Vaping can be super confusing at times, especially with all the terminology. So as your local vaping experts we’ve put together a glossary of terms so you can talk the talk!
If you have any questions regarding vaping, please get in touch with us – pop in the shop, get on the blower or send us an email.
An atomiser is essentially the small heating element that vaporises e-liquid and the wicking material that draws the liquid into the coil. The term coil and atomiser are sometimes used interchangeably.
A coil heats up the e-liquid in a tank or kit and then converts it to a vapour. Coils burn out after time so they need to be replaced. Coils can burn out quicker by using the wrong ratio juice or output power for the coil.
A ‘draw’ is what we call the inhaling of vapour from your device. Draws are usually described as either, tight, open, slow or loose.
This is a mouthpiece which sits on your vape kit. They can be used to drip e-liquid straight onto the atomiser or purely as disposable mouthpieces.
A ‘dry hit’ is a draw on the mouthpiece with the device switched off, normally done to pull liquid onto the coil to soak the wick during priming.
DTL – short for direct to lung – refers to the style of vaping where you inhale from your device straight into your lung rather than holding the vapour in your mouth first.
MG stands for milligram and is used to state how much nicotine is in an e-liquid.
A mod or ‘modified’ is an advanced version of an e-cigarette. These aren’t normally ready to go. Mods produce high amounts of vapour and are longer lasting than standard devices.
Nicotine is the stimulant found in cigarettes and some e-liquids. Most e-liquids come standard as 0mg, so you can add as much or a little nicotine as you wish. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance.
“Nic Salt” is a term short for Nicotine Salt, which is the natural state of nicotine leaves. The main advantage over normal e-liquids is that they are the closest hit you can get to a real cigarette. Many vapers have the same issue – low nicotine levels don’t give them the same hit as a normal cigarette, and too high in nicotine is too harsh of a throat hit. Nic- Salts are the solution to this very problem, they are a great solution for people that are switching for the first time from smoking.
OHM is a measurement of electrical resistance. In vaping, ohm is used to measure the resistance of a coil. The greater the resistance means less current so coils burn out slower. A lower resistance means more current so coils burn out quicker. You need to make sure you have the correct ohm for the ratio of juice you are using too. Check out our PG:VG Ratio blog to find out more.
Priming refers to priming the coil, meaning saturating it with e-liquid before using it.
PG is a synthetic liquid with a consistency slightly thicker than water. It has two jobs in an vape juice – to carry the flavour/nicotine and also responsible for the ‘throat hit’ you get when vaping. Find out more about how the ratio of PG can affect your vaping experience here.
The pod is the part of the device which hold the e-liquid – sometimes known as the tank. These can be disposable or refillable. Starter kits normally use pods.
Rebuildable Atomiser
This refers to the resistance a coil has and is measured in ohm. The lower the resistance of the coil, the higher amount of current flowing and vice versa.
Rebuildable Dripping Atomiser – requires manual dripping of e-liquid onto the coil and wick.
Rebuildable Tank Atomiser
These are devices that use coils or atomisers with less that 1ohm. The purpose of a sub-ohm device is to increase the power output of devices to create more vapour and/or flavour.
Shortfill is an e-liquid that has no nicotine in it and usually has space within the bottle to add nicotine. For example a 100ml bottle would have 20ml space to add nicotine.
A tank is the part of a vape kit which holds the e-liquid and usually the coils. Most tanks can be refilled and can be upgraded as oart of a kit.
Tobacco Derived Products – This is the legislation that governs vaping in Europe and the UK to ensure vapers are kept safe.
VG (Vegetable Glycerine) is a sweet, vegetable based liquid. It adds a slight sweetness to your vape juice and provides the majority of the vapour. For more information on how VG ratio can affect your vaping experience click here.
A wick is the material that absorbs the e-liquid in the coil – mostly made from cotton. This is the part of the coil which burns out and gives you that burnt flavour.