Guidelines for Safe and Effective Battery Use

Battery safety is one of the most important issues in vaping. Overloading a battery beyond its power limits or misusing a battery or charger can lead to potentially dangerous situations, as well as cause damage to your device. But there’s no need to worry. We’ve outlined simple guidelines below to make sure you’re using your battery properly and to keep you vaping as safely as possible.

If you have any questions about battery safety, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Internal Batteries: Non-Replaceable Batteries Like eGo/Pen-Style Batteries and Other Regulated Devices

Pen-style batteries (also called eGo batteries) and regulated devices with internal batteries are protected, which means they’ll never allow you to empty the battery’s power out beyond a safe limit. In terms of battery safety, basic, slim eGo batteries and regulated mods are very similar. Here are safety tips you should follow to be sure you’re playing it safe:

• Keep an eye on charging battery: Do not charge your battery overnight. It’s best to charge it when you are nearby to keep an eye on it. When the light turns green, or your device says the battery is fully charged, remove the battery from the charger.
• Use the right charger: Always use the correct type of charger for a battery — ideally, stick with the charging cable and wall adapter that came with your device.
• Buy from a reputable source: It’s best to buy eGo chargers from a reputable source (like a local vape shop!). Using a cheap gas station charger with a quality eGo battery is a no-no. Avoid this!
• Watch your amp level: Most regulated devices with internal batteries charge at either 0.5 amps or 1 amp, but some can charge at up to 2 amps. Look in your user manual to find out the correct amp level for charging your mod.

External Batteries: Mods With Replaceable or Removable Batteries

Mods with removable batteries (also called loose or external batteries) can be either regulated or unregulated. Unregulated mods, also known as mechanical mods, have no circuitry or safety protections. They are simply metal tubes, or sometimes boxes, into which a battery is inserted. This means you should take extra safety precautions when using a mechanical mod. Here’s a list of tips and guidelines for mech mods and other mods with external batteries.

• Keep it clean: Regularly clean all the threading and inner walls of your mech mod. It’s best to use an alcohol wipe or alcohol and a cotton swab. Dirty threading can interfere with the circuit and cause a “hot button” — i.e., a button that remains stuck even after you let go.
• Battery wrap: Check your battery wrap to make sure there are no holes or nicks in the wrap. The wrap is the plastic sheath that’s wrapped tightly around the metal battery. Additionally, be absolutely sure you are putting your batteries in the correct direction. The positive end of a battery is the end with less metal showing underneath the plastic battery wrap. In a box mod that holds two batteries, the batteries could either be in parallel (pointing in the same direction) or in series (pointing in opposite directions). Make sure you know the correct orientation for you mod batteries.
• Married batteries: For a two-battery mod, it’s safest to use “married batteries.” This means you should buy two batteries at the same time, and use them and charge them together. If you want backup batteries, buy two more and keep them together as well. If needed, label the batteries with a marker so you can identify them.
• Amp limit: The amperage limit is the measure of how much power your battery can handle. Most loose batteries tell you their amp limit directly on the side of the battery. If you find an Ohm’s law calculator online, you can input your coil’s resistance and your battery’s voltage and determine the amperage you are outputting. If this amperage is higher than your battery can handle, and you prefer to vape with this much power, you should purchase a higher-amperage battery.
• Coil resistance: Whether you buy prebuilt atomizers or build your own coils, you need to be extra sure the resistance of your coil is high enough to be safe, especially with an unregulated mechanical mod. Building below 0.2ohms is not recommended unless you thoroughly understand battery safety.
• Look out for hot spots: When building your own coils, you also need to be extra sure that your coil is firing correctly and that it does not have any hot spots. A good coil should heat up starting at the center of the coil.
• Avoid cheap chargers: With external battery chargers, avoid chargers that seem generic, come from unknown companies, or do not stop the battery from charging once it is fully charged. This is known as “overcharge protection,” so look on your charger’s product box for that phrase or something similar. To play it as safe as possible, two high-quality and reputable battery charger companies are Luc and Nitecore.

Tip for mechanical mods: A loose battery in a single-battery mechanical mod will output voltage directly, meaning that as you vape, the battery’s output power will decrease and you’ll get less vapor and flavor. Don’t continue to vape until the battery is completely dead; this is bad for the battery and can be unsafe. When you notice a significant decrease in power, switch to a freshly charged battery.

General Battery Issues

• Auto-firing: If your tank or coil heats up without the button being pressed, the first thing to do is remove your tank/atomizer as quickly as possible.
• Venting: In the worst-case scenario, a battery will vent. This means gases inside the battery will build up and begin to release. If this happens, move your device as quickly as possible into something plastic, or at least away from anything flammable, and wait until the battery is no longer venting.
• Disposal: Batteries that are at the end of their life should not just be thrown away — bring your loose batteries or devices with built-in batteries to Crescent City Vape and we will recycle them for you.

These guidelines may seem complicated at first, but in fact they’re simple to follow. It comes down to this: Keep an eye on your batteries, don’t charge them overnight, and don’t push your battery’s limits. Stick by these guidelines and the only thing you’ll have to worry about is which flavor to vape next!