Can You Use Any Vape Juice in Any Vape Kit?
E-liquids will not work optimally with every device. There are ways to ensure optimal use for every vape device - by checking your kit's wattage range and coil resistance.
Always check your vape kit's wattage limits and choose a coil that matches your preferred e-liquid and vaping style.
In this blog, we will explain how to pair your vape kit with the right vape liquid, and vice versa.
Understanding E-Liquid Types
E-liquid comes in 3 types: Freebase, Bar Salts and High VG. We will explain the difference between them below, but the main thing to keep in mind is that freebase and nic salts will always contain a 50/50 PG/VG ratio, whereas high VG e-liquids will be at 70/30 or 80/20, depending on the e-liquid.
What is 50/50 Freebase Vape Juice?
The most prevalent e-liquid is 50/50 freebase. It contains a 50/50 VG/PG ratio, and works best with a coil resistance of 0.8 to 1.8ohms.
Propylene Glycol (PG) is a colourless and virtually tasteless liquid with a consistency slightly thicker than water. It acts as a carrier agent for flavourings and nicotine in e-liquid.
Vegetable Glycerol (VG) is also clear and odourless, but has a syrup consistency and sweet taste. VG is used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries and provides vapour clouds in e-liquid.
Freebase vape juice allows mouth-to-lung (MTL) vaping, which is the closest sensation to smoking a cigarette. When MTL vaping, you will inhale, hold the vapour in your mouth, drawing it into the lungs, then exhaling. This can be done through any pod and pen kit using a coil with the aforementioned 0.8 to 1.8ohms.
What is 50/50 Nic Salt Vape Juice?
Nic salts are becoming a popular option for vapers due to their double-concentrated flavours and reduced throat hit. Like freebase, nic salts have a 50/50 VG/PG ratio, but still offer a completely different vaping experience due to the flavour and throat hit.
Despite being a 50/50 blend, just like freebase, nic salts benefit most from sub-ohm coils ranging from around 0.4 to 0.8 ohms. This offers a restricted direct-to-lung (RDTL) vaping style, which is tailored toward nic salt vaping. RDTL style vaping provides maximum flavour, particularly when compared to vapes that cater towards freebase e-liquid.
If you’ve used disposable vapes in the past, you’ll notice that this style is very similar to disposables.
What is High-VG Vape Juice?
As the name suggests, high VG vape juice contains a higher VG to PG ratio at 70/30. More VG concentration allows bigger vapour clouds and better flavour delivery.
Due to the lessened concentration of PG, nicotine concentrations are lower in high VG e-liquid as the carrier agent is less prevalent. High VG vapes are mostly preferred due to their strong flavour and intense vapour production.
High VG e-liquid allows direct-to-lung (DTL) vaping, which draws vapour straight into the lungs on inhale and straight back out on exhale in one motion.
Understanding Vape Kit Types
Vape kits come in 3 main types: pod kits, pen kits and sub-ohm/mod kits. Pod kits are the most common type of kit on the market currently, due to their ease of use and wide accessibility to different wattage rates. Pen kits are less common, but may be preferable and familiar to old-school vapers. Mod kits offer flashy tech-heavy options for seasoned and hobby vapers.
The type of kit for you depends on your wants and needs as a vaper.
What is a Pod Vape Kit?
Pod kits are useful in that they are made of two pieces - the pod and the powered device. The pod itself features the mouthpiece and integrated coil, which comes with a pre-registered resistance and can be removed and placed with a simple click.
The most popular option – pod vape kits offer everything most vapers will want from a kit. They can be activated by inhaling or by button, depending on the kit. In this regard, pod kits are very versatile and can offer varying features and options, depending on price range and brand.
Pod kits offer MTL and RDTL vaping styles and can be used with any type of e-liquid, so long as the pod resistance is applicable to the liquid being used.
Pod kits also offer simplistic refill options, or preinstalled pods to ensure minimum faff with technical parts. Optional features such as screens, adjustable wattage, among others, are available depending on your kit.
What is a Pen Vape Kit?
Pen vape kits are made from 3 components: a tank, coil and battery. Pen kits can be considered less efficient than pod kits, as they require the tank and coil to be removed when changing the coil.
They offer a more modular approach, with a wider range of coil options available, but can be more complicated and intimidating for new vapers because of this.
Batteries can sometimes be larger and more efficient in pod vapes, due to a more minimalist approach and a lack of features such as screens, which may be more or less preferable to you.
Although pod vapes are currently more popular, stylistic and comfort preferences, such as the mouthpiece may sway people towards using a pen vape. They were the first type of vape kit made commonly available, meaning many longer-term vapers use them as their preferred vape.
What is a Mod Kit?
