As an experienced vaper, I tend to get lazy with my vape battery safety sometimes. Bad idea! Charging vape batteries overnight is actually pretty awful for your battery lifespan, but it’s also possible to cause serious damage if you leave it in a power source to charge for a longer period of time. Always make sure that you take out the charge cord on time. This is necessary to avoid problems regarding overcharging and potentially premature death of your batteries. This article can save you a whole lot of trouble, so pay attention!
There are a lot of people like me, who would rather be lazy and end the day by plugging in our phones, vape gear and other electronics with empty batteries in the wall on the USB power cord overnight. This is highly tempting and understandable, but I’m going to have to advice you to never, ever do that again. It’s not only bad for the product itself, but it’s also a potential fire hazard, especially with a sensitive product like vape batteries.
Can I Leave My E-Cig Charging All Night?
It can seem the easiest way to charge your e-cigarette, but leaving your vape charging all night will reduce the lifespan of your battery. Excessively overcharging your vape throughout the night will damage the batteries. A full charge that continues to overcharge can break the battery and cause it to explode.
While it can seem convenient and tempting, it’s not recommendable to recharge your vape while you sleep. Overcharging a vape battery happens when one is fully charged and keeps drawing power from the USB-cord that’s connected to your power source:
·Charge them only when you can watch over your battery status;
·If it goes over the safe limit, that’s going to cause serious damage to the battery;
·Overcharging excessively can cause explosions (in extreme cases) .
It does not matter which type of battery you’re attempting to recharge. These safety hazards are relevant at all times! But for the sake of providing with you the most common example, let’s look a bit closer at the 18650 batteries, which are some of the most commonly used vape batteries at the moment of writing this article.
Charging 18650 Batteries Overnight
One of the most common battery models for vapes are 18650-type batteries. Using a separate charger, a full recharge for a 18650 mod battery can take up to 4 hours. However, using a Micro USB charger will only take 3 hours. Overnight recharging should be avoided at all times as this can damage your 18650 batteries.
Sometimes, it’s possible that a full charge takes longer than 4 hours. This is one of the early signs it is time to replace your battery pack. As a rule of thumb, make sure to replace your 18650 batteries at least every year (for regular use). They will last about 250 full charge cycles, but it’s pretty hard to keep track of this for most people. So simply make sure to write down the replace date somewhere you will regularly find it (such as an agenda app, just write it down for the next year), so you’ll always know when it’s time to do a replacement. Investing in new ones isn’t expensive at all.
In case you’re already overdue for a replacement (most people reading this are, so please check yours while you’re at it). I’ve never had any problems with theirs, as they usually sell brands that are safe for use. Simply follow that link to get yourself a few new ones. Investing in your personal safety ánd the quality of your vapes is never a bad investment I feel.
What Happens When You Overcharge Your Vape Battery?
When you overcharge your vape battery, what happens first is that your batteries will start to die. The first few times you overcharge you will notice a shorter lifespan, while excessive overcharging might even cause your vape batteries to heat up excessively. In extreme cases, this could lead to a battery explosion.
It should be noted that explosions are extremely rare and will never happen during normal recharging. Even when you push the limits of normal overcharging, you will have a hard time causing a fire or safety hazard to occur. However, I think it is important to warn people about the potential negative and dangerous side-effects of letting batteries overcharge too much.
Even problems such as batteries that will slowly damage themselves to the point they will no longer work properly are bad enough for most people. A responsible person would always watch their components and make sure that they are correctly maintained. This includes, among other things, keeping an eye on the process of recharging your vape batteries.
Can I Use A Powerbank To Charge My Vape?
Using a power bank for recharging is no problem as long as your model of the vaping device has “passthrough” capabilities, which is a safety mechanism intended to stop any damage from charging your vape. Also, watch the heat produced by the vape batteries and the power bank closely. Never overcharge your vape.
Some manufacturers are unclear about whether or not the batteries support pass-through capabilities. If you’re unsure, please exclusively use the charging method recommended by the manufacturer. This can usually be found in the instruction manual which you get together with your purchase, or simply look up your specific model instructions online.
