Have you ever wished that you could have greater control over your vaping experience? Maybe you’d like it if your current vaping device produced slightly bigger clouds – or perhaps your experience with your current device is just a bit too intense, and you’d like to tone it down a bit. Many advanced vape kits give you the ability to operate at different wattage levels for exactly those reasons.
It’s possible that you already own a variable-wattage vaping device – and in that case, you instinctively know how to use it. You’re well aware of the fact that a higher wattage setting causes your device to produce bigger, warmer clouds. A lower wattage, on the other hand, provides for a cooler and smoother vaping experience – but what wattage should you vape at? Are some settings better than others?
Reading this article, you’re going to learn everything that you need to consider when choosing your vaping wattage. To a certain extent, it’s a matter of personal preference. However, there are also some things that you should consider if you want your experience to be as good as it can be. Are your vape coils burning out too quickly? If so, there’s a good chance that your device’s wattage is too high – and that’s just one of the many things that you’ll understand much more completely by the time you’re done reading.
What Is Wattage in Vaping?
So, what exactly are you doing when you select a wattage on your vaping device? You can think of the wattage as the amount of work done by your device’s atomizer coil. Your vape mod scans the resistance of the coil, and given that resistance, the device regulates the voltage of the battery to achieve the wattage you select. A higher wattage means that the coil is operating at a higher temperature, which means that it produces bigger, warmer vapor clouds – to a point. Every vape coil has its own performance limit, and you’re likely to have an unpleasant experience if you exceed that limit.
Every vape coil has a certain power range in which it operates most efficiently, and the power range depends on the coil’s ability to bring e-liquid in from the tank or pod as quickly as the heating element can vaporize it. Some of the characteristics of a vape coil that can operate at a high wattage without creating a burnt flavor include:
- Large wick openings to allow e-liquid to reach the heating element as rapidly as possible. If the heating element becomes dry during vaping, the coil will produce an unpleasant burnt flavor.
- A wick material that transports e-liquid efficiently while resisting heat. Most vape coils have wicks made from organic cotton. For added heat resistance and efficiency, some Innokin vape coils blend cotton with other materials such as wood pulp and seaweed fiber.
- Good wick-to-wire contact. One of the biggest benefits of mesh coils is that a mesh heating surface has a very flat profile, which eliminates the areas of uneven heating that can sometimes occur with coils made from wound wires.
- Good airflow management. A vape coil should allow plenty of air to travel through it, because the air helps to prevent the coil from overheating.
How to Find the Right Wattage for a Vape Coil
If you want to find the right wattage for a vape coil, it’s usually very easy because you can find it in two locations. You’ll see the coil’s suggested wattage range on the package, and you’ll also see it etched into the side of the coil itself. The coil should operate efficiently at any power level within that range.
So, how do you decide which wattage you should vape at? The easiest way is by setting your device to the bottom of your coil’s wattage range and increasing the power slowly. The suggested wattage for a vape coil is based in part on puff length – if you usually puff on your device for a second or two at a time, you’ll probably have no trouble using a coil at the top end of its suggested wattage range. If your puffs tend to be several seconds in length, you’ll probably have to reduce the power a bit.
What Can Happen if Your Device’s Wattage Is Too High?
If your device’s wattage is too high, the coil’s wick will fail to replenish itself with vape juice as quickly as the heating element can vaporize it. If the wick goes dry while you’re vaping, the coil’s heating element will overheat and glow. You’ll experience an extremely unpleasant burnt flavor at that point.
If you release your device’s fire button or stop puffing as soon as you experience a “dry hit,” it’s unlikely that your coil will be damaged permanently. If you continue vaping at a wattage setting that’s too high, though, the coil’s wick will burn. In that case, the coil’s flavor will be altered permanently, and you’ll need to replace it in order to restore your device’s normal flavor quality. The ultimate effect of vaping at an overly high wattage is that you’ll need to replace your coils more often because they’ll burn out too quickly.
What Are the Recommended Wattage Settings for Innokin’s Vape Coils?
