Coils

What is a coil made of?

An electronic cigarette coil can have several shapes and sizes, but we’ll come back to this later.

In most cases, a coil is made of resistive wire like Kanthal, Nichrome or Stainless Steel. This wire is ‘coiled’ (hence the name) into a spiral, which gives the coil a specific resistive value, expressed in ohms.

This value defines the power you’ll have to set on your electronic cigarette, expressed in watts. It corresponds to the voltage the battery needs to heat the wire.

There’s a piece of fibre in contact with this resistive wire, sometimes made from silica, but most often it’s organic cotton. The whole assembly uses capillary action to soak up the e-liquid held inside the clearomiser tank. When said liquid touches the hot wire, it’s vapourised. This vapour rises up the tank’s chimney, before being inhaled through the drip tip.

The whole coil assembly is held inside a metal cartridge, which has a few holes in it so as to let the eliquid inside, but without flooding the fibre.

What’s the difference between the coils?

As we said above, there are several types of coils. Generally, it’s their structure that changes, as they work in the same way, regardless of their shape or size.

The first factor that differentiates coils is their resistive value. This is expressed in ohms, the measurement unit of electrical resistance. The important thing to remember is that with a value of 1 ohm or less (known as ‘sub-ohm’ in the vaping community), your coil will heat up more than if it had a value of 1 ohm or above. This will, by extension, impact how much vapour you end up producing. The lower the coil value is, the more power it’ll require and the more vapour you’ll get.

Secondly, coil designs differ. Manufacturers use various resistive wires to make their coils. The most common builds are made from Kanthal, Nichrome or stainless steel, but some can be made from Nickel or Titanium, especially if they’re intended for temperature control.

Adding to this, a resistance can be made up of several resistive wires. Dual coils, for example, are very common. They comprise two separate coils, which divide the resistance value by two and thus produce a lot of vapour.

Some coils use mesh technology. The coil is shaped like a piece of metallic mesh, which is placed against the cotton wick and thus increases the coil’s heating surface. This produces better results at every level, especially in regards to the coil’s lifespan.

The stainless steel (SS), Titanium (Ti) and Nickel (Ni200) coils are designed for temperature control. This mode allows you to set the temperature in degrees, instead of setting the power output in watts, but it requires a compatible device (electronic box or mod).

Finally, there are ceramic coils. These have a resistive wire surrounded by a thin ceramic layer and a small amount of organic cotton. The objective here is to decrease the heating surface and the amount of direct contact the coil has with the e-liquid. The result is a cleaner vape with more flavour, and a much longer lifespan for the coil.

How to choose a coil

When you choose an All-In-One electronic cigarette or a clearomiser, you’ll notice that the manufacturer offers several different coils for it.

These various wicks allow you to pick the right resistance value for your needs.

As we said before, a coil with a value of 1 ohm or above won’t require much power to operate. It won’t produce much vapour, but it’ll allow you to vapourise e-liquids with a high nicotine content, and even e-liquids with nicotine salts or CBD in them. That's why you'll usually find these coils on small electronic cigarettes like podmods.

Conversely, sub-ohm coils (of less than 1 ohm) require a lot of power to operate, but will produce a large amount of vapour. These will tend to vapourise a large quantity of liquid in a short amount of time. Therefore, it’s best to use them with lowly-nicotined liquids, like 3mg/ml or even 0mg/ml juices, if you want to avoid any throat discomfort.

To summarise, if you’re a beginner vaper who wants to quit smoking, we recommend coils with a value greater than 1 ohm. This will offer a tight draw, similar to the one you got with your cigarettes, along with precise flavours. Most importantly, you’ll be able to switch between various nicotine levels more easily.

If you’re a more experienced vaper who wants more vapour, then sub-ohm coils are made for you, provided you have the right equipment and a sufficient power output to heat the coil properly. If you do, favour liquids with less nicotine in them, such as 3 mg/ml juices for example.

When do coils need to be changed?

In general, a coil lasts for about 2 weeks before it needs to be changed, depending on your use of course.

There are several factors that can impact a coil’s lifespan:

• The vaping frequency
• The quality of the cotton fibre and resistive wire
• The type of e-liquid you use

Regarding this last point, you should know that e-liquids with a high vegetable glycerin (VG) content tend to clog coils faster. Juices with very sweet flavours, like most ‘desserts’ and some fruit blends, will also wear out coils more quickly.

Moreover, there are a few signs that tell you if your coil is worn out or not. If your e-liquid’s flavours taste different, if you don’t get as much vapour as you used to, if there’s a burnt taste, or leaks caused by a cotton wick that can’t hold any e-liquid, then your coil must be replaced.

How much does an electronic cigarette coil cost?

Quitting smoking for vaping will save you a significant amount of money, when compared to the cost of tobacco. Once you’ve purchased your first electronic cigarette, there are only two consumables you’ll have to replace regularly: the e-liquid and the coils.

Most e-cigarette manufacturers will sell their coils in packs of 5, at about 2€ a piece. Knowing that a coil lasts between 2 and 3 weeks depending on your use, they’ll very quickly pay for themselves.

Adding to this, we always try to offer the largest selection of coils for your clearomisers and electronic cigarettes, at the lowest price.

How to clean a coil

If clearomisers are designed to be fully dismantled and cleaned, coils are not.

In the past, you could clean the wicks of the Ego C or Stardust coils if you were patient enough, but today this is no longer the case. If you try and clean a modern coil, you risk damaging it permanently.

Just rinsing the coil with water will drown the cotton fibre. It’ll shrink until it is no longer in contact with the resistive wire, and this will surely cause a ‘dry hit’. You may also notice a lack of flavour and a very low vapour production, that is, if your coil still works.

Thus, it would be better to replace your coil rather than wasting your time trying to save it. On the other hand, it’s important to clean your clearomiser as often as possible if you want to keep it in working order.