Finally picked up a UC and have a question

[Snicks]

So the one thing I cannot seem to find is this:

Should I fully mix up my juice and place it in the UC or should I mix without nic and add nic AFTER the UC is used?

I bought an industrial unit, quite powerful and can be run indefinitely or on a timer. This was a major selling point to me.

I plan to use the heater at 20-30c as a test to determine if I even want to use heat at all but the main reason for buying this unit is to speed up aging of my juice. It is a 2 Liter unit.

 

[Alter]

I use a magnetic mixer but the theory could be the same. I mix then stir my mixes without the nic so I don't have to worry about excess air thats created in the mix to accelerate or kick start the degrading process of the nic. I'm not sure if a UC creates bubbles like a magnetic mixer but it could. I let the bubbles dissipate overnight then add the nic and mix again at a much slower speed. Its just how I prefer to mix and been doing it that way for a few years now, ever since I made the mixer. After the initial nic-free mix in the UC let the bubbles dissipate then add nic, few shakes and should be good to go and not have to reshake or remix again until you cut into jugs or into the atty.
IMO heat too degrades nic faster by darkening the sweeteners if too hot. I would just use mild heat in the initial UC of the mix to help speed up the marrying of flavors together. Once the nic is added no more heat is needed...just time to steep.
It can take weeks to months of steeping for a juice to blossom but only a few days for the nic to incorporate into the juice.

edit....I should add that I don't know fer sure if the mixer reduces steep time but I do know that I have a mix that is fully and completely mixed that shaking could never accomplish. Once mixed I don't touch until I cut into jugs then I give a mild stir just outta habit.

 

[NicotineRush]

You wont need the heat on. The UC action produces enough heat on it's own.
It has been suggested elsewhere to not run your UC continuously. Hard on the internals. I run mine in 30 min increments with a 10 min break in between each.

 

[DaveP]

I use my low wattage UC with a shot of dish soap and alcohol to clean the machine oil out of new atomizers.

For juice I use a drink frother. 30 seconds at a time for the first 2 or 3 days after mixing and the flavors meld together quickly.

 

[stols001]

If you want to use a UC, I'd suggest not adding the nicotine first. Heat will definitely degrade the nicotine some, and if too vigorous, may also attack your flavoring. I steep by the tried and true method, time, but there are folks using an UC for steeping. I have one (mainly for cleaning stuff) and haven't used it for steeping as yet, but I am finding that time, all on its own, will do a great steeping job. Now that I have flavors up and running, I am not as much in a rush to try them, and usually mix up my next batch with enough left remaining so I can let it steep 3 weeks to a month. But, try your UC, some folks have had great results with them. I wouldn't overdo it, though, as heat also affects flavorings.

If I am mixing for someone else who needs juice right away, I will do a "quick and dirty" steep sometimes in a bath of hot water for about a half hour, and I'm usually hoping they will select a primary flavor or two that does well with rapid steeping, and will tell them to use those mixes first, and to let the others sit for about a week or so, but I only do it if they are needing flavors right away. It does seem to speed the steeping a bit, but (in my opinion, I flavor lightly) they are often made with more flavoring than I would use for myself. I'm glad to understand DIY well enough now that I can mix for anyone's palate, not just my own.

Good luck with your UC!! Hope your mixes turn out well....

Anna

 

[Snicks]

You wont need the heat on. The UC action produces enough heat on it's own.
It has been suggested elsewhere to not run your UC continuously. Hard on the internals. I run mine in 30 min increments with a 10 min break in between each.

I'll try the first batch without heat then. As for running it for longer periods the unit I bought is designed to run as long as I like. Reading consumer reviews shows this will not harm the unit as it is designed for this purpose.

That said I do not plan to run it longer than 30-45 minutes at a time but I will experiment. I just wanted a unit that would not have to be reset every 8 minutes.

 

[Snicks]

I have one (mainly for cleaning stuff) and haven't used it for steeping as yet,

Good luck with your UC!! Hope your mixes turn out well....

Anna

I saw you post last year about how badly you wanted a UC to steep with. So now you have one and you never tried using it with juice? Why is that? You sounded pretty pumped to use it for this purpose.

I agree that just letting time do it is most likely best but I want to cut down on that time if possible. If this doesn't give me the results I want then I'll just use it for cleaning stuff.

 

[stols001]

Yeah, but I did more research on flavor degradation and decided against it. I simply don't need it as I have flavoring going in batches, and I like the outcome, so see no need to change it. I think it took a long time to arrive, and I was in a steeping "rhythm" by then. I also started using DW in my mixes, and while bottles are fairly airtight, they aren't totally airtight and heating my mixes just looked like a way to cause water and other things to possibly evaporate. I may try it sometime, as I'll be mixing going forward with PEG400, but again, I seem to have found that the best steeping method for me is time. I use my UC to clean things with.

Anna

 

[Snicks]

Well then I will post my findings at some point comparing using this UC compared to aging via time.

 

[Snicks]

So I tested the UC today...so not sure if it is even working. The motors are running but it doesn't clean too well from the testing I did. Also when I add a bottle of my juice I see nothing within the bottle to indicate it's been hit with ultrasonic pulses. What should I be looking for to tell that it is actually doing anything to the juice?

Ive watched videos of UC machines in action and the water is very agitated but when mine is running the movement of the water is very calm. I can't see any ripples or anything but the water is moving ever so slightly.

Not sure if I should order a different model and return this one or not.


/edit #1: Ok i watched some more videos and I see the machines behave much like mine. I suppose I expected more agitated water but I think I was wrong to think that. I think it is working as intended. As for its cleaning ability I was using water to clean my watch. It cleaned to a point but not as good as I wanted but I'm going to mix a cleaning solution and give it another try.

