Budget vaping

[ScottP]

A couple more notes about all of this. Yes there is an rba head for the Beast tanks but it is dual coil so may not be the best for beginners. I would pick something reasonably inexpensive that is single coil for a first rba, but that is a personal preference.

You will also need some measuring equipment. Cheap plastic stuff works just fine. I mix 236ml bottles so a syringe would be too small. I have a 25ml graduated cylinder for smaller quantities and a 100ml graduated beaker for the larger quantities. I do have a couple of syringes those in case I want to make a small batch of something. These items can be gotten super cheap just about anywhere.

 

[Opinionated]

Lol... did anyone say they wanted MY opinion? Hahaha.. I'm sorry, this thread got funny so I thought I'd add to the hilarity.

I'm an anti DIY starter kit person, just saying, for those on a budget. I don't think they are necessary, and neither are scales for goodness sake.

By all means if you wife has a scale in her kitchen for her baking, then of course you can use it - but heck I HAVE a scale in my kitchen for my baking and I've never once used it for DIY.. no need. I might be .... when it comes to making dough, but I find no need to be that .... when it comes to ejuice. Ejuice is all about flavor - it's more like making spaghetti sauce than like making bread dough.

That said, as others have indicated you will be happy with a gallon of VG, some Nicotine (you can even get smooth nicotine salts and you may find yourself happier) PG if you need it but you may not, and a handful of flavors and a few syringes - you can even reuse some of the bottles you already have right now for e juice... buy a couple more.

Find one good recipe that takes as little flavors as possible... and vape that for the first month.

You don't need an external battery mod to make your own coils - what you have is just fine, you just need either an rba base for the atty you have, or an rta... (preferably start with a single coil set up at first)

For that you need a few tools, many of which you likely already have round your house - but the biggest savings is going to be in DIYing your own ejuice.

 

[sofarsogood]

My concern starting with DIY is I'd make bad batches, waste materieals making stuff that doeesn't taste good. To minimize that risk use unflavored DIY to dilute commercial e liquid you know you like. Most e liquids are way way over flavored. They will be fine diluted 50% and probably to 75%. Today I use an all in one flavoring at 1%. I don't tire of it because it's very subtle at that low percent. Do you want to spend a lot of time and materials becoming chef vape or do you just want to have a satisfying vape and save money?

I started mixing with syringes and finally went to graduated glass cylinders because I only mix once a month in 200 ml batches. May be some day I'll use a scale for everything except the flavoring.

 

[b.m.]

To make diy really simple,you said you buy from Vape wild.They have flavor concentrates of their flavors for $1.99 for 10ml or $3.99 for a 30ml.If you have a few specific juices you like from them,buy the concentrate,some vg,pg,and nic,and also some syringes or a scale,then you'll have juice you know you like,then you can start grabbing other flavors as the budget permits to experiment with.

 

[Doctorvapes]

Wow, so many good suggestions. I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to this.

I think I would like to mix by volume, it's true it's all overwhelming but I'm sure it can't be that hard.

I guess I was thinking you'd need a million and one flavors to start, I'll look for simple recipes or just start with single or stand alone flavors as suggested.

Not sure where I am at with the rta or rda decision but it's nice to know my mods will power them.

 

[mattiem]

Wow, so many good suggestions. I'd like to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to this.

I think I would like to mix by volume, it's true it's all overwhelming but I'm sure it can't be that hard.

I guess I was thinking you'd need a million and one flavors to start, I'll look for simple recipes or just start with single or stand alone flavors as suggested.

Not sure where I am at with the rta or rda decision but it's nice to know my mods will power them.

The hardest part is just deciding to do it. If you decide to check out onestopdiyshop for your flavor blends use the coupon code JFK or ECF for 17% off your order.

 

[ScottP]

I guess I was thinking you'd need a million and one flavors to start, I'll look for simple recipes or just start with single or stand alone flavors as suggested.

No you don't need a million flavorings especially if you can find a simple all day vape for each of you.

