How to Prime a Vape Coil

How do you prime a vape coil?

Priming a coil simply means soaking the cotton wick with e-liquid before you fire it, plus it is the step that stops new coils tasting burnt. You drip e-liquid onto the exposed cotton, fit the coil, fill the tank, then wait several minutes for the wick to soak before you vape. The waiting is the important part.

It helps to know why this matters. Inside every coil is a piece of cotton that holds e-liquid, so if that cotton is dry when the coil heats up it burns instantly, giving the harsh burnt taste that new vapers often hit. This page walks through the steps, the closed-pod version, the primer-puff trick and how to keep a coil healthy, so your coils last and taste right.

Let us look at the steps, closed pods, primer puffs and coil care.

The priming steps

Priming a replaceable coil takes only a couple of minutes. Drip three or four drops of e-liquid onto each cotton port on the side of the coil, add a couple on top if the cotton is exposed, fit the coil, fill the tank, then leave it to soak for five to ten minutes.

• Wet the ports: three or four drops on each side cotton port.
• Top up: a couple of drops on exposed cotton if you can see it.
• Fill and cover: fill the tank so liquid covers the wick ports.
• Wait: five to ten minutes, longer for thick high-VG liquid.

Watch the cotton as you drip. The cotton should darken as it soaks up the liquid, so keep adding drops until it stops absorbing, yet do not flood it since too much liquid causes gurgling and leaks, which is its own kind of mess.

Closed pods and the primer-puff trick

Not every device lets you reach the cotton. With a closed pod you cannot drip onto the wick, so you fill the pod, slot it in and wait around fifteen minutes, while the primer-puff trick helps pull liquid through any coil.

On closed pods, fixed-coil systems like many pod kits hide the cotton, so the wick has to soak from the inside, which takes a little longer, so filling the pod and waiting about fifteen minutes does the job. On primer puffs, after filling, cover the airflow holes with a finger and take three to five gentle draws without pressing the fire button, which uses suction to pull e-liquid into the cotton and push out air pockets. You may see small bubbles rising in the tank, which is a good sign that liquid is moving in. Try not to take more than about five primer puffs, since beyond that you risk drawing liquid into your mouth. Then start vaping at a low power and build up gently.

Keeping a coil healthy

Good habits make a primed coil last far longer. Start at a low wattage and build up, keep liquid above the wick ports, avoid chain-vaping a brand new coil, then stay within the recommended wattage range to get the most from it.

On power, begin below your usual wattage on a fresh coil and raise it gradually, since hitting full power straight away can scorch cotton that is still bedding in. On liquid level, keep the tank topped up so the wick ports stay covered, because even one dry puff can ruin a coil you just primed. On pacing, give a new coil a few hours of gentle use rather than chain-vaping it from the start. On range, running constantly at the top of a coil rated range shortens its life, so easing off a little helps. Sweet dessert liquids also gunk up coils faster than fruit or menthol, so expect to change them more often with those. Remember to prime again every time you fit a new coil.

• Start low: build the wattage up gradually on a fresh coil.
• Keep it wet: liquid above the wick ports at all times.
• Do not rush it: avoid chain-vaping a brand new coil.
• Mind the range: stay within the coil rated wattage.

If you want to dig deeper, see our explainer on why your vape tastes burnt with a new coil. It pairs well with our guide on how to open a vape juice bottle and our look at why your vape is leaking.

For the full set of guides, the vaping FAQs hub brings everything together in one place.

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