How To Charge, Change, and Care For Your Vape Batteries. Everything You Wanted To Know!

Your batteries are one of the most important tools in your entire vape device. Without freshly charged batteries, you can’t enjoy those smooth and flavorful clouds until you can get ahold of fresh batteries. If your batteries are old and don’t hold a charge very well, you’ll need to purchase new ones to avoid being stuck with a “low voltage/battery” sign on your mod.

In short, your batteries are the juice that powers the e-juice! Without good batteries, you’ll be forced to carry around extra batteries or vape at a lower wattage to make sure your device keeps power. In this article, we’ll discuss how to properly charge and care for your vape batteries, the expected lifespan of batteries, and when you should change them. We'll also include a list of do's and don'ts when it comes to using your vape batteries. Let's get started with how to properly charge your vape batteries now!

HOW TO PROPERLY CHARGE YOUR VAPE BATTERIES

Charging your vape batteries might seem like an irrelevant topic, especially if you’re a new vaper who’s just purchased a new device. Every vape device has some sort of micro-USB port (either on the front, bottom, or side of the device) that is meant to be used for charging your batteries within the device. However, many vapers have grown dissatisfied with using this method and have opted for an external battery charger. I personally prefer the external charger method because it allows me to see the level of each battery as it charges. Some batteries will show different percentage levels of the batteries charge, which alerts me that one device holds less of a charge than the other.

Another reason to use an external battery charge is because it allows you to charge a pair of batteries without losing the use of your vape device. For example, my mod uses two 18650 batteries. Once those are dead, I throw them in my external battery charger and am able to use two freshly charged ones while the dead ones charge.

Lastly, an external battery charger can usually charge several types of batteries, such as 18650 batteries, 22500 batteries, regular rechargeable batteries (AA, AAA, C, etc.), and other batteries that are designed to be recharged. This is more of a nice accessory rather than a necessity, but it’s great to have a device that can be used for multiple things at once.

THINGS TO WATCH OUT FOR WITH YOUR BATTERIES

Vape batteries are very delicate and should be checked often for damage or deterioration. Let's go over some do's and don't when it comes to using your vape batteries.

1. Always make sure your batteries are properly loaded into the device. There is a positive and a negative side to each battery. I know of one vaper who loaded them wrong and they ended up swelling and nearly exploded in the vape.
2. Don’t drop your batteries. This might seem like a no brainer, but dropping the batteries can cause the battery to swell or get dented. If you see your batteries are dented, lumpy, or swollen, throw them away! New batteries should be sleek, smooth and free of any misshapes.
3. Keep an eye out for tears in the battery vinyl. I’ve noticed that with the purple Imran 18650 batteries I use, the purple vinyl will start to tear around the edges, especially toward the bottom and top where the battery is handled the most. These tears can either block the battery from charging properly or the device from turning on.
4. While we're on the subject of battery vinyl tearing, don’t wrap the tears with electrical tape. While this might seem like a quick solution, it can actually deter you from buying new batteries. Since you think the electrical tape will be good enough, you keep using the taped-up batteries and put off purchasing safe new ones.
5. Never mix new batteries with old ones. The new batteries are able to hold a charge for much longer than your old ones. If you mix a new and an old battery, your device will try to pull power from your batteries. You may be left stranded when your old battery no longer works and your new battery still has half a charge left.
6. Don’t buy used batteries. No matter how good of a deal it seems, your batteries should always be new and unopened. You have no idea how much use the previous user got out of them. The last thing you want is to buy used batteries and have them fail. This could quite possibly damage your device, yourself, and others.
7. Always buy batteries that are specifically intended for your device. Some mods come with adapters that can use two different types of batteries, such as 26550 and 18650 batteries. Don’t try to use rechargeable AA batteries just because they look similar. This can cause serious damage to both the user and the device.

HOW DO I KNOW IT’S TIME TO BUY NEW BATTERIES?

If you’re curious about whether it’s time to change your vape batteries, there are a few things you can check. The most obvious one is that the battery won’t hold a charge for more than a few hours. This can be extremely frustrating, especially when you’ve only been using your device for 3-4 hours and already you need to recharge them. Batteries don’t have an exact useful life period, as it depends on how often they’re used. If you constantly use your device batteries throughout the day, they’ll get used and recharged quite a bit. You should consider buying new batteries at least once a year, or whenever you realize that your current batteries don't hold a charge like they used to. 

Another tell-tale sign is when your device screen says “wattage too low” or your screen will display a low battery indicator, but then the battery indicator will jump up to display a much higher charge level than before. This indicates that your device is pulling power from the battery, but the battery won’t give off that much power. You can try lowering your device's wattage, but this only circumvents the real issue until the battery level really is too low to power the mod’s firing command.

CONCLUSION

By now, you’ve probably realized there’s quite a bit of work to do when it comes to your vape batteries. In this next article, I’ll go over specific battery types, how to read wattages, and what brands are preferred, and much more. This was meant to be more of an informative article for batteries you already own. The next article will cover in depth how to purchase new batteries and which ones are better than others. Hopefully you’ve learned some do’s and don’ts for your battery practices, in addition other pertinent battery information. If you have any other questions about batteries that weren’t covered in this topic, feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to us directly.

We’re always available to help, whether it be by email, social media, or even a phone call. We understand that vaping has a steep learning curve, so we try to make that learning just a bit easier. We look forward to hearing from you and helping you in any way we can! Check back with us tomorrow when we review another e-liquid from the Coastal Clouds lineup, called Maple Butter eJuice (think pancakes and sweet syrup)! Until then, we hope your batteries are fully charged, your tank is completely full of delicious e-liquid, and your clouds are puffy and flavorful!