How Long Do Your Coils Last?

General The Pub
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Hello All,

Just wanted to throw this out there. On average how many days/weeks does your coil last you? I appreciate a whole lot of factors such as quality of vape kit, vaping habit and type of liquid used will vary the results. But curious to know how often fellow vapers replace coils

Vape Lagoon

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Interesting topic as it is timely to something I have been noticing. Another factor for me is the quality of the atomizer and the sensitivity of my taste buds. I chase flavor. I’m gathering a collection of very flavorful atties. As I progress on my journey, I am finding that I am becoming more sensitive to gunked up coils. What used to be a slightly “soiled” coil is now a “time to replace” coil. Even though they look relatively clean, I can taste the degradation of taste. On those atties that produce excelent taste, I would say I get a week max of regular use. With super sweet store bought juice maybe two or three days.

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Sorry, tangent here. Gotta share my accomplishment. Just replaced the coil in an old Eleaf Lemo. You know, with the tiny headed screws that you have to get the wire trapped under. Personal best!!! Whohooooo!

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Typically 3-5 days (of cumulative use) here.

That’s been my experience as well.
I guess I started “bumping up my timetable” (to change coils more frequently) about a year ago.

Where everyday mixes are concerned:
I used to try and “maximize” the length of time I could get out of a coil. It took almost a notice of “Wait a minute… What the hell’s going on with the flavor here?!” to get my attention. Then I’d really look closely at the coil and realize “Oh, this is WAY past due for a rebuild.”
Often, there would be up to a 16th of an inch (roughly 1mm) of gunk built up on the coil.

But over the course of continuing to try and dial-in (fine tune) an established recipe, I realized that the instant I could detect that I wasn’t getting all of the expected notes from a very familiar recipe, it’s time to change the coil and cotton.

Nowadays, when I sense notes not coming through, it’s often about the time that you’re no longer able to see bare metal (just a slight coating of the coil).
Even though the metal (316 SS in my case) does change color, there is a distinct difference (to me) between the metal being bare (and discolored), and the point when it becomes ‘coated’.

Hopefully folks new to vaping can follow what I’m trying to explain above. :wink:

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You nailed it! Much better explanation than mine. Exactly!!! First couple of times I saw the discoloration, I though, no, can’t be it. I’d adjust the cotton. Finally, I just said oh hell, what else can I do. I replaced both cotton and wire and viola!!! I kinda get though in hind sight. I’ve got old rebuildables that I wonder how I vaped. No flavor at all compared to some ot the atties I have now. And absolutely, as you mentioned, getting some much better home brews down with more delicate notes is a huge change too. I hope I’m not becoming a vape snob…

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:laughing: Hardly!

(Right or wrong) I’m taking it as a sign that I’m one step closer to being able to do a moderately respectable mix! :rofl: :crazy_face:

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I still have a few of those :grin:
And yes, I also change my coils more often than I used to.

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Great atties in my books. Especially considering how long ago they came out.

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Sparky said (for some reason when I quote a post it gets removed):
“Nowadays, when I sense notes not coming through, it’s often about the time that you’re no longer able to see bare metal (just a slight coating of the coil).
Even though the metal (316 SS in my case) does change color, there is a distinct difference (to me) between the metal being bare (and discolored), and the point when it becomes ‘coated’.”

And here I thought it was just me. That is spot on exactly my experience.

I used to go at least a month on a coil, with cotton swaps 4-8 days or so. But I have come to learn that once that ‘new coil’ shine wears off, the taste is altered very quickly and I lose the good clean flavor. So now, I pretty much only change the cotton once or twice before I replace the metal. Since I do a single spaced build, it is just about as easy as the cotton swap so it doesn’t bother me. But I wish I wasn’t so sensitive about it.

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Interesting to see the differences. For some the coils last a few days while for others a few weeks. When I first started vaping with my Sigelei kit, the coil lasted well over 6 weeks. I was a moderate vapor. However over time as I started increasing and moving over to a more powerful kit I feel the need to change the coils more frequently.

At the moment I use the Vapor Storm Puma 200W. I’m changing coils every 3 weeks as I start to get the ‘mucky’ taste pretty soon. The coils are probably fine but it may be a subconscious thing.

It is a fact that your taste buds get used to the flavour over time. Therefore it is a good idea to switch flavours every now and then. Also, it is a good idea to rub some lime juice on the tongue and gargle with warm water. It helps restore the taste buds.

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