Vaping Glossary

A

Adapter: A metal device that is used to attach otherwise incompatible cartridges and batteries together.
Advanced Personal Vaporizer (APV): often associated with a device that employs larger batteries, features a variable voltage/wattage option, and will allow for more room for the end user to adjust vaping experience to his/her liking e.g. temperature or vapor production (see FAQ)
Analog Cigarette: Traditional tobacco cigarette versus the ‘digital’ e-cig
Atomizer (Atty): The heating element that evaporates the e-liquid into vapor. The Atty is built from a coil, positive and negative terminal and bridge that divides (+) and (-). Typically referring to a disposable atty or cartomizer (contains atty) versus an RBA [see Rebuildable Atomizer (RBA) for definition].
Atty/Carto Connection Type: the type of connection used to join the atty/carto to PV/APV/Mod. 510 connection is the most common and thus, industry standard.

B

Battery: sits inside PV/APV/Mod and provides power to atomizer/cartomizer and comes in various sizes. IMR batteries (Lithium Ion Manganese) are preferred due to stability .

C

Cartomizer (Carto): A disposable, tube-like cartridge that is filled with an e-juice absorbing matrix/filler (called fluval or polyfil), followed by a wick single or dual-coiled atomizer
Cartridge: A hollow cylindrical part that acts as a mouthpiece and contains the e-liquid.
Clearomizer: is the transparent version of a cartomizer. Designed to allow users to see how much e-liquid they have left. Many have ml graduations for the capacity of e-liquid left. Made of very easily breakable plastic in order to remain transparent. A wick or wicks, are generally used for the juice delivery to the coil. There are top coil and bottom coil configurations. Many versions are constantly evolving in order to improve the performance the user desires.

D

Drip Shield: The drip shield is a round metal or plastic tube that slips over your atomizer. If leaking occurs on your atomizer, the liquid will leak into the drip shield instead of leaking onto your PV. As your atomizer runs out of liquid stored, the liquid in the drip shield will be sucked back into the atomizer to then be vaporized.
Drip Tip: An optional electronic cigarette accessory that attaches to the mouth-end of an empty atomizer or cartomizer; increased diameter vs. standard tip, allows end user to drip e-juice more easily
Dripping: an alternate method of vaping e-juice with APV or Mod (see ‘APV’ or ‘Mod’ for definitions) End-user manually adds or ‘drips’ e-juice through drip tip into atomizer to enjoy a more enhanced, robust flavor.
Dry Burn: Drawing on the the atomizer when completely dry. This can damage your atomizer so it should be avoided.
Dry Vape: If a atomizer is flooded with too much e-liquid then it can be run with a empty cartridge for a short time to dry it.
Dual Coil Cartomizer: this is precisely a cartomizer, but features 2 coils and is commonly used when vaping with tanks. When working as said, a dual coil cartomizer has the ability to produce twice as much vapor or the same amount twice as fast from the standard.

E

E-liquid (e-juice): this is what is “vaped” by the end user; different levels of nicotine (see “mg strength) nicotine uses propylene glycol (PG) and/or vegetable glycerin (VG) as its water-soluble delivery system with a wide variety of organic or inorganic flavorings

F

FDA: Abbreviation for United States’ governing body, Food & Drug Administration
Flooding: referring to the atomizer (atty) or cartomizer (carto); occurs when too much e-juice floods the aforementioned, resulting in a noticeable ‘gurgling’ sound during draw, coupled with poor vapor production.
Fluval: A common filler material used in aquariums; some vapers use it to replace the standard filler found in factory cartridges.

H

Heating Coil: this is where the e-juice is vaporized; typically, nichrome or kanthal wire is used and wrapped around wicking mechanism. Current flows through the coil (resistance determined by # of wraps around wick), heats the coil, and subsequently vaporizes e-liquid/juice
High Resistance (HR): A high resistance atomizer/cartomizer that will produce less heat due to the “high” resistance of the coil inside atomizer (from increased Voltage application). Here, the Ohm rating would be higher (versus standard or low resistance)- approximately a 2.7 Ohms in disposable atty/cartos.

