Vape Part Terminology and Descriptions

Vape Part Terminology and Descriptions

The importance of knowing what vape you use and the parts that go with it.

It's important to know what kind of vape you are using so that your favorite vape shop (Quick Clouds) can help you when you need a part replaced or have a question about how your vape works. All vapes are different and can vary in many different aspects like what coils to use, what battery type it takes (if it uses an external or internal battery), and how to navigate the menu. 

Here at Quick Clouds we carry a variety of vape devices that use different kinds of juices, batteries, and coils. We carry HUNDREDS of different kinds of coils and pods and a huge variety of other vape parts so if you don't know what kind of replacement you need or the name of your device or tank, we won't know what kind of replacement to give you and you might risk purchasing the wrong part.

Juice

The Juice in your vape is what is vaporized inside your vape device for you to inhale and enjoy! Juice is commonly called by many different names like oil, liquid, E-liquid, or E-juice. It's usually only made with a few ingredients, Vegetable Glycerin, Propylene Glycol, Flavor, and usually with nicotine.

VG stands for Vegetable Glycerin. It is a natural chemical extracted from vegetable oils, so it is safe for vegetarians! It is commonly used in e-liquid to produce thicker feeling clouds. VG has a slightly sweet taste and is considerably thicker than PG. For those who like large puffs a higher VG % is ideal, but most liquids use a 70%/30% VG/PG ratio.

PG stands for Propylene glycol. Propylene Glycol is a viscous, colorless liquid, which is nearly odorless but possesses a faintly sweet taste. It is used in E-liquids to boost flavor and to counter your VG by making the juice thin enough to be soaked up into your coils.

Nicotine is a toxic colorless or yellowish oily liquid that is the chief active constituent of tobacco. A lot of vape companies use TFN nicotine which means they use Tobacco Free Nicotine that was either synthetically created in a lab or it was extracted from something other than tobacco. Nicotine has been detected in potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, and sweet peppers, and most other plant foods in very small amounts. It acts as a stimulant in small doses and is proven to be harmful to autonomic nerve and skeletal muscle cells in large amounts or extended use. Not all juice has nicotine in it however, Quick Clouds has a large selection of 0mg or 0% juices with no nicotine in them at all!

Flavor is exactly what it sounds like! Your favorite juices are made with artificial or natural flavors extracts added in to make your favorites! The flavor possibilities are endless!  Flavors vary from desserts, fruits, tobacco, menthol, savory, and breakfast types so really can enjoy trying something new or finding one that you'll love forever! 

It might be important to remember the names or brands that make your favorite flavors you you can enjoy them again!

Mods

 A Mod is the part of your vape that houses your battery, mirco-chip, and is used to control the tank and coil. A mod might also be referred to as an Advanced Personal Vaporizer. These two words essentially describe the same thing: a bigger, bulkier, more complicated vaping device. It takes its cue from a regular vape pen but is modified (hence the 'Mod' name) to include certain advanced features. 

The Mod is mainly one large unit made up of a few key parts. It's main purpose it to hold and maintain your batteries. Usually mods only hold one or two batteries but there have been some pretty crazy mods that can hold three or even four batteries! Some newer mods have been made with an internal battery that you'll charge with a simple charging cable but most mods will require an external battery (or a few) that can be located underneath your battery door. The Battery door is what holds your batteries in place and can be opened or removed to take out your batteries when it's time to charge or replace them. Some battery doors open like a door and are attached to your mod by a hinge and held shut with a latch. Other battery doors are threaded and screw into your device to secure your batteries in place, and some aren't attached to your device at all but are held in place by a sturdy magnet instead!

