How long will nicotine last?

[deanthemachine]

I am pretty new to this and I bought a fairly small nic bottle 3 weeks ago to make sure I would like DIY. Needless to say I love it! I would like to buy a pretty big bottle to get my costs even lower but was wondering how much I should get. My small bottle has an expiration of a year. Is this typical? Can I extend it in the freezer?

Thanks in advance

 

[Julie W]

Interested to know too,& how long in the freezer?

 

[oplholik]

I store my pg based nic in amber bottles in the freezer. I buy enough to last approx. 1-1/2 years. I'm positive it will go longer, as I've haven't had any go bad yet. Just fill the bottles to about 1/4" from the top.

 

[dannyv45]

About a year to 18 months. Longer if you store it in the freezer.

 

[Crunktanium]

I been told it can last well beyond a few years although potency may decrease after a year. Left unopened with virtually no oxygen it can hold a long time.

 

[spaceballsrules]

The 2 biggest worries with nicotine are contamination and oxidation. Contamination can be controlled by limiting the amount of time that the nic solution is exposed to, well, anything. Just keep it in a well sealed bottle and only open the bottle when you need to. Oxidation can be controlled by limiting the amount of air that is in the bottle, as oplholik stated. Freezing, or even refrigerating the nic, will slow the oxidation reaction, as lower temps slow most chemical reactions. Also, oxidation isn't really bad for nic. All it does it make the nic turn yellow, as well as reduce the potency of the nic. Oxidation will not affect the flavor of the nic, whereas contamination will, depending on the contaminant. Keep your nic stored in glass bottles so that there is no chance of plastic leeching into the nic.

 

[HeadInClouds]

I haven't had a chance to age mine yet. I keep mixing and vaping...and mixing and vaping... and needing to order more!

 

[Julie W]

So when freezing do you leave any expansion room or......?
Thank you for all the useful replies

 

[Spazmelda]

So when freezing do you leave any expansion room or......?
Thank you for all the useful replies

It doesn't expand noticeably when frozen. I don't know if it expands at all, but if it does it's not much. As far as reducing oxidation, you'd want to leave as little head room as possible. I fill my smaller bottles up to about 1/2 cm from the top before freezing.

 

[oplholik]

It doesn't expand when freezing, it actually contracts, then expands back to original fill point as it warms up. When taking a bottle out of the freezer to warm up, I leave the cap slightly loose just in case it builds pressure as it warms up.

 

[zoiDman]

I have heard a lot of people talk about Nicotine Base loosing it potency over time.

Some of the threads I have read make it sound like the Nicotine is "Evaporating" so fast that if a Nicotine Base isn't used within a Year or 18 Months, that you might as well be using 0mg.

Not saying that Nicotine doesn't Decrease in strength in a Year or 18 Months. But how much are we talking about?

95%? 90%? 75%? 3%?

This is by no means Definitive, but it does have some Quantitative Numbers on it.

Madvapes Blog - Nicotine Concentration Over Time

 

[oplholik]

I saw this before at MV's but had forgotten all about it. Thanks for posting it.

 

[zoiDman]

I saw this before at MV's but had forgotten all about it. Thanks for posting it.

No Problem.

One thing that Kinda Blows my Mind is that Today e-Cigarettes are not Relatively New like when I first joined the ECF. You would think by now some of the Age Old Questions about e-Cigarettes and e-Liquids would have be answered.

Like...

Percentage Drop in Nicotine under Various Conditions/Time?
Actual amount of Nicotine coming out of a Carto/Clear/Atty for given Wattages/Voltages.
Average Amount of Nicotine Absorbed into the Body per mg/ml by a Vaper.
etc.

 

[oplholik]

Yeah, now that you mention it, seems like some of that would have been done.