BAD experiences with DIY so far.

[RottenJeeves]

Good day fellow vapors.

I recently had the opportunity to dive into DIY. Needless to say, it has not gone so well.

Issue number 1.
No matter what Nic strength I make my juice it makes my high. Even 3mg strength in 30 mils and I am on the floor with heart palpitations having a conniption. (slight exaggeration) Not sure if it is this particular Nic solution or what the deal is. I am using Wizard labs 100mg.
Never had this reaction to store bought juice even the stronger variety. I am guess I am having a reaction to this particular brand? No other juice I have ever ever vaped has made me feel so drowsy and dizzy. It literally makes me feel drunk but not in a nice way. I looked up the symptoms for a nicotine overdose and my symptoms are exact. My poor wife, witnessing the whole thing, laid next to me on the floor to ensure me that I wasn't going to die.

Issue number 2.
I am using TFA flavorings. I mixed my juice as such and shaked it up and let it steep over night. Wednesday I woke up excited to try my first creation. It was delicious. The issue being that even this morning I can still smell the flavorings in my nose. My clothes and even my shoes smell like TFA cheesecake graham cracker crust. Never had this issue with "store" bought juice and even juice that was mixed the same day.
Before you get the idea that I am using too much flavoring know that I am using other peoples recipes. I have never gone over 8% with a single flavor.

Its quite clear that I am doing something wrong or I am using flavorings or nic that I am reacting to. This Wizard lab's nic is pure evil. [removed]

Feeling incredibly discouraged. I didn't even feel like bringing my mod to work this morning. I took one look at it and felt immediately ill. Maybe this is the next anti-smoking thing lol.

Thanks for reading.

RJ

 

[DaveP]

I'll bump this and more experienced DIYers will reply. You said 1 drop in 30ml causes this? I do 30 drops (1.5ml) of 100mg/ml nic in 50ml for 3mg/ml nic in my juices with no issues. I vaped 24mg nic in vendor juices for years with no issues and still have no problems with the 100mg/ml nic in my DIY. I do shake it violently before each DIY session just to make sure it hasn't settled out of solution.

What happens when you do zero nic in the same recipe? How about plain PG/VG mixed with no nic and no flavor? You might want to start there and add back flavor and then nic to see if you can isolate the culprit.


On the flavoring issue try going to 1%. Different flavors require wide variations in concentration. I have one 50ml 6% HS Highway-1% TFA English Toffee and 1% FA Caramel juice with that is so strong that I have to use it as a concentrate and add it as a booster in a tank of some other juice! That one is good as a "flavor" added to a tobacco juice, but it's about 10 times too strong to vape by itself.

What this sounds like is hot nic. If you accidentally got 1000mg/ml (pure nic), one drop is deadly if you get it on your skin. 1 drop in 30ml would still be hot. Just a wild guess ... be careful with that stuff.

I'd call the vendor and tell them what's happening. Don't mess around with it until you know what you have in the nic bottle! Don't let even let a drop get on your skin.

 

[Shirtbloke]

Well this is a weird one.

Have you checked your PG & VG? Are you sure you haven't accidentally ordered them with nic in?
Try vaping a small amount of them individually and see if you get any symptoms. If they're Ok try mixing up some zero nic with flavouring and see if that's Ok. If that's still Ok then at least you've narrowed it down to the nic.

 

[RottenJeeves]

I have not tried 0 nic yet. I am sorta afraid to.
The one drop thing was a typo. I meant 3mg in 30ml. I was compiling sentences and I forgot to edit it. Whoops.

I ordered the pg and vg from bulk apothecary. I don't think they come with nic but I will check.
update* they do not come with nic mixed in.

 

[Shirtbloke]

Did you make a mistake when mixing and accidentally used the nic bottle instead of PG or VG bottle. That would make it very strong.

 

[puffon]

using 100 mg/ml nic to make 30ml juice at 3mg, you should use .9ml of 100mg nic (approx 18 drops)

 

[TheTinMan]

Hmm. Hot spots in you nic? Are you shaking the bottle of nic untill your arm falls off? Especially if it's VG based nic.

 

[Leo Bak]

Sound like a nic overdose indeed. As @TheTinMan mentioned, did you shake the nic-base really really really well before mixing it? If you're using Wizard labs 100mg you need to add 32 parts of nicless base to get to 3%, are you sure you didn't miscalculate?

