When you use a 510-thread battery, charging the battery is going to become a regular part of your routine because most batteries for oil vaping are designed for maximum portability rather than battery capacity. If you only have one battery, though, you’ll want to time your charging carefully because you want your battery to be ready when you want to use it.
So, how long does a cart battery take to charge? How do you charge a cart battery properly, and what can you do if your battery isn’t charging? By the time you’re doing reading this article, you’re going to know the answers to those questions.
How Long Does It Take to Charge a 510-Thread Battery?
It usually takes less than an hour to charge a cart battery, but you can determine the expected charging time fairly accurately if you know the battery’s capacity and charging speed. Suppose, for instance, that you’re using a battery with a capacity of 380 milliamp-hours, and the battery charges at a rate of 1 amp. In this case, you can expect the battery to charge in 38 minutes. You can usually find a vape battery’s capacity and charging rate by reading the instruction manual.
A battery with a higher capacity takes longer to charge, and a higher charging rate decreases the charging time. It’s typical for vape batteries to use 1-amp charging currents, but there are some batteries that use higher charging amperages. It’s important to understand, however, that there is a tradeoff between a battery’s charging speed and its longevity. A higher current causes a battery to become hotter during charging, and the excess heat will ultimately shorten the battery’s life.
How Do You Charge a Cart Battery Safely?
You should always charge a cart battery by connecting it to your computer. As we explained in the previous section of this article, a vape battery is designed to work with a charging current of a specific amperage. Most commonly, a 510-thread battery uses a 1-amp charging current, although there are some exceptions. When you connect a vape battery to your computer, the computer communicates with the charging circuitry in the battery to provide the correct current.
A USB wall charger, on the other hand, doesn’t have that ability and can only provide one type of charging current – and in many cases, the current can have a much higher amperage than the current for which the battery is designed. For that reason, you should never connect a cart battery to a wall charger unless you’re certain that the charger is approved by the battery’s manufacturer. A wall charger for a mobile device may supply a current with a much higher amperage than what your vape battery expects to receive, and that can potentially lead to overheating and permanent damage to the battery.
It’s also important to note that 510-thread batteries can have two different types of chargers. Most vape batteries have USB ports for charging. If your battery has a USB port – and the cable included with the device stops working – you can safely charge the battery with whatever cable you happen to have available.
Other cart batteries, however, charge directly through their 510 threading. If this is the way that your battery charges, the circuitry that manages the charging process is in the charger – not in the battery. Therefore, it’s possible to damage the battery by connecting it to an incorrect charger – even if you’re doing the correct thing and connecting the charger to your computer. If your vape battery uses a proprietary 510-thread charger, you can’t just go to your local vape shop and buy a charger that looks similar if your battery’s original charger stops working. You’ll need to buy an identical replacement charger from the battery’s manufacturer.
The process of charging a cart battery is quite simple. All that you need to do is connect one end of the charger to your battery’s USB port – or to the battery’s threading – and connect the other end to your computer’s USB port. When you do this, the indicator light on the battery will turn on. After about a half hour or so, the light will either turn off or change to a different color. When this happens, the charging process is complete, and you can disconnect the battery from your computer.
What Should You Do if a 510-Thread Battery Isn’t Charging?
Now that you have a better understanding of how the charging process works with your vape battery and how to charge the battery safely, it’s time to learn what you should do if your cart battery isn’t charging. When you connect a 510-thread battery to your computer, the battery’s indicator light should turn on to let you know that the charging cycle has begun. If that doesn’t happen, you’ll need to do a little troubleshooting to find out what the problem is. Follow these steps to fix a 510-thread battery that isn’t charging.
- Make sure that you’re connecting the battery to your computer’s USB port. As we explained above, you should always avoid charging a 510-thread battery with a wall charger unless the charger was either sold to you by the battery’s manufacturer or included with the battery.
- If your battery uses a proprietary charger that connects directly to the battery’s 510 threading, make sure that you’re using an original charger made by the battery’s manufacturer and not a third-party replacement. A third-party charger may not supply the correct current for your battery.
- If your battery charges through a USB port, clean the port. Use a toothpick to scrape lint, dust and other contaminants out of the charging port. Don’t ever use a metal tool to clean a vape battery’s charging port because metal can damage the port’s delicate contacts.
- If your battery charges through the 510 threading, clean the thread. If oil has leaked into the battery’s threading, it can prevent the charger from making contact with the pin in the center of the threading. Use a cotton swab moistened with rubbing alcohol to dissolve and remove the oil.
- Replace the charging cable. If you’re using a battery that charges through a USB port, you can use any USB cable that you have available. If you’re using a battery with a proprietary charger, you’ll need to use a replacement charger made by the battery’s manufacturer.