Here is my recipe for "Winter's Frost" (Wintergreen with cooling agent) that tastes like a Wintergreen Ice Breakers mint. Besides the base ingredients it takes 2 flavors. This is all I vape. You could make a 23ml sample batch by moving the decimal one place to the left for all ingredients.

RESULT: 236ml 6% 65PG/35VG
Base Nic (in PG) 14.16ml
PG 89.12ml
VG 82.6ml
Wintergreen Flavor (in PG) 40.12 (17%)
Polar Blast (from Nic River) (in PG) 10ml

My wife vapes a Lemonade that I make for her that also uses 2 flavorings. Here is that recipe in %. The reason for the 2 different lemonades is that the FlavorWest version tastes more like real lemon juice and the NicotineRiver version is very sweet. The combo makes for a more real lemony lemonade flavor.

RESULT: 6% 30PG/70VG
Base Nic 6% (in PG)
PG 4%
VG 70%
FlavorWest Lemonade (in PG) 10%
NicotineRiver Lemonade (in PG) 10%

 

[Doctorvapes]

Settled on rtas... For me I like vape between 45 and 65 watts. She currently capes at 45 watts. The coils we are using are smok x4 and t8 .15 ohm .

She had wondered if she should get a mtl rta because she says she's not satisfying her nicotine craving currently. She thinks maybe going mtl and using the nicotine would be a solution? But she hates tight draws. I tried explaining mtl is a tight draw with airflow closed off.

So maybe a better build or if I am DIY juice I can tailor the nic level to whatever is needed.

I like an airy, wide open vape and I suspect she does too as she is used to the baby beast.

Suggestions on rtas, wire gauges to buy and ohms to shoot for for 45 to 65 watts vaping appreciated.

 

[Eskie]

There's nothing that says you can't value a higher nic juice if you DL. Some people are happy at 3 mg for DL. I prefer 6 mg. Your wife might need 8-9 mg for satisfaction. The reason you'll see folks using 12-24 mg with mtl is it delivers less nic per draw. DL typically more. It's all just a balance. 2 ml of 24 mg in a day is 48 mg a day. 8 ml of 6 mg is 48 mg a day. Different delivery systems but the end result is the same. If you mix yourself or just choose to adjust the nic concentration of your retail juice all that matters is getting enough to be satisfied and not tempted to smoke.

 

[mattiem]

Settled on rtas... For me I like vape between 45 and 65 watts. She currently capes at 45 watts. The coils we are using are smok x4 and t8 .15 ohm .

She had wondered if she should get a mtl rta because she says she's not satisfying her nicotine craving currently. She thinks maybe going mtl and using the nicotine would be a solution? But she hates tight draws. I tried explaining mtl is a tight draw with airflow closed off.

So maybe a better build or if I am DIY juice I can tailor the nic level to whatever is needed.

I like an airy, wide open vape and I suspect she does too as she is used to the baby beast.

Suggestions on rtas, wire gauges to buy and ohms to shoot for for 45 to 65 watts vaping appreciated.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong but I don't think you understand what MTL actually means. If I understand it correctly it just means drawing the vapor into your mouth, holding it there for however long and then pulling it down into your lungs. One draws the vapor in kinda like sucking on a straw. I do something kinda like that but don't pull the vapor into my lungs. I just draw it into my mouth and then release it through both nose and mouth. I use a fairly open air flow on all of my mtl toppers because I don't enjoy a tight draw..

Edited to add: that is the joy of diy e-liquid. One can fine tune the amount of nicotine to hit that sweet spot very easily.

 

[ScottP]

Someone please correct me if I am wrong but I don't think you understand what MTL actually means. If I understand it correctly it just means drawing the vapor into your mouth, holding it there for however long and then pulling it down into your lungs. One draws the vapor in kinda like sucking on a straw. I do something kinda like that but don't pull the vapor into my lungs. I just draw it into my mouth and then release it through both nose and mouth. I use a fairly open air flow on all of my mtl toppers because I don't enjoy a tight draw..

