So how does it all work then?

Without going into all the boring sciencey bits, the basics work like this. 

Think of a light bulb, the old style ones where you can see the filament inside. When the power is turned on, electricity passes through the tiny coiled up wire of the filament and makes it glow white-hot. Hey presto, LIGHT.

It’s basically the same inside the coil of a vaping device. Instead of white-hot, it just glows a reddy-orange, which is enough to vaporise e-liquid. Around the little glowing wire is some organic cotton that absorbs the juice you have in your tank or pod and holds it against the wire. The wire gets hot, the juice is vaporised and then goes up the chimney of the device to be inhaled. It’s as simple as that. 

Most modern vaping devices will have the option of mesh coils. Its still the same principle but instead of a coil of wire, it’s a strip of latticed wires to make a gauze like mesh or a strip of extra thin metal with loads of little holes punched out of it to let the juice through. 

When you inhale the vapour, the nicotine that is suspended in the juice is now in steam form. When that gets into your lungs, your body absorbs the nicotine in the same way as it absorbs oxygen from the air. This is one of the quickest ways to get nicotine into your bloodstream.

What Nicotine Shot do I need?

Sometimes it can be confusing with all of the options for nicotine types and strengths to add to your vape liquid, so we’ve made a handy guide to help.

Nicotine is available in varying strengths and depending on what size your shortfill is; determines what nic shot to add.

Nicotine comes in 2 different forms, freebase and salts. Salts are made from extracting the nicotine from tobacco leaves and is therefore natural and smooth. Nicotine salts will give you more of a ‘hit’. Freebase is the original synthetic nicotine and is a little harsher. Nicotine shouldn’t affect the flavour of the juice. 

If you have a 60ml bottle with 50ml of vape juice in it, you will need:

1 x 10ml 10mg Nic Salt shot will give you 1.7mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

1 x 10ml 15mg freebase shot will give you 2.4mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

1 x 10ml 18mg freebase shot will give you 3mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

1 x 10ml 20mg Nic Salt shot will give you 3.4mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

If you have a 120ml bottle with 100ml of vape juice in it, you will need:

2 x 10ml 10mg Nic Salt shot will give you 1.7mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

2 x 10ml 15mg freebase shot will give you 2.4mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

2 x 10ml 18mg freebase shot will give you 3mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

2 x 10ml 20mg Nic Salt shot will give you 3.4mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

If you have a 200ml bottle with 160ml of vape juice in it, you will need:

4 x 10ml 10mg Nic Salt shot will give you 1.7mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

4 x 10ml 15mg freebase shot will give you 2.4mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

4 x 10ml 18mg freebase shot will give you 3mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

4 x 10ml 20mg Nic Salt shot will give you 3.4mg nicotine in a 60ml juice.

If you are still unsure, drop us a message and we can see what we can do to help you.

What’s all this about Nic Salts?

Nic Salts are extracted directly from the natural tobacco leaf versus traditionally being made using a form of artificial nicotine called ‘free base’.

Free base nicotine can be quite harsh on the throat and can cause discomfort for some vapers. Nic salts are absorbed to the body far quicker than standard E liquid, so it provides a much quicker hit to keep your nicotine cravings at bay.

In addition to this, Nic salts take away that harsh throaty aftertaste as they stay smooth even after being heated by your vaping device.

The 2 main forms of nic salts are as a 10ml ‘shot’ for you to add into shortfill bottles to the required strength and as flavoured 10ml bottles that are used in MTL devices.

Is vaping as bad as smoking?

In 2018, Public Health England undertook a study alongside Cancer Research UK to look into the implication on health between vaping and smoking. Their conclusion was that vaping is 95% safer than smoking. 

Their advice is as follows: “Vaping isn’t completely risk free but is far less harmful than smoking tobacco. There is no situation where it would be better for your health to continue smoking rather than switching completely to vaping.” – Public Health England

To read more, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaping-in-england-evidence-update-february-2021/vaping-in-england-2021-evidence-update-summary

When should I change my coil?

There is no set time frame for the life span of a coil. There are many things that dictate how long a coil will last. How heavily you vape, what wattage you run you device at, how sweet your juice is, the build quality of the coil even. You can get anywhere from a day to weeks out of one coil and there is no right or wrong. 

There are 2 recommendations for when to change the coil in your device. Firstly if you get a burnt taste when vaping. It is often strong and unpleasant and will make your vape unusable. You may also get a message on the screen or a flashing light.

The second is if you lose all flavour from the coil. This happens more with some of the modern coils and is a sign that it is not performing at its best anymore and should be replaced. 

I’ve heard people get popcorn lung and die from vaping. Is it true?

Nobody has died in the UK from the correct use of a vaping device or e-cigarette. There have been deaths in the USA that were linked back to vaping and when the FDA and the CDC investigated this, it was found that all of these people had been vaping illegal homemade THC liquids that contained an ingredient called Vitamin E Acetate. This was used as a base liquid to suspend the THC from cannabis in order to get high from the psychoactive THC. The Vitamin E Acetate when inhaled was causing breathing problems, which lead rapidly to respiratory failure and death. 

The only near death case in the UK was of an underage boy around 16 years old that had an allergic reaction to an ingredient in the e-liquid. He was hospitalised but was later discharged after recovering. Vaping is not recommended for those under 18 as there may be a higher chance of health repercussions. It is prohibited for this reason.

