General personal vaporizer maintenance tips

General personal vaporizer maintenance tips - learn how to wash your vape tank, vape coils, choose your e-liquid flavours and strengths and vape battery safety. After several hours researching online, reading reviews and getting references from friends, you have finally settled on your vape kit of choice. So what do you need to know about maintaining your kit to ensure you get the best performance out of it?

A vaporizer is an electrical device with liquid that makes contact with metal based terminals, this therefore demands proper maintenance to avoid electrical shorts, and in worst case scenarios, explosions. Additionally, vaporizers are expected to release the correct flavor in vapours, if left dirty, the vapours produced may be tainted or completely unpleasant. It is important to know how to take care of your vaporizer, and specifically how each component should be cleaned and stored.

Watch where you put your lips!

Vaporizers are fitted with mouthpieces that enable the user to inhale the vapor. This part of the device makes direct contact with your lips, mouth and sometimes tongue, it is therefore imperative that it is kept clean at all times to avoid any form of contamination or infection due to buildup of harmful bacteria. When your vape is not in use, make sure to disconnect the mouthpiece, clean it with clean water, soap and a disinfectant of choice. You can air-dry the mouthpiece or wipe it down with paper towel, kitchen towel or cotton swabs; be sure to clean all the cracks and crevices to eradicate any hidden dirt and moisture. When dry, you may reattach it to the vape and store it in its proper carry-on case or alternatively wrap the mouthpiece in a clean breathable material like paper towels. It is important to note that vaporizers are personal devices and mouthpieces should not be shared between different users.

Is your vape battery safe?

Vaporizers use a variety of different capacity and size batteries which, if left unmaintained, may cause total malfunction of the device or an explosion. Like the batteries that power your smart phone, vaporizers uses lithium ion batteries that are very sensitive and require the utmost care while in use. Batteries do not perform well in high heat and pressure situations so make sure that your vaporizer does not overheat while in use, if it does, take out the battery, let both the battery and device cool down and reinsert it in the device. Always make sure devices are powered off when charging, taking out or inserting the batteries, this will avoid any unwarranted shorts in the electrical device. You also need to check the battery and its terminals occasionally for any damage or leakage; make sure any e-liquid leakage onto the battery is wiped off as soon as detected. On a final not, do not overcharge batteries as this reduces their efficiency, when the battery is full ensure to unplug it from the power source. Similarly, do not let batteries die completely before charging them, make it a routine to recharge the battery when it reaches a certain power level. It is a wise investment to have a fully charged backup battery on hand for when your device loses power.

Have you checked your power cords?

Most desktop or table top vaporizers do not have a battery but instead use direct power from a socket or charger. It is good practice to inspect power cords for any cuts, knots or bubbles; these defects may signify a deeper problem within the circuitry or electrical wires of the device and as such needs to be addressed immediately. Also ensure cord ends and charging ports or sockets are free of dust or fluids, these may affect power supply to the device when connected.

Keep your vape tank clean

Vaporizers have tanks which contain the e-liquid, coils and wicks. Contamination at this point may affect the boiling point of the e-liquid, its taste and flavor of vapour produced. Carry out a periodic check of the tank to make sure there are no spillages, charring or disconnections. Additionally, when changing or refilling e-liquid, ensure that there are no spills in the tank and that any remnants of previous e-liquid are promptly cleaned before installing a new batch; this is especially important if you are changing the flavor of the e-liquid. The safest way to clean the tank is by use of cotton swabs dipped in non-pungent cleaning solutions like soapy water, methylated spirit or rubbing alcohol. Give the tank a good wipe down, making sure not to interfere with any electrical terminals; let the tank dry completely before reinstalling its components. Based on the frequency of use, check if the wick and coils need to be replaced at least every 2 weeks or 1 month.

Do you have enough e-juice?

Depending on frequency of use, e-liquids tend to get depleted over time. Vape cartridges and atomizers need to be checked to ensure e-liquid levels are adequate; when levels are low, the coil will be burning dry wick which tastes awful and may cause permanent damage to the device. Similarly, make sure that you do not put too much e-liquid in the atomizer during refills, this may flood the tank causing wastage and poor device performance.

Watch how you store your vape

When not in use, vaporizers should be stored correctly and in their cases, if available. This means that the device should be kept away from dust, water or sweat; these substances have a great impact on the devices performance and cleanliness. Additionally, you should know how the e-liquid dispenses within the tank, this knowledge helps in identifying the right position to store the device without risking leakage. Vaporizers are usually fitted with strategic air holes that allow for proper circulation of air when it is in use. If stored in the wrong position, the e-liquid may travel to these holes and leak. Similarly, poor air circulation in the vaporizer will cause the device to overheat so ensure storage areas or cases are clean and will not cause debris to block the air holes; this is extremely important because an overheated device may explode while in use.