How to Refill Your Electronic Cigarette with E-Liquid

Here at Simply ELiquid, we believe that buying a refillable vape starter kit is one of the best decisions that you can make as a beginning vaper. Between the experience of using a vaping device with pre-filled pods or cartridges and using one that you can refill yourself, there’s simply no comparison because having the ability to try any e-liquid on the market rather than being restricted to the few e-cigarette liquid refill flavours available for a pre-filled device makes vaping infinitely more enjoyable.

Having a refillable vape kit does, however, come with one additional challenge: You need to learn how to refill your e-cig. Learning how to refill a vape tank with e-liquid isn’t going to add significantly to the challenge of using your vaping device, but there is a certain art to doing it properly if you want to have the best experience possible. If you’ve ever experienced a burnt flavour immediately after filling your vape tank, for instance – or if you’ve ever noticed a gurgling sound when vaping – there’s a good chance that you didn’t fill the tank properly. Let’s make sure those things don’t happen. Here’s how to refill your vape tank the right way.

Prime the Coil When Filling Your Tank for the First Time

Regardless of the type of vape tank that you own, filling the tank for the first time should always begin with priming the coil. A vape coil usually has a wick made from cotton, and you want to make sure that the wick is totally wet before you start vaping. Otherwise, you could end up burning the wick. A coil with a burnt wick will always produce an awful flavour, and if you’ve ever experienced a burnt flavour immediately after filling a tank for the first time, there’s a good chance that the wick was dry.

To prime a vape coil, unscrew and remove the bottom portion of the tank. You’ll find the coil connected to the tank’s bottom hardware. Look for the little holes on the side of the coil. The white material that you can see through the holes is the coil’s wick. Using the tip of an e-liquid bottle, place a drop of e-juice on each of those holes. Keep adding e-liquid until the cotton looks damp. You can also send a few drops of e-liquid down through the centre of the coil.

You only need to prime a vape coil when using it for the first time. As long as you’re using the same coil, you can simply refill your tank as needed without priming the coil again. When you install a new coil, though, you’ll need to repeat this process.

These days, many vape kits include top-filling tanks. If you have a tank with a top-fill lid, you can reconnect the tank’s bottom hardware now. If you have a bottom-filling tank, you’ll want to fill your vape tank before replacing the bottom hardware. We’ll provide instructions for filling both types of tank tanks next.

How to Refill a Top-Filling Vape Tank

As we mentioned above, most of the vape tanks currently on the market have top-filling mechanisms. Many people prefer top-filling tanks because you can refill a tank with a top-filling lid without removing the tank from your vaping device.

If you have a tank with a top-filling mechanism, you’ll find a button or arrow somewhere under the tank’s mouthpiece. If the tank has a button, push the button to open the tank’s lid. If the tank has an arrow, slide the tank’s lid in the direction of the arrow.

When you open your tank, you’ll notice some prominent centre tubing in addition to one or two smaller holes positioned off to the side. You’ll want to avoid the centre tube because that’s the tank’s airflow channel. Refill the tank by adding vape juice through one of the smaller offset holes.

If the tank has a sliding lid, push the lid back to its original position to close it. If the lid has a button release, swing the lid back to its original position and push it down until the button clicks. If you’re using a new coil for the first time, wait a few minutes before vaping to ensure that the coil’s wick is completely wet.

How to Refill a Bottom-Filling Vape Tank

If you have a bottom-filling vape tank, you’ll need to remove the tank from your vaping device and turn it upside down when it’s time to refill it. Because refilling the tank involves holding it upside down, you’ll want to wait until the tank is nearly empty before filling it. Otherwise, you may end up spilling e-liquid on your hand. Unscrew the tank’s bottom hardware and set it aside.

In the centre of the tank’s glass reservoir, you’ll see a metal chimney leading to the tank’s mouthpiece. Any e-liquid that you send down the chimney will go straight out of the mouthpiece, and you can avoid that by tilting the reservoir slightly and placing your e-liquid bottle against the side of the tank. Don’t attempt to fill the glass all the way to the top because you need to leave a bit of room for the tank’s bottom hardware.

Replace the bottom hardware after filling the tank. If you’re using a new coil for the first time, wait a few minutes before you begin vaping.

What to Do if Your Vape Tank Gurgles

As we mentioned above, the tube at the centre of your vape tank is for airflow – not for e-liquid. The tube is simply a hollow channel that leads from the coil to the mouthpiece. If you get e-liquid in the centre channel when filling your tank, you’ll flood the coil. That will cause your tank to gurgle. If there’s a lot of excess e-liquid in the coil assembly, your tank may even leak.

If your vape tank is gurgling, you obviously don’t want to disassemble the tank to resolve the issue because taking the tank apart will cause you to lose your e-liquid. Instead, take a paper towel and twist it into a tight cone shape. Run the paper towel down through the tank’s mouthpiece and hold it against the coil for several seconds to absorb the excess e-liquid. When you resume vaping, you should find that the tank no longer gurgles.

What to Do if Your Vape Tank Leaks

Do you have a vape tank that’s leaking e-liquid out the bottom air vents? If you’ve already tried the paper towel trick above and are certain that you’re not sending e-liquid down your tank’s centre air tube, it’s possible that the tank isn’t assembled correctly or that the tank’s rubber gaskets are damaged.

Start by disassembling the tank and checking the gaskets for warping or tearing. If you find a damaged gasket, replace it if possible. Many vape tanks include full sets of replacement parts. If the gaskets appear fine, it’s possible that the tank was leaking because the parts were cross-threaded. Reassemble the tank carefully, making sure that you aren’t attempting to force the threads together. If the tank’s components don’t twist together smoothly, back them up and try again. Don’t attempt to over-tighten the tank. If the components are undamaged and assembled correctly, the tank shouldn’t leak.