Looking for any additives that cut throat irritation

[cassandraschild]

I'm going to put this conversation on hold for a moment, sorry. Something weird has come up in the last 24 hours, and I'm trying to test to see whats up. I bought a squonker for driving, and in using it, 90% of the throat irritation issue have disappeared while using 2 store bought brands from 2 different companies, that were previously also eliquids I found irritating. I'm mystified at the moment as to what exactly is occurring, and I need to do some more testing with my own DIY to see if I have the same lack of throat issue with this device.

Seriously confused. The build is practically the same for the drippers I use, the only difference is that I am squonking pretty often, and because it's a Dripbox 160, the TC won't let me go below 160 watts.

 

[cassandraschild]

Ok, random question, so that I can try a base recreation. When store bought liquids say they are Max VG, like Milkman Pudding by Vaping Rabbit, does anyone know what the usual mix of PG and VG there is?

 

[man00ver]

Ok, random question, so that I can try a base recreation. When store bought liquids say they are Max VG, like Milkman Pudding by Vaping Rabbit, does anyone know what the usual mix of PG and VG there is?

I'd guess 80% VG, though it may be less. Unless told otherwise, I'd assume they use PG-based flavorings at about 20% or more, and VG-based nicotine.

 

[IDJoel]

Ok, random question, so that I can try a base recreation. When store bought liquids say they are Max VG, like Milkman Pudding by Vaping Rabbit, does anyone know what the usual mix of PG and VG there is?

I don't know if there is any "usual" ratio. The generally accepted definition of max VG is 100%VG minus any PG used as a carrier for flavors and/or nicotine.

Sorry, I know that really doesn't help you much. But you usually see it when a vendor, or manufacturer, doesn't want to divulge a specific ratio to their recipe. or they offer choices like multiple nicotine strengths and/or extra flavor shots.

 

[cassandraschild]

Ok, I'm going to test squonking for a couple of weeks and see what happens. I have 2 devices now, and built them differently just to try to test if build, cotton, wattage, etc was the new culprit of my lack of throat issues, but the only commonality I can find is the squonking device itself. Even my DIY is barely bothering my throat, only slightly more rough than the equivalent nic of store brand ejuice. I really want to look at this gift horse's teeth, but I think this is above my technical understanding and needs more testing. I will report back in a couple of weeks.

The only thing I can guess is that squonking is directly adding more juice to my wicks and coils, which I don't understand why that would be helping, as I dripped pretty often before, and I don't think vaping every 30 sec to minute would really be considered chain vaping, and that pause should be enough time for my wicks to saturate.

 

[IDJoel]

I am glad you at least have something that is allowing you to keep vaping and stay off the stinkies!

I wanted to add a last thought that I had last night as I was going to bed that stemmed to my own neglect. If you are not changing, or cleaning your coils often enough (can be even a daily chore if you are using juices that gunk badly), the crud can give a pretty harsh burn.

Over the last few days I have been vaping a new recipe that is much sweeter than I usually vape and as I was going to bed I rather suddenly started getting a really harsh hit. I checked my power setting as I thought I had bumped the buttons and that wasn't it. I took the build deck off (I am using a tank) and the coil was just down right nasty! I dry burned it today and re-wicked it and everything is peachy again.

The re-wicking also made me think about some of the problems I have had in the past with getting just the right amount of wick in a coil. Too much wicking and the wick became too tight and wouldn't allow the juice to flow quickly enough resulting in dry hits which were quite harsh. To little wicking and it wouldn't give me good coil contact and/or vaporize too quickly drying out the wick and give me harsh dry hits and the occasional scorched wick. Yuck!

One of the benefits of squonkers is that you literally "flood" your wick with every squeeze. As you go back and forth between your squonker and your dripper to compare the two; try dripping more frequently trying to recreate that "flooded" appearance (without actually making a leaky mess). There is a chance you were just starving your dripper set-up and getting a harsh vape.

Good luck and will wait to see how your experimentation goes!

 

[Slots]

I don't think there are any additives that would help with throat irritation. Good luck.

What I use sometimes to "smooth" a juice out that's "harsh" on my throat.
In the First Aid section of the pharmacy, pick up some .9% Saline (Wound Wash/Flush).
It's used to clean out open wounds .. safe for a baby.
It's pure sterile water with .9% saline solution, and comes in a spray can.
It comes out of the can in a stream that is easy to direct into a dripper bottle.

