Giving up on smoking is a lot easier since vaping was invented. But there are couple of traps which can leave a new vaper completely puzzled and disappointed in the new-old phenomenon. This is why some smokers go back to their cigars, instead of remaining happy vapers. With the huge number of products dedicated to vaping, no one can blame them: you have to pick from the amazing varieties of simple e-liquids, or you can mix multiple liquids. There are many vaping devices, each one with their own maintenance guide… and the laws on vaping are downright confusing!

But don’t worry, here are the facts on vaping and vaping mistakes you want to avoid, to improve your experience and reap all the pleasure from that fog.

What is vaping in the first place?

Vaping is the name given to the inhalation of the vapors from your electronic cigarette device. The vapors, which look like a light fog, contain nicotine in a base of propylene glycol PG or vegetable glycerin VG or both. Vaping is an alternative to smoking. A much healthier alternative, if we look at the scientific studies.

A team of researchers from the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center found that vaping doesn’t stiffen your aorta. This is not the only benefit of vaping over smoking: Konstantino Farsalinos also studied the effects of vaping on the human body and found that vaping doesn’t lowers the oxygen supply received by the heart, as smoking does. His finding is supported by many other studies on the effects of vaping on the cardiovascular system, which concluded that vaping is harmless for the heart.

Your lungs will also be happier with vaping, which is the conclusion of other scientific studies on this new habit. All in all, vaping can actually improve your health status, if you are a former smoker. For non-smokers, vaping seems to be rather harmless.

However, these scientifically proven facts on vaping are valid only if you know how to use the electronic cigarettes and other vaping devices, so here is what not to do while vaping.

Don’t buy a cheap e-cigarette

One of the biggest problems of beginner vapers is the fact they buy cheap devices, which make all e-juices taste horrible. Moreover, cheap equipment is prone to malfunction, leaks and breaking. If you think you can use the price as guidance, you are wrong: there are many low quality e-cigs with a huge price! Now that you know vaping mistakes you want to avoid, you need to do your research. And do it good! Read as many reviews as possible, ask experienced vapers which products they use and then make the investment.

Don’t buy the e-juice blindly

After buying the right e-cigarette, you have to settle for the right e-juice mix. There are lots of flavours and brands out there, but you first need to get the right mix of the two main ingredients: the PG and the VG. The best way to do this is entering a vaping store and start testing hands on; if you don’t have this option, just start with a 50/50 mix of PG and VG, then adjust the numbers until you find the best fit. It’s going to be time consuming and money consuming, but this is definitely going to improve your vaping experience, so do it!

Don’t settle for ghost juices

Flavor ghosting is the process when you switch to a new flavor, but your vaping device still contains traces of the old juice, which is one of the thing labeled what not to do while vaping. Why? Simply because some flavors don’t mix! To get the best out of your new juice, clean the tank with hot water to remove any trace of the old contents. If needed, you can also change the cotton.

Don’t buy an e-juice with too much nicotine

When you’re talking about vaping mistakes you want to avoid, buying a high concentration of nicotine has to be among the most common mistakes ever! Electronic cigarettes are not like regular cigarettes – each device is unique and you can easily get nicotine sickness if you buy a liquid with too much nicotine. Like always, you need to experience with multiple devices and concentrations. To start with, older vaping devices support a higher nicotine level, while sub ohm devices impose a reduction of the nicotine level.

You can also start experimenting with nicotine levels based on how many cigarettes you were smoking. For 20+ cigarettes per day, you can go for 18mg-24mg of nicotine, for 10-20 cigarettes per day, try a concentration of 8-12mg. If you are a light smoker, go for the comfortable 6mg or 3mg.

Don’t overlook proper maintenance

E-cigarettes come with a lot of benefits, as we’ve seen, but they need proper maintenance. If you ask a vaper what not to do while vaping he might list skipping maintenance in his top 3! If you don’t clean your vaping device, it will become clogged, dirty and will give you a taste of burnt or a foul flavor.

To make sure you are getting the best from your device, make sure you clean and replace the elements regularly. The coil is the component which requires most attention, because as they get older, the vapor production drops. Before you start vaping with a new coil, first prime it and saturate the wick, otherwise, you might experience the horrible dry hit. It’s also good to wait about 10-15 minutes after changing the coil, before vaping, to make sure it is completely saturated.

Include battery replacement in your regular maintenance: you don’t want to find yourself low on batteries! It’s always a good idea to have a mini USB charger with you at all times.

Don’t attempt to build your own devices

Simply don’t! It may look easy, but building your own e-cigarettes is on the what not to do while vaping list for a simple reason: they are not as simple as you think they are! It takes solid physics knowledge to build a vaping device and most of us mortals don’t possess it, so leave it to the pros.

Another thing you shouldn’t be doing is trying to fill your device if you’re not sure how to do it or you haven’t done it before. With the wide models available on the market, there are lots of chances to ruin your device trying to fill it.

Don’t vape the same e-juice for too long

Vapers suffer from something called “vape tongue”, which appears as an inability to taste the flavor of the juice after vaping on it for a long time. When this happens, you just have to replace the e-juice and when you’re back on your regular juice, you will be able to enjoy it as usual.

Another simple trick: drink water. Vaping can dehydrate you really fast and drinking water is a way to stay hydrated and away from vape tongue.

Featured photo credit: VapeDirect/Flickr via flickr.com

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