Mod kits are the most complex type of vape kit, marketed towards vapers with more experience and vaping knowledge.
They produce thicker and larger clouds than regular vaping devices, but can be much larger and not typically recommended as an everyday vape device. This is mostly due to less portability and higher power consumption. Particularly in public spaces, blowing excess vapour may also be frowned upon by onlookers, meaning it may draw more attention than a discreet pod or pen kit.
Mod kits offer sub-ohm DTL vaping, which is best applied with high VG vape liquid.
What is a Pod-Mod Kit?
A hybrid between pod kits and mod kits, pod-mod kits offer the versatility of a pod kit whilst providing mod features. Some pod-mod kits have coils compatible with vaping 50/50 e-liquids, but typically are designed to be used with high VG e-liquid.
Similar to mod kits, pod-mods are generally larger than other types of vape kits and are often heavier due to a larger battery.
Almost all pod mod kits have advanced features, making them most suited for more experienced vapers.
Vape Coil & E-Liquid Compatibility Explained
As a general rule of thumb, any vape device using a coil with 0.7ohm resistance or higher is best matched with an e-liquid using a 50/50 VG to PG ratio.
A device with a coil below 0.6ohms would be best suited with high VG e-liquid with a 70/30 VG to PG ratio. Using a thinner mix may result in the liquid not soaking into the cotton in the coil and possibly leakage issues.
MTL, DTL & RDTL Vaping Explained
Knowing what wattage to vape at is crucial to your experience as a vaper, as it will determine what style of vaping you do. The three different styles of vaping are as follows:
Mouth to Lung (MTL)
This style of vaping is most commonly associated with pen or pod vape kits. They will be low-powered devices that use a higher ohm resistance coil, giving a true MTL vape experience.
Direct to Lung (DTL)
This style of vaping is most commonly associated with bigger sub-ohm vape kits that are run at higher wattages and use low-ohm resistance coils to produce big clouds of vapour. The vapour is inhaled directly to the lungs.
Restricted Direct to Lung (RDTL)
A newer style of vaping which can be done using pod vape kits which use a coil with a resistance of around 0.6/0.7ohm and the airflow is then slightly closed off to restrict the air and create the RDTL effect.
Vape Kit and Vape Juice Compatibility Guide
Now that you understand what styles different vape juices and devices enable, we will go further into compatibility between e-liquid and vape devices.
50-50 Freebase Vape Juice Works Best With:
- Pod vape kits using coils between 0.8-1.8ohms
- Pen vape kits using coils between 0.8-1.8ohms
These kits use thinner coils with smaller wicking ports ideal for thinner 50/50 vape juice. They also have lower wattage ranges better suited to 50/50 freebase e-liquids and managing their associated throat hit.
50-50 Nic Salt Vape Juice Works Best With:
- Pod vape kits using RDTL coils between 0.4ohms to 0.8ohms
- Pen and pod vape kits using coils between 0.8ohms to 1.8ohms
For best experience, use specialised RDTL coils which have been designed for pod kits with nic salts. Due to nicotine salts having a 50/50 VG/PG ratio, pod kits with 0.8-1.8ohms coils can effectively use them, but RDTL coils with sub-ohm vaping can provide the best flavour.
High VG Vape Juice Works Best With:
- Pod vape kits using coils under 0.7ohms
- Mod vape kits using coils under 0.7ohms
- Pod-Mod vape kits using coils under 0.7ohms
By using coils with sub-ohm resistance, more current can flow through the coil, generating more heat, vapour and flavour. Since HVG vape juice is thicker, sub-ohm vaping will be necessary to vaporize the e-liquid efficiently.
Our Recommended Vape Kits For Each E-Liquid Type
Below, you can explore our top picks from our extensive vape kit range, broken down by e-liquid type.
INNOKIN Endura T18 II Pen Vape Kit
Innokin Klypse Pro Pod Vape Kit
Elf Bar Elfx Pro Pod Vape Kit
Vaporesso Xros 4 Vape Kit - Pod Kit
Vaporesso Luxe XR Max Pod Vape Kit
Final Top Tips For Pairing Vape Juice and Vape Kits
To summarise, here are our top tips when pairing vape kits with e-liquid:
- If using freebase 50/50 e-liquid, ensure you're using a coil with 0.8-1.8ohms
- If using nic salt e-liquid, use an RDTL coil with 0.4-0.8ohms
- If using high VG e-liquid, ensure you're using a vape coil under 0.7ohms
You should now have a broader understanding of how vape juices and devices are paired. If you're still unsure about anything discussed above, be sure to check our other blogs or reach out to our UK-based customer care team. Our team will be sure to inform and guide you towards the product or service you need.
