Better recipe? Or something else wrong?

[Azphat12]

Hey everyone, need some help/advice here...

I have been trying my hand at DIY liquid, and I am getting some mixed results.

I am shooting for a good menthol liquid, and here is my recipe (Ejuice me up software).

100mg nic (pg based)
20 drops = 1ml
50/50 pg/vg
24mg target
30ml amount (I did try 5ml to test...liked it...but not so sure now)

Nicotine juice - 24% or 144 drops
PG - 9% or 54 drops
VG - 50% or 300 drops
Water/Vodka/PGA - None
Peppermint - 1% or 6 drops
Menthol - 2% or 12 drops
Koolada - 2% or 12 drops
Sweetner - 2% or 12 drops
TFA - Tobacco Blend - 10% or 60 drops

I mix everything with a syringe except if its 12 drops or something.
I use different syringes for each item and always wash them before I use them
I have mixed them in 30ml glass amber bottles with child proof caps.

It sits 24hrs in my locked supply box.... then I open it....recap it and shake.
Let sit another 24hrs.... open it....recap and shake.
Then let set about a week....shaking it maybe once a day or two.

I am using the juice in a ce5 ego clearomizer.
2.4 ohm heads on an ego twist. Ive tried 3.7 to 4.2 volts. Seems anywhere in there is a good sweet spot.
Anything higher....tastes burned.

Vapor is good, throat hit is good. But the flavor is just lacking. I get the cool sensation, but the flavor is not there.
Also, I get dry hits here and there... I have been keeping it filled. I spread the wics a little, and I do tilt the device and twirl.

So at this point...not sure if its something I can add to this juice to really liven it up.
Is it my hardware that just will not give me a good flavor?

Any help at all would be great...
So far this is the best setup I have owned overall... just trying to tweak it to make it better.

I do chain vape at times....and usually find that is the worst time for the dry hits.
Is a carto tank my best option? A Genesis style?

I will be getting a Provari Mini here shortly...if that makes any difference in advice.
Placing my order hopefully in the next week or two.

 

[Azphat12]

I should add that I have been off/on vaping for over a year. But really the last two months have been analog free.
I have tried...
Blu cig
510 with cartridge (regular and LR attys. Cart mods and Direct Dripping)
510T (regular and LR attys)
EgoT (regular and LR attys)
Ego Twist with Clearomizer

So far this Twist/Clearo have been hands down the best for me.
Easy to clean was my main reason for the Clearomizers as well as ease of use.
Direct dripping was great...until you needed to drive .
So tired of cleaning regular atomizers.

 

[nnote]

Hey Azphat
In West Mesa here....
Your at 17% flavor, might need to shoot for 23-24 range, upping the tobacoo flavor only. You have alot of 'menthol' type flavor already.
Wouldn't be a bad idea to do the mix without nic, throw the bottle in a hot water bath for a few then shake it good and then add your nic. That will steep it quick and if you do a small bottle you wont have to spend so much time until vaping it.

 

[Azphat12]

Hey fellow Arizonian! lol

Ok, can I do this....

Take 5ml out of my 30ml bottle, and add the tobacco flavoring?
I would figure if I can calculate it to taste good in 5ml, then I can just figure it out and add it to my 30ml bottles.

I was bad.... when I made it I did a mass quantity. I made 4 30ml bottles so I could use 1 while the other 3 had a good steep period.

If I can do this.... a simple 5ml syringe can get it right. But how many drops of tobacco would I add?
I admit...my math isnt working for me right now, lol

 

[nnote]

You could try to save your big mix for sure. I would just add tobacoo flav instead of peicing it apart at this point...
Next time though I would make a 5 mil with 15% tobaco and see how that goes first.
As far as your non juice stuff, dry hits, burn.. that's whole other monster! Glad your getting a mini provari but that's like putting high octane in a fiero. Make sure you find something that vapes the juice that works for you first. Find an atty that you like and works for you, once you do, then spend the $ on a provari.

