Vapes come in all sorts of shapes, sizes designs, and they all have lights that blink. But what do those blinks mean? Our vape pen blinking guide will help you understand why lights on a vape blink and what it could mean. From dead batteries to faulty cartridges, this guide helps break down why vape pens blink.
Vape Pens will blink for a variety of reasons from dead batteries and severed connections, to a coil needing to be connected, replaced and so much more. And there is no universal blinking formula that you can look at to find out what is happening when a vaporizer starts blinking this or that color, this or that many times. To further complicate things, many vapes have more than one light that blinks – for example, a light behind the power button and a light below the button.
If you are experiencing a Vape Pen Battery blinking one way or another, the message you are getting depends on the exact vape you are dealing with. 3 blinks with one vaporizer can be a very different message from another. Ultimately it is best for you to consult the user manual that came with the vaporizer you purchased.
There are many vape pens that will blink a few times after they have been turned on to indicate they have been turned on, but other times, blinking will often mean there is a problem, whether you simply need to attach a coil, charge a battery, replace a coil or something else, each vape is different. Continue onto our Blinking Guide for Vapes where we list out popular vaporizers and why they blink.
A wide variety of vape pen lights will blink 3 times. There are a few possible reasons for which this can occur. Sometimes the light will blink 3 times after turning the vape power on or right before shutting it down. And just like pressing the power button 5 times quickly to turn the vape on or off, often when you change the voltage or temperature setting the light will blink to indicate it has been changed. Blinking 3 times can also mean that there is a short circuit or connection issue between the vape battery and vape cartridge – this typically is evidence of a vape cartridge that is burnt out or no longer working.
If a vape pen is blinking 10 times it is very likely that the PCB chip, aka the brain of the vape is telling you that the battery is dead. Eventually, there will not be enough power to even see this sequence of blinking, but if you happen to come across the 10 blinks, it is time to get a new vape.
Is a vape pen blinking 3 times, 4 or maybe even 10 times? Vaporizers can’t talk to us, so engineers have designed the chips that operate them to communicate with us via blinking lights. With all of the different vaporizers in the market, there is no universal blinking light language. Consult the user manual and find out about your vaporizer for best instructions. However, if not possible, and for your convenience, we have compiled some popular vapes below and why they may blink this or that many times.
Blinks 3 times for short circuit/connection issues.
Blinks 8 times if you have held the power button for too long, aka 10 seconds or longer. This is an auto-shutoff feature to help preserve the integrity of the battery and vape coil.
Blinks 4 times for short circuit and connection issues between the vape battery and coil. This typically means your coil is no longer working and needs to be replaced.
Blinks 3 times if you have held the power button for too long, aka 15 seconds or longer. This is an auto-shutoff feature to help preserve the integrity of the battery and vape coil.
Blinks 4 times for short circuit and connection issues between the vape battery and coil. This typically means your coil is no longer working and needs to be replaced.
Blinks 8 times if you have held the power button for too long, aka 10 seconds or longer. This is an auto-shutoff feature to help preserve the integrity of the battery and vape coil.
If your Vape Pen is blinking a certain color when you try to operate it, the number of blinks is what you want to pay attention to and you can reference the user manual or use our Vape Blinking Guide above to find your vape. The number of blinks can mean a variety of things, including issues with a battery, coil or something else. The light color on the other hand, is typically used to indicate the current temperature or voltage setting of a vape.
The colors of the lights on your vaporizer and what those colors stand for are determined by how the vape’s PCB chip was programmed – the PCB chip is the brain of the vape and they can be created to show all sorts of colors or number of blinks. Most of the time, the PCB chips are made with 2 or 3 colors, but sometimes there can be 4 or 5. The color of the light more often than not, related to a temperature or voltage setting that the vaporizer is currently set to – this is common with vapes that do not have a display screen because you need some way to know whether you are at a low or high setting.
As we said above, the exact meaning of the light color and blinking sequence will vary from vape to vape. It is always best to consult the user manual to know exactly what is going on with the vape. A good rule of thumb is that the light color is likely an indicator for heat or voltage setting. And the number of blinks is usually an indicator of something else, like a battery in need of a charge, a burnt-out coil, or anything a manufacturer wants to program into the PCB chip.
The Titan Dry Herb Vaporizer is a good example of a vape without a display screen or a turn-dial to indicate which heat setting the vape is set at. It is also a good example of a vape that has two sets of display lights – one light behind the power button, and one light below the power button. The light below the power button indicates the current temperature setting and as you cycle through each setting, the light will change from color to color. The light behind the power button on the other hand, when it is Red, indicates that the Titan vape is currently heating up to the temperature setting you have chosen. And once that temperature setting is reached, the light behind the power button will turn green.
Ultimately it depends on the vaporizer in question so you should always consult the user manual first. If the vape is continuously blinking when it is placed on the charger, then it is likely that the vape blinks to show that it is charging. And when completely charged, that blinking usually stops or stays constant.
If the vape battery only blinks for a few times and stops when you put it onto the charger, it can mean a variety of things. For example, sometimes a vape may blink a few times to indicate that the battery is properly connected and charging.
If after two hours the vape battery is still at zero power, then the few blinks were not to tell you the battery is connected properly, but rather that there is some sort of issue. The issue may be a variety of things with either the battery or the charger, and like before, this issue is highly contingent on the exact vape pen in question.
As with standard vapes, disposable vape pens also blink for a variety of reasons. There are disposable vape pens that blink a certain way or color to indicate a short-circuit, battery failure or something else. But also keep in mind that disposable vape pens die far more quickly than standard vaporizers, so if you see a blinking light, it may be time to put the name to work and dispose of the now-useless vape.
General Charging Instructions for a Vape Pen