Power Source Solution: Selecting The Right Battery For Your E-Cig Device
As vaping – and, specifically, its technology – evolves, matures and inevitably expands, like it or not, as a simple practical activity, vaping gets more complicated. For those new to the wonderful world of vaping then this can feel a little daunting; a little intimidating even. So, how to get around it?
Well, there’s nothing like dipping your toe in and just going for it with vaping. That said, though, in some instances, it’s important to make sure you’re clued up pretty quickly as soon as you’ve dived in. For instance, before you throw yourself heart-and-soul into choosing between the myriad flavours and coil and tank modifications available from your local vape store, it’s critical you get one thing right – the batteries you fit your e-cig device with.
Moving on to modding?
To be fair, should you be happy to vape away via a standard pre-built e-cig kit for some time after taking up vaping, then fair enough – and good news on the battery front because it should be fairly obvious and simple which batteries to use with your device when your purchase it.
The complexity, like it or not, comes in when you start to get experimental; when you seriously get into vaping. When you decide you want to tailor you vaping experience more to your own personal preferences (for instance, exactly the kind of ‘hit’ you get each time), this is where ‘modding’ rears its head; in other words, the combining of different components to build an e-cig device or kit that’s perfect for you and, thus, not available straight off the shelf.
Why a suitable battery’s so important
To that end, it’s absolutely crucial that you get your brand-spanking new mod fitted with the correct battery. Owing to all the bells and whistles that require modifying for such a vape kit (wicks, coil, tanks and so on), it’s all too easy to overlook the battery, yet it’s something you simply can’t afford to do. Fair enough, but why?
Well, quite honestly, it is all a bit involved. Should you want to vape both quickly and with deep, long, slow draws (or ‘hits’) you’re going to require a battery to deliver a decent ‘load’ – that is, a pretty copious output of current. To achieve this, you’ll need to aim for high amperage, for which you’ll have to appreciate the measurement that’s milli-amp hours (mAh), which helps vapers understand the capacity of their battery and, thus, its strength and when it’s likely to require charging. Obviously, a battery with a propensity for higher mAh means it’ll last longer when it comes to some serious power-sapping vaping; especially if you’re planning on taking your mod out with you and are in transit for a relatively long time.
Finally, there are a few terms – and behind them, important points – to consider when it comes to selecting the right battery from a vape shop for your mod/ e-cig device:
- High capacity– effectively measured by mAh, a device’s capacity ensures the amount of vaping possible before a battery requires recharging
- High current – when it comes to choosing a powerful battery, it’ll either be its ability to deliver high capacity or its ability to deliver high current that you’ll choose between; like it or not, you can’t have both
- High voltage – more voltage equals more vapor volume from the liquid that’s heated by the coil/ wick and, therefore, an improved vaping experience; note that, even though the same current may be provided by two separate batteries, they could well run at different voltages
- Operating temperature – the temperature (or, rather, the heat) at which your battery works will determine how long it’ll last; should the temperature be high, it’s likely to wear out the battery faster and, be aware that if it’s too high, it could damage the battery or it may even burst and explode.
That said, exploding batteries in e-cig devices are rare and, so long as you know what you’re doing and carefully select and look after your battery, it’s highly unlikely to happen and so you should certainly enjoy fine, highly satisfactory vaping.