 

[RosaJ]

Dry hits come from your clearomizer not wicking. It has nothing to do with the juice nor the battery.

I diy also and have read often that an atomizer is the best thing to use when testing juices. So I'm ordering a couple with my next order.

Clearomizers are ok if you like fiddling around with them until they work right. My trusty every day device is a carto pyrex tank. Clean taste, refill once or twice a day depending on how much I vape. If it fails, I just change the carto and good to go. No second guessing if the clearo is going to wick right or not.

 

[Azphat12]

Which carto tank do you use? I have been eyeballing the Phiniac glass tanks...but they use cartos which I never used before.
The main thing I really want is to not have to mess with it as far as pulling it apart and cleaning an atty.

With the clearo...I just disassemble, wash, and reassemble. It is so easy...
I am also looking at the genesis attys... but really just want something that I can just vape and not have to sit here and work on.
I know the genesis you have to mess with, but once its working they say they are great.

 

[Azphat12]

Oh, I will say that I just made two very small slits in the silicone cap.
Seems to taste better, but it is much easier to flood.

So I have to keep it upright moreso now then tilt.
Worst case I have extra caps from old clearos that busted....so can swap it if this doesnt work.

But I am getting a little more flavor.

 

[BakuPeg]

Looking at your recipe you have a lot of Menthol-like "notes" but only one 10% base. and you are at 17% flavor.

First I would probably add a couple drops of vinegar. Second I would probably add 3% of a complementary flavor. Something that will compliment the tobacco base, (and I would make this a *very* small batch to see if it works, sometimes my "see if it works" fail). Maybe a little fruit, or vanilla, or whiskey/rum.

oh and make sure you steep.

 

[Azphat12]

Vinegar? Like white distilled vinegar? I have some in the cabinet if that is the stuff... what would vinegar do?
I do also like the caramel or maple ish flavor. Vanilla also....

So basically add another 3% of that flavor and let the others adjust accordingly?
I am using the Ejuice Me Up software...I have room to add another flavor

 

[BakuPeg]

Many add a drop or 2 of vinegar to stabalize tobaccos. Do it in your test batch and see if it helps or harms.

Here is the *very long* vinegar thread.

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/252238-vinegar-51.html

 

[Azphat12]

Interesting read on the vinegar.

At the moment here is what I did...

Found out that 10% to 18% (for a total 25% flavor) was about 48 drops for 30ml
So I took 5ml and added 8 drops. That would be 6 bottles of 5m = 30ml. Or 8 drops into 6 bottles = 48 drops. My math correct? lol

Anyway, 8 drops into 5ml and so far I can taste it alot more.
The only issue I have... is that its not a true calculation because I see that my pg goes down when I up the flavoring in the calculator.
But regardless...I am confident that if I added the extra 8% into my 30ml bottle I should be ok.

Then next batch I can test more. I just dont want to toss all the extra bottles, lol.

 

[Cookster]

Just my , but I would lower the tobacco percentage and up the peppermint. The menthol and koolada really have no flavor, and I think most people (I don't use tobacco flavors) use the tobacco at much lower percentages. Hopefully, they'll chime in...

 

[Azphat12]

The extra tobacco was not bad. I ended up adding it to one bottle of 30ml and will try it.
After, I think I might up the Peppermint in 5ml and try it...and maybe do that for the next 30ml bottle.

The juice isnt horrible either way.... so as long as I dont go crazy I can still vape it.
It is more about fine tuning and getting that all day vape recipe.

 

[glassmanoak]

I've tested the PG and flavorings I use and, with the pipettes I use, I get 40 drops to the ml. So, for me, 1 drop/ml equals 2.5%. If I were you, I'd forget about the peppermint and koolada and just use menthol at about 5%-6%. I'm a crazy menthol addict, so I use 3 drops/ml or about 7.5%. I use TFA M-type tobacco for a tobacco taste at 1 drop / 5ml. So, for a 30ml batch, I would be using 90 drops of menthol.
There is nothing wrong with taking out say, 5ml from a 30 ml bottle and adding menthol til it vapes like you want it to. Let it steep.. make sure it is exactly what you want, then alter one 30ml bottle. After all, you only use one 30ml bottle at a time. In general, this is what I do.. mix one 30 ml bottle and use it completely until I am absolutely sure it is what I want. IMO, it's really bad to over-flavor or over-menthol, then try to correct and wind up with WAYYYY to much juice.