Example: you take 1ml Wizard Labs and add 32ml of nic-less base and flavours to it. I wouldn't recommend using drops when working with highlevel nic-base. Just get a syringe instead, or a scale (beware of the specific weight of VG and PG).

When using flavour concentrates, you can easily spill small amounts, they tend to smell very strong and stick to whatever they've touched.

 

[Cool_Breeze]

Seems like a mixing problem to me. See @puffon.

 

[RottenJeeves]

using 100 mg/ml nic to make 30ml juice at 3mg, you should use .9ml of 100mg nic (approx 18 drops)

Sound like a nic overdose indeed. As @TheTinMan mentioned, did you shake the nic-base really really really well before mixing it? If you're using Wizard labs 100mg you need to add 32 parts of nicless base to get to 3%, are you sure you didn't miscalculate?

Example: you take 1ml Wizard Labs and add 32ml of nic-less base and flavours to it. I wouldn't recommend using drops when working with highlevel nic-base. Just get a syringe instead, or a scale (beware of the specific weight of VG and PG).

When using flavour concentrates, you can easily spill small amounts, they tend to smell very strong and stick to whatever they've touched.

Hmm that might be the culprit. I did not shake the nic concentrate at all and I used a dropper and only took a little bit off the top; it is VG based.
I think the most my juice called for was around 5-6 drops of nic. I dont think over mixing is the issue but I am certainly open to it.

appreciate the input guys.

 

[DaveP]

What Leo Bak said. Measure it out in weight on a digital scale or in a flask graduated in ml. Drops vary in size with the device used to create them.

And, shake it for a while in a manner that lets you hear the sloshing. Edgewise, Cornerwise, and Sideways! It's entirely possible that you got nic that sat in the warehouse for a while. You'd think that riding in a USPS truck on the way to your house would shake it up well, but you can't assume that.

The specific gravity of nicotine is 1.01 mg/ml.
The specific gravity of VG is 1.235 mg/ml.

So, the VG could settle to the bottom over time, leaving the nic on top. If it's not shaken really well before mixing juice you can get a hot nic load. The caveat to that is the claim by vendors that nic doesn't separate in the mix.

Botboy141 Guide to Mixing By Weight • /r/DIY_eJuice

 

[RottenJeeves]

What Leo Bak said. Measure it out in weight on a digital scale or in a flask graduated in ml. Drops vary in size with the device used to create them.

And, shake it for a while in a manner that lets you hear the sloshing. Edgewise, Cornerwise, and Sideways! It's entirely possible that you got nic that sat in the warehouse for a while. You'd think that riding in a USPS truck on the way to your house would shake it up well, but you can't assume that.

The specific gravity of nicotine is 1.01 mg/ml.
The specific gravity of VG is 1.235 mg/ml.
So, the VG settles to the bottom, leaving the nic on top. If it's not shaken really well before mixing juice you can get a hot nic load.
Botboy141 Guide to Mixing By Weight • /r/DIY_eJuice

Thanks. I mix strictly by weight. I have done it no other way.

 

[jambi]

1. Do a 0 nic batch, vape it, see if it puts you on the floor. If it does, please see a doctor ASAP.

2. Physically examine your bottle of nic. Shake well and draw some into a clear syringe. 100 mg should be a transparent light to medium amber (darkening slightly as it ages). If it's darker than amber or in any way opaque, shelve it and contact the vendor for a replacement. Assuming it's the right color, good 100 mg should have a mild, earthy, slightly ammonia odor, not unpleasant. The smell should be detectable but not overwhelming when you open the bottle. If it smells offputtingly pungent when the bottle is open, or causes you the least bit of nose or eye irritation, that's an indicator it's either stronger than 100mg or past its prime. Again contact manufacturer for a replacement.

3. Just for clarification, 30 mls of finished ejuice will contain 0.900 mls of 100 mg nic base. Verify your calculations are correct.

4. You didn't mention what the carrier is for your nic base. Not that I think it's a potential issue, but are you using PG or VG based, or both, nic?

5. The lingering odor of flavor concentrates issue. Some flavors have exceptional staying power. Graham Cracker Crust is one of them. I've mixed with it in the morning, and had my nephew ask me that afternoon why my hands smell like cookies. That's after at least a couple of hand washes. I can't even smell it, but he sure can and thinks I'm hiding cookies or Skittles from him. (INW Strawberry Shisha is another one, my nephew's nose is very sensitive to anything that smells like candy, apparently.) The one time I used INW Rhubarb (NEVER AGAIN!), I had that nasty smell on my hands for 2 days. If it bothers you, wear gloves when you mix and be extra careful not to spill any on your clothes.

