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At the heart of the clearomizer is the vaporizer. The resistive wire and absorbent material of the vaporizer heats the e-cigarette liquid and turns it into vapor.

From a technical standpoint, the mechanism of vaporizing liquid has not changed much since Hon Lik first introduced the e-cigarette into production. The first vaporizers corresponded to e-cigarette models, using "Kanthal" wire for resistance, surrounded by absorbent material, usually fiberglass or synthetic wool. Today, the materials have changed, but the principle remains the same.

A bit of history on the materials used:

●2009: Nylon wool, glass fibers.

●2011: Silicone fiber, mesh

●2012: Fonty cotton, organic cotton

●2014: Cotton Bacon, Fiber Freaks

Today, there are different types of metal available for making vaporizers

In addition to the traditional "Kanthal", you can now buy vaporizers made of nickel-chrome, stainless steel or titanium. This allows models to better control temperature or improve conductivity between the battery and the vaporizer.

The resistance values of metal wires are decreasing all the time. Nowadays, it is quite common to use resistances of less than 1 ohm. This number has been halved since 2009, leading to the name "sub-ohm" (below 1 ohm) for this type of vaporizer. This trend is due to the large amount of competition that has pushed the market to produce more and more high-performance clearomizers.

In fact, the lower the resistance, the faster it heats up and the hotter it gets. More liquid is vaporized and a denser vapor is created. But much more liquid is required to run fast at higher temperatures, so the vaporizer must be wrapped with an effective absorbent material and kept moist at all times.

The result of using powerful vaporizers with low resistance is the appearance of higher nicotine levels in the vapor when vaporizing the liquid. This has led the e-liquid market to adapt to the more popular, relatively low nicotine levels (0, 3 or 6 mg/mL). The absorbent materials used to hold e-cigarette liquid in vaporizers have also changed. The synthetic absorbent cotton used in the first clearomizers was abandoned in favor of plant fiber (cotton-based), which is now used in most vaporizers.

Good absorption properties mean that cotton delivers a lot more e-cigarette liquid to the vaporizer. Ceramic systems are now becoming increasingly common as an alternative to the use of cotton.

Using the vaporizer

Since the vaporizer comes into direct contact with the liquid and is subject to huge temperature fluctuations, it has a rather limited lifespan. It is necessary to use a vaporizer with the correct resistance for your device. Aside from the fact that there should be compatibility (manufacturers usually make vaporizers that work with their own products), it is important that the wattage is set at the most appropriate level. (cf. the user manual for your device).

Note: the more the vaporizer heats up, the more the e-cigarette liquid loses its properties. E-cigarette vapor is less harmful to smokers than smoking tobacco, but it's important to remember that vapor can contain compounds that can be harmful to health (especially aldehydes). This is more applicable when the e-cigarette liquid gets very hot and the vaporizer does not receive enough liquid. That's why we advise you not to overheat the vaporizer, stretch your puffs and always make sure that the vaporizer is well saturated with liquid.