Your vape device is a high-tech piece of equipment. In this article learn how to safely handle and use the lithium-ion battery in your vape device.
When you are new to vaping, there are two things you must to do ensure that your experience is as great as it can be. The first thing that you must do is find an e-liquid you love and a vaping device that you enjoy using. The second thing that you must do is learn how to handle and use your vaping batteries safely.
A vaping product may be a fairly standard consumer device in many ways, but the power of a lithium-ion battery is something that you nevertheless need to take very seriously. That’s especially true if you use a high-end vaping device with a removable battery. A lithium-ion battery isn’t the same thing as an alkaline battery that you can simply use and discard. Lithium-ion technology is very powerful; the technology that makes your vaping device work is essentially the same as what makes an electric car travel hundreds of miles on a single charge.
A lithium-ion battery is a high-tech piece of equipment that can be dangerous if it’s handled improperly. A battery that overheats can start a fire or cause injury – but preventing those things from happening isn’t difficult if you just follow a few simple rules. These are our 10 tips for handling and using vaping batteries safely.
How to Charge Your Vaping Device or Batteries Safely
A vaping device usually has a USB port or a proprietary charging system in which it connects to a USB charging dock. The most important thing to remember about charging a vaping device by USB is that a vaping device with a USB charging port expects to receive its charging current from your computer.
You shouldn’t connect a vaping device to a mains adapter unless the device’s manufacturer has specifically confirmed that the device and the mains adapter are compatible. In particular, you should never attempt to charge a vaping device with the mains adapter for a tablet or mobile phone because a charger for a mobile device often uses a much higher current than a vaping battery can support.
If your vaping device has a removable battery, you can also charge the battery by removing it from the device and charging it with a standalone charger. Before using a standalone charger, confirm that the charger is compatible with lithium-ion batteries.
How to Transport Vaping Batteries Safely
If you have a vaping device with a removable battery, the absolute worst thing that you can do is carry spare batteries in your pocket. That’s because a short circuit can occur if a battery touches multiple metal items simultaneously, and that’s especially likely to happen in your pocket. A spare battery can touch another battery, a key or some loose change. A discharge of static electricity can occur. Any of those things can cause a short circuit, and a short circuit can cause a lithium-ion battery to begin venting hot gas almost instantly. You should never, ever carry a vaping battery in your pocket.
If you need to transport loose batteries, you can do so safely by placing the batteries in a carrier that protects the batteries’ metal terminals and prevents them from moving around.
Don’t Use a Mechanical Mod
A mechanical mod is a vaping device consisting of nothing but threading for a tank or atomizer, a battery and a button. Mechanical mods were popular during the early years of vaping because they allowed people to have a more satisfying experience than the earliest cigarette-shaped vaping devices could deliver. In those days, though, sub-ohm vaping didn’t exist yet, and people demanded much less from their vaping devices than they do today.
Today, though, vape tanks require much higher-amperage batteries, and the only way to use such a tank safely is by pairing it with a vaping device that monitors its own safety parameters automatically. Regulated mods have built-in protection circuits, but mechanical mods don’t.
Here at Premium Vape, we do not sell mechanical mods, and we do not recommend that you buy one.
Don’t Use Damaged Vaping Batteries
Owning a vape mod with a removable battery is a great thing because you never have to experience downtime while your device charges. If you have a standalone battery charger, you can use one battery while charging another. A removable battery does have a drawback, though, in that it’s possible for a battery to sustain damage when it’s not being stored in your vaping device. If a vaping battery has any sign of physical damage, you should not use it.
Signs of damage may include bulging, swelling, denting or a torn wrapper. If a vaping battery is at all misshapen, you should recycle it immediately. If the only evident problem with a battery is a torn wrapper, that’s something you can fix yourself if you have the appropriate knowledge. You must avoid using the battery until replacing the wrapper. Even a tiny tear in a battery’s wrapper can cause a short circuit because a battery’s entire metal enclosure is conductive.
Stop Using Your Vaping Device if It Feels Hot
Vaping requires a good amount of battery power, and it’s completely normal for your vaping device to get warm when you use it. If your device ever begins to feel unusually hot, however, you should put it down and give it a chance to cool off. If your device feels painfully hot to the touch, that’s a potential sign of a severe problem, and you should stop using the device immediately.
Check Resistance When Building Your Own Vaping Coils
Coil building has become an increasingly popular pastime among vaping hobbyists. They find coil building both rewarding and an excellent way to save money on vaping. As enjoyable as coil building may be, though, you can’t be absolutely certain that a coil has the expected resistance and doesn’t have a short circuit unless you check the coil with a resistance tester.
Resistance testers for vaping are widely available and quite affordable. To use one, all that you need to do is screw in your rebuildable atomizer and flip a switch. Testing resistance only adds one small step to the coil building process, and it’s the only way to confirm that a coil is safe to use before you connect the coil to your vaping device.
Check the Specifications When Buying Vaping Batteries
If you use a vaping device with a removable battery, that gives you the opportunity to choose batteries that meet your requirements. There is some responsibility involved with buying your own vaping batteries, though, in that you need to choose high-drain batteries capable of operating at the high level of performance that vaping requires.
Most vaping devices use the 18650 battery cell that is also popular for use in flashlights. In addition, the battery packs for many older laptop computers use 18650 batteries wired in series, and some sellers on eBay and other marketplaces earn money by opening old laptop battery packs and reconditioning the individual cells. A reconditioned laptop battery cell might be fine for powering a flashlight, but neither laptop cells nor flashlight batteries are appropriate for vaping. Before buying a battery for your vaping device, make sure that you’re buying a battery with a suitable continuous discharge rating for vaping. A good vaping battery usually has a continuous discharge rating of 20 amps or higher.
Buy Vaping Batteries From a Reliable Seller
One of the unfortunate aspects of the battery industry is that counterfeit products are very common because it’s possible to replace a battery’s original wrapper with one displaying a fake brand name or false performance claims. It’s perfectly acceptable to sell reconditioned laptop battery cells, but it’s not alright to pass those cells off as new batteries – and that is sadly a fairly common occurrence. Make sure that you always buy your vaping batteries from a reliable seller.
Charge Vaping Batteries While You’re Home and Awake
Even in the best of circumstances, there is a small chance of a lithium-ion battery overheating while it charges. In the extremely unlikely event that a battery overheats while charging, a quick response on your part can stop a fire and prevent possible property damage. You should only charge your vaping batteries – or any battery – while you’re at home, awake and able to respond if a problem occurs. Don’t charge batteries while you’re sleeping or out of the house.
Use Matched Batteries in Dual-Battery Vaping Devices
When batteries are wired together in parallel or in series, they’ll attempt to equalize each other’s charge. In other words, if one battery in a two-battery configuration has a higher voltage than the other, it’ll attempt to charge the lower-voltage battery. That causes stress to both batteries, and it’s also a sign that the two batteries have unequal capabilities and uneven levels of wear.
If you use a dual-battery vaping device, you should use a “married” pair of batteries. Both batteries should be the same type from the same manufacturer. They should be purchased at the same time, and they should only ever be used together.
