If you’ve ever experienced the major inconvenience of having a disposable vape die unexpectedly when you were just about to sit down for a vaping session, you’ve discovered the one big drawback of using disposables: Most of the time, there’s no easy way to tell when it’s almost time to replace a device. That can be a nasty surprise if you don’t have a spare device available because it means that you’ll suddenly have no way to satisfy your cravings. That’s a pretty big problem if there isn’t an open vape shop near you, and it’s definitely a problem you want to avoid.

So, how can you know when your disposable vape is almost empty?

In this guide, we’re going to help you plan better by understanding what’s going on inside your device. This guide applies to all major brands like Fumot, Lost Mary and others. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll know when you can expect to replace your disposable vapes. You’ll also have a better understanding of how long you can expect your devices to last and what you can do to make them last longer. Let’s dive in!

Vapor Production and Flavor Will Tell You When a Disposable Vape Is Almost Empty

To understand when a disposable vape is almost empty, the first thing you need to know is that many modern disposable vapes are rechargeable. If you have a disposable vape with a USB port, don’t assume that the device is empty when the light starts blinking. Instead, connect the device to your computer and recharge the battery. You can usually charge a rechargeable disposable vape many times before it runs out of vape juice.

If you’ve already charged your device several times, pay attention to the vapor production and flavor quality to know when it’s almost empty. When a disposable vape is almost out of e-liquid, the cotton or silica wick that transports e-liquid to the device’s heating coil will start to dry out. This will cause muted flavors and reduced vapor production.

The vapor production and flavor intensity of a disposable vape will continue to decline until the device is completely out of vape juice. At that point, the device will no longer generate vapor when you try to use it. An empty disposable vape may even produce a harsh, burnt flavor when it runs out of e-liquid.

If a disposable vape stops producing vapor even with a charged battery, it’s time to recycle it.

Some Modern Disposables Have Built-in E-Liquid Meters

One of the greatest developments in vaping over the past year or so is that new devices are beginning to incorporate modern features like built-in digital e-liquid meters. The Digital Box 12000 is one of these devices. Made by Fumot, the Digital Box 12000 contains e-liquid with a strength of 20 or 50 mg/ml and lasts up to 12,000 puffs before running out of e-liquid. The most important feature of this device, though, is a meter that lets you know approximately how much vape juice is left. Just watch the meter to know when you should start planning to buy a new device.  

Understanding How Long a Disposable Vape Should Last

Now that you have a better understanding of how to know when a disposable vape is almost empty, the next thing to know is how long you can expect a disposable vape to last before you’ll need to replace it. Knowing how long a disposable vape is likely to last will improve your planning by helping you know how many devices you should buy when you stock up.

To know how long a disposable vape should last, the first thing you need to know is the device’s puff count, which will be on the box and in the advertising materials. The important thing to understand about a disposable vape’s puff count, though, is that it mainly serves as a point of comparison that allows you to compare different devices. A device with a higher puff count will have more e-liquid than a device with a lower puff count, so it’s reasonable to expect that it’ll last longer.

So, if you can’t think of the puff count on the box as an exact number of puffs that a disposable vape will deliver, what does it actually mean? Manufacturers use automatic smoking machines to determine how many puffs their devices will deliver before running out of e-liquid, and the testing protocol uses a puff length of one second. If you only puff on your device for one second at a time, you’ll probably get somewhere near the advertised number of puffs. Most vapers, however, tend to take longer puffs than that. If you fall into that category, you should expect your device to deliver significantly fewer puffs than what’s stated on the box.

How long can you expect a disposable vape to last? In general, it’s completely reasonable to expect a disposable vape to last at least one day for every milliliter of e-liquid it contains – as long as you use it responsibly. We’ll discuss that next.

How to Make a Disposable Vape Last Longer

Reading this article, you’ve gained a better understanding of how long a disposable vape usually lasts and how you can tell when a device is almost empty. Now that you know those things, we’ll conclude this guide with three pointers that’ll help your devices last as long as they can. If you want to get the maximum usage out of a disposable vape – in terms of both the number of puffs and the total duration of use – just do these few things.

• Try to puff on the device at about the same frequency that you would as a smoker. Take around 10-15 puffs at a time and put the device down between sessions. This helps to ensure that you’ll only vape when you actually need the nicotine.
• Try to keep your puffs short if you want to get the most possible puffs out of the device.
• Try to avoid chain vaping. If you don’t wait at least a few seconds after each puff, your device’s heating coil will become too hot. This increases the device’s e-liquid usage and will reduce the number of puffs that the device produces before it runs out of e-liquid.