Ethanol in liquid?

[hazarada]

So far i've been vaping a selection of premade juices from a company that lists ingredients as follows: VG, PG, ethanol, distilled water, flavoring agents. According to the local law the ingredients must be listed in order of quantity so there could be quite a bit of ethanol in there.

They explained that the ethanol is required to evaporate out the distilled water from your lungs to avoid health complications and the water was required to dilute the mixture or it would be too thick.

So now im looking into mixing my own juices, the only real options available here are the base liquids and flavorings from the inawera group. They list the ingredients as follows: 50% PG, 41% VG, 9% demineralized water. The part thats got me worried is that there is no ethanol in there, would i need to add it in myself?

 

[purelyscientific]

I don't add any. Some people add it for more throat hit. Our lungs already have water in them. So does the air we breath. If you are finding that you have more phlegm with this juice then yes, try adding some and see if it works.

Some vendors who sell VG wack it down with water. I have no clue why they do this. I have no problem mixing 100% VG even though it is realy thick.
I am pretty sure our flavors have water too. Lots of us DIY'ers do not add alcohol. I have not had nor heard of anyone having complaints.

I don't understand the reasoning- "the alcohol is going to help the water evaporate"
PG and VG are desiccants. If anything they will dry our lungs out. I think the addition of extra moisture in the lungs would be a good thing because of this.

 

[hazarada]

the last guy posting here (who is a rep of the largest ecig retailer in the country) translates to "With non reputable juice brands there is a chance that the liquid is water based (which largely affects the price). If the juice is based on water (as opposed to distilled water + ethanol) then you can be certain that soon enough a large quantity of water will accumulate in your lungs which can cause pulmonary edema."

I looked around rest of the web and havent found anybody else making such claims, maybe hes just bull....ting the forum goers to make them stay away from competing juices..?

 

[Clovery]

the last guy posting here (who is a rep of the largest ecig retailer in the country) translates to "With non reputable juice brands there is a chance that the liquid is water based (which largely affects the price). If the juice is based on water (as opposed to distilled water + ethanol) then you can be certain that soon enough a large quantity of water will accumulate in your lungs which can cause pulmonary edema."

I can't read the original, but if your translation is correct, that's load of bull. Vaporized water = steam. If it were dangerous to breathe steam, we'd all be wearing respirators in the shower. Pulmonary edema is usually caused by internal conditions, like heart or kidney failure, high blood pressure, etc. Breathing water vapor does not cause pulmonary edema.

 

[MorpheusPA]

You breathe water every second of every day with no ill effects, and we don't tend to drown in our own lungs during rainstorms or showers.

Water in the lungs (unless you have a severe physical problem) is absorbed, exhaled, or coughed out. Even dry air, when exhaled, is extremely humid.

There's no reason that's water-related to add ethanol, although some people do it for other reasons that are valid, like increasing throat hit. I've been using VG that's water-diluted for months and haven't drowned, coughed, or otherwise had an issue yet!

 

[purelyscientific]

If your juice is water based then it won't produce vapor...
If it does produce vapor then it has PG/VG in it, which are desiccants, which will counteract any effect the water content will have.

I don't speak that language. Do you know if the guy is a doctor?

 

[hazarada]

I actually met him once in one of his stores, did not look too doctory to me.. mid 20's short russian dude with lots of sales pitches.

 

[markfm]

For DIY, if making a 0PG blend a little bit of PGA helps to thin it out a bit, for use in cartos. PGA/ethanol is more effective, takes less to thin the VG, than water.

In my case, my VG nic base already has a bit of PGA, makes it easy to work with, and the organic flavorings I use also have a bit of PGA, so I don't need to add either water or additional PGA (some people will leave the flavorings uncapped for a bit, to let some of the alcohol evaporate -- I don't notice/mind it, but it's a personal choice, neither right nor wrong).

In my area PGA isn't available, but there's a plain 160 proof vodka, Devil's Springs, that can be used for the same thing. When I had unthinned nic base, and thicker flavorings, I was only using around 1-2 ml per 30 ml of final eliquid, so a half pint lasts a long time.

For water, if needed, in the US I just buy distilled water in a grocery store, all of $1/gallon.

 

[hazarada]

Well i got the liquids and played mad scientist for a few hours, ended up loving the smell of tobacco flavored base(50pg 41vg 9water) + honey, cherry and oak mixture. It was too damn sweet while vaping and had a bit chemical taste so i added around 10% 160 proof vodka and that really did it for me, same smell, less sweet, more TH and no annoying side tastes. If i had to explain the flavor its like licking a 200 year old wooden writing desk whose owner was a serial cigar smoker that also liked to spill cherry liqueur all over the place Thanks for the tips guys.

 

[DJ RyckRak]

I too add a most teeny bit of Vodka, 2-4 drops to 15ml, if it mix seems too thick.
It does add a bit to the throat hits, but if the bottle is left open, it evaporates right out.
And no hangover.
I think the 'Russian Doctor' is full of something....maybe ethanol !