Tank Leaking and Spitting: How to Fix Your Vape

Leaking, popping, spitting. It's all part of vaping, right? It doesn't have to be that way. There are plenty of things you can do to keep these issues to a minimum. Whether you're using a rebuildable atomizer, regular vape tank, or even a pod vape, these tips will ensure a smooth experience and are applicable to a variety of devices.

There's nothing worse than spilling your best e-juice all over your hands. Recently, manufacturers have been redesigning some of their more recent tanks to combat leaking and other annoying issues like hot pops and spitback. No matter what type of device you prefer, here’s what you can do to fix it now.

What is leaking?

Leaking happens when e-juice escapes from your tank, usually through the airflow system. Depending on the reason behind it, leaking can range from a few drops of e-liquid, to having your tank emptying all of its contents all over your vape mod. It’s a common problem with even the most popular sub ohm tanks. Bestsellers of previous years, like the SMOK TFV8 Baby Beast, Uwell Crown III, Sense Herakles, and the Aspire Cleito, had been troubling vapers with leaking due to design oversights or common user errors. Many of the newer tanks are designed to prevent this, though no tank is 100% leakproof.

While there are a few common culprits, the good news is that there are ways to prevent leaking from happening. First, we will start with some general tips, and then go into more depth depending on the device you're using.

How to prevent leaking

Check your seal

Remove e-juice from chimney

Keep your tank upright

Check for worn or damaged O-rings

Put a lid on it

Check your airflow

Watch out when filling

Check for cracks

Use the right e-juice

cloud-chucking

MTL devices

PG/VG

Check your coil heads

Wick carefully

RTA

cotton

What is spitting and popping?

Spitting, or spitback, is the name for the occasional super-hot droplets of e-liquid that shoot in your mouth when you’re vaping. If you watch an RDA coil firing, you can sometimes see this happening, usually accompanied by popping sounds. The droplets spit in all directions, but if you’re unlucky, some of them can shoot up into the mouthpiece.

Spitback has a simple cause: e-liquid gets pooled up on the coil itself and gets “cooked” instead of being vaporized. It spits similar to the way boiling water does, and with you inhaling from the tip, you can easily catch a droplet or two. The problem is closely linked to flooded coils, but, in some cases, it can happen even without flooding. Here are some ways to prevent spitting and popping from occurring.

How to prevent spitting and popping

Don't over-prime your coil

Reduce your airflow

Use thicker e-juice

high-VG e-juice

Pulse the fire button

Turn up the power

drip tip

Clean the chimney

Avoid exotic coils

Clapton coils

Fix your wicks

Conclusion

Sometimes troubleshooting is necessary for a smooth experience. There are so many causes for leaking, spitback and hot pops—but they’re very avoidable. Start with the simple solutions first, and if they don’t work, move on to more drastic measures. If all else fails, you might need a whole new tank or device altogether.

It's good to know that manufacturers are waking up to these common problems. As anti-spitback and anti-leaking measures become more widespread, we may be entering a new age of vaping. If the tech keeps progressing, problems like these might become a thing of the past someday. In the meantime, don’t let these inconveniences deter you from enjoying a much better alternative to smoking cigarettes.