Indeed, mix however works best for you. But to clarify, I'm only doing weight based mixing, and the repeater pipette itself, needs no cleaning. I wash one pipette syringe, could not be any more simple.
Mixing By Weight: Basics 101
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Indeed, mix however works best for you. But to clarify, I'm only doing weight based mixing, and the repeater pipette itself, needs no cleaning. I wash one pipette syringe, could not be any more simple.
Step 1. Choose ingredients.
Step 2. Pour ingredients, pressing the tare button between each pour.
Step 3. Put ingredients away.
Step 2. Pour ingredients, pressing the tare button between each pour.
Step 3. Put ingredients away.
Step 1. Choose ingredients.
Step 2. Pour ingredients, pressing the tare button between each pour.
Step 3. Put ingredients away.
What containers are you using to pour your flavors from?
Nic goes into a dropper bottle. VG and PG go into a Ketchup/Mustard bottle set. Flavors go into Yorker cap bottles.
Nic goes into a dropper bottle. VG and PG go into a Ketchup/Mustard bottle set. Flavors go into Yorker cap bottles.
Just getting started and I already have approx 30 flavors, so I prefer to keep them fresh in their original glass bottles.
You may be able to find separate Yorker caps for your glass bottles.
Edit - Doh, can't squeeze a glass bottle.
Btw, maybe my case was different, as another model/brand used, but the "no-registering-small-amounts-slowly-added" wasen't related to small batches, as I never make under 100ml, usually 350ml. It comes through anytime, when getting up to the final value and slowing down the additions which then doesn't register.
I tested it with having a bunch of small papers, like post-it's, and all of them weighted about 6.5g, but adding each seperately, one at a time, with a secs pause between, then when all added, then the display stated 0.00g! When taring and adding all papers at once, then 6.5g showing. This is a test I use on any new scale from now on. The two other scales registered correctly, a 500/0.01g and a 1000/0.1g.
As my example shows, it's not always about the price of the scale with this issue...
I tested it with having a bunch of small papers, like post-it's, and all of them weighted about 6.5g, but adding each seperately, one at a time, with a secs pause between, then when all added, then the display stated 0.00g! When taring and adding all papers at once, then 6.5g showing. This is a test I use on any new scale from now on. The two other scales registered correctly, a 500/0.01g and a 1000/0.1g.
As my example shows, it's not always about the price of the scale with this issue...
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The only "auto-zero" function on my AWS LB-501 scale is at power on. If a partially filled bottle is on the scale when it powers up, it tares to zero. That's fine if the phone rings right after adding an ingredient. I don't think I'd want an auto-zero function that wasn't a selectable option.
When I'm making juice I do about six 50ml pours into 60ml dropper bottles (leaves room for shaking). I use one of the droppers from a bottle to put the nic in each bottle first, then I pull the tip out and wash out the dropper in the sink. It goes back with one of the bottles. Doing that first lets me close up the nic container and clean up for the rest of the pour. I leave the gloves on and pour up the rest of the ingredients for the juice.
I have pipettes, but they seem to be a little clumsy for nic weighing. I do 3mg nic juices, so it's only a couple of dropper draws per bottle. Using the dropper and washing it out immediately works well. Once my 100mg/ml nic bottle gets below the level a dropper can reach I'll have to resort to something else. I'll soon have my two liters in the freezer in 8oz Boston Rounds bottles and I won't need so much reach to get to the nic. I'd like to have a long Luer Lock hypo needle that can reach the bottom of an 8oz bottle. The ones available are pretty short, only a couple of inches at best. Long ones from medical supply houses are ridiculously expensive in large gauges.
I have pipettes, but they seem to be a little clumsy for nic weighing. I do 3mg nic juices, so it's only a couple of dropper draws per bottle. Using the dropper and washing it out immediately works well. Once my 100mg/ml nic bottle gets below the level a dropper can reach I'll have to resort to something else. I'll soon have my two liters in the freezer in 8oz Boston Rounds bottles and I won't need so much reach to get to the nic. I'd like to have a long Luer Lock hypo needle that can reach the bottom of an 8oz bottle. The ones available are pretty short, only a couple of inches at best. Long ones from medical supply houses are ridiculously expensive in large gauges.
Put some Nic. in to a 30 or 60ml plastic dropper tip bottle and drip/drop it in. Much easier than drawing and dropping.
I honestly don't think some people read the OP and just jump in to the on going conversation. Every one should take the time to read the OP.
From the Original Post:
From the Original Post:
I agree.I honestly don't think some people read the OP and just jump in to the on going conversation. Every one should take the time to read the OP.
From the Original Post:
I got into DIY juice after the FDA declared their intentions to dry up the small vendor juice market with expensive restrictions, certifications, and regulations on juice labs. I never even tried volume measured mixing with a milliliter flask. I just jumped into mixing by weight on my first try (although I did DIY for a couple of years using bland liquids from vendors as a base for adding flavors).
