A Beginner’s Guide: Things to Avoid When Vaping

There are several things I wish I’d known to avoid when I made the switch from smoking to vaping. Most of these tips are simple things that I’ve found are common issues for newbies. As a rule, it’s best to know as much as possible to save yourself from irritation and poor beginner’s habits.

Forgetting to Charge Your Batteries!

Obvious, right? You wouldn’t leave your house without charging your phone, so why would you neglect your vape? It’s simple, but easy to forget to charge it up for the day. One thing I didn’t think about was how fast your battery will drain if you’re using it all day. Just like any technology, you’re going to kick yourself if your vape dies on you halfway to the office. For me, this was a difficult thing to get used to, because I didn’t have to plug anything in to charge in order to smoke cigarettes. Just make it a habit, set little reminder alarms on your phone, or make a note of it so you don’t forget to power up for the next day. Once you’re in the habit, it’ll be second nature.

Cleaning and Maintenance Neglect

Your vape mod is going to get dirty. A good rule is to check for buildup and grime on the box mod, as well as cleaning out your tank when you’re changing juice. The biggest thing here is changing your coils. Vaping with coils that are coated with last week’s juice can be gross. When your coil needs changing, change it. If it’s starting to burn out, change it. Vaping with a burnt-out coil isn’t worth it, even if you’re being lazy the taste will begin to get to you. You can also run a premade atomizer coil under some water if you’re planning to switch flavors. Just make sure you allow time for it to dry before you begin vaping again. Another thing I like to do is take a sanitizing wipe to the outside of the mod to remove any grime or germs from constant handling.

Dry Hits

Dry hits are just nasty. They’re also easily avoided if you know how to prevent them. Simple tips for preventing dry hits include changing burnt coils, priming new ones, proper usage (i.e. avoid the dreaded burn from inattentive chain vaping and fill your tank correctly), and adjusting your power settings. Unfortunately, when you’re a newbie, you aren’t aware of what causes dry hits, but they’re pretty easy to avoid once you know how your mod works.

Dripping and Driving

Please don’t drip and drive. It’s never a good idea to fill up your tank while you’re behind the wheel. It is, for that matter, every bit as dangerous as texting and driving. It won’t kill you to wait a few minutes until you have parked to fill your tank.

Failure to Hydrate

Dehydration is common when your body is getting used to vaping. If you’re experiencing dry mouth, compensate with liquids. Taking care of yourself and your body is important.

Flavor Blending

If you haven’t tried this already, mixing two e-juice flavors together doesn’t normally turn out in your favor. Typically, it will make for poor, conflicting flavors and taste pretty gross. Tried and true, any time I have mixed juices I have regretted it and had to throw away a full tank e-liquid. That’s a huge waste of money if you make it a regular habit. Trust me, it’s usually not worth trying it out. Some people are able to do this successfully, but for many of us it’s best to leave the blending to the pros.

Vapers’ Tongue

Vaping the same flavor day in and day out is fine if you’ve found a flavor that you can’t live without. Just be aware that overuse can cause the flavor to diminish. This is identified within the vaping community as vaper’s tongue. Try switching up flavors to prevent flavor fatigue.

Filling Your Tank Improperly

If you’re sloppy about filling your tank, you’re most likely going to end up getting some e-liquid into the main airflow. This is going to cause leaky airflow holes and you’ll probably end up with some juice in your mouth when you take a hit. This is neither pleasant, nor recommended. Take your time to fill the tank the right way and you shouldn’t have these issues.