Most mods have a screen or some kind of display or screen that lights up to tell you information like your battery's charge, wattage, voltage, and more! This display is accompanied by a series of buttons used to navigate the menu, adjust wattage or temperature, turn the device on/off, and even serve as your firing mechanism. Most Mods have three buttons on the face of the mod. The first button is usually the largest. This one is your firing mechanism but can also be used to turn your device on and off and might serve as a menu select as well. the other two buttons are smaller and usually placed fairly close together. These buttons are used to navigate your menu as well as adjust your wattage, temperature, or other features depending on the mod you have.

The last part of your mod is the connection. This piece is usually a little metal plate that sits on top of your device with a 510 threaded hole in the center of it. This is the piece that is responsible for holding your tank in place and allowing your mod to supply power to your coil and to communicate specifications of your coil to the device. 

Pod Mods

A Pod mod  or pod vape is a smaller, more pocket friendly device that utilizes a pod style tank instead of a bulky metal and glass tank. The main difference between a pod and a tank is that a pod is smaller, one piece, and attaches to your device via a magnetic connection. Usually your pod will be made out of hard plastic but some pods are made out of glass or acrylic.

The fill port on your pod can be found in different parts of the pod depending on what pod you are using. The fill port is a little hole used to pour juice into the pod and is usually sealed by a little rubber tab that you pull back to remove and will want to push back into the hole to seal it up. Some pods come pre-filled and are intended to be disposed of once the juice runs out but all of the pods we carry at Quick Clouds are refillable so you can re-use them as long as possible!

The pod acts like a tank does on any standard mod and is responsible for housing your juice and coil. Pods usually also have a mouth piece or drip tip built-in due to their smaller and simpler size compared to most tanks and RDAs.  Some pods have built-in coils so when the coil goes bad you can just toss and replace the whole thing but other pods utilize Plug and Play style coils, often referred to as push and pull or PnP. These coils are not threaded and instead, seal themselves into the pod with an O-ring.  They are so simple to change you, you simply push the coil into place all pull it right back out when it's ready to change! O-rings are found in almost any tank or pod. They are used to hold things in place and seal the edges so your juice stays inside instead of leaking all over you and your mod. You can find them around the coil, glass, and airflow inlets and outlets.

Your Pod device is pretty similar to any other Vape Pen or Mod except for that it is smaller, lower powered, and usually doesn't have as many features. It will most likely have an internal battery that needs to be recharged via a low powered charging charging cable similar to the one you'd use for your cell phone! Some pod devices might have a display and a button like large mods do but many pod devices don't have any display at all. They have no buttons and no adjustable features and are powered by your puff meaning it will automatically fire itself when you inhale through the device. Pod mods that function this way are commonly referred to as draw-activated. Some varieties of pod devices have the airflow adjustability built into the device, some have the airflow control built-in to the pod itself, and some pod devices don't have an adjustable airflow at all. 

It's important to know which kind of pod mod you have and the names of the coils or pods they use such a huge variety of coils and pods that it can be very difficult to find the right one for you! If your device takes coils you might want to know which coils you need for replacement. Some devices can take multiple different style pods that each take a specific kind of coil despite being for the same device. Coils can directly affect your vaping experience, so knowing which pod or coil you prefer is super helpful when trying to purchase a replacement.

Coils

Coils are one of the most important parts of your vape. The coil is responsible for heating up your juice and creating vapor. Without a coil, there is no vape. A coil can be called a couple different things, we often hear our customers refer to it as an atomizer or filter. Pre-built coils often come in a pack of 3-5 pieces so its easy to stock up and keep vaping for extended periods of time. They usually are a small metal piece with the coil or atomizer in the center and the wicking material wrapped around the outside of the coil so that the airflow can pass through the center. More advanced vapers like to use an RDA and build their own coils by wrapping wire tightly and pulling their wick through the center of their coils. The wick is responsible for soaking up your e-liquids and holding it against the coil so that the juice doesn't leak everywhere. Here at Quick Clouds you can buy a single coil to hold you over or you can buy the full pack! We offer a bulk deal on our coil packs and offer 25% a second pack when you get two or more. In other words, every other pack is 25% off it's original price!

