Battery Safety 101: The Ultimate Guide to Battery Safety For Your Mod
Always use the appropriate battery for the right mod
This is the golden rule, always double check you are using the recommended battery for your mod!
ALWAYS use “Married” Batteries
When using electronic cigarettes that take two or more 18650 batteries, always make sure that the batteries stay together their whole life. You should always make sure these two batteries are discharged and recharged together at all times.
If you use an old and new battery together, there’s a possibility that the old battery will discharge below the normal 3.2v, which will damage the battery and possibly your device. When using batteries that are married, you will reliably get the same number of charges from both. This allows you to know when they are both at the end of their life cycle.
NEVER put your battery in your pants pocket/purse/backpack/etc. without first placing it inside of a battery case or battery cover
Letting your batteries touch each other or any other metallic item is a great way to have your batteries fail and it has the potential to cause serious harm.
Reverse Battery Installation
Make sure to pay attention when placing your batteries into your mod. If you place your batteries in backwards you risk having them vent, which could lead to some serious harm. Some mods may have reverse polarity protection, but not all do! Even if your mod does have reverse polarity protection, please don’t insert your batteries incorrectly.
Don’t Let Your Batteries Short Circuit
Short-circuiting occurs when the positive and negative terminals of a battery are connected with a low resistance wire. The low resistance causes the battery to deliver a large amount of energy in a short time, which exceeds the battery’s upper amp limit.
When using a regulated box mod with a sub-ohm tank that has pre-made coils, this is something you don’t usually have to worry about. For those that like to go the unregulated route, and build their own coils, you need to make sure that you keep the resistance under the upper amp limit of the battery that you’re using.
Never Overcharge Your Batteries!
When charging your batteries, always make sure you have an eye on them. Never leave your batteries unsupervised, make sure to check every 15-30 minutes to see if they are fully charged. Once you see a battery has been fully charged, take that battery off the charger. Leaving batteries in a charger too long can cause them to overcharge, which has a good probability of causing battery failure. Charging batteries over 4.25v can shorten the life cycle and going over 4.5v can cause it to explode.
Never Over-Discharge Your Batteries or Leave Your Batteries at a Resting Voltage Below 3.6v
Leaving your batteries below 3.6v will cause irreversible damage. Leaving your batteries in a discharged state will create a loss in capacity and cycles. You can find the exact voltage of a battery with a multimeter. If you are one that builds your own coils you should make sure that a multimeter is a MUST HAVE item in your coil building fleet. A multimeter allows you to test your coils and your batteries, making sure you know what level you are at for each.
Never Expose a Battery to Fire or High Temperatures
There are chemicals in a battery that should never be exposed to fire and/or high temperatures. Dangerous fumes will be released if you try to burn a battery, which will most likely result in an explosion. That means that you should also never leave your battery somewhere that is constantly exposed to high temperatures, such as your car.
Never Use Batteries that are Dented or have Ripped Wrapping
If your battery is dented, DO NOT USE IT! (Example shown right). There is most likely internal damage to this battery, which can cause a short. Do NOT use batteries with broken wrap, as it exposes the metal of the battery, and can cause overheating or short circuit (which can potentially be dangerous to the user).
Always Pay Attention to the Temperature
Keep your batteries away from extreme temperatures; both heat and cold will put stress on your batteries. Make sure to always use and charge your batteries at room temperature. If your batteries have been exposed to extreme temperatures, allow them to return back to room temperature.
If you want to store your batteries for a long period of time (months or years), make sure to discharge them to 3.8v and store them in a cool dry place. Refrigerators are great for storing batteries, but you need to make sure that you are protecting your batteries from moisture before using or charging again.
Get Rid of Batteries After 6 Months of use
We recommend that you properly dispose of old batteries after a good 6 months of use. If you use the batteries often, you will usually find around this time that the batteries will no longer charge to a full 4.2v. You can check to see how far your batteries charge up to with a multimeter (Shown Right), which we recommended earlier. If you find that you are falling short of 4.0v when charging your batteries, make sure to properly dispose of these batteries, and purchase a new set.