If your vape suddenly tastes burnt or the vapor has dropped off, the coil is usually the reason. Coils are the part of your pod or tank that actually does the work of turning e-liquid into vapor, and they wear out with regular use. Understanding how they work makes it much easier to pick the right replacement and get consistent performance from your device.

What is a coil?

A coil is the heating element sitting inside your pod or tank. It’s a small length of resistance wire wrapped around (or built into) a wicking material, usually cotton, that sits in direct contact with your e-liquid. When you press the fire button or draw on your device, power runs through the wire, it heats up, and the e-liquid soaked into the wicking material turns to vapor almost instantly.

The wick’s job is just as important as the wire itself. It has to keep pulling e-liquid onto the coil fast enough to keep up with your vaping, without flooding or drying out. A coil that isn’t wicking properly is one of the most common causes of a burnt taste, even if the coil itself is otherwise fine.

Understanding resistance (ohms)

Every coil has a resistance rating, measured in ohms (Ω), and this number tells you a lot about how the coil will vape.

  • Sub-ohm coils (below 1.0Ω, commonly 0.4Ω–0.8Ω) have less resistance, so they need higher wattage to run. They produce more vapor and a warmer, airier draw. These are used for direct-to-lung (DTL) vaping, where you inhale a larger, more open pull straight to your lungs.
  • Higher-resistance coils (1.0Ω and above) run at lower wattage and produce a tighter, cooler draw that’s closer to drawing on a cigarette. These are built for mouth-to-lung (MTL) vaping, where you draw vapor into your mouth first before inhaling.

Neither type is “better” across the board — it comes down to which style of vaping suits you and what your device is designed for. Many pod systems are built specifically around one resistance range, which is why matching the coil to the device matters as much as the resistance number itself.

Coil materials

Coils are built from a few different materials, and each behaves a little differently:

  • Kanthal is a long-standing standard in coil-building. It’s durable and heats predictably, and you’ll find it in a wide range of tanks and pods.
  • Mesh coils (often built with Ni80 mesh) use a flat sheet of wire instead of a traditional round wrap. This spreads heat more evenly across the wicking material, which tends to mean smoother flavor and fewer dry hits. Mesh builds are common in most modern pod systems.
  • Ceramic coils use a ceramic element in place of exposed wire and are typically found in certain cartridge-style pods. Ceramic heats more gradually and evenly, which some vapers prefer for flavor consistency.

None of these materials makes a coil universally superior — the material is usually chosen by the manufacturer to suit how a particular device or pod is designed to perform.

How to choose the right coil for your device

The single most important rule with coils is that they are device-specific. A coil made for one pod family will not physically fit, or won’t work correctly, in a different one — a Caliburn-compatible coil, for example, will not fit an Xlim pod, even though both are popular pod systems. Coils are engineered to match the exact dimensions and airflow of the device they’re built for.

When shopping for replacements, always check:

  • The exact device or pod model you own, not just the brand.
  • Whether you prefer an MTL, higher-resistance coil for a tighter draw, or a sub-ohm/mesh coil for bigger vapor and a DTL draw.
  • That you’re buying a pack rather than a single coil, since coils are consumable and wearing several through means less time waiting on a reorder.

It’s also worth knowing the signs that tell you a coil needs replacing before it fully fails: a burnt or muted taste, a noticeable drop in vapor production, or gurgling and leaking from the pod. Any of these usually means the wicking material has worn out or saturated, and a fresh coil will fix it.

Where to buy replacement coils

We stock replacement coils across both major vaping styles. For MTL setups, our higher-ohm coil packs are built for a tighter, cooler draw. For sub-ohm and DTL devices, our mesh coil options are designed for bigger vapor and smoother flavor. Most coil packs on the site run around Rs. 700–900, and each listing specifies exactly which device or pod family it fits, so check your model before ordering.

Browse our full range in the Vape Coils & Cartridges category, or if you’re due for a new device, take a look at our Vape Pods category as well.