One of the biggest benefits of vape pens is that they deliver an extremely satisfying experience while also being very small and portable. A small vaping device also has a small battery, though, which means that you’ll need to recharge your device fairly often. So, how long does it take to charge a vape pen?
An average vape pen takes between 30 and 60 minutes to charge, but the exact charging time varies based on a number of factors – primarily the battery’s capacity and the speed of its charging circuit.
If you want to know exactly how long your vape pen takes to charge, you’re in the right place because we’re going to explain how to calculate it. You can figure out the answer in just a couple of seconds, and you only need two pieces of information to do it.
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How Long Does It Take for a Vape Pen to Charge?
The SMOK Novo Pro vape pen uses a USB-C port for charging.
It’s time to learn how to calculate exactly how long a vape pen should take to charge. To do that, you need to know just two things about your device. Those are:
- The capacity of the battery, which is a number followed by the abbreviation “mAh.” The abbreviation stands for “milliamp-hours.” For every 1,000 mAh of capacity, a battery can deliver a current of 1 amp for 1 hour.
- The speed of the battery’s charging circuit, which is a number followed by the abbreviation “A.” The abbreviation stands for “amps.” A typical charging speed for a vape battery is 1A or 1 amp.
You can find both of these things in your vape pen’s instruction manual or on the manufacturer’s website. If the charging speed doesn’t seem to be specified anywhere, you can assume it’s 1 amp.
A battery with a 1,000 mAh capacity and a 1-amp charging circuit takes one hour to charge. You can use those figures as baselines to calculate how long the charging time should be for your vape pen.
Let’s suppose, for instance, that your vape pen has a battery capacity of 800 mAh and a charging speed of 1 amp. A capacity of 800 mAh is 80 percent of 1,000 mAh, and 80 percent of an hour is 48 minutes. Therefore, your vape pen should charge in 48 minutes.
What Does It Mean if a Vape Pen Takes Too Long to Charge?
The Geek Bar Pulse X vape pen supports fast charging and charges to 80 percent in about 20 minutes with a compatible power source.
You might be here because your vape pen has been on the charger for a long time, and you’re concerned that there might be a problem. You’ve done the calculation above, and your vape pen has definitely been charging longer than the number that you’ve come up with. What does it mean if your vape pen takes too long to charge? Generally, this isn’t actually a problem. Here’s why.
- Although it’s possible to calculate the expected charging time of a vape pen, you shouldn’t treat the result as exact because many small factors can affect the power delivery during the charging process. For example, an old USB cable or a dirty charging port can cause slower charging.
- If your vape pen charges at a speed faster than 1 amp, the charging rate will slow down when the battery is nearly full. Typically, a vape pen that supports fast charging will charge at the highest possible rate until the charge cycle is about 80-percent complete. After that, it’ll charge at a slower rate until the battery is full.
- If you’re charging your vape pen with a wall adapter, the adapter may not be able to deliver power at the maximum rate the vape pen supports. If your vape pen supports a 2-amp charging current but is connected to a 1-amp wall charger, it’ll charge at a rate of 1 amp.
It’s okay to charge a vape pen with a wall adapter that uses a lower-amperage charging current than what the battery supports; it'll just take longer. However, you shouldn’t use a charger with a higher amperage than supported. There should be a sticker stating the output somewhere on the charger.
Given all of the different factors that can affect how long a vape pen takes to charge, there’s no reason to worry if the charging process for your device takes a little longer than expected. If the charging process never seems to finish, though, that’s a sign of a potential problem. We’ll explain that shortly – but first, let’s discuss another problem that you might have encountered.
What Does It Mean if a Vape Pen Isn’t Charging?
If you’re here because it seems like your vape pen is taking too long to charge, have you actually taken a look at the device’s screen or light? If your vape pen is dark and isn’t providing any indication that the battery is charging, it’s not actually charging. Don’t panic because fixing a vape pen that isn’t charging is usually quick and easy. Here’s what you should do next.
- Start by replacing the USB cable. USB cables wear out extremely quickly, and the charging cables included with some vape pens aren’t exactly the most durable in the world. When a vape pen doesn’t charge, the USB cable is the cause of the problem the vast majority of the time. If your vape pen charges through the threading, this may mean that you’ll need to buy a new charging cable from the device’s manufacturer because a generic replacement 510-thread charger may not be compatible with your device even if it fits the threading.
- Try a different power source. If you’re using a wall adapter, try a different adapter or connect the device to your computer. Don’t forget that you should never connect a vape pen to an adapter that’s designed to deliver a higher amperage than what the vape pen supports. This means that the majority of wall adapters for devices like mobile phones and tablets are not compatible with vape pens.
- Make sure that your vape pen is clean. If the vape pen has a USB charging port, check it for lint and remove any contaminants with a toothpick. If it charges through the threading, you can clean the contact point in the middle of the thread with a cotton swab. If vape oil has leaked inside the threading, you can remove it by moistening the cotton swab with a little alcohol. Don’t forget to remove the alcohol by finishing with a dry cotton swab. Don’t attempt to use or charge your vape pen while the threading is wet.
How Can You Tell if a Vape Pen Is Finished?
If you were able to get your vape pen to start charging by following the tips above, you should be all set to continue using your device. If the vape pen didn’t start charging, though, it’s possible that the battery has actually reached the end of its life – and in this case, it’s time to get a new vape pen.
Here are two other signs that your vape pen probably needs replacement.
- Does your vape pen seem to finish charging almost as soon as you connect it to the charger – but it starts blinking again after just a few puffs? This is a typical sign of a battery that has experienced a permanent reduction in its capacity. All lithium-ion batteries lose capacity gradually over time, and the capacity loss starts to become very noticeable after around 300-500 charge cycles. If your vape pen is around a year old, there’s a good chance that it has reached this point.
- On the other hand, maybe it’s possible that your vape pen’s light turns on as it should when you connect the charger, but it never seems to turn off. In this case, the gradual degradation of the battery has caused a situation where the battery is no longer able to reach its fully charged voltage. Although this symptom is slightly different from the one described above, the end result is the same. Since the battery is no longer able to charge normally, you’ll need to replace your vape pen.