I add about 1 drop per 2ml. to my juice.
It also brings out the flavor (just like salt does in cooking), ... but it smooth's out the harshness.. and blends the flavors together.
You will not taste any salt, as it's super mild.
There is also a saline solution you spray/inhale up your nose ..but that's the wrong one.
It has added ingredients.
You want the one without anything in it except the .09 saline and sterile water, that is used to clean wounds. It's cheap, and will last forever.
Have fun experimenting.

 

[MacTechVpr]

Pretty good round up of points here ID…

… If you are not changing, or cleaning your coils often enough (can be even a daily chore if you are using juices that gunk badly), the crud can give a pretty harsh burn…

Especially rich tab's, dark, sweet and complex juices. Some may require changing organic wicks daily just to maintain flavor if they don't just stop the vape altogether.

The re-wicking also made me think about some of the problems I have had in the past with getting just the right amount of wick in a coil. Too much wicking and the wick became too tight and wouldn't allow the juice to flow quickly enough resulting in dry hits which were quite harsh…

Great observation on what often causes drying out the build, constriction. I call it getting ahead of the vape. It can happen too with too wet a wick (if you apply too much power to clear it). Better to blow some air into the atty. The increased airflow velocity will speed up or enhance vaporization. Airflow and increased power must match.

To little wicking and it wouldn't give me good coil contact and/or vaporize too quickly drying out the wick and give me harsh dry hits and the occasional scorched wick. Yuck!

Also getting ahead of the vape. Think this is one of the most common problems as peep's seek cloud production and mistake this for density (actual vaporization). Up to a point, getting as much media as possible in a wind (for that coil diameter) is a good thing. So long as it's not too much flow for the heat you should be able to graduate power up to that flow. With a variable, easy. But possible too with variations in wire gauge for a given diameter. And coil length, don't forget that. More turns require and deliver more energy to the wick. The greater the mass of the coil, the more wick needed. But too little media and you quickly overpower the wick producing more diffusion than actual vaporization. You go hot and dry, and quick!

…There is a chance you were just starving your dripper set-up and getting a harsh vape…

Just as hard as finding the right balance of wicking for a build is learning how much flow an atty can handle. I think squonkers make that a bit easier but it's still a learning curve. The point is you really don't want to flood but you prolly want to be as close to that as possible to keep all turns wet enough. Otherwise, a wet coil with a turn over-heating and the other possibility, just plain straining the battery to reach vape temp, can be one of the harshest vapes there is. You'll run into it too if your batt drops to a voltage that's not enough for the build. Even regulated can push batt's this hard. If your vape's full and rich, vape on!

Great post ID. G'luck.

 

[MacTechVpr]

Ok, I'm going to test squonking for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

Me still curio how that's workin' out. G'luck.

 

[cassandraschild]

Random question. Still working on this, but I've noticed something I cant explain, but hopefully you all can make more sense of it. With 3 different squonking devices, I find I can chain vape them each in a row, very low reaction, doesnt matter what type of juice. I have to let them sit for about 30 seconds, then I can do it again. My wicks are not showing any discoloration, previous to trying this, and currently. Using cotton bacon and SS. The ohms dont seem to matter either, but I have noticed that warmer vapes are more comfortable.

But, it seems like using the 3 devices in tandem like that seems to lower irritation, but I don't see any issues with the wicks or coils. Any ideas?

 

[MacTechVpr]

Random question. Still working on this, but I've noticed something I cant explain, but hopefully you all can make more sense of it. With 3 different squonking devices, I find I can chain vape them each in a row, very low reaction, doesnt matter what type of juice. I have to let them sit for about 30 seconds, then I can do it again. My wicks are not showing any discoloration, previous to trying this, and currently. Using cotton bacon and SS. The ohms dont seem to matter either, but I have noticed that warmer vapes are more comfortable.

But, it seems like using the 3 devices in tandem like that seems to lower irritation, but I don't see any issues with the wicks or coils. Any ideas?

Without going into all of the detail I ventured into earlier…it seems like you are on the verge of finding your virtual heaven. My daily rotation revolves around a similar principle encompassing a dozen to more devices with about a third the recipes. But it's in the vapor density and variability of temperatures that I make the most delightful discoveries and not merely the means of delivery. Avoiding the margins of device or build performance and the raggedness to flavor and vapor that such may produce is the key element you allude to.

It doesn't take an armory of hardware to get there but a little imagination in pairing a few good batt's to some capable comparable atty's and there's a universe out there. Matching their performance so that output results are similar is the challenge and the reward of the fabulous diversity of open systems we are fortunate to enjoy today. Consistency is the baseline.

Glad to see you are enjoying the journey.

Good luck Cass.