The term “blinker hit” is one of the more interesting pieces of slang to hit the vaping community over the past few years. I’ve seen it pop up repeatedly on Reddit and other discussion forums, often with no explanation as to what the term actually means.

So, what is a blinker hit? When you puff on your vape for so long that the device cuts off and the light blinks, that means you’re hitting a blinker.

What’s the significance when you get a blinker hit? Does it mean that you’re doing something wrong when you vape, and does it mean anything about how much longer you can expect your vape to last? I’ll answer those questions in this guide.

What Does Hitting a Blinker Mean?

Hitting a blinker means that you’re exceeding your device’s automatic puff cutoff timer. In other words, you’re taking a very long puff.

Now that you know the definition of a blinker hit, what does it actually mean for the long-term health of your vaping device? The answer is probably “nothing.” The automatic puff limiter exists to protect the health of the device and to protect your own safety as well.

A vaping device has a puff limiter for three reasons.

• It helps to ensure that the device won’t overheat during normal usage.
• If the puff sensor is stuck – which can happen sometimes with cheap vapes, especially when they leak – the puff limiter should stop the device from auto-firing.
• The puff limiter also helps to prevent unintentional activation when the device is in your pocket.

If you’re always hitting a blinker when you vape, you probably have nothing to worry about from a safety standpoint unless you’re chain vaping, and your device is actually starting to become noticeably hot. In that case, you should probably consider putting the device down for a while to let it cool off.

If you’re using a disposable vape, you might also want to evaluate how much nicotine you’re consuming and whether you really require that much. Remember that disposable vapes are usually very high in nicotine; they’re comparable to tobacco cigarettes. You wouldn’t want to switch from smoking to vaping only to end up consuming more nicotine than you did before.

On the other hand, it’s possible that you’re always getting blinker hits because you happen to enjoy taking long puffs. In that case, it’s worthwhile to consider using a different type of vape because different devices have different puff timers. I’ll discuss that next.

How Long Is a Blinker Hit?

The most common length of a blinker hit is 8 seconds for a pod system and 10 seconds for a vape mod. Disposable vapes tend to be shorter.

In general, puff limiters tend to be a bit stricter for smaller vaping devices like disposable vapes and pod systems. Vape mods and pod mods, on the other hand, tend to have longer timers. There are a few possible reasons for that phenomenon.

• Larger vapes may do a better job of dissipating heat.
• Larger vapes may have higher-quality battery cells that can deliver power for longer periods without a risk of overheating.
• Smaller vapes are optimized to work best with high-nicotine e-liquids, so those devices may have shorter puff limiters to help prevent overconsumption of nicotine.

Curious about which vapes have the longest puff timers? I did the work, so you don’t have to. Here’s what the maximum puff lengths are for a random sampling of well-known vapes.

• Pod Vapes
  • Freemax Galex Pro: 8 seconds (Displays the message “8s”)
  • Geekvape Wenax Q: 10 seconds (Displays the message “Over Time”)
  • Innokin EQ FLTR: 5 seconds (Blinks white 2 times)
  • Lost Vape Ursa Nano Air: 10 seconds (Blinks 8 times)
  • OXVA Xlim Pro: 8 seconds (Blinks blue 3 times)
  • Uwell Caliburn GK3: 8 seconds (Displays the message “8s”)
  • Vaporesso XROS Nano: 8 seconds (Pulses 3 times)
  • Vaporesso XROS 4: 8 seconds (Blinks 5 times in the color corresponding to the battery’s charge level)
  • Voopoo Argus Pod: 8 seconds (Displays the message “Time Out”)
• Vape Mods
  • Aspire Rhea X: 10 seconds (Displays the message “10s Over Time”)
  • Geekvape L200: 10 seconds (Displays the message “Time Out”)
  • Innokin Kroma 217: 3-18 seconds (configurable) (Displays the message “Time Out”)
  • SMOK Alien: 12 seconds
  • Vaporesso Armour Max/S: 10 seconds (Displays the message “Over Time”)
  • Vaporesso Gen 200/80S: 10 seconds (Displays the message “Over Time”)

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find the puff limits for disposable vapes and 510-thread batteries from official sources because the manufacturers tend not to publish that information. Typically, it seems that the maximum puff length for a disposable vape is around 5 seconds, whereas 510-thread batteries are a bit longer. Note also that the puff limiter for an oil disposable vape might be a bit longer than the limiter for an e-liquid vape because it takes an oil vape a little longer to get going.

If Your Vape Blinks Instantly, You’re Not Hitting a Blinker

In case you hadn’t already noticed from reading the information above, there’s no such thing as a blinker hit that happens instantly. If your vape blinks as soon as you hit it, that’s an entirely different problem. It either means that your device’s battery is dead or that there’s a problem with the connected pod or coil. You can find the definition of each blink code in your device’s instruction manual. To get your vape working, try the following steps.

• Charge the device.
• Remove the pod or tank and check for a leak under it. If you find a leak, dry it completely.
• If your device still isn’t working, replace the pod or coil.

What Types of Vapes Can Have Blinker Hits?

When people talk about blinker hits, they’re usually referring to disposable vapes or 510-thread batteries because those are the most popular types of vapes on the market today. Every type of vaping device with regulated power delivery has a puff timer, though, which means that you can hit a blinker with any of them. Different types of devices, however, behave differently in this situation. A vape mod with a screen doesn’t actually blink. Instead, it’ll display an error message like “Time Out” when you exceed the puff limiter.

Mechanical mods are the only exceptions to this rule because they have no power regulation. A mechanical mod will stay on as long as you hold the button. That’s one reason why I don’t recommend using mech mods at all – the explosion risk is just too high.

Wrapping Up: Blinker Hits Exist for Your Safety

Hitting a blinker when you vape is fairly annoying, but devices have had automatic puff length limiters for almost as long as vaping has existed. Because of the potential risk of fire when using a lithium-ion battery, manufacturers do everything possible to ensure that you can’t use your device in a way that might potentially be unsafe.

If you’re using a high-nicotine device like a disposable vape, the blinker also serves an additional important purpose by reminding you that you need to monitor your nicotine intake. When you’re using a nicotine strength of 50 mg/ml, there’s really no reason why every puff has to be five seconds long. You wouldn’t smoke a cigarette that way.

Although puff limiters help to keep you safe, they do vary by brand and device type. In general, pod vapes are more generous than disposables, and vape mods have longer puff timers than pod systems. So, if the fact that you’re always hitting a blinker is reducing the quality of your experience, solving the problem could be as simple as getting a new device.