One of the things we’re most proud of here at Innokin is our range of Z coils, which are interoperable with many of our vape tanks and pod systems. Thanks to our Z coil system, you can switch to a new tank – or buy an entirely new device – without losing access to your favorite vape coils. It also means that you can enjoy many of our latest features and technologies with the vaping device you already own.
What wattage should you vape at with our coils? Here’s an overview.
Innokin Z (Zenith) Coils
- Innokin Z RDL Coil (0.3 ohm): 30-40 watts
- Innokin Z Plex 3D Mesh Coil (0.48 ohm): 12-16 watts
- Innokin Z Plexus Coil (0.5 ohm): 12-16 watts
- Innokin Z Duoprime Coil (0.6 ohm): 9-13 watts
- Innokin Z KAL Coil (0.8 ohm): 14-17 watts
- Innokin Z RDL Coil (1.0 ohm): 20-25 watts
- Innokin Z MTL Coil (1.2 ohm): 10-14 watts
- Innokin Z KAL Coil (1.6 ohm): 10-14 watts
Innokin ZF Coils
- Innokin ZF Coil (0.2 ohm): 50-80 watts
- Innokin ZF Coil (0.3 ohm): 30-45 watts
Innokin Sceptre Coils
- Innokin Sceptre RDL Coil (0.5 ohm): 18-20 watts
- Innokin Sceptre MTL Coil (1.2 ohm): 9-10 watts
- Innokin Sceptre MTL Coil (0.65 ohm): 10-12.5 watts
Innokin Ajax Coils
- Innokin Ajax Coil (0.35 ohm): 30-55 watts
- Innokin Ajax Coil (0.16 ohm): 50-80 watts
Innokin Scion Coils
- Innokin Scion Coil (0.5 ohm): 70-100 watts
- Innokin Scion Coil (0.28 ohm): 100-200 watts
- Innokin Scion Quad Coil (0.36 ohm): 80-150 watts
- Innokin Scion Plexus Coil (0.15 ohm): 60-100 watts
- Innokin Scion PLEX3D Mesh Coil (0.14 ohm): 60-100 watts
Wattage Isn’t the Only Way to Tweak Your Device’s Flavor and Vapor Production
Everyone enjoys using a vaping device that’s capable of producing big clouds and bold flavors, but there’s a limit to how far you can push your device’s wattage before it begins to produce a burnt flavor. In addition, there are some simple puff-activated vaping devices that don’t allow you to alter their power levels at all. In those cases, you need to find another way to adjust your device’s performance. Aside from changing your device’s wattage, there are two other ways to alter your device’s vapor production and flavor intensity.
- You can install a different coil. As you’ve learned from reading this article, most Innokin vape coils have multiple resistance options. A lower-resistance coil operates at higher power levels and will generally produce larger, warmer clouds.
- You can adjust your device’s airflow. Many vape tanks and pod systems have adjustable airflow sliders or collars. Opening the airflow will increase your device’s vapor production. Lowering the airflow will make the vapor warmer and more intense. If you reduce your device’s airflow, you may also need to lower the wattage to prevent the coil from overheating.
Feeling Overwhelmed? Use a Device with Automatic Wattage Recommendations
If you’re feeling overwhelmed while trying to choose the right wattage for your vaping device, you should consider using a device that can automatically configure itself. One of the benefits of our interoperable coil systems is that devices like the Innokin Adept have the parameters for compatible coils already programmed into their firmware.
The Innokin Adept automatically detects the resistance of the connected coil and adjusts the available power settings to ensure that every option is safe for the coil. If the coil’s resistance is less than 1.0 ohm, the available power levels are 14.0, 15.0, 16.0 and 17.0 watts. If the coil’s resistance is greater than 1.0 ohm, the available power levels are 11.0, 12.0, 13.0 and 14.0 watts. To switch between the available power levels, all that you need to do is press the device’s adjustment button. When you press the button, the indicator light changes to show which of the four power levels you’ve selected.
