DIY E-Juices

[Mader45]

Hi guys. 2nd post here in a day. Sorry about this. You know when your searching for info and you just keep coming up with conflicting info or just can't seem to find the exact answer your after? I hate to be a pest, cause I know these questions would have been asked (somewhere) before but I have a few in regards to DIY e-juicing. Forum member dormouse helped me out in a previous post and it's just an extension on some of these queries.

Okay. So I'm looking at creating my own batches of e-juices for an e-go T that contain nicotine and flavouring in them. Thankfully Dormouse advised me with PG/VG info, so my questions are . . .

1. How do you calculate the nicotine mix in a batch to establish the milligrams?
For e.g If i was using 24mg nicotine juice, how does the dilution work for a cartridge of 1 ml?

- reason I ask this question is i've heard a few varying answers and points. i.e 50% nicotine juice in a cartridge makes it full strength thus 24mg will equal 24mg. Any more then 30% nicotine juice per cartridge is incredibly dangerous.

2. If a cartridge contained 1ml, could a good mix to attain around 16-20mg of nicotine strength from 24mg nicotine juice be:

.4ml of 24mg nicotine juice
.3ml PG
.1ml VG
.1ml flavour(s)

3. Is it correct that for all mixtures with nicotine that the VG/PG ratio should always equal 1:1? If you have no nicotine juice in the mix, what does the ratio become of PG/VG/Flavour?

4 I read that some people put alcohol or distilled water in their mixtures. Is this a choice or for a beneficial reason?

5. If you buy flavoured e-juices from a store I would assume they already have PG/VG in them. Is there a way to add your nicotine juice into them ensuring the correct ratios are maintained? Does the e-juice generally state how much PG/VG is already in them so they can be mixed later at home by yourself with nicotine juice?


And just on a side question. . . considering how many people here love their vapes, are there any nicotine users who use their devices so heavily that they have to use nicotine-free cartridges to vape on after a certain point of the day to avoid overdosing on nicotine?

Thanks for any help you can provide folks. Sorry for all the questions. I guess I just want to do this as right as possible from the get-go.

 

[Maxine]

Consider using a DIY calculator. I like eJuice Me Up but you can Google others. Your calculations above only total .9ml...

Your VG/PG ratio is going to be a matter of personal taste. I use 80% PG/20% VG. Many like 70PG/30VG, some like 50/50.

VG is very thick and alcohol (everclear, vodka) or distilled water will thin it if you find it necessary.

When I buy flavored e-juice from a store, it already has nicotine in it. I select how much PG, VG, and nicotine I want when I order. Any store that doesn't give me this option, I shop elsewhere. You certainly can add nicotine (or PG/VG) to it, but it will dilute the flavor.

Some people vary the amount of nicotine they use at certain times of day, yes. Or if you tend to vape heavily you can use a lower dose of nicotine per ml throughout the day than if you only puffed a couple of times per day. It takes some experimentation to find your comfort level.

 

[smallmam]

1, I use e-juice apps on iphone. I tried to use eJuice Me Up but somehow I can not start program.
I might be understanding your question wrong but nicotine strength on e-liquid is mg per ml. so is DIY nicotine liquid. so cartridge size doesn't matter.
I am lost on your question "%" and I don't know the exact number for danger of mg on hand. I do make 36mg/ml for my friends. they say its more satisfy and vape fewer than when they use 24mg/ml liquid.
2. with your ratio, it will be 10-11mg/ml nicotine liquid.
3. that is something I have just learned. I was making 100% PG liquid and very few vapor. but for your tank atty, you might want to stay thin liquid for feeding into atty. with thick liquid you might end up tasting burnt nasty thing.
4. that part I dont know well. I am guessing some flavor is oil based and has to dilute in alcohol might be one of reason.
5. for pre-made liquid, I am not sure how their PG/VG ratio is... if they know they should state it on page...?
for the side question, I am still trying to find my best flavor liquid. I am not sure if I will achieve that since my sense of taste is constantly changing and liking of flavor changes with my mood... I might be stay on doing this till the time I die... maybe.

 

[NicLiq]

You won't make up nicotine juice for each cartridge. You'll make a "batch" of nicotine juice and store it in a bottle to fill your cartridge/tank as needed.

