other vape pieces by early detection. Use this guide to help identify the most common red flags.

Who Burnt the Lettuce?

Your first sign that things have gone south is a burnt flavor. Depending on what you’re vaping (flower, oil, wax), the burnt flavor will vary. Sometimes it is a subtle undertone that you’ll need to catch.

A burnt flavor in a VG-heavy e-juice will resemble burnt oil or vegetables. It’s very foul, while the PG-heavy juices are lighter and don’t linger as much. This is something you’ll find easier to detect as you vape more.

Once your coil starts burning, there’s really no reversing the damage. You have to proactively clean your coil to avoid material sitting and burning it up. This is more of a problem with concentrates, but time is the essence here. 

Change out that coil at the first taste of burnt flavors. If you delay the inevitable, it will taint all your other components.

The Juice is “Off”

E-liquid flavors are a delicate balance of chemistry. The wrong ratios will throw off the flavor, but it’s uncommon with reputable brands. If you’re a regular vaper of a particular e-juice and run into a batch that is “off”, it’s probably the coil.

Even when trying new juices, there’s no reason why the flavor should contain weird or muted notes. E-juices are rarely subtle or contain weird undertones. These are hints that, while your coil isn’t burning, it is aging or underperforming.

This is less obvious with flowers and concentrates sometimes. E-juices also tend to linger in older coils, too. That means that when you swap to a different flavor, you’ll still get a hint of the previous juice. 

In reality, though, you should still get a few more sessions with that older coil, as the residue from the older juice will clear after a few puffs. All of this comes down to your personal preference. Don’t get lazy and run the old coil into the ground, though.

Vaping Mist, Not Clouds

This is one of the least obvious signs when to change vape coil parts out. Heavy users will detect a drop in vapor density almost right away. Casual vapers, it might take them a day or two. 

Eventually, though, towards the end of your coil’s life, vapor production falls. You’ll start taking longer hits to compensate for the poor vapor. This is sometimes confused with nicotine tolerance for some smokers. 

If you notice yourself needing to take longer vapes, check the coil first. It should show signs of failure and frailty.

What the Bong?

Our last, but often annoying sign that your coil needs to be changed is the sound of your vaporizer. Now, when you have a situation where every hit produces a gurgling or extra asperated sound, it can go two ways. It may indicate you have a leak somewhere or that your coil is faulty.

If you have either never changed the coil before or lost track of the last time, this is probably the case. If you have just changed out the coil, then you have a situation with the device itself. Typically, this means there’s a leak somewhere in the chamber or vapor channel.

When to Change Vape Coil Parts

The last thing you want to do is wait until you start experiencing one of these aforementioned red flags before changing the coil. You should practice preventative maintenance to extend the life of your vape and it’s parts. There’s no hard rule on when you need to change it out, but there is a sort of rhythm to it.

Heavy vapers will want to clean their coil every day and change out a new one every week. The quality of your coil and the type will change things a little, but if you’re talking multiple vape sessions per day, you shouldn’t get conservative.

Average vaping of about one session per day should still clean after their session. The coil is going to last you a few weeks, at least. You should keep a close watch on flavor and vapor production.

Casual vapers who vape take a few pulls per week can clean weekly and still get a good month out of their coil. Set reminders for yourself because it’s easy for a coil to go bad for a month undetected. Meanwhile, the rest of your vape pen is getting tainted.

Protect Your Investment

The vape coil is the life force of your vaporizer. You might as well go with disposables if you can’t maintain it. Knowing when to change vape coil parts and how is important for vape ownership. 

Remember to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines on parts and procedures. Watch some videos on YouTube, if you have to see it done. Always give your new coils a few minutes to soil the wick before vaping. 

If you do that, you’ll avoid a lot of premature coil burning. Having a quality vaporizer goes a long way for coil longevity, too. Check out our list of the 10 best vape pens on the market.