Strictly speaking you are correct MTL means exactly that, sucking the vapor into your mouth, then inhaling from there. However, in general, most MTL users use a tighter draw (closer to what it is like smoking a cigarette) , and do that with higher resistances (1.8-2.2 ranges) with lower wattages (8-15 or so). Those other parameters are generalities though.

Personally I MTL with what would be considered a tight DL air flow, at around 0.5 ohms in TC 435F with a 30 Watt warm-up. So I guess I would be considered more of a hybrid vaper.

 

[mattiem]

Strictly speaking you are correct MTL means exactly that, sucking the vapor into your mouth, then inhaling from there. However, in general, most MTL users use a tighter draw (closer to what it is like smoking a cigarette) , and do that with higher resistances (1.8-2.2 ranges) with lower wattages (8-15 or so). Those other parameters are generalities though.

Personally I MTL with what would be considered a tight DL air flow, at around 0.5 ohms in TC 435F with a 30 Watt warm-up. So I guess I would be considered more of a hybrid vaper.

Thank you Scott. I usually use a 1.8Ω coil with my device set about 7 watts and 12 mg/ml e-liquid with my topper set for a fairly loose draw. I call my way of vaping MTN (mouth through nose). Ain't it great that there is no right or wrong way...all that matters is finding a way that works.

 

[Doctorvapes]

Well I found some pre built coils to start with on Amazon in varying sizes to get my feet wet. They were at a decent price so I went for it.

Over the next few days I'm going to have fun picking up everything I need and with DIY juice and learning to put together and wick on a deck, I'll be busy.

 

[ScottP]

Well I found some pre built coils to start with on Amazon in varying sizes to get my feet wet. They were at a decent price so I went for it.

Over the next few days I'm going to have fun picking up everything I need and with DIY juice and learning to put together and wick on a deck, I'll be busy.

With new coils, I suggest starting with lower wattage settings and moving it up until you find the sweet spot for that coil. If you start too high on the first try you risk burning the wick and having to start over.

 

[AzPlumber]

Well I found some pre built coils to start with on Amazon in varying sizes to get my feet wet. They were at a decent price so I went for it.

Over the next few days I'm going to have fun picking up everything I need and with DIY juice and learning to put together and wick on a deck, I'll be busy.

FYI, drawing VG up in a syringe you will need a large bore needle at least 14 gauge (green)

 

[Letitia]

Using a syringe for vg is a pite. Get a cheap graduated cylinder. Worth every penny.

 

[oldude 61]

FYI, drawing VG up in a syringe you will need a large bore needle at least 14 gauge (green)

Buy a meat injector at the grocery store and cut the end off with your wire cutters

 

[mattiem]

FYI, drawing VG up in a syringe you will need a large bore needle at least 14 gauge (green)

If I need a little bit I just remove the needle....If I need a lot I remove both needle and plunger...hold my finger over the tip of the syringe and pour the VG in...hold the filled syringe over the bottle the VG is going into and remove finger...replace plunger and push it in. Much, much faster and easier than trying to draw that thick stuff up. Just one of the many ways of getting the job done.

 

[Opinionated]

I use syringes without any needle..

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01L...=QQQEZWDTGRJ70CTWE9G1&dpPl=1&dpID=71mwBpX5rvL

I have 1ml syringes as above, as well as 3ml, 5ml, and 10ml sizes..

You can buy them at tractor supply by the syringe for cheap - no needle.

 

[Eskie]

If you're using standard 30 or 60 ml glass bottles to mix in (or whatever size bottle you choose as long as you can see the level, and shake, mix or whatever you do blend together) once you're familiar with where the fill to the level is, simply fill everything into the bottle and then add the VG to fill to the fill point. For me it's the easiest way to deal with that viscous stuff. Even if not quite as precise, it will be within 1-2% of your goal which is good enough for me.