A major reason many people love to vape and why many cigarette smokers invest in a vaping device to reduce nicotine is the throat hit you receive with each puff you take.
Due to this, nothing is worse than taking a puff only to be met with an incredibly rough throat hit and a burnt aftertaste rather than getting a taste of the vape flavor. This distasteful experience is known as a dry hit and is detrimental to you for several reasons.
Not only can a single dry hit ruin that taste in your mouth, but the accompanying horrid throat hit will also irritate your throat.
Even if it is giving you dry hits, can eventually cause damage to your vape as well, messing up the coil head beyond repair in the long run.
What is a Dry Hit on a Vape?
To better understand how to prevent your vape from giving you a dry hit, we first need to understand exactly what a dry hit is.
Sometimes, the cotton or any other wicking material you use in your vape has not been properly saturated and soaked with the e-liquid to be put in your vape, which is known as a dry hit.
What Causes a Dry Hit?
This can occur for many reasons, such as an empty tank or your vape being run at a higher wattage than normal, affecting the wicking material.
Even though an empty tank is one of the most common reasons for a dry hit, it can happen even when you have a full tank, probably due to improper priming.
When installing a coil into your vaping device, it is necessary to prime it, especially in the case of sub-ohm coils which are more powerful than conventional ones.
Moreover, chain vaping is another reason for a dry hit to occur. Taking consecutive hits without stopping does not give the wick enough time to absorb more e-liquid for the next hit. This turns in a lack of saturation and a dry hit.
How Do I Know My Coil is burnt?
Identifying when the coil has been burnt is pretty easy. If you detect a scorched aftertaste when taking a hit, that is probably because the coil has been burnt, and there are plenty of causes as to why this is possible.
Even though a majority of the causes leading to a burnt coil are the same as that of a dry hit. for Vaping on an empty tank or incorrect priming is an additional reason for your coil to be burnt can be due to the coil head dying. This can happen due to the wire being burnt beyond repair or the wicking material gunking up due excess e-liquid being passed up in the wicking material.
How to Avoid Dry Hits?
Eliminating the prospect of your vape occasionally giving you a dry hit is impossible. However, there are certain measures you can take to mitigate the chances of getting a dry hit on your vape:
- Keep your tank filled up at all times
- Make sure your vape is at the correct wattage before using it
- Give your device time for the wick to absorb the e-liquid by avoiding chain vaping
- Priming your coil
Avoid Dry Hits on a Sub-Ohm Tank
Due to their increased power and other distinctions which make them different from your conventional coil, there are additional precautions you can take to ensure that your sub-ohm coil does not get burnt:
- Replacing coil heads regularly
- Making sure that the E-juice ratio is correct
- Running your vape at the recommended wattage
Avoid Dry Hits on a Rebuildable Tank / Dripper?
Just like with sub-ohm tanks, there are additional factors that you need to take into consideration to reduce the chances of your vape giving you a dry hit, such as:
- Ensuring that your coils fire properly
- Re-wicking your vaping device regularly
- Making sure that the wicking material for your rebuildable atomizer is correct
Tips to Avoid Dry Hits?
- Prime your coils whenever you are installing new ones
- Keep your e-liquid tank topped up at all times
- Do not chain vape. Give time for the wicking material to absorb the e-liquid.
- Change your coil after a specific amount of time
Prime Coils
As discussed earlier, ensuring that your coil is correctly primed is a great way to avoid a dry hit, and the process of priming your coil is pretty simple.
When priming a coil, you must drop some e-liquid onto the wick until it looks soaked, and you are all set.
Slow Down on the Vaping?
Other than an incorrectly primed coil, chain vaping is another reason for a dry hit, which occurs when you vape a bit too frequently, not giving your coil breathing room to soak in e-liquid for the next hit.
This can lead to instances where your wicking material is dry before taking a puff, causing a dry hit. Due to this, you need to ensure that you are not mindlessly vaping and that you pace yourself when puffing.
Vape liquids with a high VG ratio tend to be considerably viscous, which can be difficult for the wicking material to be caused, which is why you should consider switching to a high PG vape juice to prevent a burnt coil and dry hit.
Vape at Lower Wattage
When running a vape at a wattage higher than the recommended amount, your device is more susceptible to potential wicking issues.
Tips to Avoid Burning Your Coil?
- Reduce the power consumed with each hit
- Consider using an e-liquid with a low amount of sweetener
- Use vape juice with a higher PG
Burnt Hits vs. Dry Hits
Even though many vaping enthusiasts think both terms mean the same thing, that is far from the case.
The main difference between a burnt coil and a dry hit is that a dry hit occurs when the wicking material has dried up. However, if you continue to vape even after receiving that warning dry hit, you will eventually receive a burnt hit which is usually much more shocking and rough than a dry hit.