K

Kanthal Wire: One of two types of resistance wire used for a heating coil in either an atomizer or cartomizer; this being the wire of choice for RBAs (Rebuildable Atomizers). The other is Nichrome Wire (see Nichrome Wire)

L

LED: Abbreviation for Light Emitting Diode; a diode that converts applied voltage to light. These are commonly used in electronic cigarette devices to indicate that the device is actively being used.
Low Resistance (LR): A low resistance atomizer/cartomizer that will produce heat very quickly (versus standard and high resistance) as a result of having a lower Ohm rating (approximately 1.5 Ohms for disposable atty and carto)

M

mAh (Milliamp per Hour): units of measure expressed in batteries- mAh is the rating to express the available current at the rate for one hour therefore, the larger the battery mAh number, the more power it holds.
Mechanical Mod: a vaping device that does not have any electronics; essentially a mod without wires.
mg strength: a unit measurement that is referred to the strength of the nicotine in any given e-juice. For example, an e-juice that is labeled 18mg means that for every 1mL of liquid, the concentration of nicotine would be 1.8% or 18mg/mL
mL: abbreviation for milliliter, related to e-juice
Mods: A broad range of advanced e-cigarettes or personal vaporizers that may feature variable voltage, reusable atomizers, tank systems or other add-on or modifications. Also often interchangeable with “APV” (see definition)

N

Nichrome Wire: One of the two main types of resistance wire used for the heating coil in an atomizer or cartomizer; the other is Kanthal (see Kanthal Wire)

P

Pass-through (PT): A standalone or E-cig/PV that can be used while it is connected to a power source.
Personal Charging Case (PCC): A portable battery pack that can recharge your e-cigarette batteries on the go up to 3 times per charge.
Personal Vaporizer (PV): A electronic device that will vaporize a substance through slight heating. Usually used in reference to the more nontraditional style e-cigs (also known as Mods).
Polyfil: The standard material used in the factory to fill cartridges.
Priming: Wetting the atomizer wick with e-liquid prior to first use so as to avoid overheating and unpleasant fumes.
Propylene Glycol (PG): A FDA approved substance classically used in food and cosmetics; for e-liquid applications, it is employed as the base carrier for the nicotine and flavoring and almost usually mixed in tandem (at different ratios) with VG (Vegetable Glycerin).
Pull: The draw you take from your electronic cigarette.

R

Rebuildable Atomizer (RBA) The heating element that evaporates the e-liquid into vapor. The Atty is built from a coil, positive and negative terminal and bridge that divides (+) and (-). The RBA concept is meant to drive a cost savings for end-user due to its ability to be “re-built”. Designs vary from a ‘dripping’ style to tank-based RBAs

S

Standard Resistance: refers to a cartomizer or atomizer’s resistance, measured in Ohms, at about 3.0 Ohms
Steeping: a process used to mature and maximize flavor profile of e-liquid.

T

Tank: A special type of cartridge that holds considerably more liquid than cartridges with filler. Usually used with a cartomizer

V

Vegetable Glycerin (VG): Glycerin derived from vegetable sources, evaporates when slightly heated.
Vape: as opposed to “smoke”; water vapor is produced when e-liquid is heated by the atomizer.
Vaper: in reference to a person who “vapes” versus “smokes”
Vaping: Inhaling a vapor without flame.
Variable Voltage: A classical, commonly found feature in an APV device. Variable Voltage allows you to control the amount of voltage produced by the device (APV). A typical voltage range for variable voltage is 3.0volts – 6.0volts and can be adjusted in increments of 0.1V
Variable Wattage (VW): allows you to control how many watts your device will produce. Variable wattage will allow you to set the wattage, no matter what resistance atomizer or cartomizer you use with the device. Variable Power (VP) is also used to describe variable wattage.

W

Watt(s): is a measurement of power which is the function of the voltage of your electronic cigarette or mod and the resistance of your atomizer or cartomizer. Watts = Voltage (squared) of your device divided by the resistance of your atomizer or cartomizer.
Wick: A wick is an absorbent material that is used in many different styles of atomizers. A type of poly or silica string or number of strings is often used for the wicking.
Wicking: refers to the act of directing the e-liquid from the container to the heating element.