Taking good care of your equipment plays a big role in the performance of your electronic cigarette or vape. You may find that a favorite battery or blank cartridge isn’t working as well as it used to, or has become unreliable. When this happens, there are ways to troubleshoot the issues before tossing the items completely.
The components of your e-cig or vape may differ slightly, but in general there are simple steps to follow in order to help keep them working as long as possible, as best as possible.
The first steps are of course to take good care of your vape, store it appropriately and keep your vape pen clean and charged, using manufacturer approved charging devices.
Batteries
If you find that a fully charged battery doesn’t seem to be powering your e-cig properly, it may need to be cleaned. The threading of the battery (the set of grooves along the edge that attaches to the cartridge) may be dirty or have dust or debris on it. Try using a standard, dry toothbrush to clean between the grooves. (Make sure you are no longer using this toothbrush to brush your teeth, though!). If there was any buildup on the threading, the battery likely wasn’t making good contact with the cartridge, resulting in lower vapor production.
You may also try resetting the battery. There are two ways of doing this: one for manual and one for automatic.
For manual batteries, remove the cartridge from the battery and hold the power button down for roughly ten seconds. This will cause the LED light on the tip of the battery to glow steadily for a few moments, then it will blink several times before going dark. Once that process is complete, reattach the battery to the charger and allow it to go through a full charging cycle. This should resolve any issues you were having with the battery previously.
For automatic batteries, first remove the cartridge from the battery. Make sure the threading on the battery is clean and simply blow into the center of the threading several times. This will cause the LED light on the tip of the battery to blink, confirming that the battery has been reset. Reattach the battery to the charger and allow it to go through a full charging cycle.
Cartridges
If you are getting a burnt taste or diminished vapor from your ecig cartridge, the first thing to check is the level of eliquid remaining. For a reusable blank cartridge, simply add more of your favorite eliquid to the cartridge. Be sure to keep your vaping a cartridge adequately filled as using it with low eliquid can permanently degrade the wick; a damaged wick renders the cartridge unusable and will in turn need to be replaced.
For a cartridge that is not low on e-liquid but is still producing diminished vapor, check to be sure that none of the juice has dripped into the center post. The hollow post located in the center of your cartridge allows air to flow through and is vital for maximum vapor production. To unclog the center post, take a clean pin or toothpick and gently remove any buildup inside the post. This should help restore the performance of your cartridge.