When it comes to leaving them to charge overnight, it does not matter whether you’re using a power bank or another power source. On every occasion, overcharging can potentially become a safety hazard, killing not only the lifespan of the battery, but also damaging the interior of the device. So in order to be extra safe, I’d like to focus the last bits of this article on some additional safety tips for recharging.
Some Extra Tips On Safe Charging
There’s a lot of things you can do wrong around the topic of vaping and battery safety. Whatever type you tend to use, doesn’t matter if it is a type 18650, 20700 or even 21700: The precautionary measures you need to take are all one and the same. We don’t want your power source to die on you prematurely, nor do we want to blow anything up in your face. The main goal with the following safety tips is to increase quality, longevity, but most of all avoid danger at all times. That being said, I strongly urge you to read these and imprint them on the back of your skull, because this might just make your life a lot better:
·Use only good batteries in good condition: Stick with a name brand. There’s a lot of companies out there that make good products, companies that you’ve heard of before that are known for high-quality electronics. For most of vaping, we are talking about 18650 types, please stick with a name brand that you know. But also pick one with decent wrapping, because that’s what get’s damaged the fastest. Don’t skimp out on something as cheap as a power source for your vape. Is it really worth a couple of bucks to sell off your safety and security? I’m pretty sure it’s not. So for example, if you’re sporting 18650’s, pick something like these Sony VTC6’s that I’m using.
·Recharge right away, don’t leave it sitting around uncharged: To improve the lifespan of your power source, you really need to quickly fill up that empty tank. It’s not terrible if you don’t, there are no safety issues here, but if you want to keep using the same charge source multiple times, make sure you always recharge quickly. This could impact the safe use of the product down the line, so it’s certainly relevant to safety with that mind. And as explained, don’t do it before going to bed to avoid overcharging.
·Properly store your power source in a case: Don’t store them somewhere without protection and always use a (cheap) plastic battery case for storage. There’s no excuse for not using these, they’re super cheap on a big online store like Misthub. Most of these double casings have snap-lock in order to lock them in neat and tightly. If you’re going to be transporting them loose it’s not safe at all: Keeping them together with other metal objects (e.g. together with your keys in your pocket) you’re going to cause a short-circuit in your pants and you’re going to have a bad time.
·Do not exceed the lifespan: Batteries are typically designed to be used only for about 250 charge cycles. A single cycle is a complete discharge and recharge. Most people won’t be counting this which is understandable. A good rule of thumb is to use them for a year maximum. So if you write down on the battery the date you bought it (or the expiry date) you’re going to be safe and secure at all times.
·Understand Ohm’s law: What Ohm’s are coming out of your vape coils? Your build is directly related to the current that comes off of these. The easiest way to know this, is using the simple formula: Voltage used divided by the number of Ohms. The answer you’re going to get is the maximum Amps your build can handle (take into account variance, so never go to the maximum). This matters for building your atomizers so you don’t overcharge it. If you’re confused at all about this, which is understandable, please check out the article I wrote on Ohms. If that’s not answering your questions either, just go to VapeCalc.com and put in all the variables that are relevant for your own device. Now you never need to calculate this complicated stuff anymore.
Now all of this might seem a little bit overwhelming when you’re just getting started, especially the last point I touched upon around the topic of Amperage and Ohms. If you’re a beginner, it takes time to learn about this stuff. You don’t immediately need to build your own components, just stick to the regulated stuff and your pre-set voltage settings. All of this is aimed at stopping the exploding vapes which we see time and time again.
Always Vape Responsibly
There’s a lot of things you can do wrong when it comes to vaping and personal security. Don’t get yourself worked up over all the details: When you don’t do anything spectacular and are just a casual vaper, the odds of you screwing up badly is very slim. It’s when you start playing with the voltages and Ohm settings of your build, where it starts to get tricky and potentially dangerous.
So if you do want to tweak your settings always more sure you researched the components properly and know which settings you have to use. That’s the only way to stay safe out there and be a responsible vaper. The best thing anyone can do at all times is to stick to quality products. I’ve provided you with a perfect overview of high-quality vaping products time and time again, so feel free to check that out to make sure you’re on the right path. If I missed anything in this article or if you have any additional questions, always feel free to leave something in the comments down below. I’m happy to help you and get back to you when I can. And as always, vape on!