# Switching from MTL to DTL: the method > Switching from MTL to DTL without a false start: hardware, coils, airflow, e-liquid and the UK shortfill habit that comes with the change. After months on a tight draw the urge to go bigger arrives. More vapour, a wider pull, a different sensation altogether. The usual reflex is to buy a large kit and attempt a full lung inhale on the first puff, and the usual outcome is a harsh draw, a strength that no longer suits and a discouraged retreat. Switching from MTL to DTL is something you prepare for, not something you improvise on a Saturday afternoon. ## Switching from MTL to DTL: the underlying rule The move is not a change of device. It is a change of four parameters at once: coil resistance, wattage, airflow and e-liquid, strength included. Resistance drops below 1 ohm, wattage rises to match the range printed on the new coil, the air inlet opens up, and the liquid moves to a vegetable glycerine heavy base at a considerably lower strength. Those four settings behave as a single system. Change one without the others and you manufacture discomfort. A low resistance coil on an old, thin, high strength liquid produces a draw nobody enjoys. Success in switching from MTL to DTL comes from that coherence rather than from the wattage figure on the mod. ## Step one: prepare the move through RDL Jumping straight from a tight draw to a fully open one is the surest way to be caught out. An intermediate step softens the landing considerably. Restricted direct to lung, written RDL or RDTL on British listings, is the natural airlock. It offers the single stage inhale through a still narrowed inlet, which keeps some of the familiar resistance while retraining the gesture. Our guide to [RDL vaping](/uk/rdl-vaping-restricted-direct-lung/) covers the coils and settings it runs on. Spending a fortnight there teaches the lungs the one stage draw before the airflow is opened any further. The step is not compulsory, but it saves a great many people the round trip back to their old kit. ## Step two: the hardware and the coil Tight draw hardware cannot produce a direct lung inhale. This stage means genuinely new equipment, not a new setting on the same device. The coil is the heart of it. You leave the resistances above 1 ohm behind and move to low resistance coils built to convert far more liquid per second. Those coils draw considerably more current, which means a battery and a mod that can sustain it without sagging. The atomiser changes too. Direct lung asks for wide air inlets and a chamber sized for volume, neither of which a compact pod provides. A good capacity cell in sound condition is not optional on a low resistance build, and an old battery pulled from a drawer is exactly the wrong place to economise. ## Step three: open the airflow and set the power With the hardware in place, comfort comes down to two dials that have to move together. This is the stage that turns a brutal pull into a pleasant one. The air inlet opens gradually. Start from a restricted position, then widen a notch at a time, taking a slow draw after each adjustment until the pull feels effortless without going hollow. Our guide to [vape airflow settings](/uk/vape-airflow-settings/) works through each sensation and the correction it calls for. Wattage follows the range printed on the coil, higher than on a tight draw but never beyond what the part is rated for, on pain of a scorched taste. Small increments beat throwing the airflow wide open and hoping. ## Step four: rework the liquid, and meet the shortfill The liquid from your tight draw setup will not do. Neglecting this is the single most common mistake of the whole transition. Switching from MTL to DTL demands a thicker, vegetable glycerine heavy base that feeds a large coil properly and carries the vapour. A liquid that is too thin will flood the chamber and spit back through the mouthpiece. Strength has to come down, and substantially. The vapour volume of a direct lung draw delivers far more nicotine per puff than a measured two stage one, so carrying your old strength across usually feels overwhelming. Bringing the strength down before you change style is a sensible way to isolate one variable at a time. ## What UK rules change when switching from MTL to DTL Britain adds a wrinkle that vapers elsewhere do not have to think about, and it shows up precisely at this point. Nicotine containing e-liquid is capped at 20 mg per ml and sold in bottles of no more than 10 ml, while refillable tanks and pods are capped at 2 ml. On a tight draw those limits are barely felt. A 2 ml pod covers a working day and a 10 ml bottle lasts. On a low resistance coil the same 2 ml disappears in a couple of hours and the 10 ml bottle empties at a rate that makes the format absurd. That is why the British market answers with the shortfill. Larger bottles are sold nicotine free, deliberately underfilled, and a separate 10 ml nicotine shot is added at home to bring the whole thing to a lower strength. The format exists because of the 10 ml rule, and direct lung vapers here live on it almost exclusively. So switching from MTL to DTL in this country also means changing where and how you buy. You move from small ready to vape bottles to larger shortfills that you finish yourself, and the tank you refill several times a day stays stubbornly capped at 2 ml whatever hardware you put it on. For the wider comparison of the two families before you commit, our piece on [MTL vs DTL](/uk/mtl-vs-dtl-vaping/) sets out the criteria. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do I have to pass through RDL first? No, but it is usually more comfortable. A restricted direct draw trains the single stage inhale while keeping some familiar resistance, which flattens the step. Anyone in a hurry can go straight across, provided the airflow is opened gradually and the strength is adjusted from day one. ### Why do I cough on a direct lung draw? Most often the strength has stayed too high for the vapour volume now being produced, or the airflow was opened too far too fast. Lowering the strength, closing the inlet slightly and widening it puff by puff resolves most cases. A very PG heavy liquid can add to the problem. ### Can I keep my old e-liquid? Rarely with any satisfaction. A thin, high strength liquid made for a small coil wicks poorly into a large one and delivers far too much nicotine on a direct draw. Moving to a lower strength, glycerine heavy base is part of the transition rather than an optional extra. ### How long does the transition take? There is no fixed answer. Some people adapt within days, others alternate between the two styles for weeks. Progressing in stages, opening the airflow and adjusting the strength gradually, matters far more than speed. ### Should I abandon the tight draw once I have moved? Not at all. Plenty of vapers keep a small device for discretion and a direct lung setup for the evening. Under a 2 ml tank rule that second device is often the more practical one to carry, and the two styles complement each other rather than compete. ## Getting the move right Switching from MTL to DTL is never a simple change of kit. Coil, wattage, airflow and liquid all move together, ideally with a restricted direct step in the middle, and the strength has to come down before anything else feels right. In Britain there is a fifth thing to plan for, which is the shopping. Capped tanks, capped bottles and the shortfill routine turn the change into a change of habits as much as a change of hardware, and knowing that in advance removes most of the frustration. Taken step by step, switching from MTL to DTL opens the door to volume without the unpleasant surprises, and it leaves you free to keep the tight draw for the days it suits better. That progression, from the gesture through to the final setting, is what Panorama Inhalation follows across its guides to the different ways of inhaling. Editorial content for adult readers only. Vaping products usually contain nicotine, a substance that causes addiction. Not for sale to under-18s in the United Kingdom. This article is not a buying recommendation.