How Long Does It Take for a Vape to Charge?

Jason Artman
How Long Does It Take for a Vape to Charge

Like most modern battery-powered consumer devices, nearly every refillable vape, disposable vape, vape pen or cart battery in the world charges through a USB port. USB charging is convenient because it allows you to charge your vape through many different power sources and to replace a broken charging cable with any cable that happens to be available. Another benefit of USB charging is that the speed is predictable. A vape takes about an hour to charge for every 1,000 mAh of battery capacity that it has.

Considering how predictable the speed of USB charging is, figuring out how long it takes to charge a vape is quite easy because it only requires a little simple math. Like so many other things in vaping, though, this question has a quick answer and a more complicated one. No two vapes are exactly the same. So, if you’d like to dig in a little more deeply, follow along with us as we explain how long you need to charge a vape and what you can do if the charging process doesn’t quite go as you expect.

Calculating How Long a Vape Takes to Charge

To figure out how long a vape takes to charge, you need to know two things: the device’s battery capacity and its charging speed.

For a vape with a built-in battery, you can typically find the capacity on the manufacturer’s website or in the product description right here at VapeJuice.com. A battery’s capacity is measured in milliampere-hours or mAh. A capacity of 1,000 mAh, for example, means that a battery can deliver a current of 1,000 milliamps – or 1 amp – for an hour before it dies. The capacity of a removable battery will be printed on the battery’s outer wrapper.

To find a vape’s charging speed, you can check the instruction manual or the manufacturer’s website. We’ll discuss this at greater length shortly. Unless you find information indicating otherwise, you can assume that a vaping device charges at a rate of 1 amp. This means that the battery charges by 1 amp – that’s 1,000 milliamps – per hour.

From there, you just need to perform a little simple math. If a vape or vape pen has a battery capacity of 500 mAh, for instance, it takes about a half hour to charge.

How Long Do the Most Popular Vapes Take to Charge?

Your vape may have a screen with a meter that shows you how far along the charging process is.

Let’s save you a bit of research time and assume that you’re using one of the most popular vapes. What’s your device’s expected charging time? Here’s roughly how long it takes for several well-known vapes to charge.

Do All Vaping Devices Charge at a Rate of 1 Amp?

The Geek Bar Digiflavor Sky is one of the few disposable vapes that supports fast charging. The battery charges to 80 percent in about 20 minutes then slows down.

Although most vaping devices charge at a rate of 1 amp, there are some vapes that support faster charging speeds – typically 1.5 or 2 amps. Fast charging typically works by giving the battery a higher current at the beginning of the charge cycle and reducing the current when the battery is nearly full (typically at an 80-percent charge). Suppose, for instance, that a vaping device has a battery capacity of 1,000 mAh and a maximum charging rate of 2 amps. In this case, the battery will normally reach an 80-percent charge in about 24 minutes before slowing down for the remainder of the charge.

Having a vaping device that supports a faster charging rate can greatly reduce the amount of time that you spend waiting for your device to charge. It’s important to remember that having a charging rate of 2 amps doesn’t quite cut the charging speed in half compared to 1-amp charging, though, because the rate slows down when the battery is nearly done charging.

Fast charging is rare in disposable vapes, but it’s becoming increasingly common in larger vape mods. When you look at the battery capacities of these devices, the increased support for faster charging isn’t surprising. With a charging speed of 1 amp, a vape mod with a battery capacity of 4,000 mAh would take about four hours to charge.

To ensure that your vape charges safely and at the maximum supported rate, we always suggest charging your device through your computer’s USB port.

What Does It Mean if Your Vape Takes Too Long to Charge?

Let’s suppose you’re here because your vape seems to be taking much longer than it should to charge. You’ve followed along with this article and performed the calculations, and your vape definitely doesn’t seem to be charging at the correct rate. What could be happening?

First of all, it’s important to stress that you shouldn’t expect a vaping device to charge in an exact number of minutes. Charging speeds can vary based on a variety of different factors. Every time you bump the charging cable or wiggle the USB connector while your vape charges, for instance, it’ll change the charging speed slightly. If your device is taking significantly longer than expected, though, there might be a problem. Here’s what you should look at.

  • If you’re expecting your vape to charge at a higher amperage, make sure the power source actually supplies that amperage. A vape can’t charge at 2 amps, for instance, if it’s connected to a 1-amp charger. As we mentioned above, we always recommend connecting a vape to your computer to ensure that it charges at the correct rate.
  • Check the charging cable and the USB port. If a USB cable is faulty, it won’t deliver power reliably. Likewise, a dirty USB port may impede the transfer of power.
  • If a vape seems to charge for hours and hours without ever finishing, it may mean that the battery has come to the end of its life and can no longer reach its target voltage. This would mean that it’s time to replace your vape. The expected lifespan of a vape battery is roughly a year if the battery is recharged daily.

What Does It Mean if Your Vape Gets Hot While Charging?

The Lost Mary MO20000 Pro has a battery capacity of 800 mAh, so it takes a little longer to charge than some other disposable vapes.

For maximum safety, you should always monitor your vape while charging it. That’s because a battery should never produce excessive heat when it charges. It’s completely normal for a vape to feel warm during charging. If it feels abnormally hot when you touch it, though, there’s a problem. Here’s what you should do.

  • Disconnect the device from the charger immediately and let it cool down. You shouldn’t try charging your vape again until you’ve diagnosed the problem, and your device has returned to room temperature.
  • Make sure that you’re using the right type of power supply. Once again, we always suggest charging your vape with your computer to ensure that the battery charges at the correct speed. If you do use a wall charger, you’ll find the charging speed printed on it. The charging speed needs to be the same as what your device supports (e.g. 1 amp) or slower (e.g. 0.5 amp). Don’t ever charge a vape with a “quick charging” adapter for a mobile phone, tablet or laptop.
  • If you’re certain that you’re using a compatible power source, it’s possible that the battery in your vape has a problem. In this case, it’s better to be safe than sorry; you should replace the battery or the device.

What Does It Mean if Your Vape Isn’t Charging?

Suppose that you connect your vape to a power supply, and the light or screen doesn’t turn on. That means your vape isn’t charging – so what should you do next?

If your vape doesn’t seem to be charging, the first thing you should always do is confirm that the battery is actually dead. Maybe you’ve already charged the battery recently, and you’ve just forgotten about it. Does the device produce vapor when you press the button or puff on it, or does it blink? If it works, you should continue using it until the battery dies. If it blinks, you’ve got a problem.

  • Change the power supply. Make sure that you’re trying to charge your vape through a reliable computer. Try a different computer if one is available. If another computer isn’t available, try charging your vape through a different USB port.
  • Change the cable. USB cables develop internal stretches and frays very easily, and this type of damage will prevent a cable from delivering power reliably. It’s very common for these types of issues to occur with a cable that’s been used daily for a while. That’s why using a new cable almost always resolves a vape battery charging issue.
  • Clean the charging port. If you carry your vape in your pocket, lint may collect in the port – and that’ll prevent the device from charging normally. You can remove the lint with a toothpick.