What is a Vape Coil?
The coil is an essential part of any e-cigarette or vaping device, yet it is often an afterthought for those who decide to buy a vape. The coil functions to heat up your e-liquid and turn it into vapor.
It’s wrapped with a thick wicking material that soaks up the e-liquid, receiving heat from the battery to turn the juice into vapor. This makes the coil of a vape the fundamental element to it working, meaning you should take care when deciding which type of coil is suitable for your vape.
Regular coils are intended to provide low resistance so that you receive an intense vapor that enhances your vaping experience. However, your vapor density can be improved and made more efficient by swapping out a regular coil for a mesh one.
Mesh coils and traditional coils are designed with different structures of metal, each with various advantages and disadvantages. Here’s the rundown you need to know about the differences between the two:
What is a Regular Coil?
A regular coil is comprised of single wire strands which are ‘coiled’ to form the spiral heating element, which produces vapor. There are also multi-core standard coils available on the market, such as dual, triple, and quad-core coils, which provide more surface area for the wicking material to burn for an efficient experience.
Why Are There Two Types of Coils?
You may wonder why there is any need for there to be two types of coils. Mesh coils and regular are prevalent in different types of vapes due to their suitability for other vaping devices.
Although mesh coils have become increasingly more common and standard in the vaping industry, they don’t appear in all types of vapes because mesh cores are almost always used in Sub Ohm coils. A Sub Ohm coil is a coil with a resistance of less than 1.0ohm, whereas a mouth-to-lung coil exceeds 1.0ohm of resistance and uses a standard wire.
This means that regular coils are often found in disposable vapes and vape pod systems. Standard coils are better suited to these systems because they can adapt to being built in a smaller volume than mesh coils.
Traditional coils can also be used in this capacity because they tend to have less longevity than mesh coils, meaning they’re suited to a pod or mouth-to-lung starter kit since they are housed in small vape pods with low wattage.
Regular vs. Mesh Coils
Similarities:
While both mesh and standard coils work toward the same goal, they have different effects in doing so. The main similarity which any regular and mesh coil share is that they both act like the heating element for your e-juice.
This means that both types of the coil will ignite when you press the firing button on your battery (or inhale on automatic vapes.) As both coils heat up, they act to evaporate your e-liquid so that you can inhale it.
Differences:
Increased Surface Area on Mesh Coils
The first significant difference between regular coils and mesh ones is a matter of surface area. Mesh coils feature a larger surface area which allows them to heat up the vape juice at a faster rate.
This also means that mesh coils offer more uniform heating because the same amount of current is spread across a wider surface area. With a mesh coil, there are lower chances of experiencing a dry hit or burnt hit than with a regular coil because of this increased surface area.
Mesh Coils Get Less Hot than Regular Coils
Because of their larger surface area, mesh coils don’t get extremely hot like their spiral counterparts. This means that they are often characterized by a cooler vaping experience and tend to last longer than regular coils. In addition, this allows mesh coils to produce a more considerable vapor volume and more flavourful taste than normal coils.
Advantages of Mesh Coil
Mesh coils boast a ton of great benefits for flavor and cloud chasers. Mesh coil technology has the upper hand over regular coils due to its characteristic large surface area, which maintains uniform heating. Here are some key advantages of a mesh coil:
Fast Heating Times:
Mesh coils work faster than regular coils, meaning they offer a more robust and more effective hit than their counterparts, delivering a better flavor and vapor.
Better Vapor Production:
Due to their more significant surface area, mesh coils provide a better flavor delivery. This means that a vape with a mesh coil will provide massive vapor and better flavors from your e-juice, improving the vaping experience.
Consistency:
Most vapers agree that not all hits are born equal. If you experience inconsistent vape hits, chances are your coil design does not uniformly get into contact with your cotton wick. With mesh coils, the whole surface area of the wick is covered, so the coil is heated evenly. This means that all hits will be the same from a mesh coil.
Longevity:
Since mesh coils heat the surface area evenly, there is a significantly decreased likelihood of having a burnt coil. This means that you have to replace mesh coils much less often than regular coils, saving you plenty of time and money.
Power Requirement:
Mesh coils require less power to achieve optimum performance, meaning you can save your battery power and increase your battery service life.
Disadvantages of Mesh Coil:
Although mesh coils are categorically more effective than their standard counterpart, they do have some disadvantages:
E-Juice Consumption:
Mesh coils will consume more e-liquid due to their increased surface area. Unfortunately, this means that huge clouds and strong flavor generation come at the cost of drinking more liquid, meaning your tank will require more frequent top-ups.
Health Concerns:
Although it is currently believed that there is little medical harm to vaping in comparison to smoking, there are still no long-term facts in contrast to spans of tobacco research.
If it comes to light that there are risks associated with VG or PG inhalation, then massive long-distance inhalation from mesh coils will exacerbate the possible health effects. This means you should be cautious when using a vape mesh coil. If you find yourself getting a cough after using a mesh coil or developing strange symptoms, be sure to consult your doctor.
Conclusion:
It’s clear that with mesh coil’s superior surface area and uniform heating, they have plenty of benefits compared to regular coils, such as larger clouds, better flavor production, and a cooler vaping experience. However, traditional coils still have their place, especially for those who want to save more money on vape juice.
You may even opt for a regular coil if you are an ex-smoker trying to replicate the feeling of smoking since standard coils produce a warmer vapor.
You should also remember that several of the advantages of mesh coils are subjective. For instance, you may find the intensity of flavor or cloud production from a mesh coil to be unpleasant. Therefore, to find the perfect coil to suit your needs, the best thing we can recommend is that you try out both coils to see which one suits you the best!