When the heat of summer hits, as short as or UK summer might be, there are some adjustments you should make when vaping in the summer to ensure your vaping experience remains satisfying and safe. Just like you should make adjustments in winter for vaping, you should also make adjustments for hot summers, or holidaying abroad.
Below we have compiled a list of 10 tips when vaping in the summertime.
1. Flavour and colour may change if your e-liquid gets too hot
When carrying your eliquid around, or when storing it at home, be sure not to leave the liquid in direct sunlight, or rooms that are too hot. Your e-liquid can go from tropical fruity fun to a spoiled milk surprise if left in the heat and direct sun long enough! Or the flavour can disappear completely. In the heat you may notice that your eliquid goes more yellow/brown than usual too, this is down to the nicotine. The more nicotine you have in your eliquid, the more yellow it becomes with heat. This is nothing to worry about however.
2. Avoid charging batteries in hot cars
Avoid charging your ecig for long periods of time inside your car on hot days. If you do, supervise it charging and never leave it for long periods of time under the hot windscreen. If you have to charge your ecig try and keep it in a cool place like a glove box or a dashboard compartment to avoid direct sun exposure. Risk here may be minimal, but why risk overheating your batteries at all. Many heavy vape users fight for battery power. If you use your vape very frequently and at high wattage, batteries soon drain. This forces heavy users to keep a car charger for batteries, along with a charger for their ecigarette. Avoid charging batteries in a hot car and where possible, charge them all at home before your journey and keep charged spares to hand in a case or cool container. Aside from the safety aspect, extreme heat can also significantly shorten the life of a battery causing it to hold less and less of a charge. Also make sure any battery chargers at home are not in direct sunlight.
3. Coils may not last as long
Coils can be very sensitive at the best of times, but you want to buy more coils and have more spare during hot weather as coils can be used more quickly. If you are vaping juices from the USA or other countries abroad, they tend to contain sugars, sucrose or sweeteners. These sugars will eat through coils in any weather, but during high heat the sugars and flavourings may caramelise a little, giving off a slightly burnt taste and ruining the enjoyment of your eliquid flavour. To solve this you will either need to replace the coil more often, clean the coils out more often, or switch to an e-liquid that is free from sugars while its hot.
4. Use an e-cig case or a carry bag
Pack your e-cig and e-liquid in a cooler, accessory bag or shaded case to keep everything safe from the heat. In the car keep ecigs out of sunlight and in cases or glove boxes too. If you have to put your ecig down while your busy, be sure to put it in shaded areas and not in direct sunlight.
5. Tanks may leak
As the weather gets hotter, eliquid starts thinning out. Any tank with not-so-new seals, or rebuildable tanks, may start leaking. Or you may find that your tank is fine, until it gets hot, then you notice slight seepage’s from your tanks airflow holes. Whats happening is as the liquid thins out, the rubber seals on your tank also shrink slightly. The combination of the 2 can make the tank become a little leaky. If your tank was a little leaky anyway, you may want to upgrade to a new tank for the summer. If you start to notice leaks, change to a higher VG juice (VG is thicker than PG and should stop seepage’s). If adding your own nicotine shots, swap to a 100vg nic shot to thicken up your juices a little.
6. Add more wick material to rebuildable tanks
As the summer gets hotter, you may find your rebuildable tank starts leaking too. As above, these can be avoided by switching to a higher VG juice. If you want to stick to your favourite juice however, when wicking your RTA or RDTA it may be a good idea to use slightly more cotton than usual. As juice thins out, it can saturate loose cotton and start oozing out your tank. More cotton to plug up the juice flow may be all you need to do to avoid this. As the juice gets thinner, it wicks faster, so you shouldn’t get low wicking issues like dry hits or cotton degradation.
7. Be prepared for summer adventures
When the sun hits in Britain it tends to come from nowhere, meaning summer adventures with little planning and short notice. Rush to the beach, go to a friends for an impromptu barbecue, travel somewhere you havent visited before. You may be gone a while if the sun holds out. Be sure your adventures are well supplied by keeping extra batteries charged, and extra eliquid. Keep a bottle of eliquid and a set of fully charged batteries somewhere close and do not use these until you absolutely need them. You will be so glad you’ve done this when your at the beach, and you run out of battery power or eliquid, then remember you have extra stocks of each you have saved in the boot of your car.
8. Buy summer themed eliquid
I don’t know about you guys and girls, but when the summer hits I like to change the flavour of my juice. It helps me get into the summertime spirit. So in winter where I would normally go for cake flavours or dark fruits, in summer I may switch this regularly to more refreshing flavours like tropical fruits, menthol flavours, lemonade vapes, or even a cheeky little mojito flavour. This accompanies cool beer, cocktails and ice creams nicely.
9. If travelling abroad, do your research
If you are planning to go away for a part of the summer, or planning on flying somewhere, be sure to research local vape laws, or the laws of specific air travel companies, to ensure customs does not take your ecig or juice during a flight or crossovers. Most airlines will allow you to take a small bottle of eliquid in carry on luggage, but some may require different rules. It is always best to check before hand to ensure you take the proper precautions. Some countries may find it rude to vape in public, so make sure you are not upsetting any of the locals while your enjoying a vape.
10. Keep dry cleaning cloths on your person
When the weather gets hot, we sweat more. This is bound to happen. Sweat can pour off your hands and lips, when handling or vaping your ecig, you can easily pass this grime and sweat on to your ecig. If playing football for instance you may get dirtier and sweatier than normal. Make sure you keep a little cleaning cloth or hanky available to wipe your ecig off, to avoid moisture getting stuck in your ecig buttons, or grime getting on your drip tips.
Hopefully these tips will help you out in this lovely weather, but generally speaking, just try to keep your bulk e-liquids in a reasonably cool, dark place as much as possible, and store your spare batteries similarly too. If you follow this advice you should have a great summer and a better vape experience.
Happy vaping folks!