510 is a thread size, not a brand: ten threads of half a millimetre each, the informal standard that lets almost any cartridge screw onto almost any battery. It says nothing about what is inside the cartridge, how well it is built, or how it will perform.
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The number describes a screw thread and nothing else. Once you know that, most of the confusion around cartridges and batteries goes away.
Ten threads, each 0.5 mm in pitch — 5-10. It began as one manufacturer's connector and became the de facto standard because everyone copied it, which is why a cartridge bought from one company usually fits a battery bought from another.
It is a convention rather than a certified standard. Nobody administers it, nothing is tested against it, and "510 compatible" is a claim about geometry, not about quality.
| Part | What it does |
|---|---|
| Cartridge | Holds the contents, the wick and the heating element. Consumable. |
| Battery | Supplies power. Reusable. Often called a pen. |
| 510 connection | The threaded joint between them. |
| Mouthpiece | Usually moulded into the cartridge, sometimes separate. |
Hand tight only. The commonest hardware failure we hear about is a cartridge cross-threaded or over-tightened until the centre pin is crushed, after which it will not make contact on any battery. Turn until it stops, then stop.
If it will not sit flush, back it out fully and start again rather than forcing it — the thread is soft metal and it strips.
A disposable is the same arrangement with the battery sealed to the cartridge and no thread at all. Which you are holding changes what you can do when something goes wrong. See disposable or cartridge, what the difference is.
A used device is electronic waste with a lithium cell in it, and it does not belong in household rubbish or a kerbside recycling bin. Take it to a battery collection point, a household hazardous waste site, or a shop that accepts device take-back. Never crush, puncture or bin one.
Upright, mouthpiece up, somewhere cool and dark, around half charged if it is going away for a while. Heat thins the contents and causes leaks, cold thickens them and dries the wick, and a device left on its side floods its own airway.
A clog is nearly always cold, thick contents blocking a narrow airway, or condensation collecting in the mouthpiece. Warm the cartridge in your hands, stand it upright, clear the mouthpiece with a cotton bud or a paperclip, then take short gentle draws rather than hard ones.
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