- Budtender
-
by Wendy Thompson
Troubleshooting Your Vape Cartridge & Battery
It’s a royal pain in the you know what when you want a draw off your vape and it just won’t work. Let’s talk about some of the most common problems and why your vape might not be working.
Before we talk problems, let’s first talk about the most common type of battery used with a vape cartridge – a 510 pen battery. Currently, there are two different types available, one with a button and one without.
The batteries available without buttons are draw-activated. This means only when you take a draw and air passes through it will the battery fire. Typically, they have a fixed voltage which means only one heat setting. Vape batteries with a button will only fire when the button is pressed. These button batteries typically have three voltage settings on them that are colour coded. This style of battery also has a pulse setting which is commonly referred to as the pre-heat function.
The most common problem that we hear about from customers is “I can’t get any air to come through my vape when I take a draw.” The typical reason for this is the vape liquid has clogged the cartridge. There are a few things you can do to solve the clogging. If you have a button-style battery use the pulse/preheat function for a few seconds and then try taking a draw. 99% of the time the preheat function will clear the clog. If you have a draw-activated battery, you can hold the cartridge in your hand to warm it up or introduce a form of mild heat to the cart such as putting the cart in a watertight bag and running it under warm water or placing it on a heat vent for a minute or so just to warm up the cart and then it should fire. If these fail the last option is to use a non-conductive material such as a toothpick and carefully put it down inside the mouthpiece hole and try to clean a bit of the excess liquid out that way.
The next common issue we hear is “My vape battery charges up but won’t work.” Before you think it’s the cartridge itself and just toss it, it is typically an issue with the contact points where the vape cartridge screws to the battery. These points can sometimes get dirty and aren’t able to make a good connection to the battery. The contact point on the battery could also be pushed in and stuck not allowing a connection. The first and most important task to do to solve this issue is to TURN OFF THE BATTERY to avoid shorting it out and then you can simply remove the cart and clean off the contact points and threads. If you used a liquid to clean it be sure to dry the battery and cart before reassembly. If that doesn’t work and you think your battery contact is stuck down, with the battery OFF, you can try lightly pushing on it to see if you can free it up. Sometimes they will get stuck down if you over-tighten the cart so try not to screw it too tight.
Another possible issue you could encounter is “Why is my cart leaking or all sticky?” This is the most annoying of all issues because not only has your cart pretty much emptied out but wherever it was is now covered in sticky vape liquid. The reason this typically happens is one of 3 things.
- You left it somewhere hot. Think of vape liquid like a stick of butter, it is very stable on the counter or fridge but what if you left it in the sun? It would likely melt turning into a thin liquid, and that’s exactly what happens to the vape liquid in the cart. If you look closely, you will see holes inside the cart near the bottom and if the liquid becomes too thin due to excess heat it will seep out of those holes and ultimately out of the tank.
- You might have forgotten to turn it off and clicked the button twice in your pocket, meaning it’s in preheat mode and will continuously fire the battery, heating it up and causing it to leak all over your pocket. Always make sure to turn off your vape when not in use.
- You have a faulty cart that leaks. Bring this vape cartridge back into the store for a refund.
If you encounter any of these issues with your 510 battery or vape cartridge, call the store at (613) 336-0441 and we will troubleshoot or bring your unit into the store for personal technical support.
