Oil vaping has become one of the most popular ways to enjoy cannabis in recent years, and there are plenty of good reasons for that. Oil cartridges are extremely potent and surprisingly affordable, and they’re readily available both online and locally in dispensaries and vape shops. Also, the CCELL vape pens and other 510-thread batteries that people use with vape cartridges are sleek, stylish and very discreet. The best part is that in order to have a great experience with an oil cart, you don’t have to know anything about vaping at all. With most 510 vape pens, all that you need to do is charge the battery, connect the cartridge and inhale. They’re perfect for beginners.
So, are you a cannabis smoker who wants to know a bit more about how oil vaping works? The best way to start is by understanding the basics of vape cartridges – and that’s what we’re going to cover in this article. A vape cart has a few components that all need to work together in order to supply you with tasty clouds at the push of a button. These are the parts of a vape cartridge.
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The Threading
The threading is the screw-shaped metal component at the bottom of a vape cartridge, and it serves both to anchor the cartridge to your vape pen and to transfer power from the vape pen’s battery to the cartridge’s heating element.
When you read about vaping and see the term “510,” that refers to the type of threading used by your vaping device and the cartridge that connects to it. The “510” term used to be more important than it is today. There were once many types of threads for vaping devices, and most of them were incompatible with one another.
Today, though, virtually every vape cartridge or device uses the 510 thread – so the thread type isn’t something that you generally need to worry about.
The Outer Enclosure
The outer enclosure is the exterior of a vape cartridge, and its purpose is to provide storage for your vape oil. The outer enclosure of a vape tank may be made from plastic or glass, and both materials have their own benefits and drawbacks.
Plastic is inexpensive and durable, and it’s the material that’s most commonly used for pre-filled disposable cartridges. A pre-filled plastic vape cartridge will usually have a snap-fit mouthpiece that’s tamper evident and will cause the outside of the cartridge to crack if it’s removed.
People who buy refillable vape cartridges, on the other hand, often choose vape carts with glass walls. Glass has the benefit of being chemically inert, so many people find that glass vape cartridges have superior flavor quality.
The Mouthpiece
The mouthpiece is the component of a vape cartridge that goes into your mouth when you vape. Mouthpieces come in a variety of different shapes including tapered, cylindrical, duckbill and more. Each shape feels a little different in your mouth, and each shape causes the vapor to spread over your palate in a slightly different way. The mouthpiece’s material can also have an effect on your vaping experience. Some of the popular materials for vape cartridge mouthpieces include plastic, stainless steel, chrome, wood and ceramic. Each one feels a little different, so it’s worthwhile to try them all and find out what your preferences are.
The Chimney
The chimney is the metal tube that extends from the coil assembly at the bottom of the cartridge to the mouthpiece at the top. When you vape, air enters through the cartridge’s intake vents and travels through the coil assembly before exiting through the chimney and mouthpiece. The most important thing to know about the chimney in a vape cartridge is that it’s not the same as the filling hole. When you fill a vape cartridge, you don’t want to put oil in the chimney because it’ll flow down to the coil assembly and leak out of the cartridge’s intake vents.
The Filling Hole
When you remove the mouthpiece from a vape cartridge, you’ll see two holes. The first hole is the top of the chimney, and it’s in the center. The filling opening is usually a little smaller, and it’s positioned slightly to the side. When you fill a vape cartridge, it’s a good idea to use a syringe because the filling hole is so small. If you don’t use a narrow filling tool, you’re likely to make a mess and waste your expensive vape oil.
Before you fill a vape cartridge, make a note of the cartridge’s capacity. Most vape cartridges hold either 0.5 or 1.0 ml of oil. You don’t want to overfill a vape cartridge because if you do, some of the oil will end up coming out when you replace the cartridge’s mouthpiece. To ensure that you’re putting the correct amount of oil into the cartridge, it’s helpful to use a syringe with markings for measurement.
Screw the mouthpiece back on immediately after filling the cartridge. If you’re filling a new cartridge for the first time, you should wait about a half hour before vaping to ensure that the oil is fully absorbed into the wick.
The Wick
The coil assembly is inside the small metal enclosure at the bottom of a vape cartridge, and it consists of two components: the heating coil and the wick. We’ll discuss the wick first. In a vape cartridge designed for thick oils, the wick is usually made from ceramic because porous ceramic has the ability to absorb highly viscous oils very efficiently without drying out. The wick draws oil out of the tank’s main reservoir and holds it close to the heating coil. When you puff on your device, the heating coil vaporizes the oil trapped in the wick – and through absorption, the wick refreshes itself with more oil after you finish puffing.
The Coil
The coil is the main component of any vape cartridge because it’s responsible for creating the vapor that you inhale. It’s made from a high-resistance metal or alloy – usually stainless steel or kanthal – that becomes hot when an electrical current passes through it. When you vape, the coil in your cartridge heats up until the oil is vaporized. When you end the puff, the coil cools down rapidly as the wick absorbs more oil from the cartridge’s reservoir.
