Anyone else sick of using syringes??

[spacenoob]

As a DIY-er who has over 100 flavors (most of which are TFA that come in those little bottles with caps) I have to use syringes constantly for dropping in my flavors. Some flavors gunk up the syringe making them hard to re-use even after cleaning with hot water. Sometimes I'll accidentally press too hard and my flavor squirts into the juice completely ruining it. Using syringes adds an extra step to clean-up which is already too much. Also, if I mix a complicated flavor (say with 4 types of flavors) I have to clean my syringe between each flavor to avoid contamination!

I'm sick of it!!

I found these at wizardlabs:
Glass Dropper Caps for 8ml flavoring vials - 5 Pack

but theyre out of stock. does anyone else have these problems? does anyone know of a better solution? Same thing goes with my PG/VG. At ECC in Anaheim I saw some guys using "ketchup" type bottles (with the little spouts at the top) filled with VG/PG and that seemed pretty good, but how would I measure using that?

I hope i'm not alone!!
Thanks guys

 

[The M4n C4nn0n]

Color count? Amber, Cobalt, and Recycled Glass Bottles from Mountain Rose Herbs

 

[cedric212]

Try mixing by weight using the method discussed here using this ejuice calculator. Fast. easy, and not much to clean afterwards. Grab some glass dropper like these if your flavorings aren't in dropper bottles. To clean, just remove the bulb and rinse the glass dropper tubes in warm water and allow it to dry.

 

[JonnyB88]

Granted, I'm quite new to DIY, but here's what I did.
I searched eBay for 1ml syringes. Bought a pack of 100 for $16. Now, each flavor has its own, dedicated syringe, and I merely need to rinse them out after I'm done with the whole mix as opposed to after each flavor. And since each syringe is dedicated to one specific flavor, no cross-contamination.

 

[shelleyb]

Have you tried Amazon? I got some amber and blue bottles with droppers from Amazon - they also have dropper caps - don't know if it's what you are looking for -

 

[dannyv45]

I buy syringes by the hundred pack when one wears out I use another. I keep a cup of water on my mixing table and a few squirts and it's ready for my next flavor. I don't see the hastle in using syringes. But hey to each his own.

 

[TinyTimberGal]

As a DIY-er who has over 100 flavors (most of which are TFA that come in those little bottles with caps) I have to use syringes constantly for dropping in my flavors. Some flavors gunk up the syringe making them hard to re-use even after cleaning with hot water. Sometimes I'll accidentally press too hard and my flavor squirts into the juice completely ruining it. Using syringes adds an extra step to clean-up which is already too much. Also, if I mix a complicated flavor (say with 4 types of flavors) I have to clean my syringe between each flavor to avoid contamination!

I'm sick of it!!

I found these at wizardlabs:
Glass Dropper Caps for 8ml flavoring vials - 5 Pack

but theyre out of stock. does anyone else have these problems? does anyone know of a better solution? Same thing goes with my PG/VG. At ECC in Anaheim I saw some guys using "ketchup" type bottles (with the little spouts at the top) filled with VG/PG and that seemed pretty good, but how would I measure using that?

I hope i'm not alone!!
Thanks guys

Are you using the syringe to measure by drops or ml's? If you're measuring by drops, I would suggest the plastic dropper bottles. The only time I measure with drops is for sweeteners or flavors that only require a few drops.

 

[twgbonehead]

Some flavors gunk up the syringe making them hard to re-use even after cleaning with hot water. Sometimes I'll accidentally press too hard and my flavor squirts into the juice completely ruining it. Using syringes adds an extra step to clean-up which is already too much. Also, if I mix a complicated flavor (say with 4 types of flavors) I have to clean my syringe between each flavor to avoid contamination!

I'm sick of it!!

