A Guide to Battery Safety in Vaping | Blog | Vanilla Vapes
23rd Aug 2023
Battery Safety Guide
Put simply, there are two types of vaping devices. Those with internal batteries that are re-charged via a USB cable, and those with removable batteries.
The devices that use removable batteries are many and the size of batteries varies but treating any of these batteries with care and respect is paramount.
We’ve all read the newspaper headlines where people have had batteries explode in their pockets… this is completely avoidable with proper battery care.
Which batteries should I use?
Choose the right type of battery. Good quality IMR (Lithium Manganese Oxide) batteries or INR (Lithium Manganese Nickel) batteries are the best choices, due to the battery chemistry being less volatile than ICR (Lithium Cobalt Oxide) batteries.
Don't buy cheap when it comes to batteries - it's not worth the risk to the safety of you and those around you, to save a relatively small amount of money
Unfortunately, counterfeit batteries are a thing. Always buy from a reputable vendor.
Charging your batteries
A good quality battery charger is also crucial. A poor-quality charger can over-charge a battery, making it unstable and greatly increasing the chance of batteries overheating or venting when they are used.
A fully charged IMR battery should be somewhere between 4.15 and 4.20 volts. Much above that (4.25V) and its life will be shortened, and instability becomes a concern.
Don’t leave your batteries charging overnight or unattended.
Don't over-drain your batteries
A mechanical mod does not have this protection and will run the battery until it is absolutely flat, which is very bad for lithium batteries. You will be able to tell when your battery voltage is running low due to a substantial decrease in vapour production.
For the best experience, recharging at, or above, 3.6V is advised. It is always a good idea to err on the side of caution, particularly until you are used to judging your batteries charge by the loss of power, so removing the battery and checking its voltage in your battery charger regularly is advised.
Maintaining your batteries
Re-wrapping batteries is a very easy job and can prevent shorts. If your battery wraps are damaged, stop using them until you are able to re-wrap them. Battery wraps are cheap and very easy to replace. See our video below demonstrating this.
Carrying spare batteries
All of our 18650 batteries are sold in a protective case to allow safe transport.
Marry your batteries
If your mod takes 2 or more batteries, always use the same batteries together. Different batteries have different ratings and using unmatched batteries can put an unnecessary strain on one of them.
Always charge and discharge them together. This practice will prolong the life of your batteries.
Replace old batteries
All rechargeable batteries have a finite number of charge cycles in them. After time, they will start to lose capacity. It is advisable to replace your batteries after 6-12 months, depending on use and definitely as soon as you notice a loss in capacity.
If you notice any damage to your batteries, other than the wraps (which can be replaced), it’s time to recycle them.
Recycle old batteries
Throwing away batteries is never a good idea. Both for the same reasons as outlined above in the carrying spare batteries section, and because it is good practice for the environment to recycle where we can.
Many supermarkets and local recycling centres have battery recycling bins. We would also recommend taping over each end of the batteries before you put them in the recycling.