When you order pre-made nicotine juice, you often order by:

1. Flavor
2. Nicotine Strength in Milligrams
3. Ratio of PG and VG
4. Amount (30 ml, 10 ml, 5 ml, etc.)

It's okay to have 100% PG juice or 100% VG juice. Eventually you will find a ratio you like, or you might stick with 100% of either.

I know from your other thread that your plan is to order this:

• 250ml 18mg flavourless juice x 1
• 500ml VG x 2
• Assorted flavoured juices x 15
• Spare cartridges x 40
• Assorted 10 ml mixed bottles/drippers and labels

Let's assume the 18 mg flavorless juice is 100% PG.

If you add any flavor at all to it, it's not going to be 18 mg juice anymore.
If you add any VG to it, it's not going to be 18 mg juice anymore.
BUT THIS IS OKAY.

Most fruit flavors are anywhere from 10-20% of the total volume. Flavors have a PG base, so I am counting them in the PG percentage.

If you measure out 9 ml of your 18 mg flavorless liquid into one of your empty 10 ml bottles, and 1 ml of flavoring into that bottle and shake it up, you will have a lightly flavored 16.20 mg 100% PG nicotine juice.

If you measure out 7 ml of your 18 mg flavorless liquid into one of your empty 10 ml bottles, and 2 ml of VG, and 1 ml of flavoring into that bottle and shake it up, you will have a lightly flavored 12.60 mg 80% PG/20% VG nicotine juice.

Forget that 30% nicotine juice per cartridge is dangerous thing. You only have 18 mg flavorless liquid. Its not dangerous, you could put that in your cartridge and vape it out of the bottle, it wouldn't taste like much though. Whatever warnings you read are probably about working with 100 mg base. The average DIYer here probably works mostly with 36 mg or 48 mg base (they cut it down to 18% or 24% or 12%).

Yes, there are people who vape 0% just for the flavor and enjoyment. Many people might vape a higher mg amount in the morning and a lower one in the evening. Some people might know they are going to have a lot of free time one day and want to vape all day long and decide to use 9 mg instead of 18 mg, and so on.

Here is yet another calculator for making your own juice. This one is online: e-Juice Calculator | ecigexpress

 

[NicLiq]

I've been thinking about this and am wondering where you are placing your order from? People might be able to help more if they can look at the items you are planning to purchase.

When you say flavored juices, are they concentrated flavorings or are they 0 mg juice that can be vaped by themselves? What I wrote above is about concentrated flavorings, and I was using fruit as an example. I don't know what flavorings you ordered, but fruit is pretty safe to start out at 10% with, but some concentrated flavorings are best at 1%.

I am confused that you think that all nicotine juice needs to be cut by 50% to end up with the same strength you started with, so that made me think you were ordering 0 mg flavored juice to mix 50/50 with the 18 mg flavorless. If you did that, you would have 9 mg juice, which probably would still help you quit smoking, but you would probably feel the need to go through a lot of juice in a day to achieve some sort of feeling that you were curbing a nicotine craving.

I am also wondering about the 30%/dangerous thing. There is a place in China were people can order PURE nicotine and it is very, very dangerous - we are not allowed to post links to it here and it should only be used in a lab by qualified/trained people. It is TEN TIMES the strength of 100 mg base nicotine. This is why I ask about where you are ordering from. If the item says "18 mg flavorless," that is fine/safe though. As you will see with calculations, you may want to start out with a higher mg flavorless.

 

[Mader45]

Thank you very much for the information everyone. In the end my mum jumped ship before we bought it so I grabbed a few different things that I wanted instead. I think all up I spent like $150.

As i'm in Australia we can't buy the flavours with nicotine in them already so I'd have to purchase them o/s. But considering how much cheaper it is to mix I figured I'd mix from the get-go (or until I tire of my tobacco flavoured ejuice).

I ended up buying all these products (bit different to my initial list!)

From Australia
1 x 510-T starter kit
2 extra atomisers
10 x 10ml storage bottles
10 x extra cartridges
5 x 3ml pipettes
10 bottles of between 4-10mls of different flavour extracts

From O/S
120ml PG 36mg Non flavoured e-juice
60ml PG 18mg Dunhill flavoured e-juice

I ended up getting the app on my iphone called ejuice and that seems like a really damn handy device to have when making the juices up.

