When your wax pen is clogged, you always know it immediately. You can barely get any air through it, so it produces almost no vapor. You pull harder until you hear a loud “pop,” which resolves the issue – but only temporarily. When you try to use the wax pen later, it’s clogged again. In the worst case, a clogged wax pen may even leak, causing liquified wax to drip on your hand or contaminate the device’s threading – not fun.
A clogged wax pen isn’t just a detriment to your vaping experience. It’s also potentially expensive because top-quality dabs can cost a lot of money. If your cartridge or coil leaks, there’s even a possibility that the wax could damage your device.
So, why does your wax pen keep clogging? To fix the problem, you need to determine why it’s happening in the first place – and that’s what we’re going to help you do in this guide. As you read through the subsections below, find the section that applies to your situation and read our tips to find the solution.
You’re Putting Wax in an Oil Cartridge
The most common reason why a wax pen clogs is because you’re using a cartridge designed for oil. A traditional vape cartridge with a screw-on mouthpiece is designed for oil, and an oil-based concentrate is one that’s liquid at room temperature. It’s theoretically possible to use an oil cartridge for wax by heating the wax until it turns to liquid and then loading it into the cartridge. However, there are two problems with this approach.
The first problem with putting wax into an oil cartridge is that even in a liquid state, wax is more viscous than oil – so it’s possible for the cartridge to clog immediately. Even if that doesn’t happen, though, the cartridge will definitely clog when the wax returns to room temperature because at that point, it’ll be solid. This situation is hugely wasteful because you’re not going to have an easy time removing the wax from the cartridge once it’s solidified.
If you want to use a vape pen for dabbing, you need to use hardware that’s designed for the job. That means you need to use a wax coil or wax tank. If a cartridge’s filling port is so small that it requires a syringe or a bottle with a tiny nozzle, it’s safe to conclude that the cartridge isn’t designed for wax. A wax cartridge always has a wide opening, allowing you to put the wax directly on the coil or heating plate with a dab tool.
You’re Putting Too Much Wax on Your Coil
If you’re sure that you’re definitely using a coil or tank designed for wax, the next thing to consider is how much wax you’re putting on the coil when you use your dab pen. In most cases, a wax coil is designed to use only a single rice-sized portion of wax at a time. It’s important not to overload a wax coil because the wax will turn to liquid when it’s heated – and if you’ve used too much wax, the liquid could overflow and clog the coil’s air intake vents. The coil will leak at that point, and you’ll either experience airflow issues or lose some of your wax.
Remember that a dab coil is usually designed to deliver just a few puffs at a time. It’s best to add your wax in small portions to avoid clogging. When you finish the portion, you can always add more.
You’re Not Using All of the Wax on the Coil
Another important thing to understand about using a dab pen is that wax coils aren’t designed to store wax for multiple sessions. The ideal way to use a dab pen is by putting only the amount of wax on the coil that you intend to use during that session. Don’t put so much wax on the coil that you can’t use it all in a single sitting. Excess wax can end up solidifying in the coil’s airflow vents, creating a clog.
You’re Using a Wax Tank, and the Airflow Vent Is Closed
In some cases, a wax pen may use an enclosed wax tank instead of an exposed coil. In this case, you load the tank by opening it and putting the wax on a heating plate at the bottom. You then close the tank and vape whenever you’re ready. A wax tank may have a rotating collar at the top or bottom that allows you to adjust the size of the airflow vent. If you’re having difficulty drawing air through your wax tank, the tank may not be clogged – the airflow vent may simply be closed. Turn the collar to open the vent.
You’re Not Preheating the Coil
If you’re new to dabbing, you may not realize that you can’t simply throw your wax on the coil and start puffing – the wax has to liquify and cover the coil or heating plate first. If you puff on your wax pen while the wax is still solid, you’ll get a burnt hit and may even experience airflow issues that’ll lead you to believe your wax pen is clogged. Thankfully, this is an easy issue to resolve. After loading your wax pen, you need to pulse the coil a few times briefly to melt the wax. You can do this by taking a few short puffs without inhaling if your wax pen uses puff-based firing or by pressing the fire button a few times briefly if your device uses button-based firing.
You’re Not Using the Right Type of Device for Your Needs
If your wax pen keeps clogging even though you’re following all of the advice in this article, it’s worthwhile to consider whether the hardware you’re using is really right for you. Instead of using a traditional dab pen, you might have a better experience with a wax pen like the one offered on this page. This company’s wax pen is actually a dab straw, which means that the device’s heating element points down instead of up. Once the element is fully preheated, you touch it directly to the oil or wax while inhaling through the device’s mouthpiece. Since there’s nothing to load before you start vaping, you don’t have to worry about clogging and can simply focus on enjoying your dabs.
