If you’ve ever taken a puff from your vape only to have your mouth fill with a horrible burnt taste, you’ve experienced a dry hit.
An unpleasant yet frustratingly common experience while vaping, dry hits are one of many vapers’ pet peeves.
So, what can you do to avoid these horrible burnt hits? This guide will tell you everything you need to know about preventing dry hits. No matter whether you’re a new vaper getting to grips with your first vape pen or a long-term vaping veteran, this blog post will cover all the tips you need to know.
What exactly is a dry hit?
A dry hit occurs when your e-liquid isn’t wicking (being absorbed into the wick) correctly or if the vape juice is being vapourised too rapidly. Instead of inhaling delicious vapour, a dry hit will result in you inhaling hot air heated by the coil or smoke from burning residue on the coils.
You might experience a dry hit as an unpleasant burnt taste or as a hot, uncomfortable sensation at the back of your throat when you vape.
Are dry hits dangerous?
The occasional accidental dry hit from your vape isn’t necessarily dangerous, but it’s bad for your health to be experiencing them frequently. This is because the characteristic burnt taste is a result of the fumes from burning cotton. Inhaling these burnt hits means that you are breathing in toxins which can be bad for you over time.
With that in mind, here’s how to avoid dry hits in the future.
Refill your vape tank
One of the most common reasons you may be experiencing a dry hit is that your e-liquid levels are too low. Even if there is a little vape juice remaining in your tank, it might be too little to sufficiently re-saturate your coil heads.
We recommend refilling your tank while it still has a little e-juice left in it to be on the safe side. If you want to switch to another e-liquid flavour, consider tipping out the remaining e-liquid and cleaning the tank to get rid of any residue build-up before adding the new juice – this extra step is worthwhile if you want to prevent the burnt taste of a dry hit.
Make sure you are priming your vape coils correctly
Another reason you might experience a dry hit is failing to prime your new coils sufficiently. Priming allows the e-liquid to soak into the wicking before you even start using your vape, ensuring that the cotton is completely saturated.
To prime the new coils, take your chosen e-liquid and drip five drops onto the cotton wick. Then, drip a few drops of the vape juice into each of the wicking holes that surround the new coil. Finally, fill the tank with e-liquid and leave to stand upright for at least 10 minutes. Some vapers like to do a few ‘primer puffs’ – puffing on the vape without hitting the fire button to activate the device. After this, your vape will be ready to use.
Slow down your vaping session
Chain vaping – vaping a lot and frequently over a period of time – is a sure way to cause burnt hits. It can happen easily to anyone. Perhaps you’re distracted by something, leading you to forget how many puffs you have done, or maybe your nicotine strength isn’t high enough and you’re trying to vape a lot to get a satisfying experience.
Chain vaping increases the likelihood of experiencing dry hits because the e-liquid doesn’t have time to soak back into the wick. As a result, your next inhalation is likely to taste burnt because there’s no e-liquid to vapourise.
If you’re finding it hard to beat your chain vaping habits, here are a few suggestions. Firstly, check that you’re vaping the right nicotine strength – if you feel like you need to vape a lot to get your fix it might be time to increase the nicotine in your e-liquid. Secondly, be aware of mindless vaping. Identify the times when you are likely to vape too much (for example, while watching a movie or while hanging out with vaper friends), and make an effort to tackle this.
Alternatively, consider buying a mod or vape kit with an in-built puff counter. Many modern vapes come with this feature, including devices such as the Smok RPM 4 Kit or the Voopoo Drag X Pod Mod Kit. This will make you more aware of how frequently you vape and help you spread out those puffs over a longer period of time.
If you’re still having trouble with dry hits as a result of vaping too frequently, consider investing in a second vape such as a discreet vape pen or pod kit. This way, you can alternate the device you use to vape and reduce the likelihood of a burnt hit resulting from too-frequent vaping.
Stay within the coil’s recommended wattage
This is an important one for vapers who use variable wattage modes. If you vape with more power than your coils’ recommended wattages, this is likely to lead to the coil burning out quickly and causing that burnt taste. If you’re not sure of the maximum wattage of your vape coil, you can simply check on the coil itself where it will likely tell you the ideal range it has been tested at.
Want to vape at higher wattages than your coil recommends? This is a sign that it might be time for you to invest in a new vape kit or superior coils to meet your vaping needs.
Change your VG and PG ratio
If you continue to experience burnt hits, you may be using the wrong type of e-liquid. Vape juice with a high VG ratio is very viscous and takes longer to absorb into the wick than a high PG vape juice. Consider switching to an e-liquid with more PG to help the wick re-soak more easily.
Only buy from trusted vape shops
If you have tried all the above steps and are still experiencing dry hits, the problem might be that your new coils are fake or poorly made. To avoid this, make sure that you only buy coils from trusted vape brands such as Legion of Vapers; all our coils are genuine and high quality.
If using rebuildables, check your coils
If you build your own vape coils for an RDA or other rebuildable atomiser, there are some additional steps to take to avoid burnt hits. First, check that your coils are firing correctly before adding any wicking material or e-liquid – they should glow evenly without any hot spots when fired. Secondly, check that the coils are wicked correctly and make sure that you replace them more frequently than the coils.
Conclusion
By following these steps, you can continue to enjoy your vape without any discomfort from the burnt taste or hot throat from dry hits.
Our final piece of advice? Make sure you stock up on replacement coils and e-liquid for your e-cigarette. Doing so will make it easier to change your coils or refill with e-liquid before it becomes necessary, significantly reducing the risk of dry hits.
And, of course, don’t forget to always buy your vaping hardware from trusted, reputable brands like Legion of Vapers!
