Why is My Vape Getting Hot? How To Fix a Hot Vape (Ultimate Guide)

“Why is my vape getting hot?” Occasionally, you may touch a section of your vape and feel like you’ve accidentally leaned on a radiator! Cue the horror stories of exploding vapes swarming your mind…

Don’t panic!

Your vape getting hot is almost certainly nothing to worry about. Remember, vapes are specifically designed to manipulate heat: the battery supplies energy to the coil and the coil converts a part of that energy into heat, the result being a stream of vapour sent through the drip tip for you to inhale. Your vape heating up slightly is a normal by-product of this.

Furthermore, If you’re using a regulated device (one that comes with the usual electrical protections) as opposed to a “mechanical” one, the chance of a disaster is extremely unlikely.

However this doesn’t mean you should just ignore when your vape gets too hot to handle! Fortunately, hot vapes are almost always nothing to be too concerned about and often easy to prevent.

Why is my vape getting hot? How to fix a hot vape:

Make sure you’re not chain-vaping
Ensure you’re using the correct coils
Check your voltage/wattage isn’t too high
Watch out for coil-gunk
Make sure your juice flow isn’t restricted
Adjust your airflow
Check it’s not a problem with your battery

1. Make sure you’re not chain-vaping

By far the most common reason for a hot vape is that you’ve been vaping too frequently. Don’t feel ashamed however, as it’s likely that most vapers have been guilty of this on more than one occasion!

To put it simply, chain-vaping causes the coil to get too hot without allowing it the time to cool down. This can turn your vape into an unforgiving furnace!

The obvious solution to this is to take it easier. Trust me, I know it’s hard! But try to vape more consciously by taking a full breath of fresh air between each vape. Giving yourself a break from vaping will allow the coils to cool enough to prevent your vape from getting too hot.

2. Make sure you’re using the correct coils

What coils you’re using could also be contributing to your hot vape. It’s important to ensure that the coils you use are suitable for your vaping style (MTL or DTL) and frequency.

It can be a bit confusing navigating the world of vape coils, but, without getting too technical, here’s a good rule of thumb: the more complicated the coil, the more likely it is to get hot.

In most cases, chain-vaping with higher performance vape coils is a sure-fire way to overheat your vape. Though the modern mexus/Plesh coils are an exception as they are much better at dealing with high temperatures, allowing you to vape at higher wattages without causing your vape to overheat.

3. Check your voltage/wattage isn’t too high

This is fairly self-explanatory: if you’re utilising more power from your battery to heat the coils, they can sometimes overheat and cause your vape to get too hot.

A person adjusting the wattage of the Aspire Zelos 3, the best vape kit in 2023.

Always check how much power you’re using before you vape: is it suited to the resistance of your coils, or the type of vape kit you’re using? Most vapers use a range between 50 and 75 watts, but you may have to experiment to see what works best for you.

Just remember not to go too power-mad so as to avoid those hot vapes!

4. Watch out for coil”gunk”

It’s not pretty, but sometimes your coils can become encrusted with a gunk-like substance. No need to be squeamish though as this is just dried up vape juice.

The issue is that this gunk will prevent your coils from absorbing the liquid properly, and the temperature will increase at a much quicker rate.

Beyond your vape getting too hot, another tell-tale sign of this are hits becoming drier than normal. This is because the wick is becoming slightly burnt because it isn’t becoming fully soaked, resulting in your e-liquid overheating.

You could try cleaning your coil but this can be tricky, and the best solution is simply to remove it and insert a new one.

5. Ensure your juice flow isn’t restricted

Coil gunk might not be the only reason why your wick isn’t absorbing liquid properly. Sometimes the thickness of the vape juice you’re using, in combination with your tank’s design, can cause wicking issues.

A person pouring a vape juice in a vape tank

High VG (Vegetable Glycerine) e-liquid is thicker than it’s PG (Propylene Glycol) counterpart, and it’s key to ensure that you’re using the correct tank and wattage for it. For example, high VG e-liquids tend to be better suited to sub ohm tanks for DTL vaping.

Also, some tank designs have a “liquid flow control” feature, that lets you close the path from the tank to the wick. It’s important to make sure this isn’t set too low.

In either case, failing to resolve these issues will result in dry hits, a burning wick, and a vape made of magma!

6. Adjust your airflow

Many of us love sumptuous clouds of vapour, but not when they’re raining fire upon our mouths!

If your vapour is too hot it’s most likely an airflow and wattage problem. High wattage can lead to hot vapour, but if you open your airflow slightly to allow more air to be mixed in, this should cool down the vapour you inhale.

7. Check it’s not a problem with your battery

A battery issue is by far the rarest of all causes for a hot vape, but it is one to definitely take seriously.

Vape batteries are extremely durable and heat-resistant (it’s their job after all!) and can withstand external temperatures of up to 60°C. Furthermore, their internal temperature can even exceed this, reaching an average of 78°C when operating at their limit.

However, if you’re sure it’s none of the other reasons on our list, and you’re still feeling heat on the battery portion of your vape, the battery may be getting too hot.

But what is too hot? This may seem frustratingly subjective as it’s totally normal for batteries to be warm, but a good rule to abide by is: if the battery is too hot to hold in your hand it’s time to take the issue more seriously.

Though extremely unlikely, it’s important to stop a“thermal runaway” in its tracks at all costs.

Firstly (and most obviously) stop vaping. If the amount of heat coming from the battery portion of your mod seems concerning, put it down on a non-flammable surface, then wait to see if it cools down.

If your batteries are cool enough to touch, you could take them out and inspect them, ensuring you keep them away from any flammable materials.

If at any point you hear warning signs like hissing, or see the batteries bulging, it’s most probably a sign that your battery is overheating and drastically needs cooling.

If this happens there is a danger of a thermal runaway, so the only thing you can really do is take it outside to minimise the potential danger. Let it burn out and deal with it when it’s cooled down.

The upshot of all this is you’re best off buying a new battery, but the price is clearly worth avoiding the risk.

I know this all sounds rather frightening but, luckily, due to how unlikely this is to happen, this is advice you will probably never need. However it’s important to know how to deal with it should it occur.

Conclusion

Though it may seem like there are a lot of potential causes for a hot vape, in the majority of cases it’s a mixture between over-vaping and using too much power. It’s still best to nip this little issue in the bud however, and solve it as soon as you can. Make sure you take care of your vapes, let them cool off occasionally, and vaping will be a breeze!

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