Most pod kits on the market are built for thin 50/50 e-liquid. The coils are small, the wattage is low, and the wicking holes can't cope with anything thicker. Put 70/30 VG/PG e-liquid through one of those coils and you'll burn the cotton out within a day or two.
Some pod kits handle 70/30 without any trouble though, depending on the coils. It comes down to coil resistance and how much wattage the kit can push.
Which Pod Kits Work with 70/30 Juice?
Pod kits with sub-ohm coils below 0.6 ohm and wattage above 20W can usually handle thicker 70/30 liquid without problems. At that power level, enough juice gets pulled through the wick to keep up with the thicker VG.
Kits with coils above 1.0 ohm and wattage under 15W are a different story. Those coils have tiny wicking holes built for thin 50/50 juice or nic salts. Thick 70/30 liquid can't soak through fast enough at low power, so the cotton dries out between puffs.
|
Coil Resistance |
Wattage Range |
Best VG/PG Ratio |
|
0.2 to 0.4 ohm |
30W to 80W |
70/30 or higher VG |
|
0.4 to 0.6 ohm |
20W to 35W |
70/30 works in most cases |
|
0.6 to 1.0 ohm |
12W to 20W |
50/50 or 60/40 max |
|
1.0 ohm and above |
8W to 15W |
50/50 only (nic salts) |
A few pod kits sit in that middle ground where they ship with both a sub-ohm coil and an MTL coil in the box. Kits from the Voopoo Drag range and Geekvape Aegis range do this well. Use the sub-ohm coil for 70/30 shortfills and swap to the MTL coil when you want to run nic salts.
Best Wattage for 70/30 E-Liquid
70/30 juice is thicker than 50/50 and needs more heat to vapourise. Too low a wattage and the coil can't keep up, so you get a muted, slightly burnt taste.
|
VG/PG Ratio |
Minimum Wattage |
Sweet Spot |
|
70/30 |
20W |
25W to 50W depending on coil |
|
80/20 |
30W |
40W to 70W |
|
50/50 |
8W |
10W to 15W |
Start low and bump up by 2W or 3W at a time until the flavour cleans up. Our wattage guide goes into more detail on dialling in your settings.
Best Coil for 70/30 Liquid
Your coil choice matters more than the kit itself here. Wide wicking ports and mesh heating elements are what you want. Mesh heats the cotton evenly across the whole surface, so thick VG doesn't leave dry patches the way it can with a single wire coil.
Stick with coils between 0.2 and 0.6 ohm for 70/30 liquid. Anything above 0.8 ohm will struggle unless it's specifically labelled for high VG use. If you want the full breakdown on how coil type and ratio interact, there's a guide to PG/VG ratio, temperature and coils on the blog.
When to Stick with 50/50
Kits that max out at 15W with 1.0 ohm coils or higher aren't going to play nicely with 70/30. 50/50 nic salts and 50/50 shortfills are the right pick for those setups. The thinner liquid wicks quickly through small coils at low wattage. You get a tighter, mouth to lung draw that sits closer to a cigarette style pull.
The guide to choosing the right vape juice covers VG/PG ratio, strength, and coil matching if you want the full picture.
