Have you ever experienced a dreaded dry hit when vaping with a CCELL® cartridge? If so, there’s a good chance that you didn’t prime the coil properly before using it. The CCELL® ceramic vape coil is designed to give you spectacular flavor quality from the first puff to the last, but there are so many variables involved with vaping that it’s possible to have a less than ideal experience if you don’t prime or fill your CCELL® cartridge properly – especially if you’re using an unusually thick vape oil. In this article, we’re going to walk you through the process. We’re also going to include some extra tips that you might find helpful if you’re using a thicker oil. Let’s dive in!
Why Is It So Important to Prime a CCELL® Cartridge Before Using It?
CCELL® cartridges are the best products on the market for oil vaping for two reasons. The first reason is because the porous ceramic wick delivers completely reliable performance even with very thick oils – something that’s simply not possible with traditional cotton vape wicks.
The other reason why ceramic vape coils are so great, though, is because ceramic doesn’t burn like cotton. A CCELL® vape cartridge will eventually lose its great flavor quality, but it’ll be because of residue from your oil – not because of damage to the ceramic. That’s a great thing because it means that a dry hit is just a small inconvenience instead of being something that can ruin your coil permanently – which would be the case with a cotton wick.
The fact that a CCELL® coil can survive a dry hit, however, doesn’t change the fact that it’s an extremely unpleasant thing to experience. If the wick isn’t completely saturated with oil, the coil’s heating element will overheat and glow red. Instead of getting a satisfying puff of vapor, you’ll get a lungful of harshness. Priming a CCELL® coil helps you avoid dry hits, and it’s completely easy to do.
How to Fill a CCELL® Cartridge
Before you can prime a CCELL® coil, you’ve got to fill the cartridge – so that’s where we’ll begin. Note that these instructions apply both to vape cartridges and CCELL® pods. If you’re filling your own CCELL® cartridge, though, you’ll want to make sure that you’re using one designed to be opened and closed by the end user. Tamper-proof CCELL® cartridges require dedicated machines for closing, and once they’re closed, they’re not designed to be opened again. A refillable cartridge has a screw-on mouthpiece.
To fill a CCELL® cartridge, unscrew the mouthpiece and place the tip of your bottle or syringe between the center chimney and the outer wall of the cartridge. Dispense 0.5 or 1.0 ml of oil, depending on the capacity of the cartridge. After you’ve added the correct amount of oil to the cartridge, you’ll notice that there appears to be room for a little additional oil at the top. Resist the temptation to overfill the cartridge. The mouthpiece goes into the cartridge slightly to create a good seal; if you overfill the cartridge, it’s likely that some of the oil will leak out.
After you’ve filled and closed your cartridge, the only thing left to do is prime the coil – and as you’re about to learn, that’s the easiest part.
How to Prime a CCELL® Coil
To prime a vape cartridge, wait for the ceramic wick to saturate with oil, especially thicker ones. Speed up by warming slightly or puffing gently. Here’s the greatest thing about priming a CCELL® coil: It’s incredibly easy because all that you need to do is wait. The porous ceramic wick will absorb the oil from the cartridge’s reservoir until it becomes completely saturated, and at that point, the cartridge is ready to use. If you’ve ever experienced a dry hit with a new CCELL® cartridge, the most likely cause is that you’re simply not waiting long enough for the wick to become fully saturated. The thicker your oil is, the longer you’ll need to wait. With some oils, you may need to wait as long as 30 minutes before vaping.
If you’re using an especially thick oil with a honey-like consistency, you can speed the process up a bit by warming the oil slightly. One way to do that is by closing your hand around the cartridge and allowing the heat of your hand to warm the oil to slightly above room temperature. That’ll loosen the oil a bit and get it flowing into the wick.
You can also use a little air pressure to help things along; just puff gently on the cartridge’s mouthpiece a few times without pushing your vape pen’s fire button. If you have a puff-activated vape pen without a fire button, disconnect the cartridge before puffing on it.
Are you getting weak hits after filling a new CCELL® cartridge even though you’ve allowed the cartridge to rest for 30 minutes after filling it? Try pressing your vape pen’s fire button a few times briefly – or puff gently without inhaling if you’re using a puff-activated vape pen – to heat the coil from the inside and loosen the oil a bit. Give the coil a few minutes to absorb the oil and try vaping again.
Can You Refill an Empty CCELL® Cartridge?
If you’re using a CCELL® cartridge with a screw-off mouthpiece, you can refill the cartridge as many times as you like until you’re no longer happy with its flavor. Learn more about how to open and refill a CCELL® cartridge.
Do You Also Need to Prime Wax Vape Coils?
The thicker your material is, the more important it is to prime your coil properly before using it – and that’s especially true if you’re using a wax vape coil. If you just put a piece of wax on the coil and take a big puff, you’re going to get a very unpleasant surprise because the wax won’t absorb into the coil until it’s liquified. After loading a wax coil, you should use your vape pen’s fire button to heat the coil in brief pulses. As you do this, you’ll see the wax soften and absorb into the coil. Once you’ve primed the coil, you can vape normally. After several puffs, you’ll need to add more wax and repeat the priming process again.