Different tanks and pods take different coils that are specific to that tank. Sometimes you might find another coil that is compatible with your tank but most coils are pretty exclusive to which tank(s) they work with. It's important to know the name of your tank or coil so that you make sure you purchase the right coil for whatever tank you are using. The type of coil you use might depend on what juice you are using. If you are using salt nics, you probably want a lower wattage coil with a resistance higher than 1.0ohms. Sub-ohm e-liquids are usually prefered with high wattage coils due to their lower nicotine content. Most vapers who use sub-ohm e-liquids like a coile that has a resistance lower than 1.0ohms. The amount of coils we carry is HUGE but there's such a huge variety of coils that exist you'll never know if we have the right coil if you don't know which coil you need or which tank you are using. If you can't find the name of your tank or coil, bring it in and one of our Team Members will be happy to help you!

Tanks

The tank is the top piece of your device that holds the coil as well as your juice. Your Tank is usually made up of a few different parts, with the replaceable parts being the glass and coil. The glass can be replaced by Acrylic or new replacement glass but is usually responsible for holding your juice and keeping it around your coil so that your coil stays saturated as long as you keep your tank full. The tank itself is made up of multiple (at least two) metal pieces that are usually threaded to hold the glass and coil in place. These pieces together are often referred to as the Housing Unit.

Another part of your tank is the Drip Tip or mouth piece that fits into the top of the housing unit and is where you will put your mouth to take a puff! The two most common size drip tip sizes are called 510 and 810. A simple rule of thumb is 510 tips are narrow and 810s are wide. Each type of tip works in tandem with how a vape is inhaled, either by mouth-to-lung (MTL) or direct to lung  (DTL) inhales. On a MTL tank or coil, the mouthpiece or chimney is going to be a lot narrower to feel more similar to smoking. Compared to any DTL tanks or coils which are wide and open providing a cooler puff and looser draw. They were originally named because juice was dripped onto the coils via the Drip tip on classic mods.

The last part of your tank is on the bottom. This is where you'll find a little 510 threaded connection. You will attach your tank to your mod by screwing it into the connection plate onto the top of your mod. The connection is responsible for receiving power from your mod and communicating to the mod any specifications about your coil that your mod requires to fire. 

If your tank doesn't have the name of it on the side or top, try looking on the bottom around where the connection sits. Many tanks have their names printed on the bottom of them. Different tanks take different coils and it's important to know the name of your tank or coil so that you make sure you purchase the right kind for whatever tank you are using. The amount of coils we carry is HUGE but there's such a huge variety of coils that exist you'll never know if we have the right coil if you don't know which coil you need or which tank you are using.

Batteries

Batteries are a very important part of vaping. With no battery, there is no vape. With any device, the battery is the power source that will need to be recharged to continue vaping (except with some disposables).

Batteries can vary in many different aspects like how long they hold their charge, their output levels, and even their size! Classic and larger style mods typically use External Batteries while most pod devices and newer mods might have an Internal Battery. The main difference between internal and external batteries is that one (internal battery) is built into the device and the other (external battery) is able to be removed from the device to be recharged or replaced. To recharge an external battery you will need an external battery charger.  

The capacity of batteries is indicated by mAh (milliampere/hour). The voltage of a battery is an important property of a battery, which is determined by the chemical reactions within the battery, the concentrations of the battery cells, and the polarization of the battery. The voltage calculated from equilibrium conditions is typically known as the nominal battery voltage. A battery is typically made up of a series of cells. Cells aligned in a series (polarities aiding) will results in a greater total voltage. Physical cell size directly affects cell resistance, which in turn impacts the ability for the cell to supply current through a circuit. Generally, the larger the cell, the less its internal resistance. 

The most common batteries used in external battery mods are 18650s but some devices are able to take 21700 batteries or 20700 batteries only. There are even some devices that come with an adapter so you can use either one!