It was obvious that the future of eliquid would be DIY for most of us and nic would be regulated beyond the reach of the average vaper. It's also obvious that mixing by weight is the easiest and most accurate way to DIY.
Hear, hear.
I think that the mix-by-weight idea has been over complicated somewhere between the OP and now.
Don't overthink it, make it complex, expensive, a pain.
Just take a good scale, a couple of squeeze bottles, and mix.
Easy peasy. What if you're off by 0.2 grams? Who really cares or is that ....? 0.2 grams in a 30ml batch isn't going to make a noticeable difference. Will you overpour the first time or two? You bet. Will you like it anyway? You bet!
I no longer have any use for the syringes and 50ml test tubes I used when I began.
All due to the start of this thread.
Thanks again @Capt.shay
I think that the mix-by-weight idea has been over complicated somewhere between the OP and now.
Don't overthink it, make it complex, expensive, a pain.
Just take a good scale, a couple of squeeze bottles, and mix.
Easy peasy. What if you're off by 0.2 grams? Who really cares or is that ....? 0.2 grams in a 30ml batch isn't going to make a noticeable difference. Will you overpour the first time or two? You bet. Will you like it anyway? You bet!
I no longer have any use for the syringes and 50ml test tubes I used when I began.
All due to the start of this thread.
Thanks again @Capt.shay
I heartily agree with you in the spirit with which I believe you intended. Heaven knows I can over-complicate re-heating a cup of coffee.
CAN it be this easy? Absolutely! Capt.'s OP demonstrated that very well. Should it be that easy? It would sure be nice. Is it going to be that easy for everyone? Sadly; no. It can be for the new mixer that is just starting out and is fortunate enough to get their concentrates in squeeze bottles. I was mixing for over a year and had accumulated over 200 different flavors that were almost exclusively in glass bottles. So I was faced with either buying 200+ small plastic squeeze bottles, then transferring all contents, then labeling all the new bottles, OR continuing to use something as a transfer device. I settled for syringes because I already had them. As they have worn out I have replaced them with disposable plastic pipettes. As I need to reorder concentrates; I now make sure they come in squeeze bottles whenever I can.
So, personally, I have found some of this superfluous discussion helpful in how to deal with less than ideal real-world situations. Is all of it appropriate to the thread? Probably not. Perhaps someone should start a sister thread for discussion after you have discovered the "way of weigh" and leave this thread for those interested in learning the "whys and hows."
I don't know. Capt.shay is the OP, and I feel like it is up to him if he feels the thread is getting derailed from his original intent, and he should be the one to re-direct it back on to course.
I am simply grateful for his time and effort to assemble, and share, such useful information.
Using your example of 30 mL, and for the sake of discussion say it was 100% VG (1.26gm/mL) since it is the heaviest and will render the lowest percentage, will have a total weight of 37.8 grams. 0.2 grams is 0.529% of the total. I use certain concentrates below 0.25 frequently. So your example is more than double what I might have intended; which CAN (and has
) affect the final recipe. Also; I am often making batches smaller than 30 mL. My squeeze bottle doesn't change performance based on my batch size.Will I over-pour? Yep; I sure did.
I'm a middle-aged guy and my steady hands ain't what they used to be. I am sure that others can, and do, have a shorter learning curve than I did. And I did get the hang of it. It just took a little time and practice to learn what worked for me. My skill is still improving with each mixing session.Will I like it anyway? No; I haven't always. Though, knock on wood, I haven't made any "drain worthy" yet!
I'm still using up my stash of syringes just as transfer tools. I will NOT be replacing them when they are gone.
I actually found a use for the beakers I foolishly bought in the beginning. I like the wider mouths (compared to the finished juice bottles). Since I can no longer rest the syringe needle on the inside of the small mouth of the end use bottle (and not have to worry about my less than steady hands), I find the wide mouth of even a little 50 or 100 mL beaker to be much more forgiving. Yes it's one more thing to wash but I am happy to do it for the ease of use.
You and me both! Capt.shay's OP was the first clear, concise explanation on how to DIY that I came across. He did it in a manner that was free of any of the all-too-often exclusionary ("your a fool if you don't do this"), or superior sounding ("this is better," or "this is right way, your way is wrong") noise that I had previously encountered when I had tried to educate myself on the subject. That attitude is what had kept me from jumping in for so long... my loss.
And, to me, this thread has continued to remain free from that "righteous" tone. I am grateful to Capt.shay and everyone else who has contributed to this thread, and thereby contributed to my own journey along "the way of weigh." Thank you one and all!
I guess, after all this rambling, what I am try to say is; that it may not always be easy-peasy, but there are ways to work around it, and it can still be VERY rewarding. Just like most everything else about vaping; do what works best for you and keeps you off the stinkies.
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