Adding flavours to unflavored liquid?

[dutchshrek]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask but...

I'm a noob, I have not even received my first e-cig kit yet.
I mean I ordered some flavored stuff so I'm good to go for what I think is 2 weeks.
But I'm reading up on things and trying to make heads and tails of things.

When I visit liberty-flights.com (among other places) I notice bottles of 30ml unflavoured liquid at 24mg nic.
As they put it:

DIY - This juice can be smoked on it's own or as a base to mix with flavourings from companies such as LorAnn and flavourart.it.

Do I read that correctly in that it only needs a few drops of flavor and it's done?

I mean I'll keep reading to see what exactly it takes in supplies when it comes to DIY, but it seems to me I need to buy the PG/VG and Nic seperately and make the base myself followed by the flavour.
This unflavoured stuff seems to save me from that first step, correct?
Making it the perfect stepping stool for beginners.

If I'm wrong please let me know.

Also, if I turn out to be correct, am I also right to assume I can dilute it to bring it down to 18mg nic level by adding more regular PG?

 

[Chopper71]

If you use pg/vg that has the same nic level then your nic level will remain the same.Flavorings contain pg in them and may cut your nic level slightly.If you want to cut down your nic level say from 24 to 18mg then you will need to add either equal amounts of pg or vg that contain no nic if you want a 50/50 mix.What to use far has cutting down that will depend on your preference pg will give you more flavor while vg gives you more vapor(smoke look).I think most people use about 15% flavor but I use 20% flavor for each 10ml I make.I just like a stronger flavor.It will all be trial and error until you find what works best for you.I'm not saying this is the correct way of doing it but I DIY all my stuff now.Everything I make turns out great with alot of flavor and the smoke look (vaper).I'm sure someone one here with far more experience with DIY will help you out.This is just what works for me.If you find you have made it too thick add a couple drops of pure grain alcohol or 80 to 100 proof vodka and that will thin it out for you.

 

[dutchshrek]

Yeah I noticed that a LOT of it will be trial and error to find out what works for me.

I'm just trying to find out if I'm reading it correctly that to start off with I will have enough with the unflavoured stuff from liberty-flights (or where-ever) and a few small bottles of flavour.
But on the flavor page of liberty I read that it is indeed what I was looking at.

So PG or VG base without nicotine will dilute the nic level.
I just wanted to double check that part because I stil don't know if 24mg will be too high for me.
I may be a smoker but I keep seeing people say that just because you smoke a lot, does NOT mean you can handle 36 or even 24mg without getting sick.
So I think it won't hurt to have a means to dilute it a little just in case.

 

[440BB]

I think that making small batches by adding a few drops of flavoring to unflavored nic will be a good start for you! If you start with little flavoring, you can always fix it with a little more, so start weak. I've mixed a few too strong, then go on a the cycle of adding more unflavored, then more flavoring. By the way, you can get a 6oz/180ml bottle of USP vg (Glycerin) at Walmart in the pharmacy area for $4. If you thin it about 15% with water (sice it's too thick), you have a cheap way to reduce flavor as well as reduce your nic level. If you need more throat hit, that's when you use a little (1-2%) pga (pure grain alcohol, not available everywhere) or vodka for thinning. Good luck, just keep your batches small (like one carto condom) so you don't waste too much flavoring or juice.

 

[butterbean03]

While I was writing, you got replies. Sorry!

All nicotine comes in a carrier such as PG or VG. If you see a strength listed such as 24mg, it has been cut down more from the original strength. We as vendors and the forum administrators have agreed to not sell more than a certain mg of nicotine for safety purposes. We can get 990mg nicotine but the stuff is deadly. If you get it on your hand, you will not have enough time to call 911.

Grab one of the calculators on the forum and play with it. Anything you add to the 24mg whether it be PG, flavoring or whatever you choose will dilute the nicotine strength.

The most common ratio for juice is an 80/20 PG/VG since it is a happy medium for TH and vapor. I have been mixing my own for nearly 2 years. Another factor to consider is the voltage at which you vape. A 5v will give you a harder hit and better flavor in my experience than a 3.7v. A 3.3v like the true eGo even less because it does not get hot enough.

Hope this helps. There are a lot of people on here that are smarter than me and will probably chime in.

 

[dutchshrek]

Thanks for the advice.
I will simply try with the unflavoured and some flavouring and play with it a bit.
I do not know the voltage as I'm still too new. I am getting the Riva 510 Lite Bundle and am not yet getting any additions/mods.
All this is for later since knowledge of what I want will come with usage I suppose.

And thanks for the Walmart tip, it may just come in handy.

 

[Wil]

That will definitely work, but it won't produce lots of vapor. I use a 70/30 mix, but everyone likes a different mix...

You will likely graduate to buying higher levels of nicotine (36 mg) and mixing it with additional VG or PG to get it down to where you want it and end up with a pg/vg mix you like. For now, what you're doing will work and give you a taste, so you can decide if diy'ing is for you...

