A vape might look like a simple piece of consumer electronics on the surface, but what happens inside the device is actually surprisingly complicated. The core function of a vaping device is to heat a liquid until it boils and turns to vapour. You expect the process to happen instantly, and that requires a lot of battery power – so your vape also needs to manage power delivery safely. It’s a complex process.
So, how does a vape work? In this guide, we’ll explain what’s inside your vape and describe the process that happens when you inhale or press the fire button. When you’re done reading, you won’t just be a more knowledgeable vaper; you’ll also have a better understanding of what you should look at when your vape isn’t working as it should.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
A vape uses heat to boil a liquid called e-liquid, turning it to vapour. You absorb the nicotine in the e-liquid through your lungs when you inhale the vapour.
Your vaping device manages the safe delivery of power from the battery to the heating element, which boils the e-liquid.
The tank or pod in your vaping device heats the e-liquid and allows it to flow from the reservoir to the heating element.
WHAT’S INSIDE A VAPE?
The best way to understand how vapes work is by starting with some basic knowledge of what’s inside your vape. Here are the main components and what they do.
BATTERY
The battery supplies the power necessary for your vaping device to work. The storage capacity of a battery scales along with its size, so a larger vape generally lasts longer between charges than a smaller one.
Vaping devices use rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, but they’re not the same as the batteries that you might have in your torch and electric toothbrush. You expect your vape to produce vapour instantly when you inhale or press the button, and that requires a battery capable of operating safely at high amperages. Vape batteries are optimised for high-drain operation.
LOGIC BOARD AND INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
Even the simplest e-cigarettes do much more than simply sending battery power directly to the heating coil. Your vape has several built-in safety features, and it may have more advanced features as well. Those functions require a logic board and integrated circuits. A vape also has a type of built-in programming called firmware that manages its functions.
Depending on the type of vape you’re using, some of the functions of the logic board and integrated circuits may include:
Monitoring the battery’s health and managing the charging process.
Managing power delivery to eliminate any chance of unsafe battery drain.
Operating a puff timer that makes the device cut off automatically during long puffs.
Managing safety features such as temperature monitoring and automatic short circuit detection.
Enabling advanced functions like variable wattage, temperature control and a built-in menu system.
E-LIQUID STORAGE
Your vaping device stores its e-liquid in a tank or pod, which consists of a storage reservoir, a heating coil – which we’ll discuss separately – and an airflow system. When you puff on your vape, the air goes through the intake vents in the tank or pod before traveling through the heating coil and chimney and exiting through the mouthpiece.
HEATING COIL
The heating coil – also known as the atomiser coil or just the coil – is the main component at the centre of your device’s tank or pod. It’s responsible for heating your e-liquid and turning it to vapour, and it also manages the flow of e-liquid from the storage area to the heating element. The coil is the part of a vape that determines its vapour production and flavour quality, so it’s arguably the most important component of the entire device. In the next section, we’ll explain how it works.
HOW A VAPE WORKS
Now that you understand what’s in a vape, let’s learn more about what happens when you inhale or press the fire button. Here’s how your vape works.
HOW THE DEVICE WORKS
Before the device produces vapour, it runs through a set of checks to determine whether it’s safe for you to vape. Depending on your vape’s features, the device may monitor things like the battery’s voltage, the coil’s resistance and the device’s internal temperature. The safety checks are nearly instant.
If the safety checks pass, the device sends power from the battery to the coil. The coil becomes hot, boiling the e-liquid and turning it to vapor.
This process continues until the battery’s voltage is no longer high enough for continued operation. At this point, the light will blink – or the screen will display a low battery notification – to let you know that it’s time to recharge your vape.
HOW THE TANK OR POD WORKS
The operation of a vape basically takes place in two parts. There’s the functioning of the device itself – which we explained above – but most of the action takes place in the tank or pod.
Your vape’s tank or pod is responsible for storing your e-liquid and turning it to vapour. It also manages airflow. That’s a major engineering challenge in itself because your device has numerous airflow holes, but you expect it not to leak.
The tank or pod consists of an e-liquid reservoir and a coil assembly, which includes a heating element and a wick. The wick is usually wrapped around the outside of the heating element, and it provides the link between the heating element and the reservoir.
You can see the wick through the holes on the side of the coil assembly.
Here’s how these parts work together.
When you fill the tank or pod, the wick absorbs e-liquid from the reservoir until it’s fully saturated. Once the wick is completely wet, the remaining e-liquid remains in the reservoir.
When you inhale through your vape or press the fire button, the heating element turns the e-liquid in the wick to vapour. This leaves the wick partially dry, so it absorbs more e-liquid from the reservoir.
The process continues until the tank or pod is empty. You’ll see the level of e-liquid decreasing as you vape. When the e-liquid is below the coil’s wick openings, you should refill your device to avoid a burnt taste.
WHAT’S ARE YOU ACTUALLY INHALING WHEN YOU VAPE?
The point of vaping is that it simulates the actions, sensations and flavour of smoking, allowing you to use nicotine in a way that’s satisfying but doesn’t require you to inhale smoke or use a tobacco product.
What you’re inhaling isn’t just nicotine, though, and it isn’t water vapour either. Understanding what you’re inhaling is just as important as knowing how your vape works.
Here’s what you’re inhaling when you use your vape.
Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerine (VG): These are the main ingredients in any e-liquid. Most e-liquid contains a blend of the two liquids, but it’s possible for an e-liquid to contain only one or the other. PG and VG give e-liquid its substance and create the clouds that you see when you vape. They also dilute the flavours and nicotine to the correct strengths.
Nicotine: Nicotine is obviously the main ingredient that concerns most vapers. When you use your vape, you absorb the nicotine through your lungs to replicate the sensation and satisfaction of smoking. In the UK, e-liquids are available in strengths ranging from 0 to 20 mg/ml. An e-liquid with a strength of 20 mg/ml has 20 mg of nicotine per ml, which means that a 10 ml bottle contains 200 mg of nicotine in all.
Flavours: Most e-liquid is flavoured, which is one of the biggest reasons why vaping is so much more enjoyable than smoking. Cigarettes only come in one flavour, but e-liquids are available in hundreds of flavours ranging from tobacco and menthol to fruit and candy.
E-liquids are flavoured with food-grade flavouring agents.
Most e-liquids contain all four of the ingredients described above. However, it’s possible for an e-liquid to omit one or all of these ingredients for certain purposes.
An e-liquid designed for very small vaping devices may omit VG for more reliable operation because VG is much more viscous than PG and has difficulty flowing efficiently through small openings.
An e-liquid designed for allergy sufferers may omit PG because a few people are allergic or sensitive to it.
An e-liquid may omit nicotine because some people prefer nicotine-free vapes.
An e-liquid may have no added flavours because some people prefer flavourless e-liquids.
DO VAPES WORK THE SAME AS HEATED TOBACCO PRODUCTS?
Vapes aren’t the same thing as heated tobacco products like IQOS. Although the nicotine in e-liquid is usually extracted from tobacco, it’s produced for pharmaceutical use and is over 99-percent pure.
Vaping eliminates both smoke and tobacco from the equation. Heated tobacco products also don’t produce smoke, but they do contain tobacco. The principle, however, is similar. The tobacco is typically impregnated with PG and/or VG, which creates a vapour cloud when heated. The cloud carries the nicotine from the tobacco, and you absorb the nicotine through your lungs.
Although vaping and heated tobacco work similarly to one another in principle, it’s important to remember that you’re still using tobacco when you use a heated tobacco product – you’re just not inhaling smoke.