 

[Welshboy]

sure i've read somewhere that menthol should be 3 to 4% of your total mix.

 

[gimmieshelter31]

For the original poster ,just so you know, the 20 drops per milliliter on the ejuice me up software is a default setting. It cannot be used reliably for any measurement as each sized bottle,pipette etc delivers a different sized drop. Droplets also have different volumes based on liquid viscosity. I.E., if you want to use drops, count how many drops it takes any particular dropper apparatus to fill a 1 ml syringe or reach 1 mil in a graduated cylinder and write it down.

 

[Azphat12]

For the original poster ,just so you know, the 20 drops per milliliter on the ejuice me up software is a default setting. It cannot be used reliably for any measurement as each sized bottle,pipette etc delivers a different sized drop. Droplets also have different volumes based on liquid viscosity. I.E., if you want to use drops, count how many drops it takes any particular dropper apparatus to fill a 1 ml syringe or reach 1 mil in a graduated cylinder and write it down.

Good point. I have yet to actually test my droppers.

 

[butterfly2746]

I've tested the PG and flavorings I use and, with the pipettes I use, I get 40 drops to the ml. So, for me, 1 drop/ml equals 2.5%. If I were you, I'd forget about the peppermint and koolada and just use menthol at about 5%-6%. I'm a crazy menthol addict, so I use 3 drops/ml or about 7.5%. I use TFA M-type tobacco for a tobacco taste at 1 drop / 5ml. So, for a 30ml batch, I would be using 90 drops of menthol.
There is nothing wrong with taking out say, 5ml from a 30 ml bottle and adding menthol til it vapes like you want it to. Let it steep.. make sure it is exactly what you want, then alter one 30ml bottle. After all, you only use one 30ml bottle at a time. In general, this is what I do.. mix one 30 ml bottle and use it completely until I am absolutely sure it is what I want. IMO, it's really bad to over-flavor or over-menthol, then try to correct and wind up with WAYYYY to much juice.

Wat brand mboro u use I have some TFA I'm trying to get rite and how long ya steep

 

[wizard10000]

I'm gonna speak to the hardware - and yeah, I'm gonna post that video again

I do my testing on a debridged 306 atty - IMO there's nothing better for testing. I can drip one drop directly on the coil and get three or four good hits, which is plenty for testing.

For cartos I use 1.7 ohm single-coil stainless Smoktechs (some call them Resurrectors - I've learned I prefer them to dual-coils) in tanks I make out of 6ml plastic bottles. The advantages are that if I do get a dry hit I can plug the battery end of the carto with my thumb and squonk the tank to resolve the issue, I can fill an empty carto by doing the same thing but squonking it four or five times instead of once, and I can swap out the carto in a filled tank without emptying it and without losing a drop of joose.

Okay, here's the video -



I do a couple of things differently than Kenny does, though - first, I've found I only need to punch one hole in the carto and second, I syringe-fill from the dropper end of the bottle. I've learned to leave the condom on the battery end of the carto while I punch it - it lets me know where to punch the hole (right at the end of the condom) and the silicone works great for keeping the deck screw from moving around when I smack it with a hammer

All you need to make one of these is an empty 6ml bottle, a razor knife or single-edged razor blade, an unwrapped fresh carto, an unwrapped used carto to use as a punch, a block of wood to keep the wife from hollering at you for punching holes in the dining room table, a deck screw or a drywall screw and a hammer.

Highly recommended. I will say that getting the black wrapper off a carto is no fun but stainless cartos resolve that issue.

But I digress. We now return you to your how to do a good menthol thread, already in progress.