The large proportion of e-cig devices, whether it be vape mods, pens, and e-cigs have removable batteries, and it is paramount that you take care of them. If not, you likely to be putting stress on the battery and this is likely to lead to either poor battery life or venting.
So we’re going to look at some simple tips and tricks to keep your batteries in top condition so you vape for longer!
1. Wrapping
All external batteries, no matter which model have a thin plastic wrap all around the battery, just exposing the positive and negative faces at either end.
Over time, these plastic covers can wear or tear exposing the metal surface. This exposure can actually be rather dangerous, especially if the tear is near the positive end, often there is an additional white plastic disk to ensure extra safety. If this disk is damaged, stop using the battery immediately until it’s fixed. Damaged wraps can cause hard shorts within your vape device and can lead to battery venting.
Luckily, there are many suppliers who offer battery wraps and they are really cheap! Make sure when you buy them though, that they include the extra white disk for the positive terminal. They are heat shrink materials that use any heat source; I just use a hairdryer, to shrink into position. Make sure the white disk is in the correct position and the plastic is not exposing any metal.
2. Charging Your Batteries
These days most vape mods that use external batteries have a USB port to enable you to charge your batteries. Now although there is nothing really wrong with charging your batteries through your mod, it is extremely slower than using an external charger. The internal charger also seems to charge the batteries at an uneven rate which is not good for the battery life.
Another bad thing with internal charging is that due to it being so slow the batteries never end up getting a full charge. All rechargeable batteries can only be recharged a number of times, and not fully charging the battery at a time can reduce this lifecycle.
3. Marrying Your Batteries
Many vape mods use dual batteries, more often than not, these are dual 18650 batteries. When you're using a device that requires two batteries it is relatively important to make sure you are marrying the batteries.
This means using the same two batteries, with the same mAh and brand. Why brand? Well, each brand is not exactly the same although the mAh power may state the same, the voltage may be different.
Marrying the same batteries means that both batteries can discharge and recharge at the same rate. This prevents too much stress on one battery.
4. Carrying Spare Batteries
It is so important and often overlooked, but you should never carry loose vape batteries in your pocket. They can easily become damaged, or if they already are and come into contact with anything metal, like your keys or money then it can produce a hard short and possibly explode.
You can buy battery cases which are really cheap and prevent the batteries from the above.
5. Hot Batteries
If you vape a lot and using the wrong type of battery, it’s likely that you will notice your vape mod getting hot. This should be an immediate sign to put it down for 10 minutes to cool.
The harder batteries work, the warmer they get. If the stress is too much for the batteries they may reach thermal runaway and this can cause the battery to vent.
Make sure the batteries are completely cooled before vaping again, and if this is happening on a regular basis then it may be required to buy some higher rated batteries.
To Conclude
Keeping your batteries safe is one important practice that should not be overlooked. All the bad media about the safety of these devices as far as a fire hazard is based on the use of the batteries. Make sure you treat your vape batteries with care and caution.