Should You Be Concerned About Your Vape's Batteries Leaking?
I'm sure by now you've all probably seen and read one of the news stories about someone's e-cigarette exploding, and causing serious harm. These devices are exploding as a result of the batteries, but should you be concerned if your batteries are leaking?
Fortunately, battery leakage is not a common occurrence - but because it is so rare, that in and of itself makes the event even more worrying. If battery leakage has happened to you before, then make sure you follow our tips as closely as possible. If you haven't had this occur, then you're very lucky. However, you should still follow the below tips to keep it from happening in the future.
What are they made from?
Vaping batteries are made from a few standard lithium ion compounds. The main three types are ICR, with lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2); IMR, with lithium manganese (LiMn); and finally a hybrid of the two with some lithium-cadmium (LiCd) as well. The lithium allows these batteries to be rechargeable and reusable over time, which is how your vape can last so many years even when recharging it every day. However, it's also the reason that your vape is somewhat expensive - lithium is used in many technologically advanced products, and demand for it has increased enough that prices have increased. Because vape batteries are fairly expensive, it's probably a wise choice to make sure they don't leak. The fact that lithium is fairly toxic to the human body if absorbed in small quantities is probably another good incentive to make sure your batteries aren't leaky.
Tips to protect your devices batteries
One of the key tips to making sure your vape's battery does not leak is to not roughhouse your vape too much. If you're clumsy and drop your vape on the ground fairly often, there's a high chance that your battery will start leaking. Similarly, if you carelessly toss your vape onto the hard countertop after every one of your vaping sessions, there is a higher likelihood of one of those throws going awry and causing the battery to crack. Though it may be second nature to you, take the time to gently put your vape in a safe spot without much external force applied.
Speaking of safe spots, our second major tip is to keep your vape in a safe spot. Again, if you're clumsy you might be prone to accidentally dropping objects onto the floor. Now, compare the consequences if you accidentally push your vape off of the top shelf of a cabinet onto a wood floor versus tipping your vape off of a nightstand onto a soft carpet. While these are extreme examples, it's easy to see that keeping your vape in a spot with many ways to mitigate gravity is a smart choice.
Our final tip for all the vapers out there is to not let your vape battery overheat too much. Repeated instances of overheating your battery can cause the protective casing to expand and contract rapidly, which can cause small cracks to form over time. While most casings are built to withstand this heating and cooling, the materials can only handle so much. Keep an eye on how overheated your battery is getting, and try to keep it to a minimum. If your battery does overheat, don't put it on a cold surface or try to cool it down quickly, as this speeds up the process of those small cracks forming.
Vape battery leakage is rare, but you can make it nearly a non-issue with the simple tips above. If you keep your vape in a safe, low spot, don't let it overheat too often, and make sure you handle it gently, then your vaping sessions will never have to be interrupted by a leaky battery.
