With vaporizers and vape batteries starting under $10 in many cases, you might assume that what’s going on in your device when you vape is fairly simple. The truth, however, is that how a vape works is actually much more complicated than you might think. Vaping generates a great deal of heat and requires a lot of battery power. Your vape doesn’t just deliver that power – it’s also responsible for managing the battery to ensure that you can vape safely.
So, how do vapes work? We’ll start with an overview of what happens in your vape pen or 510-thread battery when you inhale or push the fire button, and then we’ll discuss specific vaping scenarios by talking about how vape cartridges and wax coils work.
How a Vape Pen or 510-Thread Battery Works
A vape pen or 510-thread battery has an internal battery cell, and it’s responsible for delivering the power from the battery to the heating element in the cartridge or wax coil. Transferring power isn’t your device’s only job, though – it’s also responsible for ensuring that you can vape safely. To manage everything that happens when you vape, your device has a circuit board and one or more integrated circuits along with special firmware that manages the device’s operations.
Every vape pen or vape battery has these three functions.
- Activating and sending power to the cartridge or coil when you inhale or press the fire button.
- Monitoring the load on the battery to ensure that you can vape safely.
- Handling the battery charging process and discontinuing the charge cycle when the battery is full.
Many vape pens also have a number of advanced features. Depending on what device you’re using, those features may include:
- Variable-voltage functionality, such as in vapes like the Cloak V2.
- Automatic cartridge preheating, such as in vapes like the CCELL® Palm Pro.
- Managing multiple 510 threads simultaneously, such as in vapes like the Starship.
- Operating an automatic air pump, such as in vapes like the Jetstream Mini.
How a Vape Cartridge Works
A vape cartridge consists of a reservoir for the oil, an absorbent ceramic core with a heating element and an airflow system leading from an intake vent at the bottom of the cartridge to the mouthpiece at the top. Here’s how those things work together.
- When you fill the cartridge, the oil absorbs into the ceramic core until it’s fully saturated. The ceramic keeps the oil in contact with the heating element.
- When you inhale through the cartridge or press your vape pen’s fire button, the heating element vaporizes the oil held in the ceramic.
- The ceramic is dry when your puff is finished, so it absorbs more oil from the tank’s reservoir. As you continue vaping, you’ll see the level of oil in the tank slowly decrease.
- When the oil dips below the white openings on the side of the cartridge’s core, it’s time to add more oil if you’re using a refillable cartridge. If you’re using a disposable cartridge, you can continue using it until it’s empty.
How a Wax Coil Works
Compared to a vape cartridge, a wax coil is much simpler and consists of an exposed heating element and a mouthpiece. Here’s how it works.
- You load the coil by removing the mouthpiece and putting a small amount of wax directly on the heating element.
- When you vape, the heating element melts the wax and turns it to vapor. This continues for a few puffs until the wax is fully consumed. You can remove the coil’s mouthpiece between puffs to see how much wax is left.
- When the coil is completely dry, add more wax to avoid a burnt hit if you want to continue vaping.
What Happens When You Use Your Vape Pen?
Now that you understand the basic functioning of your vape pen along with the cartridge or wax coil, it’s time to put it all together and learn how your vape works when you use it.
- When you inhale through the vape or press the fire button, the device runs through its built-in safety checks to confirm that you can vape safely. These checks include checking the battery’s voltage and testing the resistance of the connected cartridge or coil. The safety checks are so fast that the device begins producing vapor almost instantly. If a safety check fails, the device’s indicator light blinks.
- After the safety checks are complete, the device sends power from the battery to the cartridge or coil. The power is transferred through metal contact points, which are usually made from copper.
- The heating element in the cartridge or coil gets hot when electricity passes through it, vaporizing the oil or wax.
- If you’re using a vape cartridge, the ceramic core absorbs more oil as you vape, and the level of oil in the cartridge goes down. When the cartridge is out of oil, you’ll need to add more if you’re using a refillable cartridge or replace the cartridge if you’re using a disposable one.
- If you’re using a wax coil, you can remove the mouthpiece to see if you’ve used all of the wax. When the coil is dry, you’ll need to add more wax in order to avoid a burnt hit.
- When your device’s battery is dead, the light will blink when you inhale or press the fire button. When you reach that point, you’ll need to connect the device to your computer with the charging cable to recharge the battery.
What to Do if Your Vape Isn’t Working Correctly
One of the biggest reasons why it’s worthwhile to know how your vape works is because it can point you in the right direction when your vape isn’t working as it should. Is that why you’re here? We’ll close this article by providing links to some of the most useful troubleshooting articles on this site.
