If you’ve ever owned a leaky vape, you know how annoying it can be. Everything seems great one minute – and the next, you’re looking down at a big stain in your pocket or a puddle in your car’s cupholder. What’s going on – do you need to buy a new vape?
Although buying a new vape is certainly one way to fix leaks – we’ll talk about that shortly – there’s also a good chance that you can fix the vape you have.
What can you do with a leaky vape? Let’s dig in.
Upgrade Your Vape
If you’re using an older vaping device, it might be a good idea to consider buying something newer because every vape experiences wear and tear over time. Your vape might have stripped threads that no longer twist together properly or silicone o-rings that are stretched or torn. Some parts that no longer fit together properly can be replaced. With some other types of worn components, though, it’s necessary to replace the entire device. It’s also important to note that some budget-priced vapes simply aren’t very reliable. The best vapes are always designed not to leak.
Don’t Overfill Your Tank or Pod
If you have a refillable vape, it’s important for you to understand how the tank or pod works.
- If your device has a glass tank, the tank is designed so that a weak vacuum will form on the inside of the glass when you puff on your device. The vacuum helps to keep the e-liquid in its place and prevent leaking. If you fill the tank all the way to the top, the vacuum can’t form.
- If your device has a plastic pod, the filling port is secured with a silicone or rubber plug. The plug needs a bit of room, so you need to leave a little space at the top of the pod when you fill it. If you don’t, the plug will push e-liquid out of the pod when you close it.
Regardless of which type of refillable vape you own, overfilling your device can cause it to leak – so you should always leave a little space at the top of the tank or pod.
Don’t Puff So Hard
This tip applies to any vape with tight airflow characteristics, such as small pod systems and most disposable vapes. With these types of vapes, it’s important to use gentle air pressure when you puff on your device because puffing too hard can cause your vape to leak.
Puffing too firmly is the top mistake that new vapers make because they’re used to using firm air pressure when they smoke cigarettes. When you want your cigarette to produce more smoke, you use more air pressure, and that causes it to burn down more quickly.
Vaping devices, however, are completely different from cigarettes because they don’t burn. Puffing harder on a cigarette provides more oxygen and increases the rate of combustion. With a vape, though, supplying more oxygen won’t make the device vaporize the e-liquid more quickly – it’ll just overwhelm the device’s limited capability to manage the airflow. You’ll draw e-liquid into the atomizer coil assembly, and it’ll leak out through the air intake.
If you want your vape to produce a big cloud, slow and steady is always the way. Take long puffs with gentle, even air pressure.
Make Sure Your Tank or Pod Is Assembled Correctly
Along with puffing too hard, the next most common reason why vapes leak is because they’re not assembled correctly. In particular, it’s important for the atomizer coil to be installed correctly because that’s the central component of the entire airflow system.
- If your device has a glass tank that leaks, start by disassembling it, rinsing it and drying it fully with a paper towel. Check the atomizer coil and confirm that it’s either twisted fully into the tank’s base or pushed fully into the chamber. You’ll also want to examine all of the silicone gaskets to confirm that they’re not ripped or torn. If you see any damaged gaskets, you’ll probably find a set of replacements included with your vaping device or tank. Reassemble the tank carefully, checking each of the components to ensure that the threads turn smoothly and aren’t crossed.
- If you’re using a pod system with a replaceable coil, the coil is installed via a hole in the bottom of the pod. If it isn’t pushed in all the way, the pod will leak. Remove the pod and check for e-liquid on the bottom of the pod and inside your device. Dry the pod and device carefully with a paper towel and confirm that the coil is pushed all the way in. Some coils for pod systems have keyed bases, which means that you can’t push them in fully unless they’re oriented correctly.
Try Using a Thicker E-Liquid
The last thing you need to understand if you’re using a refillable vape is that your choice of e-liquid can have a major effect on your device’s ability to avoid leaks. Vape juice is made with a mix of vegetable glycerin (VG) and propylene glycol (PG), and the blend that a particular e-liquid uses affects its thickness.
- An e-liquid with more VG is thicker and works best with vapes that have large glass tanks. If you use a thick e-liquid with a small vape, you might have to inhale too firmly in order to get the e-liquid to flow. That could cause your device to leak.
- An e-liquid with more PG is thinner and works best with smaller vapes like pod systems. If you use a thin e-liquid with a large vape, your device could leak even if you’re using the correct air pressure because the thin e-liquid will soak into the wick too quickly and flood the atomizer coil.
In the United States, most e-liquid has a VG/PG ratio of 50/50 and will work with most devices. Thin e-liquids are still common in other regions such as the United Kingdom, though, so it’s important to ensure that you’re getting the right vape juice for your device.