/edit #2: I used a orbital sander to fully shake up my bottle of juice and now it is in the UC. If the juice looks devoid of bubbles then the unit is working correctly. Before placing it in the UC and after using the sander to agitate it the juice had thousands of tiny bubbles all through it. /crosses fingers.

 

[IDJoel]

UCs have a super fast cyclic rate (hence the "ultra" in ultrasonic); so yes... the water looks still. But, if you dip your finger into the water, you should feel an intense tingling sensation.

As for the watch not getting cleaned thoroughly; if water is your solvent, and you are trying to remove water-resistant material (oil, grease), you will not achieve complete cleaning. A couple/few drops of Dawn dish soap does wonders (and it is a ton cheaper than official UC "cleaners.").

Containers matter! It is better to use glass instead of plastic. Plastics can absorb a lot of the sound waves; acting kind of like a shock absorber. My little el-cheapo UC came with a small plastic basket, and in the instructions, it states that the basket can absorb as much as 35% of the potential energy. Plastic bottles will do the same thing.

Regarding your sander-shaken bottles: A quick tell-tail that your UC is working (when you have all those fine bubbles in suspension); is you should be able to see them disappear from the bottom up to the top. Even in my cheap UC, I could see them almost completely (just a small ring remaining on the surface) go away, in a single 3 minute cycle.

 

[Snicks]

@IDJoel Yeah I just came back to say that everything worked out fine. I made a DIY cleaning solution ( Tbs amonia and a bit of dish soap mixed with the water) and our wedding bands, engagement ring and my watch came out perfect clean. Better than that really. Using heat was a big help too.

As for the SC and my juice, the SC came with a metal basket, my juice is in glass bottles and after using the sander as a lab shaker the juice had thousands of little bubbles all through it. 30 minutes in the UC and all bubbles were gone that I could see.

As a test I tried a bottle of juice that I just made after going through the low heat and UC process and it tastes so damn good that I'm just going to keep vaping this bottle now.

Very impressed and happy.

 

[Spydro]

I don't use nic in my DIY... but I did use a commercial UC for my DIY for about 3 years (without the heater on). It hasn't seen the light of day since I switch to a magnetic stir plate (also with no heat) about 18 months ago. The MSP is way easier, faster and better for my uses... so I'll never go back to the UC.

 

[Snicks]

I'm actually looking into buying a Orbital lab shaker and I have been looking at the magnetic stir plate since last week. Not sure if I want to invest in that as well as beakers and such. Though it would allow me to make up larger batch and then pour it into my 30 and 60 mL bottles.

I'm pretty happy with my current results so I'll see.

 

[Snicks]

I went out and bought a magnetic lab stirrer. I'll knock out about 300mL of juice tonight and test it out. After going through the mag stir plate I will then run it through the ultrasonic cleaner. Between the two I should be good to go. I had to buy a new pyrex beaker too. Oh well...it's only money.

 

[Spydro]

@Snicks ... You might find that you do not need to follow a stir plate with a UC bath unless maybe if you are using ingredients with a very long steeping curve. How long to stir depends on the ingredients and quantity being made, but the longer you stir the faster you crawl up on steep times. I know of some folks stirring for 5-6 hours, way more time than I do.

I approached it in a totally different way. I modified my DIY recipes and mix them so they do not have a long curve. Many of them are literally stir for less than an hour or two and vape. But then I don't do NET's nor few of the other flavor profiles that need a long steep to develop anymore. I'm more interested in vaping than waiting for the joose that I use a hellofalot of 24/7.
FWIW-YMMV

 

[Snicks]

@Spydro Thanks for the info. I didn't have time to do a batch last night but I do plan to tonight. I'm glad you mentioned the amount of time to stir. I was going to look into that today. I am like you I think. I just want to vape and I vape a lot. I will stir my batch for 1 hour and test it. I only mix fruits and many times it is shake and vape from what I have experienced. I'm just looking for a way to give the juice some aging without having to store it for days or weeks before use.

 

[Spydro]

@Spydro Thanks for the info. I didn't have time to do a batch last night but I do plan to tonight. I'm glad you mentioned the amount of time to stir. I was going to look into that today. I am like you I think. I just want to vape and I vape a lot. I will stir my batch for 1 hour and test it. I only mix fruits and many times it is shake and vape from what I have experienced. I'm just looking for a way to give the juice some aging without having to store it for days or weeks before use.

Not sure if this will be of help to you or not.... stir time will depend on what you want to accomplish with it... just thoroughly mix or actually start aging the mix. I vape VG Heavy to 100% VG joose, so my stir time would be a bit longer than joose with lower viscosity PG, etc in them. At room temperature it doesn't take long to thoroughly mix my joose though. Another point... when using the stir plate setting the speed control so you only get a small vortex within the joose will not incorporate as much air into the mix as 'over mixing it' will. Important if you include nic in your DIY.

 

[Snicks]

I do include nic in my juice so i will make sure to keep the vortex small. Good info, thanks again.

 

[Alter]

You don't need a vortex to mix the juice. Warming up the VG(depending on the climate) helps lots. I don't use beakers but dollar store jars with the wire tops that I can mix in and not have to transfer into another container to store. Just shine a light into the mix and see how much its moving also to see if the entire mix is moving not just the bottom part of the mix. Experimenting, you'll see that fat round jars work better than taller straight jars and erlenmeyer type flasks work the best. 20mm and 25mm stirbars work fine for my needs of mixing less than 200mls at a time.