Beginners Guide To Vape Coils | Vape Coils Types

Whether you’re new to vaping or just looking to find out more about vape coils - everything you need to know is covered by this guide. However, for those we have no experience or knowledge of vape coils or what they’re used for, we’ll start with the basics.

What Are Vape Coils?

Vape coils are the part of most vape kits, and all vape tanks, that are replaceable. Some pod kits will feature pods with fixed-coils rather than vape replacement coils, so the entire pod will need to be disposed of rather than just the coil - however, that’s not relevant right now.
Vape coils are the component within tanks and vapes that uses power from the vape battery to heat e-liquid and transform it from its liquid state into a vapour, which you then inhale. Vape coils come in all shapes and sizes and are made up of a variety of materials, which we’ll cover in more detail in the next section.

What Are Vape Coils Made Of?

Vape coils are made up of main components - an outer casing that’s made of metal, a wire or mesh coil located at the centre, and a material that acts as a wick to soak up e-liquid, which surrounds the wire or mesh at the centre of the coil. A variety of different metals are used to produce the outer casing and the wire or mesh coil at the centre; the material will often different depending on the brand of vape coil as well as its purpose. The most popular metals used to create coils are Nichrome, Kanthal, Stainless Steel, Nickel and Titanium.

There are several types of vape coils although for the purposes of this guide we’ll focus on the main three different types of vape coils - mouth to lung coils (MTL/cigarette style), direct to lung coils (DTL/sub ohm) and rebuildable coils.

Mouth to Lung Vape Coils

MTL vape coils provide vapers with the most similar sensation to smoking - which is why they are often referred to as cigarette style coils. These types of coils often feature a higher oil resistance, usually 0.6Ω or higher. Due to their high resistance MTL coils like the Pockex vape coils (one of the Aspire vape coils) tend to use less power as well as less vape juice. 

Mouth to lung coils also tend to feature a tighter airflow as less air is needed to achieve the same throat hit provided by cigarettes. MTL coils are the best kind of coil for those who have recently quit smoking as they’re better for vape juices with higher concentrations of nicotine and will offer a similar experience to smoking. We would suggest that those who are opting to use MTL coils should pair them with a vape juice that has higher levels of PG too, such as nicotine salt vape juices.

Direct to Lung Vape Coils

Direct to lung coils, also known as sub ohm vape coils or DTL coils are often far more powerful than MTL vaping coils, and will use a lot more vape juice and battery power as a result. DTL coils, like the Geek Vape Z coils or Smok Vape Pen V2 coils have a lower resistance than MTL coils, so are often 0.5Ω or lower, and so they can reach much higher wattages too - this allows for thicker, denser clouds.

DTL vaping coils are best suited to more viscous vape juices with higher concentrations of VG and lower levels of nicotine such as our range of 70% VG shortfill vape juices.

Rebuildable Vape Coils

Rebuildable coils, like the Vandy Vape coils are the opposite of pre built vape coils - as the name might suggest, they involve building vape coils and wicking them with specially treated cotton. Rebuildable vaping coils can be difficult to get to grips with, however they're also widely considered some of the best vape coils for flavour, alongside mesh vape coils.

To summarise - 

• MTL coils perform best with PG vape liquids and are best for those in search of a sensation similar to smoking.
• DTL coils are better suited to high VG vape juices and are intended for vapers seeking power, flavour and thick clouds.

Now that you’ve learned about the different types of coils vape, I'm going to give you a few top tips on how to make the most of them so that all of your coils become long lasting vape coils. 

• Always keep your vape tank or vape pod topped up with vape liquid - a dry coil will burn very quickly, significantly decreasing its overall lifespan.
• If you’re not using your vape kit, switch it off. Accidentally firing your vape whilst it's in a pocket or bag can cause the coil to burn prematurely.
• Always prime your coils before you use them for the first time - don’t know what priming is? We’ll get to that in a moment, don’t worry.

Prebuilt vape coils can last anywhere from 5 days to 3 weeks, depending on a range of factors. Sweet vape juice, using the wrong power settings and allowing your pod or tank to run empty can kill your coils quicker; however, the average is usually around 10 days to 2 weeks.
If you build vape coils yourself and are regularly cleaning vape coils to keep them in the best condition you may find that your rebuildable coil lasts anywhere from a month to 3 months. However, the wick will still need to be replaced regularly during this time.

‘How to clean vape coils’ is a question I get asked quite often, but if your coils are prebuilt it simply isn’t possible to safely clean vape coils. The only vape coils that can, and should, be cleaned are handmade vape coils that are wicked using specially treated cotton. Prebuilt coils like the 88 vape coils, Innokin vape coils or Lost Vape coils (to name just a few examples) should be replaced - do not attempt to wash them as this could cause them to deteriorate faster and leave behind a potentially dangerous residue.

If you’re wondering ‘How much do vape coils cost’ i’m afraid to say that there isn’t a set vape coils price - each distributor will have their own price, however the average cost of a pack of 5 vape coils tends to be around £15, whilst a pack of 3 vape coils often costs around £10. If you’re looking for cheap vape coils, take a quick peek at our collection of vape coils and grab yourself a bargain.

I said I’d explain what I meant by priming, and I’m a woman of my word - if you’ve been left with a burnt taste in your mouth after the very first puff of your vape and wondered why do vape coils burn, the main cause of burned coils is that they haven't been primed!vWhat I mean by this is that the coil hasn’t been prepared before use and thus is still too dry when you've taken your first inhale. How do you prevent this? It’s simple.
If you’re using a smaller MTL coil we’d recommend dropping 3 - 5 drops of your vape juice down the centre of your vape coil and letting it sit for up to a minute before filling your tank or pod with vape juice. By following this process you’re ensuring that the cotton in your vape coil is completely soaked with vape juice so that when the coil heats up it isn’t heating/burning the dry cotton.
A bigger DTL style vape coil can take anywhere from 10 - 20 drops of vape juice before it’s fully saturated, as they tend to contain much more cotton than MTL coils. Follow this method and I’ve no doubt you’ll notice the difference almost immediately.

The ohms on a vape coil are a measure of their resistance to electricity - this is why coils with a higher ohm, also called a higher resistance, produce less vapour and are used at lower power levels, as not as much electricity can pass through them as coils with a low resistance/low ohms.

Vape coils should ideally be replaced approximately every 2 weeks minimum, however there’s no harm in leaving them a little longer so long as they don’t taste burned and aren’t affecting the colour of your vape juice. However, if you’ve noticed changes in the taste of your vape liquid or its colouring I’d recommend replacing your coil immediately.

You might find that more powerful vape coils though, like the Vape Pen V2 coils or Geek Vape Zeus coils need to be replaced more regularly as the amount of power that they use can cause them to burn out quicker than lower powered vape coils.

You can purchase almost any type of coil right here at Grey Haze - we stock a huge variety of coils and we deliver vape coils UK wide! Our range includes VooPoo vape coils like the Argus vape coils and Drag vape coils, as well as OXVA vape coils, coils for Geek Vape such as the Geek Vape Aegis coils - as well as many, many more! Shop our vape coil collection and discover the vast variety of coil types for yourself!