I appreciate all your help guys and I'm sorry for the convoluted questions I asked. E-cigarettes seem to have a very steep learning curve on them. Hope to one day know what the hell I am talking about with confidence. And to feel alot better health wise.

 

[degarr]

Thanks for the link to the calculator

 

[NicLiq]

It gets easier! It's just hard to picture all this in your mind before you start. In the DIY section, there is a sticky thread for flavor (extract) percentages. Starting with the lowest amount is best - you can always add more. Some might be good the next day, but are way too strong a week later.

I hope your mum is asking you to order her a kit before long

 

[chevelle]

Good info, well presented Nic! I was a bit confused reading the OP as well. The important thing for the OP to remember is that if you start with 18 or 36 mg nicotine flavorless liquid, all you will do is decrease the nic level if you mix it with 0mg or anything less than the original 18 or 36mg base liquid. Doesn't matter if it is VG or PG. You will never increase the nic level unless you add a liquid with an even higher Nic level than your 18 or 36. The calculator will confirm the exact measurements and level with whatever you plan to use. Have not started DIY yet myself but the Chemistry classes I had way back in college come in handy with all this. I have ordered 120mL of 36mg liquid. I am going to split that straight away by diluting it with an equal amount of 0mg PG/VG blend to make two 120 mL bottles of 18mg liquid as a base for my DIY projects. Should be fun!

 

[Cool_Breeze]

On the notion of over-doing nicotine in a day, it's half-life in the body is about 2 hours. If short, half of what your body takes in through vaping is out of your system in that period. If somehow you over-consume, it won't be too long before levels drop significantly.

 

[dormouse]

1. How do you calculate the nicotine mix in a batch to establish the milligrams?
For e.g If i was using 24mg nicotine juice, how does the dilution work for a cartridge of 1 ml?

24mg juice is 24mg PER ML

2. If a cartridge contained 1ml, could a good mix to attain around 16-20mg of nicotine strength from 24mg nicotine juice be:

No - that would create less than 12mg of nic.

3. Is it correct that for all mixtures with nicotine that the VG/PG ratio should always equal 1:1? If you have no nicotine juice in the mix, what does the ratio become of PG/VG/Flavour?

No - no way. wrong. 50/50 is just one ratio and not even a good one for some purposes. Flavoring - depend what liquid the flavoring base is. If it is PG then you are adding PG to your mix. Ditto for nic. If the nic is in PG then you are adding PG to your mix. In my opinion, for tanks and cartos just try to stay at 30% VG or less.

4 I read that some people put alcohol or distilled water in their mixtures. Is this a choice or for a beneficial reason?

If you make thick juice it won't work well in tanks or cartos. Those are thinners. VG is thick. I use 80pg/20vg in cartos and some 70pg/30vg. Those are also the recommended thicknesses for tanks

5. If you buy flavoured e-juices from a store I would assume they already have PG/VG in them. Is there a way to add your nicotine juice into them ensuring the correct ratios are maintained? Does the e-juice generally state how much PG/VG is already in them so they can be mixed later at home by yourself with nicotine juice?

Some juices are PG. Some are VG. Some are PG/VG. No. Nicotine w/ no flavor is like adding flavorless PG or VG to your juice because the nicotine you use should already be diluted with PG or VG. You cannot use undiluted nicotine to make juices. Too inaccurate, too dangerous. Even 1/10 nic in PG (i.e. 100mg nic) is dangerous to handle. I would recommend instead that you buy the same flavor w/ and without nicotine then use the no-nic one to cut. Tasty Vapor works that way and their no-nic ones are cheap.

----
And just on a side question. . . considering how many people here love their vapes, are there any nicotine users who use their devices so heavily that they have to use nicotine-free cartridges to vape on after a certain point of the day to avoid overdosing on nicotine?

You can get nicotine OD symptoms fast - no need to wait until the end of the day. If you get a headache, rapid or irregular heartbeat, feel unsteady then you probably overindulged. It is possible to over-nic yourself in 1/2 hour or less, even with juice a level lower than what you are used to. I have done it with a flavor that never said "you're done". I alternate vaping nic and no-nic when I am over-vaping (like at work where the ecigs are on my desk). At home I keep the ecigs in another room so I don't suck on them like a pacifier. Re sleep - some people need lower nic in the evening to sleep well. Some like me do not and I vape extra before bed.