How to Refill a Disposable Oil Vape Pen

Disposable oil vape pens aren’t cheap, but they do have one major benefit in that many of them are rechargeable to ensure that you’ll have no trouble using all of the oil. If you have a rechargeable vape, in fact, it may actually be possible to refill your device when it’s empty and continue using it – and that’s the topic of this article.

Why would you want to refill a disposable oil vape? These are the two likely reasons.

You’ve found a good source of bulk vape oil, and you have a disposable vape, so you want to use it.
You have a disposable vape pen that isn’t working, and you want to get the oil out of it and put it into a device that does work.

In this guide, we’re going to walk you through the process. Before you begin, though, there are two things that you need to know. We’ll discuss those first.

What to Know Before You Try Refilling a Disposable Vape Pen

Before you try refilling a disposable vape, you need to make sure that you have the correct expectations because not all devices are refillable – and even if you can refill your vape, the experience may not be exactly what you’re hoping for. Here’s what you need to know.

Some disposable vapes are difficult or impossible to open because they’re designed to be tamper-proof. This is likely to be the case if your device has a mouthpiece that snaps into a plastic or glass shell. Removing the mouthpiece may cause the shell to crack. If that happens, the device may leak if you try to refill it. Before you get started, you should try removing the mouthpiece from your device to make sure that you can do it without a problem.
Vape oil leaves a lot of residue on a device’s atomizer coil, and the residue will eventually spoil the device’s flavor since the coil in a disposable vape isn’t replaceable. If your device has already begun to taste burnt, the flavor will become much worse after you refill it. You can still refill your device if you want to, but don’t expect the flavor quality to be anything like it would be with a new device.

If you have a good source for bulk vape oil or simply want to have a backup solution that you can use if you buy a disposable vape that turns out to be a dud, your best bet is to buy a good 510-thread battery from a company like Rokin Vapes and make sure that you always have at least one empty vape cartridge on hand. It’s much easier to fill a vape cartridge than it is to refill a disposable vape pen, and a good vape battery will always give you a much better experience than a disposable vape would.

What You Need to Refill a Disposable Vape Pen

To refill a disposable vape pen, you’ll need a blunt-tip syringe with a wide gauge. Syringe gauges are numbered, with a smaller number indicating a wider gauge. Gauge 14 – which is usually color-coded olive green – is generally a good choice for vape oil. You need a needle with a thin enough gauge to fit into the device’s filling port. If the needle is too thin, though, you won’t be able to get the oil into the syringe no matter how hard you pull the plunger.

If you’re planning to remove the oil from a non-functional disposable vape, the needle needs to be long enough to reach the bottom of the device’s reservoir.

It’s also important to buy a syringe and needle with the Luer lock or “Luer Lok” system. You’ll need to press the syringe’s plunger with a great deal of force to dispense the oil. With the Luer lock system, the needle screws tightly into the syringe and doesn’t leak. If your syringe has a press-on needle, the needle will pop off when you try to dispense the oil.

If you’re buying bulk vape oil, you might not need to buy a syringe because the oil may come in a pre-filled syringe that’s ready for immediate dispensing. In this case, half of the work is already done for you.

How to Refill a Disposable Vape Pen

Before you can refill your disposable vape pen, you’ll need to have a syringe that’s filled with oil and ready to use. If you’ve bought a pre-filled syringe, you have that already. If not, you’ll need to get the oil out of a non-functional vape. We’ll walk you through the process.

Start by making sure that you can open the device. Wiggle the mouthpiece back and forth while pulling it up gently. If the device isn’t tamper-proof, the mouthpiece should come off. Under the mouthpiece, you’ll see one or two filling holes positioned on the sides of the device’s central airflow chimney.
Warm the device to loosen the oil. You can do this, for example, by holding the vape in front of a heater vent for a few minutes. This is important because some vape oils are extremely thick – like honey or molasses – and it’ll be hard to get the oil into the syringe when it’s cold.
Place the tip of the syringe in one of the device’s filling ports and pull the plunger with firm, steady force. After a moment, you should see the oil flowing slowly into the syringe. If the plunger pops up because the syringe’s vacuum breaks, stop here; you may need to empty the device in multiple stages.
If you’re using a syringe that’s pre-filled with vape oil, you can skip the above steps but should warm the oil in the syringe to make it easier to dispense.
Remove the mouthpiece of the disposable vape that you want to refill. Insert the needle into the filling port and dispense the oil by pushing the plunger with firm, steady pressure.

Note that the instructions we’ve provided in this article are basically the same steps that you would use if you were filling a new disposable vape for the first time. When you’re using a new device, though, you can’t begin vaping right away after filling it, or it’ll taste extremely harsh. Wait at least a half hour to ensure that the oil has absorbed completely into the device’s ceramic wick.