Vaping Glossary - The 101!

Welcome to the Wick And Wire Co Vaping Glossary. Below you will find all the major key terms that you need to know in the world of e-cigarettes and vaporizers. We will be updating this list as time goes on as well as diving deeper into the topics introduced here via our blog.

510 Connection - The 510 is the industry standard type of connection used to connect an atomiser/tank to a mod (battery unit).

ADV - All Day Vape. An e-liquid that you find pleasant enough to vape continuously throughout the day.

AFC - Airflow control. This refers to a hole (or holes) in the atomiser that can be adjusted to change the amount of airflow being pulled through the device, thus changing how loose or tight the draw is.

Atomizer – The atomizer is the part of the e-cigarette or vaporizer that heats the liquid (aka e-liquid or e-juice) in order to produce vapour. There are several types of atomizers each with different attributes and capabilities.

Battery – The battery powers the atomizer and allows it to heat the e-liquid. Much like with atomizers, batteries also come in different sizes and have different attributes determining how long it can hold a charge and how strong of a charge it can deliver to the atomizer.

Battery Safety - The practice of using your batteries in a responsible manner and ensuring their integrity. Make sure your battery wraps are fully intact (if they have even the slightest tear you should discontinue use until you can re-wrap or replace them).

Bottom coil Clearomizer (BCC) – Very much like clearomizers except for one key difference: the coil is placed near the base on the bottom of the tank instead of normally at the top near the drip tip.

Building - The act of installing coils and wicks in an RDA/RTA (check out our blog on rebuildable atomizers here).

Cartridge/Tank – is the part of the e cigarette or vaporizer that holds the e liquid that will be heated.

Cartomizer (aka carto) – A hybrid combination of an atomizer and cartridge packaged into a single metal unit. The unit houses a coil wrapped in polyfill which is saturated with e liquid for heating. Cartomizers are great for flavor and convenience due to its large holding capacity for e liquid.

Chip - An electronic microprocessor that regulates the power delivered from the battery and through the coil. A chip allows the user to vary the amount of watts/volts to suit the coil they're using and their personal vaping style. Temperature control is another feature available.

Clearomizer – Similar to a cartomizer, a clearomizer is also an all-in-one combination of an atomizer and cartridge with the only difference being that clearomizers have an exposed wick in some cases which sits in the e liquid. This wick controls the flow of e liquid being passed to the heating element for consistency.

Coil – the part of the atomizer that directly heats the e liquid into vapor. It is usually in contact with a wick that delivers a consistent flow of e liquid to be heated.

Deck - The part of an RDA where the positive and negative terminals (for connecting your coil) are located. There are several styles of deck and therefore several different ways to connect or "build" your coil. Also known as a build deck.

Dripping – the act of dripping e liquid directly on to the atomizer. This method is an alternative to cartridges and clearomizers.

Drip tip – is the mouthpiece that sits on top of the atomizer, cartomizer or clearomizer. This is to protect your lips from the heating element, provide an ergonomic way to inhale vapor and was also designed so that you could easily drip e liquid on to the heating element with out removing the mouth piece. They also provide a level of customization to your device with many different styles and colours made available.

DL/DTL - Direct To Lung. A style of atomiser that offers typically high power and a great amount of airflow which results in the vapour being inhaled directly into the lungs, similar to a shisha or inhaling helium from a balloon.

E-Liquid (aka E-Juice) – E-liquid is the fluid that goes into e-cigarettes and vaporizers. It is typically made up of Vegetable Glycerin (VG), Propylene Glycol (PG), and flavoring. E-liquid is made in different ratios of the previously mentioned ingredients. All brands stocked at Wick And Wire Co Australia do not contain nicotine. .

Electronic cigarette (aka E-cig) – a battery operated device that delivers a nicotine (or non-nicotine based) liquid to the user in a vaporized form for inhalation.

Genesis style atomizer – this type of rebuildable atomizer typically uses steel mesh/rope as the wicking material rather than silica. These are considered an advanced user device.

Mechanical Mods – Unlike variable voltage mods, mechanical mods do not have an easy straightforward way of adjusting the voltage running from the battery. Users of mechanical mods manually build or fine-tune their atomizers to a certain resistance that they prefer. These types of units are not recommended for inexperienced users, great care must be taken to ensure their safe usage.

Mod - This term is used to describe the battery unit. The mod houses the battery, chip, screen, and control buttons, and is what the atomiser connects to.

MTL - Mouth To Lung. A style of atomiser that typically has low power and restrictive airflow. These devices are designed to emulate smoking a cigarette, with a two stage draw. The user must first draw/suck the vapour into their mouth before then inhaling it into their lungs.

PG - Propylene Glycol. One of the main ingredients in e-liquid. PG carries more flavour and contributes to the throat hit. PG is thinner than VG (vegetable glycerine).

Pod System - A compact vaporizer with a coil that is integrated into a "pod" that holds the liquid. Unlike a tank-and-coil device where the user replaces coils when they reach the end of their life, the user will replace the whole pod instead. These devices are typically designed to be used with high strength salt nicotine. Read more about pods in our blog post here.

Rebuildable dripping atomizer (RDA) – an atomizer where one can manually wrap a coil and wick. The manual nature of this lends itself to the ability to choose different materials for the coil and wick each with different properties. E-liquid can then be dripped directly on the coils and wick.

Rebuildable tank atomizer (RTA) – Similar to a dripping atomizer where one can manually wrap a coil and wick. However utilizes a tank to feed liquid to the coils and wick as opposed to dripping liquid manually while being able to choose different materials for the coil and wick. Tanks can also vary in size in regards to how much liquid can be held.

Squonk Mod - A vaping device that removes the need to continuously drip liquid onto the wick in an RDA (rebuildable dripping atomizer). The mod houses a silicon/plastic bottle which acts as the e-liquid reservoir, when pressure is applied to the bottle the e-liquid is fed through a tube and hollow 510 connection, into the RDA where it is absorbed into the wick.

Sub-ohm - Any coil with a resistance of less than 1 ohm. Although many MTL atomizers are sub-ohm, in modern vaping sub-ohm is generally used to describe very low resistance, DTL atomizers.

Throat hit - The harshness/burning sensation felt at the back of the throat when inhaling vapour, mostly caused by nicotine, and somewhat caused by PG. Some vapers like this as it is similar to the sensation of smoking a cigarette.

Variable Voltage/Variable Wattage Mods – some devices allow users the ability to adjust the power of the charge flowing from the battery to the atomizer. This results in the ability to increase or decrease the amount and even flavor of the vapor produced.

VG - Vegetable Glycerine. One of the ingredients in e-liquid. VG produces the most vapour. It produces very little throat hit and carries less flavour than PG, it is also much thicker than PG.