Using a larger needle size will help this a lot. (Lower gague = larger-bore needle). Comes out easier (and cleans easier as well)

 

[yo han]

Try mixing by weight using the method discussed here using this ejuice calculator. Fast. easy, and not much to clean afterwards. Grab some glass dropper like these if your flavorings aren't in dropper bottles. To clean, just remove the bulb and rinse the glass dropper tubes in warm water and allow it to dry.

Thanks for linking to my thread cedric. I have blogged an updated version of that first post (including the calculator you mention). And if you make sure all your ingredients are already in dropper bottles it's even easier since you won't have to do any cleaning at all when you're finished.

 

[Bob Chill]

I've had little trouble with syringes. I only use needles on flavors and nic. Couple of squirts with warm water in between flavor changes and a quick wipe in they are good to go. I run PGA through them before packing up. I've never noticed a lick of cross contamination. However, I do use a separate syringe for "sticky" flavors like cinnamon and citrus flavors like orange. They seem to last for at least 500mls before tossing.

I agree with the above posts about using large gauge needles. I've never had a problem with drawing except with smaller gauges.

 

[needa]

if you want glass dropper bottles, admittedly i just scanned through this, rtsvapes has 30ml bottles for a buck nineteen.
E-Juice Glass & Plastic Bottles

edit: just read your post. rts also has spouts for bottles, ketchup type, for fifty cents. you would measure with the measuring cylinders they also sell. tne ml is ten bucks i think. free ship on $75. but i found them on ebay... two for four bucks from china.

as far as the ketchup bottles go. i just ordered two six packs for ten bucks. but im using to dispense quantities of completed liquids. the only way to do this is with a decent scale that measures to the .01 gram.
Amazon.com: Bakers & ChefsTM Translucent White Plastic Squeeze Bottles - 16 oz. - 6 pk.: Kitchen & Dining

hope this helps or is what you are looking for.

edit... again: rts also have the 3ml pipettes in bags for quite cheap.

 

[Spydro]

Only problem I've had using 1ml/3ml syringes with small flavor vials is I tipped one over "almost" once, tipped it far enouth that I lost a couple of ml's before I got it stood upright again. My fault, not paying close enough attention to what I was doing with long needles.

Most of my flavors are TFA/LA that came from Wizrad Labs, but when I started I bought up a bunch of those 5 pack droppers for them. Those flavs I use often got their own dropper, the others I do as Danny and have a jar of vodka to quickly rinse them or syringes out and wipe with before using on another flavor. Did some testing to determine how many drops per ml they averaged... use that in my calc and it is close enough for most flavors for small test batches. Use the 1ml stringes for those flavs that I split hairs with, and only the syringes for everything in larger batches.

Did the tip a bottle over again just last night with a 3ml syringe, but this time it was an ADV 30ml bottle I had fast steeped for 3 hours (6-30min baths) in my UC. Was putting a taste test in a mini tank to give it a try... and when I went to put the trace still in the syringe back in the bottle I poked the inside of the bottle on the off side with the long blunt tip. Only lost about 3-4ml before I got it back up thanks to the higher VG. Still dumb though because I do have dropper tops for 15ml & 30ml bottles I could have used. I've never tipped over a much lighter weight LDPE bottle of any size, go figure.

I'm in the process of changing over from a ton of LDPE dropper bottles bought from WL when I first started doing DIY to all Boston glass so I can steep them from now on in the new UC. Been buying them off Ebay by the dozen to several dozen in 3 sizes - they are always in stock there, many include droppers. Much cheaper than WL too as many sellers include free shipping for those bought in 1/2 dozen or more quantities.

 

[nnote]

Using a larger needle size will help this a lot. (Lower gague = larger-bore needle). Comes out easier (and cleans easier as well)

Stopped using needles.... I found just that small amount that's in the needle can drasticly change flavor depending on how many 'fills' of the syringe I need to make the bottle size I want.

 

[rbeckys8]

I use a syringe to measure nic and pore it in a bottle..thats all..no needles!

