3 days going- Have questions

[RainbowznStarz]

Well I'm new and here's my first post! It's been 3 days since I started the 901 kit. I gotta say I'm quite amazed by this whole thing. I've smoked about 10 analog cigs since starting and 10 cigs was normally done in 5-6 hours!

I now know what having too much nicotine feels like 8-o That was the worst headache I've ever had in my life! I seriously couldn't see straight, my head felt 10x bigger than it was and I literally came home and passed out I felt so bad. Lesson learned. Do not keep puffing away on the damn thing ALL at once (like it's 5 cigs combined. jeez)

But so far except for that episode I'm loving it!

Questions- Apparently I'm getting too much nicotine. I ordered the Marl HIGH 18mg liquid. Whenever I top off, The headache starts to come back. When I use just a new cartridge, I feel fine (the carts were mediums). So I've been reading the threads and I need to dilute what I have. I'm confused by what kind of glycerin to buy. Is it vegetable glycerin? and what is PG and non PG?

Is there a place located in the states to buy flavoring to make my own juice? I saw that the UK has it but I don't want to pay for shipping from that far away.

Lastly, what should be my daily maintenance of the atomizer?
I let it sit on a papertowel last night, cart side down, but there was nothing on the towel this morning. I'm thinking I gotta clean it out or something. I want the atomizers to last as long as possible and don't mind a little elbow grease to do it but I've read so many posts that I've only confused myself.

Steve (cash) Thank you! I've smoked for 17 years, at least 2 packs a day. Half a pack in 3 days is a miracle. Many friends and co-workers have asked for your info and I have given it. I know 2 people who have already ordered from you and my family is coming over tomorrow to see this E-cig hahaha. I suspect you'll be getting more orders from VA very soon.

Great forums you all got here and excellent information. I hope to post more often once I settle into this new routine of "vaping".

 

[robw]

Ya man just go with a lower nic content, dont try and cut it, you will need to learn a whole different skill in that.
Clean the atomizer only when it goes wimpy. A little grunge is ok. To clean it, blow really hard from the back and the sludge will drip out. Top off the atomizer with 3 drops before putting it on the battery.

The head ache is not just from the change in nicotine, it is the withdrawls from the stuff you get in a real cigarette. It will pass soon. Your first week is gonna feel weird. Cut the real cigs as soon as possible and you will get past the withdrawls faster.

I stopped analogs the day I vaped my first ecig, and I never looked back. I have changed brands 5 times in 20 years, and this was the best change. You are not quitting smoking, you are just changing brands.

 

[dnakr]

Welcome - glad to hear you are enjoying your e-cig. I am also from VA - its seems we are getting quite a few members from here.

Yes, you can OD very easily if you are not careful. It sounds like your 18mg is too strong but at least you have already realized that.

I buy my vegetable glycerin on line at nowfoods.com - but if you have a Ben Franklins or a craft store around you - you can go to the baking section (cake icing and baking pans) and pick up a bottle of glycerin.

The medium carts that you seem to be fine with are 11mg so you don't have to dilute your e-liquid by much.

One of my favorite places to buy flavoring (which you my also be able to get in the craft store) is on line at Bickfordflavors.com. Just stay away from any flavors that have oils in it.

It seems that you are doing proper maintenance on the atomizer. The only time you will get e-liquid from it is if you have put to much e-liquid in. (Do you use carts only or do you drip?). If you only use carts you may not get any liquid out.

You may want to just blow into the atomizer from the part that connects to the battery before you put your atomizer upside down on the paper towel at night.

Yes, Steve is a great supplier and has great customer service. You will love dealing with him.

I hope your family at least tries e-smoking. Who knows you may be able to convert them all ...

Again, welcome to the forum.

 

[Jaaxx]

You can get Humco Glycerin USP at Wal-Mart in the pharmacy. It will be in the area with Cortaid, Lanocane and other skin care products. Costs about $3 for a bottle.

I've used it to mellow out 36mg juice on a few occasions and it works wonderfully.

 

[ZambucaLu]

I saw USP glycerin at Rite Aid too in that same aisle but it said it was a skin protectant so I didn't get it. Personally, I was looking for a food grade one....like the one used in making candy/icing. At least I know that's ingestible! I guess I am just too concerned about inhaling the other so I'll wait til I find the baking one. Don't really know how much difference there is though....just being cautious.

Lu

 

[Jaaxx]

From the reading I've done, the USP designation is the greatest "official" assurance of purity available. 99.5% pure.

I think Glycerine is Glycerine at those purity levels. However, whether it's *completely* safe to vape glycerine in the first place.....

 

[SuziQ]

I think Jaaxx is right. In the US, USP is the purest available and in the UK, it is BP. Both of these are what is used in cake making and for ingestion for sore throats, etc.

 

[RainbowznStarz]

I am having the hardest time finding glycerin! Nobody carries it and I keep getting strange looks when I ask for it lol. However, today I was in Safeway and they had a small bottle. It said- Glycerin-usp For external use only. I asked the pharmacist and she said it was used for skin but not to ingest it. I asked about inhaling it and I got another strange look. She said not to inhale it.

I think I'm just gonna order vegetable glycerin online to be sure I'm getting the right stuff.

Thanks all!

 

[GabbyD]

I just posted about this in another thread. I called Humco, which is the USP brand available at Walmart. It says "all natural" but nothing about vegetable. So I called and they told me that they sometimes get the vegetable based version from their supplier and sometimes they use a supplier that gives them the synthetic version. USP does not mean vegetable based, so if that's what you're looking for, you need the food grade, from what I understand.

