How Vape Coils Evolved Through The Years?

Vape Coils
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Technology has given birth to several products over the years, and most of these products have undergone fundamental transformations and changes. One such product is the vape device. The evolution of technology has altered aspects of the vaping device design, such as manufacturing and production strategies. 

Like most things in life, you’ll have to look back to appreciate how far the vape technology has come. Therefore, this post covers how the vaping device’s fundamental design has evolved, and some critical points along the vape timeline, such as when new technology and equipment emerged.

The Use of Vape Coils


Vape Coils
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Before taking a trip down the memory lane of the vape coil, let’s take a quick look at the role coils play, and how they are integral to the function of your vape setup. Coils regulate the amount of e-liquid that goes through your vape. They control the device’s level of resistance and only let a specific amount of e-liquid into the atomizer. This is the same e-liquid that devices, ranging from the cheapest vape coils to the most expensive, convert into vapor.

Early History of Vape Coils

The early history of vaping started back in April 1963, when Herbert Gilbert initially filed a patent for a smokeless non-tobacco emerging technology. At this time, John F. Kennedy was in office, so you can imagine how the technology had a long way to go before it became consumer-ready. However, the patent on this technology expired, but the first vape products still didn’t make it into stores. 

2003 saw the vaping idea’s rebirth when Hon Lik, a Chinese doctor, built a three-piece vape, based on ultrasonic atomization, similar to traditional nicotine delivery systems. These first-generation vape setups hit the production line and reached global consumers in 2004. 

The next major innovation in vape technology came in 2006. It combined the flavor cartridge and atomizer into a single piece. And as you would expect, it was called a cartomizer. The inventors of this innovation, Umer and Tariq Sheikh of XL Distributors, left out the ultrasonic technology in favor of the wire and cotton that became the simple vape coil. 

This simple resistance wire has become integral to all designs of vape coils since then. In many ways, the innovation in resistors has played a vital role in the rapid change in consumer technology in other markets such as personal computers and mobile phones. 

After The First Cartomizer


After its introduction into the vape market, the cartomizer dominated the scene for the next couple of years. However, the cartomizer’s only limitation was the power output it generated, which advanced based on capacity. Before 2011, 2 or 2.5 ohms was the typical resistance of most coils, and they only required small amounts of power. This allowed them to have more comprehensive battery options for early mods such as the variable voltage mods and early screwdriver mods. 

This allowed manufacturers to later introduce dual coils into larger cartomizers with higher capacities and vapor production. The advances in coil technology and power output resulted in bigger vape setups. In 2012, the vape world welcomed the carto tank. It consisted of a clearomizer and a plastic or glass reservoir housing a ported cartomizer, which increases juice capacity. This innovation replaced packed cotton with wicking systems. 

DIY

DIY
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The DIY sector of the vape market breathed a new life into its history in 2013, mainly due to hobbyists' activities. Rebuildable dripping atomizers, also called RDAs, introduced earlier in 2012, became the hobbyists’ go-to equipment. This is because it allowed them to build large multi-coil sub-ohm setups.

The Mass Market

Mass-produced equipment also advanced quickly around the same time. 2012 witnessed tank-style clearos that used removed and changeable coils that accommodated pre-manufactured replacements. After this, the market saw bottom-fed coils, which brought dual coil systems and adjustable airflow. 

By 2014, innovators offered vapers several options such as quad, dual and single coils. 

The Arrival of Atlantis


Atlantis
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The vaping industry took off in late 2014 when Aspire’s Atlantis came on the scene. In essence, the Atlantis was a clearomizer. However, it will go down in history as the first of its kind with a sub-ohm tank, 0.5-ohm coil, and a strong appeal for juice and watts. Its introduction brought other competitors than resulted in a race for more vapor and flavor.

Most of these new coils took a lot of inspiration from earlier hobbyists. Sub-ohm tank coils feature thicker 22 and 24 gauge Kanthal which allows a lot more juice at a lower resistance to avoid dry hits. Also, parallel builds featured dual coils such as the Clapton wire. These coils became known for their improved flavor by early 2016. 

All this evolution also brought different voltage mods with increased power output, offering flexibility to use the new technologies for the best vaping experience. Different coil resistance ranges, such as 0.2 ohms to 2 ohms, became more common in devices like the Innokin iSubline. A wider range of power options also gains popularity for such devices as the Innokin TC100w kit. 

Exceptional new designs for vape coils later emerged in 2015. These unique designs leveraged the bigger size of coil cases to improve the coil setups. Hence the triple, quad, and sextuple coils were born with the ability to handle more power. Today, the market has octo-coils capable of handling up to 260 watts. 

The Evolution of Temp Control


Temp Control
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The company behind the first variable wattage mod, introduced in 2010, is Evolve LLC. This company introduced temperature control to the vaping mass market in 2014 with the chipset called DNA 40. Instead of using NiChrome or Kanthal, the DNA 40 chipsets used nickel 200 wire. The reason for this switch was the unique property of nickel that allowed it to change resistance as it’s temperature changed. Thus, DNA 40 could achieve a specific temperature by adjusting resistance and power output simultaneously. 

By 2015, other competitors' mods also used chips similar to DNA 40, which allowed them to have full temperature control and 100+ wattage. The advances in temperature control were very significant for vaping safety due to aldehyde production at higher temperatures. Plus, vapers generally preferred cooler vapes.

Conclusion

The evolution in the vape world shows how hobbyists and consumers can influence the development of a product. Many factors have pushed the limits of vape coils and brought new ideas that have pushed the market this far. So far, the future looks promising, with many possibilities for growth.

References

https://www.alloywire.us.com/products/nickel-200/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanthal_(alloy)

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