When you sit down to a relaxing vape and suddenly experience a hot awful-tasting liquid on your tongue, needless to say, that ruins your vaping time. Whether you have an expensive device or a pocket-friendly one, a spitting/leaking vape is prevalent among the vaping community.
Most modern vaping companies are developing leak-proof devices for all budget needs to prevent the horrible flavor of kicked-back nicotine.
Lack of proper maintenance or a faulty component in the vape device could result in a spit back, ruining one’s vaping experience.
Rivaling vape spitting is a similar problem: leaking. For plenty of reasons, pods sometimes leak and make a mess of your clothes or bag.
Why is my Vape Spitting & Leaking – 12 Popular Causes & Fixes
1. Low Wattage Setting
Low wattage is a common issue for devices that have a sub-ohm vaping setup. Mouth-to-lung vapes, conversely, usually don’t have as much of a problem with low wattage.
When the wattage setting is too low, the heating element takes a while to get the vape coil to reach vapor-generating heat. When you inhale with lower power mode, the atomizer receives the vape juice before the coil can properly heat up.
As a result, the vaporization doesn’t happen as expected, and instead, you’ll inhale the vape juice through the mouthpiece.
Fix: This issue has a simple fix. Just increase the wattage settings on your vape device, and this problem will vanish.
If you are someone who likes cooler vapes, instead of changing your wattage, reduce your tank’s airflow setting and let the air pressure fix your spitting vape.
2. Forceful Inhalation
Sometimes when you forcefully inhale, you increase the airflow resulting in more vape juice rising into the chambers. You will, in turn, get spitting and a popping noise.
Fix: Take smaller inhales. Also, check the airflow settings on your device to ensure that they are not high.
3. Flooded Atomizer
When your vape device has a rebuildable atomizer, you need to exercise caution while dripping the vape e-liquid. You should never have a flooded coil as it can cause spit back and a popping or gurgling sound to come from your device.
Fix: At the cost of decreased vapor production, you will need to ensure that the vape coil doesn’t drown. Drain out any excess e-liquid that may be soaking the coil.
You can also temporarily increase the wattage to burn off excess liquids.
4. Worn-Out O-Rings
There are tiny rubber rings in a vaping device’s tank that prevent the e-juice from leaking out. When they are worn out or damaged, the e-liquid is bound to spill over.
Fix: Disassemble your device, take the tank out, and replace the old O-rings with new ones. They are inexpensive and readily available on the market.
5. Thinner Liquid
When you use thinner e-liquid, the large wick holes that operate at higher temperatures result in coil flooding because they reach that temperature fast, especially with sub-ohm tanks.
When coils flood, they can spit hot e-liquid into your mouth, and you may hear popping or gurgling sounds from your pen.
Fix: Use a thicker liquid. E-liquids high in vegetable glycerin will be thicker than those containing a high amount of propylene glycol.
If you don’t want to have to research the ratios of vape juices, head to your local flavor shop. The staff should be able to assist you in finding a thicker vape liquid.
6. Too Much E-Liquid
While refilling, if you fill the tank to its brim, there is a high possibility it will spill over, flooding the coil and atomizer. The more e-liquid you add, generally speaking, the more liquid you’ll get in your mouth and the more popping noises you’ll hear.
Fix: Never overfill your tank if you want to avoid flooding. The best practice is always to refill your tank to only ¾ of its capacity since large quantities of liquid will cause flooding issues.
Use cotton or a paper towel to absorb excess e-juice. You can also hold the fire button for a few seconds without inhaling to try to burn off extra liquid.
7. Bad Sealing
For RTA tanks, several threaded joints and o-rings keep the liquid intact in the tank.
The same structural arrangement is also responsible for the liquid not spilling into the atomizer. When the sealing is off-kilter or loosely packed, you can get spit back or a leak from your vape.
Fix: As part of your diagnosis on what is causing your device’s constant leaking and spitting, you need to disassemble your vape, clean it, seal it back up tightly, and reassemble.
8. Twisted Vape Coils
If your e-cigarette uses twisted or braided coils, for example, Clapton coils, your vape is bound to leak once in a while as these coils have small gaps that collect e-liquid.
Fix: If you are making your own coil, ensure that you braid and twist tightly. If possible, avoid these kinds of coils as they infamously cause atomizer flooding. Instead, opt for regular coils when you go to buy a new coil.
9. Narrow Drip Tips
When you inhale from a narrow mouthpiece, some vapor gets left behind and doesn’t go past your lips. These tiny bits of smoke get accumulated in the drip tip, and when they build up, they cause popping sounds or spitting.
Fix: Switch to a wide bore drip tip or an RTA. The majority of RTA devices come with a broad tip, thus eliminating this problem of stagnation in the narrow tip.
10. Improper Priming
While priming the e-cigarette coil by adding e-liquid will significantly improve quality, it will mess up your entire experience if you over prime.
Once you inhale, any excess e-liquid on the coil will lead to spitting, and that terrible taste is going to ruin your session even before it starts.
Fix: Figure out how much e-liquid your vape coils need. While some coils need a few drops, others will need a little more.
Keep your device clean by removing any excess liquid you may have from the coil by disassembling your e-cigarette again and absorbing the residual liquid with tissue paper or cotton.
11. Defective Coil
If nothing seems to fix the spitting issue, you probably have a defective coil.
Fix: Replace your coil with a new one. Avoid braided or twisted coils.
12. Cracked Vape Tank
Tanks are the strongest components in a vaping system, but they are not damage-proof. Considering the heavy usage they endure, the tanks on electronic cigarettes are prone to cracks and chipping.
So, you should take a good look at your tank if none of the above solutions fix your problem.
Fix: Disassemble your device, open the tank, and carefully check the glass or quartz structure under a bright light. The light makes it easy for you to see any hairline cracks or chips on the edges.
If there are cracks and your device’s warranty allows for a replacement, change it right away before it worsens.
If not, there are plenty of tanks suitable for your device available on the market. Replace the broken one with a brand new one.
Conclusion
Spitting, leaking, and popping are prevalent problems in a vaping device. You don’t need to worry, though, since most of the time, you can resolve leaks and spit back with a simple fix that won’t take more than five minutes.
So, instead of discarding the vape device, spend some time diagnosing the problem.
Finally, just remember that nicotine is a highly addictive substance that can cause health issues like high blood pressure, heart disease, birth defects, and other reproductive harm. Thus, most vapers try to wean themselves off of the nicotine products sold in vape liquids.