 

[nicosnack]

I now know what having too much nicotine feels like

But so far except for that episode I'm loving it!

Hey! I too am a noob and discovered high nic juice might be too high for me. This really surprised me as I smoke a bit over a pack a day. Just got my first 901 and ordered medium with it... seems better so far. I too am gonna get some glycerin as I bought a high Johnson Creek sample pack....

I too love this. WAY better than tobacco. Everyone here is curious and intrigued... I'm in Pittsburgh PA. People on this forum seem nice...

 

[Stytches]

Kosher USP Vegetable Glycerin
http://www.essentialwholesale.com/product_p/272.htm

 

[mordorsss]

what about cigar humidifiers?

They contain propylene glycerol, are tested by ISO for health and food concerns.

basically have the same ingredients as the cartridge in e-cigs?? has anyone tried this out or have suggestions on this issue?

i use a 901.

thanks

 

[Kimmiegrif]

The question still stands...it is one thing to have a fog machine, humidifier in a room with you...it is another to stand over it and inhale it...there are concoctions for fog machines that are not they safest and no one would ever put that fog juice intentionally in their ecig. Then there are fog juices that say no petroleum and safer. They don't have an atomizer like we do to worry about or lungs directly for sometimes (esp at the start) for long periods of times inhaling what is produced by them solely...does that make sense?

 

[MagusSteele]

Humidifier glycol may not be the same exactly, as what we actually smoke.

Just make sure when you get PG or VG its food grade or for internal use, and you should be fine. Not all bottles can be taken internally.
Pharma grade is at least pure, but im still not sure about for internal use.
That stuff is used in hundreds of daily used items in your house now, but most times for the out side, like Shampoo or Skin cream/loation/oil.

You can just cut with pure water, distilled is fine. Just dont over do the water, keep it like 15-20% max.

 

[PeteMcArthur]

The whole "vegetable" glycerine thing is a red herring. About the only people on the planet that call it vegetable are us vapers. It is GLYCERINE or GLYCERIN. Yes it comes from a vegetable source but it is an industrial chemical product. The stuff we use is liable to have come from a by product of bio-diesel. Just look for glycerine USP or BP. Some stuff may have For External Use on it, it's probably a legal cop out clause. The BP stuff I buy has dosage instructions on it.

The vegetable nonsense was probably coined by someone trying to pass it off as a natural product. It isn't!! I hate quoting from wikipedia but

Until recently, synthetic glycerol was mainly manufactured at an industrial scale from epichlorohydrin.[citation needed] Since glycerol forms the backbone of triglycerides, it is produced on saponification or transesterification. Soap-making and biodiesel production are respective examples.
Glycerol is a 10% by-product of biodiesel production (via the transesterification of vegetable oils or animal fats). This has led to an excess of crude glycerol in the market, making the epichlorohydrin process no longer economical. Current levels of glycerol production are running at about 350,000 tons per annum in the USA, and 600,000 tpa in Europe. This will increase as it implements EU directive 2003/30/EC which requires replacement of 5.75% of petroleum fuels with biofuel across all Member States by 2010[1].

 

[MagusSteele]

But there is a difference between Glycerin and Glycol, One is an oil and one a Veg oil byproduct.
Biodiesel is normally made from vegetable oil of some sort, peanut sometimes for those with alergys, also corn and otheres.

 

[mordorsss]

The following is from the patent application submitted by Ruyan Corp (inventors of E-Cig)

[0019] The recipes of nicotine solution used for the electronic spray cigarette in accordance with the present invention are as follows: 1. 6% nicotine, 85% propylene glycol, 2% glycerol, 2% essence, 1% organic acid and 1% anti-oxidation agent.

Notice how it says 85 percent Propylene Glycol (PG). I'm assuming that majority of the vapor that is produced is by atomizing the PG. It should be safe to just soak the nicotine cartridge with a little bit of PG to enhance vapor experience.

My cartridges run out real fast so it's really useful for me because i can just drip a few drops of PG into the cartridge and smoke it.


I'm not so sure about using only glycerine. since glycerine makes up about 5 percent of the fluid. Are you sure glycerine actually works?

I don't see why PG would be harmful. I also did further research and found that PG is actually used in a lot of food products.

Now cigar humidifiers have PG and distilled water. But make sure that other chemicals are totally absent from the humidifier before using it.

 

[PeteMcArthur]

I've been using glycerine for two months, it works.

 

[PeteMcArthur]

But there is a difference between Glycerin and Glycol, One is an oil and one a Veg oil byproduct.
Biodiesel is normally made from vegetable oil of some sort, peanut sometimes for those with alergys, also corn and otheres.

I'm sorry but I have to quote wikipedia again.

Glycerol is a chemical compound also commonly called glycerin or glycerine. It is a colorless, odorless, viscous liquid that is widely used in pharmaceutical formulations. Glycerol is sweet-tasting and of low toxicity. Glycerol has three hydrophilic hydroxyl groups that are responsible for its solubility in water and its hygroscopic nature. Its surface tension is 64.00 mN/m at 20 °C , and it has a temperature coefficient of -0.0598 mN/(m K). The glycerol substructure is a central component of many lipids.

 

[mordorsss]

thanks everyone for the reply.

I'm going to go with cigar humidifiers though because i feel they are safer.
When you smoke humidified cigars, you are smoking the humidifier liquid as well. It's time tested.

Not that glycerine would pose any significant concerns.