How Does A Vape Battery Work?

Even though vape batteries all accomplish the same task each vape battery is very unique in terms of battery life, features, and power emitting levels

21:14 06 January 2021

Vapes all have very similar basic functions that are listed and explained below:

 

10 Vape Battery Functions

 

1. 1. Power On/Off

 

When using a vape, one of the most basic functions is turning it on and off. Most vape pens use a button to turn it on/off by pressing it 5 times, however some e-cigarette devices simply require a puff to activate.

 

2. 2. Variable Voltage Output

 

The power going from the vape into the cartridge or whatever is attached to the device is called the variable voltage output. Some vape pens allow you to adjust the voltage by pressing the power button 3 times. Usually there is a color sequence to follow, varying from green being the lightest to red being the hardest.

 

There are also various box mods that allow you to adjust the voltage on the device. Adjusting the voltage on a box mod vape can be done by pressing the + button to increase it, and – to decrease it.

 

3. 3. Temperature Control

 

This feature is typically more common in box mods, but temperature control is similar to adjusting the voltage on a vape, however the measurements are in temperature rather than volts or watts. Adjusting the temperature on your mod ensures that the vape liquid will not get too hot, and the coil in the vape will never dry or overheat. These are important things to make sure of to prevent injury and to prolong the life of the mod.

 

Temperature control is also commonly found on dry herb vaporizers, which allow you to use flower/herb rather than juice or oil. Temperature control is important on these devices due to the fact that different compounds break down at different temperatures, which allows you to control your vaping experience.

 

4. 4. mAh Capacity

 

mAh stands for milliamp Hour and it is a unit of measurement that measures electrical power over time. In other words, mAh is used to see how much energy a battery can store. The higher the number is, the more energy the battery can store, and the longer that the battery can run without being charged again. In general, a vape pen battery will provide between 280-900 mah. The higher settings are mainly found on devices with high voltage or high resistance, for example a wax pen battery.

 

5. 5. AMP

 

AMP or amperes are used to measure the amount of energy flowing through your vape device. This is also related to the mAh capacity of your vape battery, and is important for not damaging the vape device. If a coil brings in too much of a current, it will become damaged.

 

6. 6. Safety Features

 

All reputable, high-quality vapes have a number of safety features to prevent the user from getting injured while vaping. One common feature is the “cut off” or timeout protection feature. Vapes with a button that can be held down will eventually stop giving vapor after a certain amount of time. Depending on the product, there is usually an 8-12 second limit of time that the user can inhale. This is also helpful to those who carry their vapes in their pockets or in their purse and worry about accidentally activating it.

 

Another safety feature that is included on all vape devices is overcharge protection. Overcharge protection ensures that the battery will not be overcharged, which will cause damage to the battery. Once your vape is fully charged, the feature will turn off the electrical current being transmitted to the device. There also are features such as the safety locking switch that lock the firing button to prevent the wrong person from using it, as well as accidental firing. The power button also serves as a safety feature, as well as the button sequence used to turn it on/off.

 

7. 7. Vape Cartridge Sensing

 

Vape cartridge sensing is a feature included that helps vape cartridges from getting burnt out. An example of a battery with this feature is the SteamCloud Box Mod. This vape will send messages about the vape cartridge, such as if the cartridge is not built for the amount of power you set on the mod. This will help prevent a cartridge from being burnt out, and if it is already burnt out, the sensor will also tell you that as well.

 

8. 8. Display Screens

 

A lot of vapes and box mods have display screens that give status updates on them such as battery life, temperature, and wattage/voltage setting. Some vapes also will include a puff counter. The battery level indicator tells you how much battery life is left before you have to charge your mod. Temperature control is also included on many vapes, which is indicated by the temperature setting on your mod; usually with a number followed by °F or °C. Increasing the temperature is as simple as pressing the “+” button to increase and “—” button to decrease. Adjusting your wattage/voltage is important as mentioned, because each vape cartridge is different in terms of how much power is necessary for the coil to fire. Similar to raising the temperature, raising the power is done by pressing the “+” button, and lowering it is done by pressing “—”. The puff counter is included on newer vapes and it counts how many puffs have been taken. This is a useful feature for those trying to limit their nicotine intake, and some mods even let you set a lock after a certain number of daily puffs.

 

9. 9. Buttons vs. Dials/Apps

 

Due to the variety of vapes, each device uses different ways to control their settings. Variable voltage vape pens use either a button sequence, as mentioned, or a dial on the bottom of the pen to adjust the power. Box mods mainly use buttons, however there are some touch screen devices that are newer to the market. Some high-end vapes even use apps to function, however this function was severely hurt by Apple taking down vape apps in November. In response, PAX launched a website to control their vapes.

 

10. 10. Dry Herb, Wax, and Oil Vaping

 

Dry herb vaporizers are devices that heats dry cannabis flower to create vapor which the user inhales. Wax and oil vaporizers heat up THC concentrate, which creates a vapor that the user also inhales. Dry herb vaporizers are often made with built-in batteries, and they can only be used for dry herbs. The wax and oil vaporizers are simply just the battery that you can attach a cartridge to, and adjust the power per the cartridge’s needs.