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Unless you’re stealth vaping with a pocket-sized vape pen (or other starter kits that come with built-in batteries), you’ll likely be using what are known as external batteries. External batteries are useful as they can be easily replaced, as well as enable to you always keep a spare pair handy meaning you never have to worry about running out.
18650 – giving millennials a throwback to flashlight torch batteries, these are found in the vast majority of mods. The numbers simply stand for the size. 18mm diameter, 65mm height and a “0” is the battery’s way of saying: “I’m cylindrical”. On the clunky side, these are nevertheless power-pushing, long-lasting heavyweights that are used for one reason: they deliver.
26650– less common and recognised by being slightly wider than 18650s, these (big surprise) are 22mm in diameter and 65mm height. Not many models take 26650s, but they’re around for powering the likes of some iJoy and Aspire devices.
Lithium-ion batteries consist of three parts: the cathode, the anode and the electrolyte. The cathode is the part giving each type its unique characteristic.
The vast majority of vape batteries are lithium ion- that’s the same kind you’ll find in your phone, laptop, cordless power tools and the remote control car you totally don’t own. There are, however, several types of lithium ion battery.
Lithium IMR a.k.a Li-Mn (Lithium Manganese). These are high-drain batteries that exist because manganese is known for it’s reliability. Manganese allows batteries to discharge at a high current while maintaining low temperatures. Also wins points for safety and not requiring extensive built-in protective circuitry. These are currently the most-common and most-recommended type.
Lithium ICRa.k.a. C for Cobalt. Virtually obsolete, but still rocking the “Big Boys” image, these deliver the highest specific energy of any 18650 battery- at a cost. They’re risky to use. Few come with internal protective circuitry, so if you want this, you’ll need to fish around for added protection (third-party companies like Trustfire will do this).
Volts, amps and ohms are something you need to understand before you start poking around for variable anything devices. All electronics have current moving along a copper wire. Think of it like water running through a pipe. How fast it’s running is the current (measured in amps). All wires also have some element of resistance to them (measured in ohms). Consider this how big the pipe is. Sub-Ohm vapers, take note. Water flows easily through a big pipe (little resistance), and less easily through a tiny pipe (high resistance). Volts are the power you’re applying to the current. Consider them the pressure in the pipes.
Capacity (or mAh rating) is the approximation for how long a battery charge should last from 100% to cut-off. Note. A higher rating doesn’t necessarily mean a better battery. For most, a higher amp rating (CDR or continuous discharge rate) determines better performance. CDR isn’t a suggestion. It’s the safe operating limit of the battery’s cell. It’s also a trade-off. CDR amps sacrifice mAh and run time. mAh and run time sacrifice amps and CDR. You won’t find batteries with both the highest amp rating and the highest mAh capacity. Sorry.
Temperature isn’t something that’s varied in the battery, per say. Temperature is the heat needed to power your device. The batteries are doing the work here, though. IMR batteries have a chemical process that can result in running a cooler battery, but the difference in battery composition has zero effect on how hot your coils (or juice) get.
Marrying batteries is literally what it says on the tin. Keeping the batteries together from day 1 (until death us do part). You buy them together, discharge them together, charge them together and yes, it’s important. Marrying batteries will result in longer battery life and not having one battery doing all the work.
This one doesn’t get funny bits in brackets because it’s serious business. News headlines have outlined just how badly things can go if you don’t respect the basic rules of battery physics. As a rule of thumb, always follow these battery safety tips.
A Lithium Ion (“Li-Ion”) 18650 cell (“battery”) purchase may be more than you bargained for. Counterfeit 18650 Lithium Ion batteries have been identified in a number of injuries and fires. So it is important for you to vape with authentic batteries for your safety. Here we collected some easy ways to show you how to spot a counterfeit 18650 battery.
We can easily spot a counterfeit battery by comparing the battery wrappers, as the manufacturers of counterfeit batteries cannot get the same source of wrappers that the original manufacturers use. So there are some very clear differences on the wrappers:
