Fine Tuning liquid to Power

[ajventi]

So now that I've had my first VV PV and have had a chance to taste through most of the 20 something bottles of juice I have on hand, I've found that some liquids and vendors seem to have their juice tuned to perform well at lower power, and some liquids really don't perform well unless you can push them up over 4V even with a LR head.

As an example I started out with EonSmoke mini 808. They put out 3.4V on a full charge, of the cartos I've tried I've found some in the SR Range (2.6ohm) and some actually in a HR Range (3.2ohm). These cartos generally have more flavor and throat hit than the majority of other stuff I've tried. I don't love them, but the intensity both in flavor, vapor and TH is certainly there and that's at a mere 3.6 to 4.5 watts!

I also only tried one flavor from Smokeless image, but again found it to be one of the better flavors I've tried. Not necessarily the tastiest flavor, but full flavor and a satisfying vape. Compared to many of the other juices I've had, many had great flavor, but simply weren't satisfying unless I could vape them at higher voltage, sometimes both higer voltage and low resistance.

I'm entering into the DIY world, and I'd like to eventually have blends that also perform well at this low power range. It makes sense to me for many reasons. First off I can have something that will perform well on basically cheap Fixed voltage PV's. Second vaping at lower power is going to result in longer battery life, it's also going to be less taxing on both the battery and heads resulting in longer life.

As a comparison I remember hearing stories that back in the 70's some of the best music recording engineers would take their masters and play them through the cheapest sound equipment they could find before they would finish their mix. The idea being that most people would either not have a high end stereo to play it on, or if they did, would still want to pop it into their car stereo and still enjoy it.

I have a feeling that many juice vendors, and many of the hardcore vapers lose site of what the entry level vaper is using. Folks blending the juice are most likely tasting on VV and settling on something that works in their range, and people buying their juice are often using VV and tuning it in until they like it. I think the fact that the general opinion is that "You've got to get an ego twist, or LR Cartos, or something that puts out at least 3.7V regulated to have a good vape" is problematic. I have a feeling most of the "Entry Level" e-cig companies get it, and realize they have to have liquid that performs well in their cheap PV's to actually give people a good experience.

Personally for me I'll probably always own a couple minis, and even though I'll probably be getting more VV stuff and probably a mod or two, I don't ever want to feel like anthing I've bought is useless because it can't give me a good vape. I got started on minis, I quit smoking on minis and I personally have times when a small mini is the most convenient thing for me to vape with. So I'd like to be able to make my liquids perform well with it.

So have any of the DIY'ers here taken up a similar goal of trying to tune a liquid mix to a lower power range? If so, is there a general method you use, such as simply more flavorings?

 

[Hoosier]

So have any of the DIY'ers here taken up a similar goal of trying to tune a liquid mix to a lower power range? If so, is there a general method you use, such as simply more flavorings?

Wait, I still use recipes I developed when all I had were standard 510's & SR & LR attys and now I use a ProVari and much better attys. Friends and family that get bottles from me use everything under the sun, and then some, but they are the same recipes.

So, no, I don't. Good juice is good juice. You can find it better with more or less watts, single or dual coils, in attys-cartos-clearos, but that's all individual preference.

If you want to have a good time with your calculator, go to a vape meet and watch folks sampling juice. Wattage ranges from 3.2 to 12 generally, but good juice is good juice. But then I find most premixed juice to be crap. (Though I did find a vendor that knows tobaccos fairly well and another that did an amazing job getting an iced gingerbread nearly perfect at the last vape meet. There was a Bloog, a standard eGo, and me with my ProVari diggin' on that gingerbread at the same time.)

 

[ajventi]

Geez hoosier, at first your answer didn't do it for me, but I've been trying to figure out a good way to follow it up and maybe get more out of you. It's got me realizing maybe my short and limited experience in tasting different juices hasn't given me enough objectivity. I understand that no device will make bad juice taste better. I guess what I'm getting at is that I've found adjusting voltage up generally increased TH and heat. But more power isn't always better as far as flavor goes. So I have some juices where I like the flavor, and I can dial it into its sweet spot, but it doesn't satisfy me, meaning giving good enough TH and "overall feel" to the vape.

I do think to some extent it's based on nicotine level, but not totally. I'n general I've only found one juice below 18-mg/mL that I can call "satisfying" It seems to me at least tobaccos tend to have a little more TH and heft to the vapor.

I guess my follow up for you is given your experience both in tasting and making juice, do you sometimes taste a juice (be it your own or someone elses) and say "It's good, but I'd prefer it with a bit more nicotine, or EM, or menthol or flavor, etc..." ?

I guess another way to ask is when you're working on a new blend do you ever get to the point where you taste something, it's not quite perfect, but you know exactly what you need to do to nail it?

 

[Hoosier]

I guess my follow up for you is given your experience both in tasting and making juice, do you sometimes taste a juice (be it your own or someone elses) and say "It's good, but I'd prefer it with a bit more nicotine, or EM, or menthol or flavor, etc..." ?

I guess another way to ask is when you're working on a new blend do you ever get to the point where you taste something, it's not quite perfect, but you know exactly what you need to do to nail it?

Never thought something needed more nicotine. Maybe a better nicotine, but more or less shouldn't be a flavor issue. But, yes, to everything else in the first question.

Sometimes I know exactly what it needs and I'm wrong and it needs something completely from left field. Sometimes I'm right the first time.

You're right, there is so much more to a great vape than just flavor, vapor production, and TH. I've spent quite a bit of time chasing that right "feel". A melon feels completely different than a tobacco, but it's amazingly easy to make one that feels like the other. I don't consider something great unless everything is in alignment.

I had a great dry tobacco from Indigo at the last meet. I wish I could remember the name. Nice feel. The flavor was a bit off my sense of taste, but it was damn close. First pre-mixed tobacco I have ever thought that highly of...

 

[ajventi]

Never thought something needed more nicotine. Maybe a better nicotine, but more or less shouldn't be a flavor issue. But, yes, to everything else in the first question.

That may have been my mistake, I started vaping on 18 and 24, but when I started buying juices to taste I tended towards lower amounts, I have since realized for the most part, I need more nicotine to satisfy my addiction.

Sometimes I know exactly what it needs and I'm wrong and it needs something completely from left field. Sometimes I'm right the first time.

I'm guessing as you gain more experience you get better at that. And perhaps those left fielders are something you save in your book of tricks.

You're right, there is so much more to a great vape than just flavor, vapor production, and TH. I've spent quite a bit of time chasing that right "feel". A melon feels completely different than a tobacco, but it's amazingly easy to make one that feels like the other. I don't consider something great unless everything is in alignment.

I had a great dry tobacco from Indigo at the last meet. I wish I could remember the name. Nice feel. The flavor was a bit off my sense of taste, but it was damn close. First pre-mixed tobacco I have ever thought that highly of...

I guess that's what I mostly hope to understand, and I realize it's going to be trial and error to figure out what works for me. I made it a point to not buy a whole lot of flavors, but to buy menthol, EM, Koolada, MTS, and Sucralose (Partially after reading your blogs) because I already have a hunch that some of the juices I've bought that I sort of like might just need a bit of tweaking to make them something I do like.

Oh well my supplies came this afternoon in the mail, so my learning begins. I've just blended up 5 5-ml samples to start with. I guess my eveneings are going to spent tasting and tweaking for the next few weeks. Hopefully I'll find something I want to blend up a good sized batch of sooner rather than later.