 

[jfountain2]

You could always get several vials, beakers and graduated cylinders and dump straight from your flavoring bottle into them...
Graduated Cylinders, Beakers, & Flasks - MyFreedomSmokes.com

 

[Bob Chill]

Only problem I've had using 1ml/3ml syringes with small flavor vials is I tipped one over "almost" once, tipped it far enouth that I lost a couple of ml's before I got it stood upright again. My fault, not paying close enough attention to what I was doing with long needles.

I built a foam mixing station that fits 4 flaves and my mix bottle. Super cheap and easy to make. I couldn't live without it because I would definitely tip narrow bottles over on a regular basis. I couldn't live without it.

 

[Spydro]

I built a foam mixing station that fits 4 flaves and my mix bottle. Super cheap and easy to make. I couldn't live without it because I would definitely tip narrow bottles over on a regular basis. I couldn't live without it.

View attachment 264781

Good idea. I have had similar drawn up and planned to make for some time... just haven't got around to it yet.

 

[spacenoob]

Wow! A lot of good info here. Thank you all for responding. To answer one question: I do measure with drops. Eventually when I start making larger batches I'll convert all my measurements to ml (or %) and start using large beakers.

I refuse to go "disposable" with my syringes mostly because I feel like it's a waste (bad for the environment, etc). I like glass and reusable things. I do have some beakers and graduated cylinders but I haven't used them yet because I make such small batches. I feel like if I used a graduated cylinder for a small batch I'd lose a lot of it on the walls of the cylinder. I like how the syringe has such a small margin of lost liquid, I just hate the gunk up. Larger gauges would work, but I still just don't like syringes.

I think getting droppers for each flavor is the best bet for my style, and ketchup-style bottles (with stoppers) for PG/VG/Nic. The only problem is measuring the PG/VG/Nic.

To solve that, I guess I could use a "Beaker Glass" like on this website Graduated Cylinders, Beakers, & Flasks - MyFreedomSmokes.com. I currently use the dark glass bottles for my medium sized batches because I can put them on an Electric Skillet for a few seconds to speed up the steeping process. I'm not sure if I can put the "Beaker Glass" on the skillet. I don't want any glass to shatter.

The thread someone posted about measuring by weight is very appealing, but someone mentioned this in the thread:

"I think the biggest variable is the density of the flavors and it's kind of hard to get a big enough sample, say 50ml or more, to make the errors small enough so they become statistically insignificant."

if I had all the densities of my flavors and nicotine, etc, then I might want to invest in a precision scale.


Oh boy, I wrote too much.

TL;DR I think what I'm going to do is find out (the hard way) if my "Beaker Glass" will shatter if I heat it on an Electric Skillet. If it doesn't shatter I can use "ketchup-style" bottles to pour in PG/VG/Nic using the measurements on the beaker, and get the droppers for each individual flavor for dropping in. When I get to the point of making larger batches I'll have to come up with a new method for measuring the flavors - probably a graduated cylinder and just factor in the lost liquid that sticks to the cylinder.

I think if I could find a glass syringe with a wide needle, I could be happy with the syringe technique. Plastic just ain't my thing.

 

[yo han]

The thread someone posted about measuring by weight is very appealing, but someone mentioned this in the thread:
"I think the biggest variable is the density of the flavors and it's kind of hard to get a big enough sample, say 50ml or more, to make the errors small enough so they become statistically insignificant."

Yes, but flavor is also the only ingredient that's subjective.
So for personal use, the slight differences in density between flavors is irrelevant. You add as much as you think tastes good and the results can be reproduced over and over again with the same accuracy.

 

[vernhall]

Here you go - a great resource for glass bottles of all shapes, sizes, and uses... Amber Boston Round Glass Bottle 1/2 oz w/ Dropper

They also have blue glass bottles that are perfect for portioning out large nic shipments... Cobalt Blue Boston Round Glass Bottle 4 oz w/ Cap

Shipping is a little steep, but their packing is superb!!