How to Use an Oil Pen: Step-by-Step Instructions

If you’ve made the decision to buy a new oil pen for yourself, we’d like to congratulate you. Vape pens for oil cartridges must be the ultimate vaping devices. Being extremely thick, sticky and viscous, herbal concentrates are never easy to work with. Oil pens, however, make concentrates much easier to use because they’re so easy to charge and fill. With a good oil vape pen, you can be up and running in minutes – and you’ll enjoy an incredible level of elevation that you could never get from smoking alone.

Before you can get there, though, you’ve got to learn how to use your new oil pen – and that’s where this article is going to help. This is your all-purpose instruction manual for using virtually any oil vape pen. Reading it, you’re going to learn how to charge an oil pen, how to fill an oil cartridge and how to have the best possible experience using your new device.

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let’s start with a basic definition. What exactly is an oil pen?

What Is an Oil Pen?

To understand what a vape pen for oil is, you first need to understand what an oil is within the spectrum of herbal concentrates for vaping.

• An oil is a thick liquid herbal concentrate. In most cases, an oil is so thick that dispensing it with a plastic squeeze bottle or an eyedropper would be virtually impossible. Filling an oil cartridge almost always requires a syringe.
• A wax is an herbal concentrate that’s solid at room temperature but may melt when it’s heated. Oil vape cartridges aren’t designed for waxes; trying to put wax in an oil cartridge may result in a clogged vape cart. Learn more about wax pens and dab pens.
• An e-liquid is a liquid herbal concentrate that’s thin enough to be dispensed from a bottle. Technically, e-liquids aren’t usually concentrates at all because they’re generally diluted with terpenes or propylene glycol. Although you can often use an e-liquid in a 510 oil cartridge, it’s generally not recommended because the cartridge may leak.

The qualities that make a vape pen good for oil vaping involve the device itself and the cartridge connected to it.

• The cartridge should be designed to support thick oils reliably without producing harsh “dry hits.” The CCELL® cartridges that we offer at Hamilton Devices are perfect for oil vaping.
• The device should be designed for low-wattage operation because you want the heating element in the cartridge to get hot enough to vaporize the oil but not so hot that the oil burns. We specialize in devices for oil vaping, and you’ll be very happy with any of the vaporizers sold here.

How to Charge an Oil Pen

An oil vape pen has a USB port for charging and will include the required cable. To charge an oil pen, connect it to your computer’s USB port using the included cable. When the vape pen’s indicator light turns off or changes color, the battery is fully charged.

How to Fill a 510 Oil Cartridge

Because oil-based concentrates are extremely thick, you’ll generally need a syringe in order to fill an oil cartridge properly. When you buy vape oil from a dispensary, it’ll often come in a syringe. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to provide your own syringe. Our article on how to prime and fill a CCELL® vape cartridge covers this topic in detail. Here’s a summary of what you need to do.

• Open the cartridge by twisting the mouthpiece off.
• Insert the tip of the syringe into the cartridge, being careful to avoid the center air chimney.
• Squeeze the syringe until the cartridge is nearly full, leaving a bit of room at the top for the mouthpiece.
• Replace the mouthpiece.

After filling a new oil cartridge, you should always wait a while before vaping to ensure that the oil is fully absorbed into the cartridge’s wick. If the oil is very thick, full absorption may take up to a half hour.

How to Turn an Oil Pen On

If your oil pen has a manual fire button, you’ll need to turn the device on before you can vape. In most cases, you can turn an oil vape pen on by pressing the fire button five times quickly. If the device has automatic puff activation rather than a manual fire button, it most likely doesn’t have an on/off function.

How to Vape with an Oil Pen

After you’ve charged your oil pen, filled the cartridge and waited a while for the wick to become saturated, the device is ready to use. If your vape pen has automatic puff-based activation, you can vape simply by puffing on the mouthpiece. If the device has a manual fire button, you’ll need to hold the button while puffing.

If you’ve never used an oil vape pen before, these two tips will help to ensure that you’ll have the best possible experience.

• Always inhale gently when vaping. If you inhale too firmly, you could draw oil into your mouth.
• Herbal concentrates are very potent, and you should start slowly until you become accustomed to the effects. Start with just a few puffs. Wait a while to gauge how you feel before vaping again.

How Long Does a 510 Oil Cartridge Last?

A refillable 510 cartridge can usually last through several refills before you’ll need to replace it. In some cases, it’s even possible to clean an oil cartridge and continue reusing it when it becomes dirty. Herbal concentrates contain resins, particulate matter and other contaminants that collect on a vape coil and eventually reduce the coil’s flavor quality. When you’re no longer happy with the flavor that an oil cartridge produces, it’s time to replace it.

What to Do When Your Oil Pen Isn’t Working

We’ve devoted an entire article to fixing a vape pen that isn’t working, and we think you’ll find the article useful if your oil pen gives you trouble. Here, however, are a few tips that can help you troubleshoot some of the more common problems that you might experience.

• If your oil pen isn’t charging, make sure that it’s connected to your computer and not to a third-party charger. Try replacing the USB cable.
• If your oil pen isn’t hitting, charge the battery fully and make sure that the device is turned on. If it still doesn’t work, try a different cartridge.
• If your oil pen produces a burnt flavor with a new cartridge, wait a while to ensure that the wick is completely saturated. If you have a device with adjustable power, try lowering the wattage.