Maybe you’re new to vaping and bought a cartridge online without reading the fine print, or perhaps your friend knows you vape and got you a cartridge flavor they think you’ll enjoy. Sometimes, you end up with a new cartridge that won’t fit onto your current vape mod.
As much as the industry is trying to standardize, it hasn’t happened yet.
Proprietary Cartridges for Proprietary Vapes
This is a classic trick used by companies that want repeat business—make your product incompatible with your competitors so your customers have no choice but to come back.
Much the same way as you can’t plug in your Android phone with an Apple Lightning cable, you won’t be able to plug certain cartridges into your mod. Even the best vape box mods just won’t be compatible with this type of cartridge.
Several well-known and up-and-coming brands have adopted this business model, keeping both the battery mod and the cartridge profits in-house. Only their cartridge works with their vape.
For casual vapers who just want a plug-and-play cartridge for an off-the-shelf vaporizer, this can be convenient. However, it can also be tricky when no one around sells the cartridge that you need.
What Is Industry Standard?
Despite several attempts by certain companies to separate the market into various cartridge adapters, the vast majority of mod and tank manufacturers have realized that everyone wins and things are cheaper for everyone when the industry standardizes. Just as everyone switched to detachable tanks so your mods don’t have to be stored upright, they have also made those tanks and cartridges interchangeable.
To this end, the industry has settled on what is known as the 510 thread standard. Threads are the grooves that interlock when you screw your cartridge on. Five stands for 5mm, and ten stands for ten threads. Each half of the connector, both male and female, has five threads. When all five threads are fully screwed on, the connection is complete.
The 510 standard is far and away the most common type of thread that you’ll see if you visit a custom vape store. The vast majority of cartridges, tanks, and batteries are already made to mate with any other 510 device.
Can I Get an Adapter?
Everything exists if you search hard enough, and there are adapters out there to connect just about every cartridge to every mod in existence. But at a certain point, you have to ask yourself if it’s worth it, or if buying expensive adapters is a waste of money.
Proprietary cartridges are often more expensive or contain less juice than cartridges from a custom vape shop. If you happen to get a cartridge that doesn’t fit your 510 standard, it’s probably best to just give it to a friend. Otherwise, the adapter may end up costing more than the cartridge itself.
Lastly, if you do decide to buy an adapter, be extremely careful if you’re plugging it into a custom mod. Many proprietary cartridges are designed to be used solely with a certain vaporizer at a certain temperature and resistance. If you choose to use an adapter, it could lead to your cartridge malfunctioning or overheating, possibly causing damage to your mod.
In Conclusion
You don’t want a new cartridge to go to waste, but sometimes, it’s best to stick with what you have rather than jumping through hoops to make a cartridge work with an incompatible mod.
If you want to learn more about vaping, take a look at our latest post on whether or not you can vape alcohol!
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