Hope that helps.

 

[RottenJeeves]

1. Do a 0 nic batch, vape it, see if it puts you on the floor. If it does, please see a doctor ASAP.

2. Physically examine your bottle of nic. Shake well and draw some into a clear syringe. 100 mg should be a transparent light to medium amber (darkening slightly as it ages). If it's darker than amber or in any way opaque, shelve it and contact the vendor for a replacement. Assuming it's the right color, good 100 mg should have a mild, earthy, slightly ammonia odor, not unpleasant. The smell should be detectable but not overwhelming when you open the bottle. If it smells offputtingly pungent when the bottle is open, or causes you the least bit of nose or eye irritation, that's an indicator it's either stronger than 100mg or past its prime. Again contact manufacturer for a replacement.

3. Just for clarification, 30 mls of finished ejuice will contain 0.900 mls of 100 mg nic base. Verify your calculations are correct.

4. You didn't mention what the carrier is for your nic base. Not that I think it's a potential issue, but are you using PG or VG based, or both, nic?

5. The lingering odor of flavor concentrates issue. Some flavors have exceptional staying power. Graham Cracker Crust is one of them. I've mixed with it in the morning, and had my nephew ask me that afternoon why my hands smell like cookies. That's after at least a couple of hand washes. I can't even smell it, but he sure can and thinks I'm hiding cookies or Skittles from him. (INW Strawberry Shisha is another one, my nephew's nose is very sensitive to anything that smells like candy, apparently.) The one time I used INW Rhubarb (NEVER AGAIN!), I had that nasty smell on my hands for 2 days. If it bothers you, wear gloves when you mix and be extra careful not to spill any on your clothes.

Hope that helps.

I will examine the nic juice and see if it falls in the "bad" criteria when I get home. I thought I mentioned it but maybe I didnt. Its Wizard labs 100mg 100% pg.
It makes perfect sense about the nic settling at the top and thats exactly where I pulled it from as mentioned. I didnt shake it at all when I got it; not sure why I didnt think to.
As far as the flavors. Does shaking the concentrates before use help at all you think?
Appreciate that info.

 

[SteveS45]

I shake all the ingredients even the VG and PG before I get started and during which might be overkill but the amount of time it takes is trivial. I shake the nicotine every time I pick it to open it.

 

[AzPlumber]

Right off the bat you are mixing for 10mg/ml not 3mg/ml.Also if you're using VG nic with the default 20 drop per ml it could be even higher than 10mg. Drops per ml is a poor unit of measure, 20 drops per ml is based off the viscosity of water.

 

[jambi]

I will examine the nic juice and see if it falls in the "bad" criteria when I get home. I thought I mentioned it but maybe I didnt. Its Wizard labs 100mg 100% pg.
It makes perfect sense about the nic settling at the top and thats exactly where I pulled it from as mentioned. I didnt shake it at all when I got it; not sure why I didnt think to.
As far as the flavors. Does shaking the concentrates before use help at all you think?
Appreciate that info.

Yes, shake those flavors well. Shake everything well. When mixing, pretend you're an Angry Nanny!

Nic in 100% PG shouldn't require a ton of shaking, but there's always the chance it separated. If that's the extent of your problem, consider yourself lucky!

Personally, I like my nic in 100% VG. I started with PG based nic and wasn't happy. PG based nic tastes harsh to me (TO ME).

Shake Shake Shake!

 

[AzPlumber]

I will examine the nic juice and see if it falls in the "bad" criteria when I get home. I thought I mentioned it but maybe I didnt. Its Wizard labs 100mg 100% pg.
It makes perfect sense about the nic settling at the top and thats exactly where I pulled it from as mentioned. I didnt shake it at all when I got it; not sure why I didnt think to.
As far as the flavors. Does shaking the concentrates before use help at all you think?
Appreciate that info.

If mixed well from the get go (WL mixes well) it won't separate.

 

[Izan]

Nicotine is miscible in PG and VG. IT WILL NEVER COME OUT OF SOLUTION. A "HotSpot" is virtually impossible.

Please use a mixing calculator and measure/weigh "consistently".
Laboratory accuracy comes with practice. Start by just being consistent in your work flow.

Cheers
I

 

[BrotherBob]

Might want to reread:
dannyv45's blog | E-Cigarette Forum
Hoosier's blog | E-Cigarette Forum