Popcorn Lung was the term given to a lung condition that appeared in the mid 2010s. This was before e-liquids were regulated and companies could put anything in their juices. It was found that one of the ingredients was harmful. This lead to the government regulating what ingredients could go in to an e-liquid. The Government then released the TRPR legislation.

What is TPD and TRPR?

TPD = Tobacco Products Directive. This is the EU law that controlled and regulated the vaping industry in all EU countries. 

The regulations controlled the size of the tank or pod on a device (2ml), the size of bottles with nicotine in them (10ml) and the strength of nicotine that could be sold in the EU (20mg).

The regulations were brought into effect in April 2017 and are now on their 3rd revision although this no longer affects us in the UK due to Brexit. The UK now has its own set of E-Cigarette laws that are completely separate from tobacco products and came into effect on 31st March 2021. 

TRPR = Tobacco and Related Products Regulations. This is the UK law that controlled and regulated the vaping industry in the UK. The regulations were brought into effect in April 2017 and changed on 31st March 2021. The UK Government stripped the E-Cigarette laws out of the TRPR legislation and wrote the E-Cigarette regulations into their own separate laws.

Will my device blow up?

We get asked this a lot by new vapers. The instances you have probably seen in the media are mostly from people using what are called ‘unregulated’ devices. This means there are no built-in protections for the device. They are essentially a battery in a metal tube with a coil on top to drip juice on to. They are not safe for beginners or even those at an intermediate level and should only be used by experienced vapers that have a very good understanding of electrical principals. When used with this knowledge, even these types of device are safe.

The kind of devices that are sold as starter kits will always have protections built-in. As long as the device is used as directed and most importantly, charged as directed, there should never be any risk of explosion. Any device from a reputable manufacturer will cease to work if there is a fault internally and should never be a danger to the user.

My vape juice is changing colour. What does that mean?

Another question we get asked a lot. Vape juice will frequently change colour due to a couple of reasons. Firstly, if there is nicotine in your liquid, when exposed to the air, it will cause the juice to darken slightly due to oxidation. This is completely normal. 

The second reason is down to your coil. Some coils more than others with cause the juice to go darker as the coil is used more. The inside of the coil can build up a layer of caramelised juice which can be anywhere from a honey colour to black when the coil is almost about to burn out. As long as it’s not affecting the flavour of your liquid, it’s not something to be concerned about. If it is affecting the flavour, then we would recommend changing the coil in your device.

Is vaping cheaper than smoking?

In most cases, yes. 

If you buy a device that is fully reusable with replaceable coils and is refillable, the cost of vaping works out as follows:

Cost of Device – Around £35

This is the biggest cost as the initial outlay. This device should last a minimum of 6 months with care and proper use.

Weekly costs – £10-£20

This covers 1 to 2 coils and 50ml to 60ml of juice. This is the average use of the majority of our customers. This may vary if you are a heavy or light vaper.

When comparing the cost with a 20 a day smoker at £10 a pack, a smoker would be spending £3,650 a year just on cigarettes.

An average vaper would spend £1,110 spending £20 a week on juice and coils and buying 2 devices in the year at £35 each.

This is a saving of £2,540 a year. That is less than a third of the cost of smoking.

Can I buy any vaping products for someone under 18?

Selling vaping products to anyone aged under 18 and buying vaping products for anyone under 18 is strictly prohibited. If any of our staff have the suspicion that you are buying for someone underage, we are required by law to refuse service. It is also an offence that you can be prosecuted for. 

What is MTL and DL/DTL and what’s the difference?

MTL = Mouth to Lung. This is where a device replicates the tight draw that you get from a cigarette. 

DL/DTL = Direct Lung/Direct to Lung. This is where a device has a much bigger airflow and cloud production. It is similar to shisha. You may have heard this described as ‘sub-ohm’.

The difference is between the coils. 

True MTL coils have a resistance/ohmage of 1.0 ohm (1.0Ω) or higher (Up to around 2.0 ohms). These are generally used with low Watts (up to around 15 Watts) and thinner e-liquid, usually 50/50. These coils are to be used by vapers that want to replicate smoking a cigarette.

True DL/DTL or sub-ohm coils will have a resistance/ohmage of between 0.1 ohm and 0.5 ohm. Most devices won’t fire below 0.1 ohm as part of the built-in protections. When using a lower resistance, the wattage needs to be higher to fire the device, usually over 25 watts. These coils are to be used by vapers that are looking for high flavour and clouds and low levels of or no nicotine at all.

There are also the middle ground coils that have a resistance of between 0.6 ohm and 0.9 ohm where they aren’t quite sub-ohm, but they are quite airy for MTL. A lot of vapers favour these coils due to being able to use 50/50 liquids but also getting great flavour and vapour production. These coils usually run between 15 and 25 Watts.

VG/PG? 50/50? 70/30? What does it all mean and what do I choose?

VG = Vegetable Glycerine. This makes up part of the ‘base liquid’ into which flavour concentrate and nicotine can be added. 

PG = Propylene Glycol. This makes up the other part of the ‘base liquid’ into which the flavour concentrate and nicotine can be added.

The VG and PG is mixed into a ratio, that’s what the numbers are. 50/50 would be 50% VG and 50% PG mix for the base liquid. This is what is used for middle and high resistance coils. Although rare, 60/40 juices can also be used with middle and high resistance coils. 

The higher the ratio of VG, the thicker the juice will be. The most common are 70/30 and 80/20, the 80/20 being thicker than the 70/30. This ratio of juice is to be used with sub-ohm coils as it will be too thick for small high resistance coils to absorb.

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