Why is my electronic cigarette leaking and how to avoid it?

This is something many vapers have experienced at least once.

Much more present a few years ago, liquid leaks persist today. But don’t panic, there are solutions, and your leaks could soon be a distant memory, just like Dry Hits. 

The origin of the leaks from my electronic cigarette?

A leaky e-cigarette is not entirely normal, but first, a few clarifications.

An electronic cigarette is made up of several parts such as the clearomizer, the battery and the resistance. When your electronic cigarette leaks, it is above all the clearomiser that leaks, because it is this one that contains the e-liquid.

There are mainly 4 reasons why your electronic cigarette leaks:

1. A bad adjustment of the battery of your vaporise
2. A resistance problem
3. An unsuitable e-liquid
4. A clearomizer problem

How to stop e-liquid leaks?

As we saw above there are 4 main reasons and a clearomiser problem is the least frequent failure (unless you have broken the glass of the clearomiser)

Battery setting:

The first reason is therefore an incorrect setting of the battery. The setting of the battery plays an important role. Each resistance has its setting that must be respected, it can be for example in the case of a 0.8ohm zenith resistance between 15w and 18w. To find out your resistance setting, just look at it or search for your model to get this information.

Once you have found your setting, all you have to do is find the power that suits you best, the one that gives you the best puff.

Do not set the power of your machine to the lowest, telling yourself that you will preserve the resistance longer. If you set the power too low, you will draw more to obtain steam and will damage your resistance more quickly in addition to creating leaks!

Examine your resistance:

As you probably know, resistance has a limited lifespan if you notice liquid leaks after a fortnight, for example, it is probably that your resistance is starting to get tired and you have to change it.

If, on the other hand, you notice a leak quickly after changing the resistance, then there may be three reasons.

1. Your resistance is incorrectly installed: So make sure that it is in place and that everything is well screwed.
2. You may have incorrectly initialized your resistance? A new resistor is by default dry and needs to be perfectly damp to work. When you install it, let it soak in the liquid for 10min before using your electronic cigarette.
3. Are you pulling a little too hard? Or the electronic cigarette is too strong and you lower the power? It may be that your resistance is not suitable. For a clearomiser there are often several variations of resistors, try a more powerful resistor model if you are looking to increase the watts and a weaker model if you want a softer vape.

Your electronic cigarette liquid may not be suitable?

One of the things you don’t suspect is the liquid. How can we blame our favourite watermelon?

I assure you, the aroma is not a problem. What is problematic is often the rate of PG / VG and nicotine in your liquid.

PG/VG:

You may have heard of it, it is the basis of your e-liquid, it is on this basis that the manufacturers of e-liquids come to add nicotine and aroma.

Depending on the level of propylene glycol (PG) and vegetable glycerin (VG) your liquid will be more or less liquid. A high PG liquid will be presented like this on its label: 70/30. 70/30, therefore, means 70% PG, this rate will make your liquid very fluid, unlike a 30/70 rate which will be thicker because it will contain 70% VG.

On small machines, the VG rate should not exceed 50%. If it is higher, the liquid will have a hard time penetrating your resistance and will burn it quickly.

On the other hand, on large clearomizers which are used above 40-50W, it is important to use liquids with more VG, from 50% to 70%. Indeed, these machines are made to accumulate a lot of liquid and have large liquid inlets, and if your liquid is too thin, it will not stay in the resistance and will leak.

Nicotine:

This is the element that we do not suspect has no direct impact on the resistance. On the other hand, it has a direct impact on you. A low rate of nicotine has the same effect as an electronic cigarette set low, you will tend to pull more on it to compensate for the risk of leaving liquid not vaporized in quantity in the resistance and which will eventually flow.

Feel free to increase your nicotine dosage. You will consume less liquid and pull less on your vaper.

Your clearomiser is faulty!

I’ll be honest with you, it’s highly unlikely, but it can happen.

Examine your clearomiser, and see if everything is in place and tight. Also, check if there is no crack on the clearomiser and the glass.

The seals of the clearomiser can be tired if you use it for a long time, in most cases you can change them. You will find in the box of your clearomiser a pouch of joints. Replace the old seals with the new ones and you should be good! 

Warning: Changing the seals is preferable if your leaks appear after several months, and you have already tried to solve the leak by referring to the previous steps.

In cases where the leakage is normal

There are cases where the leakage is normal and unfortunately difficult to avoid. This is the case during rapid changes in atmospheric pressure. This is the case during a flight in planes for example or during a rapid descent of a mountain road or skiing where you will see the liquid fleeing through the resistance.

Our advice to avoid damage is to empty the clearomiser. One technique that works well on an aeroplane is to hold the e-cigarette upside down. Because like that the liquid will not be in contact with the resistance.

On the other hand, once up or down, the pressure remains stable and you can use your electronic cigarette normally.

The gurgles during use:

Another thing that can happen to you is gurgling when using your e-cigarette. Moreover, it is very common in winter because of the low temperatures.

These gurgles are caused by an excess of liquid in your resistance, which can then cause the e-liquid to flow.

They are often caused for the same reasons as a leak. So be sure to use a suitable e-liquid and to have properly adjusted your machine.

In winter, on the other hand, it is a normal phenomenon because due to low temperatures, part of the vapour condenses into fine droplets along with the outlet of your e-cigarette then flows into the resistance.

To drive out the glug glug you just have to shake your machine downwards to drive out the excess e-liquid in the resistance.

Bonus tips for avoiding leaks!

To avoid leaks, a small simple gesture can help you. When you change your resistance, often below the resistance at the base of the clearomizer, there are a few drops of liquid. These drops are due to condensation, wipe them off each time you change the resistance to avoid an accumulation!

The second piece of advice, avoid blowing into your machine. When you blow instead of sucking, you favour the condensation of the liquid in the recovery tank and risk seeing liquid flowing through the small holes.