Custom Juice Problems

[Steven1]

Hello,
I have been trying to create a custom e-juice using the following products.

• Nicotine in VG - Alchemists Cupboard 72mg/ml
  
• Vegetable Glycerin - Clear Food Cosmetic Grade USP Kosher
• MPG Propylene glycol - USP/EP 99+% Pharmaceutical grade
• Various flavours suspended in PG (some from Cupcake World, other from Capella)

Can't seem to get a throat hit and no matter what the mix, there is very little to no vapor production. The coils and tank get hotter than with a bought juice.
Are the PG and VG I'm using good enough, or is it something else like me not adding ethyl alcohol, or distilled water?

 

[RainZG]

what is PG/VG ratio in your final juice?
Nicotine level?

The best would be that you post here one recipe that you were making with percentages for each flavor/base

 

[Steven1]

Hi,
Here's one mix I did which worked out at a 75% PG to 25% VG ratio;
PG 14ml
VG 5.85ml
PG Nicotine 0.15ml
PG Cupcake Pecan 3.5ml
PG Cupcake Coffee 3.5ml
PG Cupcake Walnut 2ml
PG Cupcake Hazelnut 1ml

No throat hit, tiny amount of vapor. Tried after this a 50/50 mix, it was the same.

 

[DoubleEwe]

Check your nicotine amount.
That looks to be bugger-all nicotine, nearly 0%

 

[Steven1]

Hi DoubleEwe,
So if I increase nicotine level that would give me a throat hit? What about the vapour though, do you recommend the pg vg liquids I bought?

 

[DoubleEwe]

Hey Steven,
The nicotine will indeed increase the throat hit. What strength are you aiming for?
I vape 6mg DIY and that is 3ml of 72mg/ml Nicotine solution in my 30ml bottles.

Personally I make 60%VG 40%PG mixes, gives me the vapour I want and the flavour is still there too. It may be too thick for some Tanks, but works fine for me on my rebuildables.
The PG and VG you have seem fine, I use Classikool ones from Amazon, but they are essentially the same.

I have only tried a couple Cupcake World flavours (Vanilla and Condensed Milk), both were dreadful even in tiny amounts. I also tried Beau flavourings, they were weak.
Now I use Capella, TFA and FA, those have yielded much much better results than I was getting before. There is also a lot more recipes that you can find for those flavouring brands dotted about the forum, so it is less hit and miss when it comes to trying out combinations etc.

What calculator are you using for your mixes? I use 'JuiceCalculator' that is found over in the DIY forum here.

 

[Steven1]

Agreed on the Cupcake flavors, they are horrible. Made the mistake of buying assorted nut flavours and baked flavours, 10 bottles in total - weak flavor and revolting to vape, threw the lot in the bin LOL

Was using calc.exe on windows and aiming for 10mg nicotine, my maths sucks btw!
30ml bottle
0.15ml nicotine (72mg per ml)
72mg x 15% = 10.8mg nicotine

I'll try the juice calculator with the Capella flavor I got and see what happens. Thanks for your help

 

[DoubleEwe]

Yeah, calculations for the strength are wrong. I think it should come out to roughly 4.5ml of your nicotine solution to get to 10mg in your 30ml bottle.
The juicecalculator will be more accurate (due to it having the specific density of VG). It is a good tool, it makes mixing liquids so much easier.

Here to help (I worked at Sainsburys in my youth)

 

[RainZG]

Hi,
Here's one mix I did which worked out at a 75% PG to 25% VG ratio;
PG 14ml
VG 5.85ml
PG Nicotine 0.15ml
PG Cupcake Pecan 3.5ml
PG Cupcake Coffee 3.5ml
PG Cupcake Walnut 2ml
PG Cupcake Hazelnut 1ml

No throat hit, tiny amount of vapor. Tried after this a 50/50 mix, it was the same.

PG/VG ratio

With this recipe you have in total 30ml juice.
Out of that 5,85ml is VG and 24,15 is PG
That is ratio of 80,5% PG and 19,5% VG

Nicotine
With above mix you got 0,36 mg nicotine juice.

To get more enjoyable juice do your recipe like this(this is for 12mg nic)

PG nicotine - 5 ml
PG Cupcake Pecan 3.5ml
PG Cupcake Coffee 3.5ml
PG Cupcake Walnut 2ml
PG Cupcake Hazelnut 1ml

VG - 13 ml

with this you will get 43% Vg, 57% PG, 12mg nicotine juice.

Also, in my opinition you have too much flavor.
You total flavor percentage is 33,3%.
Who is manufacturer of flavor that you are using?
I am working with TPA in 80% of my juices and I like to keep flavor percentage below 25%.
If it is single flavor juice then flavor percentage can vary from a little as 0,5% up to 15%

 

[FreeJersey]

This might help.

DIY e-juice | Steam Engine | free vaping calculators

 

[Steven1]

Thank you to all for your help, I used the link @FreeJersey juice calculator and it worked beautifully!

10ml Bottle
50/50 PG/VG
20% flavor

• Nicotine: 1.39ml
• Flavour: 2ml (Capella True Tobacco)
  
• VG: 4.31ml
• PG: 2.31ml

Good clouds, nice throat hit and good taste, awesome

Edit: worked out entire cost including bottle and all liquids based on above for 10ml of juice = £1.27

 

[classwife]

Moved to DIY E-Liquid from General E-Liquid Discussion