What Is A Vaporizer?

A vaporizer is a device that heats up a substance until it turns into vapor.

You can draw in the vapor from the compound, and receive the desired effects. Some people vape just for the flavor while others vape for nicotine, CBD, or THC. There is no right or wrong here; you are free to vape for whatever reason you choose.

Now that you know what a vaporizer is let's have a look at some of the basic components.

Essential Vaping Components

Power Sources

One vape-starter-kit-no-smoking thing that all vaporizers have in common is a power source. The job of the power supply is to efficiently send enough energy to vaporize your e-liquid or dry material. We are going to cover several different sources of energy so you can be aware of different options you have to choose from.

First, we have the battery. Batteries are the primary power supply for the common vape. If you are vaping e-liquid, then you will have a vape that has a battery. Some vapes have an internal battery in a unibody. These are rechargeable but not replaceable. When your battery dies, you'll need to plug it up to the charger to recharge it. Other vapes have removable batteries. With removable batteries, you have a little more flexibility. You can carry extra batteries with you in case you run out of power. Having removable batteries can really come in handy on road trips, camping trips, or any event where you may be away from a charger for extended periods of time.

Vape batteries range in size from 180mAh (really small) all the way to 35,000mAh (humongous). Finding the right battery for you will take a little trial and error, but you probably won't need 35,000mAh unless you're planning for the upcoming zombie apocalypse. If you want to air on the safe side, 1,500mAh should be plenty for the average vaper. If you plan on hitting your vape hard and frequently, you might want to start off with a battery capacity of 2,300mAh or more.

You should also factor in portability when choosing the right battery for you. The smaller the battery capacity, the more portable and concealable your vape will be. If you aren't going to be leaving the house with your vape, then you should consider getting a larger battery since you won't be shoving it into your pocket. If you are going to be traveling a lot with your vape, then you'll want to find a happy medium between portability and battery capacity. You don't want something that's too small because it can die on you before you're able to charge it. You don't want something too big because it won't fit comfortably in your pocket. You should consider a vape pen with a 1,300+mAh battery or a smaller box mod.

Anoth portable-vaporizer-pen er popular vaporizer style requires a wall outlet. These vapes are mainly for vaping dry material. If you are only vaping e-liquid, chances are you will not own a vaporizer that plugs into the wall. These vaporizers are considerably larger than the portable battery operated vapes.

Oddly enough, some vaporizers do not use a battery or a wall outlet. You might be wondering what source of energy could they possibly use. I was wondering the same thing when someone first told me this. For some reason, I haven't really figured it out, there are vaporizers that run on butane. Why in the world you would want a vape that runs on butane is a mystery to me. The only reason I could think of is the pending zombie apocalypse. Other than that, I don't see much of a benefit. We live in a world where there is a socket everywhere you turn your head. You can even buy portable USB battery packs for crying out loud.

Tanks, Clearamizers, Cartomizers

The tank is the part of your vape that holds the e-liquid or dry material. Some vapes do not have tanks at all. Instead, you have to keep dripping e-liquid onto the coils. The tankless vapes are called RDAs (rebuildable dripping atomizer). We are going to focus on the e-liquid tanks. They are more beginner friendly. The liquid tanks come in several different sizes and styles.

On the smaller end, you have your cartomizers or cartridges. A cartridge is a disposable tank that is pre-filled with e-liquid. They are usually pretty small, holding less than 0.5ml of e-liquid. They only last for about 200 puffs before running dry. Cartridges are popular with the cigalike (cigarette like) crowd. The cigalike is really little, just like a cigarette. If you want something that is similar in size to a cigarette, then the cigalike is an option you should consider. We do not recommend cigalikes. They are expensive, have a short battery life, and are not versatile at all. You will end up spending more money on cigalikes than you used to spend on cigarettes.

Clear tanks are also called clearomizers.

Another small option is the micro tank. Micro tanks are small, but a lot larger than the cigalike cartridges. The micro tanks hold anywhere from 1.5-2.5ml of vape juice. Some of them are extendable. An extendable tank means it come with an interchangeable pyrex glass housing and an extender piece. Tanks that are extendable can double in capacity. So if you think you want a small tank today, but might want a larger tank tomorrow, an extendable micro tank would be a good option for you.

On the larger side, you have 5-10ml tanks. A 10ml tank is pretty large. At 5ml, you will still have good portability and will be able to hold a lot of vape juice. You will have to play around a little bit to see which tank suits you bet. We recommend starting off with a micro tank that you can extend. As soon as you get it, extend it to its larger capacity.

You might decide you like to switch up flavors a lot. With the adjustable micro tank, you'll be able to go back down to the smaller capacity tank. You'll empty the tank faster, allowing you to switch flavors frequently. It's not uncommon for vapers to have several different tanks and batteries. If you turn into the person who has a collection of vapes, just know that you are not alone.

Atomizers

The atomizer is composed of several pieces and is majorly important to the vaping process. It is responsible for creating the vapor that millions of people have come to love. The atomizer is a part that you want to become familiar with as soon as possible. By understanding the role of the atomizer, you will be light years ahead of new vapers and well on your way to vaping success.

The best-vape-pen atomizer is the little piece housed at the bottom of your tank. It has a coil that wraps around a wick. The wick soaks up e-liquid from the tank and becomes completely saturated in vape juice. To make sure that the cotton saturates completely with e-liquid, you need to prime the coil. Once the coil is primed, and the wick is saturated, you are ready to fire your vape.

When you fire your vape, the atomizer heats up the little coil. The hot coil turns the e-liquid into vapor. That's why it's so important to make sure the cotton is saturated with vape juice before you fire your vape. If you fire the vape before the coil is primed, you will burn the cotton and will be stuck with a burnt cotton flavor until you change the atomizer.

In short, the atomizer is the piece that transfers power from the battery to the coil. The coil gets scorching hot and vaporizes the e-liquid that is soaked into the wick. The wick then draws more vape juice from the tank, allowing you to fire your vape again and again. The atomizer is one of the most important components of your vaping device. Now that you know what an atomizer is, you are ready to start vaping.