Why Does My Vape Crackle and Pop?

An unpleasant noise coming from your vaping device just might detract from your vaping experience. You will be holding a device featuring a powerful lithium-ion battery, and you expect it to work properly when you press the fire button.

If you hear an unusual noise, it’s naturally going to make you wonder if your equipment isn’t working as it should or if there might even be something going on that isn’t completely safe. So, if your vape is crackling, popping or spitting, we’re here to help.

The first thing you need to know is that, if your vape is popping or crackling, the noise is most likely coming from the coil in your tank or pod rather than from the vaping device itself. This means that there is no safety issue. But that noise can be disconcerting.

What do we mean by crackle, pop and spit?

Generally, you’ll hear any crackling or popping noise when you first press the fire button on your vaping device. The noise will usually subside as you continue vaping, and the sound will be louder if you haven’t used your device for a while.

In some cases, the initial pop that you hear might be loud enough to startle people near you. The popping sound may also be accompanied by a squirt of hot e-liquid into your mouth. Although crackling and popping are merely annoyances, a vape that spits can be a significant issue because hot e-liquid on your tongue is far from a pleasant experience.

Why does your vape crackle, pop or spit?

If your device crackles, pops or spits when you vape, it probably boasts a low resistance coil and one that features a coiled wire as opposed to mesh. Coiled wire can mean that not all of the wicking material is in contact with the metal. E-liquid will tend to pool in the remaining open spaces. The set-up produces a pool of e-liquid with a heating wire at the bottom. That pool of e-liquid will be heated from the bottom and so the juice at the bottom vaporise while the juice at the top remains liquid. When the vapour bursts through the liquid above, a popping noise is produced and the liquid is propelled through the mouthpiece.

Can you stop your vape from popping or spitting?

There is no way to completely prevent a coil from crackling or popping if the cause of the problem is the design of the coil. The more a wire coil is optimised for vapour production (the thicker the wire), the more the coil will crackle because of the hills and valleys created. However, there are three ways to minimise the issue:

• Close your tank’s airflow vent slightly. When reducing the tank’s airflow, you need to puff more firmly to achieve the same vapour production. In doing this, you will increase the tank’s internal air pressure and so force the vapour out of the tank more quickly.
• Increase the wattage of your vaping device. Higher outputs allow the coil in your tank to reach its maximum operational temperature more quickly, increasing the speed at which the pools of e-liquid vaporize.
• Run a twisted paper towel down your tank’s mouthpiece before you begin a vaping session. The paper towel will absorb much of the excess e-liquid, making the tank less noisy.

About mesh coils

If you’re tired of using a vape that crackles, pops or spits, the easiest way to eliminate the problem for good is to install mesh coils. If mesh coils are not available for your vape, you will need to invest in one that is.

A mesh coil features a strip of metal mesh rather than a length of wire. Since the mesh boasts a much flatter profile than a spiral of wire, it doesn’t have the same hills and valleys that cause the e-liquid to gather and form pools. As a result, mesh coils operate in near silence. They also offer superior vapour production at lower wattages when compared to traditional vape coils.

Mesh coils eliminate the snap, crackle and pop!