Last reviewed: August 2026
In short: a soft crackle is the sound of liquid vaporising and means the coil is working properly. Loud popping, gurgling, and hot droplets landing on your tongue are a different thing entirely — they mean liquid is sitting somewhere it should not be.
Normal crackle vs a problem
| Normal | Not normal |
|---|---|
| Soft, even crackle while firing | Loud pops, like oil in a pan |
| Quietens as the puff goes on | Gurgling before you even fire |
| Nothing reaches your mouth | Hot droplets on the tongue |
If nothing lands in your mouth and the sound is even, leave it alone — that is the coil doing its job.
1. Flooding — the usual cause
Too much liquid has reached the coil, more than it can turn to vapour. The excess boils violently and spits.
It happens after overfilling, after leaving the device lying on its side, or after taking it off a plane. The fix takes thirty seconds:
- Take the pod or tank off and tap it firmly, mouthpiece down, onto a tissue
- Roll a corner of tissue into the airflow hole to draw out what is left
- Take two or three puffs with the device off to clear the chimney
- Fire it at a low wattage for a couple of short puffs
2. Wattage set too low
Counter-intuitive, but common. Too little power means liquid reaches the coil faster than it is vaporised, and the surplus pools and spits.
If the device is spitting and the vapour is thin and cool, raise the wattage a few watts at a time within the coil’s printed range. See how resistance and wattage work together.
3. Drawing too hard
A sharp, forceful pull drags liquid past the cotton before it can vaporise. This catches people who have just moved from cigarettes and are still inhaling the same way.
Draw slower and longer. On a mouth-to-lung device a steady three-second pull gives more vapour and more flavour than a hard one-second yank.
4. Liquid too thin for the coil
A thin salt nic in a large sub-ohm coil floods it constantly — the wicking holes are far bigger than that liquid needs. It is the same mismatch that causes leaking; see salt nic vs freebase.
5. The coil is worn out
An old coil with saturated, degraded cotton no longer absorbs evenly, so liquid pools instead. If spitting has started alongside a flat or slightly scorched taste, the coil is finished — see burnt taste and replace it.
Stopping it coming back
- Store the device upright, never on its side
- Do not overfill — stop at the line, and pour down the inside wall, as in the filling guide
- Wipe the airflow every few days
- Close the airflow before flying, and leave the tank part-empty
A spit guard is worth having
If your device spits often by design, a mesh spit guard or a longer drip tip stops droplets reaching your mouth. Ask us whether one fits your device.
- Salmiya branch: +965 5088 3667 — open 24 hours
- Rigai branch: +965 5112 4370 — 8 am to 4 am
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