Why Does My Vape Pen Make Crackling Noises?

Maybe you’re a beginner vaper… or you’ve been a completely oblivious vaper until recently… but vape devices make a crackling noise when in use. Your e-liquid vape pen makes a crackling noise when you use it — even though you didn’t notice that until now.

And while that popping/crackling sound can be unnerving — it’s a battery-operated device after all — there’s nothing to worry about.

It’s the physics of things — e-liquid meets the hot atomizer coil and starts evaporating rapidly. This doesn’t happen in silence.

Go and put a pot of water on the stove, and it will do the same thing.

But, not all vape sounds are made equal. Most are nothing to worry about, as I said. But, if your e-cigarette starts sounding like incoherent drums, it’s time to take a look at what’s causing it.

In this post, we’ll examine normal vape crackling and popping noises… and the abnormal ones… as well as what you can do so your vape device stays firmly planted in the first category.

Let’s get to it.

Why Do Electronic Cigarettes Make a Sound at All?
Let’s circle back to that boiling pot of water analogy… 

When water starts to boil, all kinds of fascinating physics things happen.

Just before the water gets to a complete boil, small bubbles start forming and push their way to the top of the pot. Since they are small in diameter, they create tiny cavities as they bump into each other and collapse, making a pretty noisy pop.

As the water gets closer to a complete boil, these bubbles become bigger and bigger, and the sound gets louder because they’re collapsing on themselves before they break the surface. As soon as the water temperature reaches critical levels, the boiling intensifies and the bubbles travel faster to the surface. That’s when the sound gets less noticeable.

It’s the same with your vape juice.

As it heats up going through the vape coil — especially while the atomizer is not yet scorching hot — bubbles are created that collapse on themselves. They make a crackling noise. Sometimes, a bubble of e-liquid gets big enough to burst violently — that’s when you hear a loud pop.

See? Nothing to worry about, right?

Well, in most cases. If you hear a crackling like the one I’ll just describe, you’re good.

What Are the ‘Good’ Vape Sounds?
Actually, there are several of them.

The first one is a steady crackling sound— think of the sound a needle produces when moving over a record. What? Too young for the reference? Okay — think of the annoying sound your busted airpods make, signaling it’s time to replace them.

The second ‘good’ vape sound is mild hissing. Think of water hitting a heated surface.
 
Those are the good sounds. They will be barely audible if all is good. A slight variation in loudness might occur when you bump up your nicotine levels. This is all okay — nicotine juices create more vapor, so the sound will be more prominent.

What Are the ‘Bad’ Vape Sounds?
Not all sounds that come from your vape device are good. 

Luckily, bad vape sounds are easy to pick up and you’ll immediately notice the difference. Popping sound and crackling should become less noticeable over time. However, if it’s another way around your device is probably clogged and needs to be cleaned.

Since vaporized particles build up over time they will cause loud cracks when heating up. Another sound you should be aware of is the one accompanied by unpleasant spitting. 

Not hearing anything is also a bad “sound”. I said on several occasions that your vape pen is an electrical device and should make sounds. If your device keeps being silent when you turn it on, it usually means there is a juice buildup and the device needs to be cleaned.

4 Reasons Why Your Vape Pen Might Be Noisier Than Usual [& How to Fix Them]
There are several reasons your vape pen is making some type of noise, and over time these sounds will dampen down. However, there will be a time when the noise will be quite noticeable, to the point of being irritable.

#1 High power levels
If you’re using sub-ohm vape devices at the moment, I’ll dial up my volume for a notch so you can hear me – LOWER THE POWER ON YOUR DEVICE. 

Now… jokes aside, the sub-ohm atomizer is a synonym for instant popping and crackling sounds. Add higher power inputs and you’ll be completely skipping the part where your e-juice gradually heats up. 

I can understand your logic – more power equals higher temperature, leading to a scorching hot heating element and more vapor. Now, that all would be true on the fifth or sixth puff. But the initial four will be yucky. Not to mention a high possibility of burning your wicks before getting to the good part.

Let me tell you what really happens – higher power equals more liquid condensation on the wall of your tank. This means you’re providing more material for your device to gurgle and bubble on, instead of making more vapor. To fix this, vape on low wattage and you won’t have an issue.

#2 Thin e-liquid
Another reason your vape pen might be louder than others is due to the ratio of Propylene Glycol [PG] and vegetable glycerin [VG] in your e-juice.

If you have a higher percentage of PG your vape liquid will be thinner resulting in far louder crackling sounds than with the high VG percentage. Basically, thicker liquids (more VG) will act as a noise dampener while your device is heating up.

#3 Coil design
Mesh coils, braided and twisted ones, or any other you’re using will make more popping noise because of a larger surface. And while these coils create, by far, the best vapor in both thickness and quantity, they also produce the most noise.

Whether you’re buying premade coils or you make them yourself, it would be best to go for the higher resistance ones as they have proven to be quieter.

#4 Airflow
Tone it down Maverick, you’re vaping not piloting a jet!

Most cloud chasers will tell you to have your airflow completely open for the crazy-ass vapor production.  And while that is completely true, open airflow does make your device sound like an air force jet when you inhale. 

Now, listen here… I have nothing against them, but do you really wish to blind yourself and the people around you every time you take a break at work?  Closing your airflow only by half will decrease the noise substantially. Also, you will be able to have a meaningful convo with your colleagues without your device muffling their voices.

Fixing Too Noisy Popping & Crackling Sounds

#1 Take shorter puffs
During longer inhales your device will be pulling more vape juice than it can normally handle and during that time it will gurgle like crazy. Instead of getting more vapor, you will receive a mouthful of your juice (untreated) straight from the tank.

And while most devices have a time-out feature preventing too long puffs, shorter drags won’t cause as much noise, and on top of that, your hot coils will last longer as well as your vape juice.

#2 Don’t prime your coil
Again, don’t go overboard with the juice when prepping your new coil. If you plan on filling your tank to the max, a few drops of juice in your coil is enough. Heck, you can even skip that part, but make sure to give your device enough time to soak everything. A few minutes will do.

#3 Clean your gear
This one is a no-brainer. Regular maintenance will immensely help in prolonging the life of your device and all its parts. As you might have noticed, a clogged device is the loudest, so keep it clean and purring. 

BONUS #4 Get an Anti-Spitback Drip tip
There are three types of drip tips that will help you avoid any spitback:

·Longer drip tip – this tip will prevent any juice from getting in your mouth even if there is a spitback. Since it’s longer and thinner than usual drip tips, it stops the juice in its tracks before it gets too far.
·Angled drip tip – as the name describes it, this tip does not have a direct line between the tank and your mouth so any spitback that might occur won’t be directly blasted into you. However, the only downside is that the angle is not changeable.
·Rotatable drip tip – similar to the angled drip tip, this one has a unique component that prevents any spitback but also offers the option to adjust the angle

Spitback & Bad Flavor Are the Important Yardsticks
Sounds may be annoying, but mean little in the grand scheme of things. Only when the sound is accompanied by burnt flavor or spitback [hot e-juice shooting onto your lips] should you get really concerned.

If you’re not getting those, relax — your vape device sounds just like every other e-cig out there!