 

[dutchshrek]

I understand. But the thing is DIY will have to be for me as it looks to be much more cost efficient. And truth be told, it is the main reason for me to switch to vaping to begin with.
As it turns out, I like the flavor much more then regular (analog) cigarettes so I will most likely stick to it regardless. (I haven't had an analog in the past 24 hours or so).

I still have a lot of reading to do. But as you say, I have to find my sweet spot. It will take some trial and error and because of this it will cost a bit more in the beginning.
You guys are a great help and have been extremely friendly with us newbies, so I'm sure I will figure it all out over the next month or so.

 

[dutchshrek]

To add to this, maybe someone will read it and can advise me some more.

I went to onestopdiyshop and picked a bunch of flavors that seemed interesting. (flavor apprentice)
Then selected 1 (maybe 2 just in case) bottles Flavor-It-Yourself E-Liquid / 100% ​VG / 48mg / 30ml
And proceeded by adding a 4oz bottle of PG Dilution Base Liquid

This prevents me from having to mess with nicotine by itself and whatever else needs to be done.
All I will need are some small bottles and pipettes I think.

That's pretty much what Wil meant right?

 

[dupont]

I'm pretty new to the world of diy liquid, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But in my experience:

1) What you outlined will work. Definately start small and simple. My best batches so far have had the fewest ingredients.

2) I would have started out with a PG based nicotine juice, since I prefer mostly PG in my juice. If I read your post correctly, you have a VG based juice with nicotine and a non-nicotine PG juice to dilute with. You may end up with a pretty low nicotine level. If that's the case though, just order some nicotine PG - and use up the VG a little more slowly.

3) If you are like me, you may have some false starts on the diy front (i.e. crumby batches). Because of this, I would recommend keeping some professionally made juice around (as a fall-back) and plenty of spare carto's/atty's (because you can gunk them up and kill them).

4) I bought some empty bottles for diy'ing and found that I didn't really need them. Save the bottles you get (pro-made juice and base juice) and wash them out. They can be re-used.

Good luck and please report back in. I could use some tips!

 

[dutchshrek]

Well I have both 18mg and 24mg liquids and the 24 seems a bit much. So it would seem I can easily go lower. I'll end up vaping a bit more because of the lower nic content but that's ok.

My math (along with a tip found here somewhere) worked it out as followed:
3 oz (90ml) of PG without Nic + 30ml of 48MG VG base = 120 ML of juice with about 12mg nic content at about 75/25 PG/VG.

In reality I will need to use a calculator because I wish to bring the nic content to about 14 or 16 and I have to add in flavor so that dilutes it as well.
I think, and this is a wild estimate, that I will end up with about 60/40 PG/VG. (after adding and mixing with trial and error)
Whether or not that is the happy medium that will work for me is to be seen.

But I am adding in a few empty bottles of various sizes so I can play around and write things down as I go along.
I hope I can find my "sweet spot" in the first few tries.
Maybe I need to get a 60MG VG base to allow me for more PG while keeping a decent nic content but those are things I have yet to try.

I compiled an order but have yet to place it, so I have to see if I can get a decent price for a 60mg Vg base somewhere.
At this point I'm getting 60ml 48mg VG and 4oz PG without nic. (the extra bottle of VG is a "just in case" kind of thing)

edit; turns out I can. I found a place that has 60mg in a 30ml bottle for a reasonable price.
So that's what I will do. 30ml 60MG VG + 90ml 0MG PG = 120ml 75/25 PG/VG at about 15MG
But, from a calculator I see I can bring it to 70/30 at 18MG with 15% flavoring (providing the flavoring is PG based)
Too much math really, this will give me headaches

Again, trial and error, but I intend to make notes so I'll try to share how things go.

 

[Wil]

Your math and thinking is solid...

Just for what it's worth, I start with 100 mg/mL liquid and dilute it down to 36 mg/mL liquid (all PG). I dunno why I do this, other than 36 mg/mL is safer to work with. I wear gloves and protective gear when working with 100 mg/mL, but not with 36. Just makes it easier...

Then, I cut that down to 18 mg/mL, 70PG/30VG mix. I usually do this in 30 mL batches, which means I'm using 15 mL nic juice, 6 mL of straight PG, 9 mL of straight VG.

I use this to make my mixes. Using 5-15% flavoring, this gives you a vape that's realistically in the 15-17 mg/mL range. I don't care that it's exact, as it's for personal use only (read: I'm not selling it and claiming it's higher nic than it is).

Trial and error is the best way to learn. I make new mixes in 3 mL batches until I get an idea of how strong the flavoring is, as each flavor is VERY different. Some work well in as low as 2% mixes, some take up to 20%.

This is the most important piece of advice I was given, and now I pass it on to you. KEEP GOOD NOTES! Write down everything you do. You'll be glad you did.

Oh, and eJuice Me Up is my favorite calculator. Just do a search and it'll show up. There are others as well, but I like this one.