Your electronic cigarette can get pretty dirty, so maintaining it and making sure that it is functioning properly is a critical step. You should be frequently maintaining your device and performing some routine tasks on it to make sure that it still works. Here are a few things that you can do in order to keep your vaping experience the best it can be.
Clean your Tank
Not only should you clean your tank, but you should also ensure that all ports and surfaces of the electronic cigarette are clean; silicone cases/jackets come in super handy for this. In order to clean your tank, simply remove the atomizer and disassemble as much of the tank as you can. I highly recommend using only warm, soapy water to clean the inside of the tank, but I have heard of people successfully using acetone and rubbing alcohol – should you choose to use these two chemicals, do make sure that the tank has been rinsed out thoroughly and you are not vaping on the toxic fumes of rubbing alcohol.
In addition to cleaning the tank, also be sure to wipe down the threading of your device and clean out the ports. You can safely use rubbing alcohol or acetone to clean off the surfaces of
your threading and your electronic cigarette, but make sure to apply the liquids to a towel before wiping down it down, as oversaturation can damage many of the electronics of your mod. Frequently cleaning your pins and threads ensures that no ‘gunk’ builds up, and that all the connections are made safely.
Coil and Re-Wicking
If you are using a tank or dripper that allows for you to rebuild your own atomizer (consisting of a coil and wicks), be sure to reassemble it every so often. This allows for a much better, fresher vape, and definitely delivers the maximum amount of flavor. Do also be careful, though, as these devices do not tend to regulate as well as many tanks and you can easily misfire while you are connecting the coils. Be sure your device is fully powered off, and disconnect the tank, if possible. Coiling and wicking takes a very steady hand, but you can safely use the same coils for a long time – if there is a buildup of gunk on the coils, run the coils (and the coils ONLY) under a gentle stream of water and fire the coils, and the water will break off the gunk upon contact.
Make Sure All Pins Connect
This is more of a safety tip than one it is to make sure your vape works appropriately; as you should know by now, the pin of your atomizer is what actually connects the power to the tank. The mod or battery draws power, which is then transferred to the atomizer, where it causes the coil to heat up and create the actual vapor that you will inhale. Whenever you disassemble your electronic cigarette, be sure to do any quick inspections for potential hazards or simply to see if your threading is beginning to wear away. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, after all!
Do note that most self-regulating devices have a cutoff feature, and if the pin connection is not satisfactory, then the device will simply not fire. This is a safety feature, and you should not attempt to circumvent this.
Don’t Use Bad/Wrong E-Juice
One of the more important tips, that I personally wish I knew when I began vaping, is to understand that all juices are different. While some are neutral and will not harm your tank, other juices are very acidic and can quickly eat away at the inside of a plastic tank. For users with more expensive setups, this is not a problem, but for your entry-level vaper, this can be a huge problem. More acidic juices, which are typically darker juices and juices that involve some menthol or are “craft” with a huge list of ingredients, can easily eat away at the inside of your plastic-coated tank.
There is not much you can do to remedy this situation, other than hopefully preventing it with a little bit of care and love. Most websites or brick and mortar vape shops will have symbols warning that a juice is acidic and can eat away at the inside of your electronic cigarette tank; for those with a glass tank, this is not an issue. Most employees or attendants are also fairly helpful, and can tell you whether or not a juice should go in a specific type of a tank.
In addition, be very careful with high nicotine juice; high nicotine juice tends to get more volatile the older it is. For example, I had a tank crack (and subsequently, gore me) because I loaded it with 9-month old Banana Nutbread mix, and this juice was also a 24 mg/ml mixture. The tank cracked and split after one press of the firing mechanism, which caused my juice to leak all over the floor and the tank to no longer be usable. If your juice is more than 6 months old, and already opened, toss it out. It’s not worth the risk.
