Fitted a fresh coil and got a nasty burnt taste straight away? You almost certainly skipped priming. It's a two-minute job that saves coils, money and that awful taste — and once you know it, you'll never forget it.
A coil has a cotton wick inside it. Priming just means soaking that cotton with e-liquid before you use it. Fire a dry wick and the cotton scorches instantly — that's the burnt taste, and once a coil is burnt it's ruined. No amount of liquid fixes it after the fact.
Fit the new coil into your tank or pod — see how to change a coil if you're not sure.
Drip a few drops of e-liquid directly onto the exposed cotton through the holes on the side of the coil, until they look soaked.
Fill the tank or pod as normal — our refilling guide covers this.
Wait 5–10 minutes. This is the bit people skip. Let the cotton fully absorb the liquid.
Take a few gentle "primer puffs" with the device off or on low power — just drawing air and liquid through without firing hard.
Start vaping, and if your kit has adjustable wattage, begin at the low end of the coil's range and build up.
A properly primed coil heats evenly and never scorches its cotton, so it lasts its full life instead of dying on day one. Skipping priming is the number-one reason people burn through coils too fast — and it's why they think they need to replace coils more often than they really do.
Still tastes burnt after priming? The coil may already be scorched — fit another and prime it properly this time.
**Gurgling or leaking?** You may have over-dripped; wick a little liquid away and give it a moment.
Weak flavour at first? Normal for the first few puffs while the coil beds in.
Soak the cotton, wait ten minutes, start low. Do that every time you fit a coil and you'll never taste burnt cotton again — and your coils will last as long as they're meant to.
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