Howdy! New to DIY mixing

[Steensj2004]

Hello all! I’ve been vaping for about a year now, and decided to try my hand at DIY vape fluid. I think I have a handle on most of what I need to know before mixing my first batch, but I am looking for some clarity when it comes to nicotine and base identification.

In the calculator I’m using(e-liquid-recipes), I have everything entered, but I have a question as to the PG/VG in my nicotine. I’m using PG/VG/NIC/ flavor from LiquidBarn. The flavor has a indication of 88% PG base, which I assume means the remaining 12% is flavor chemical, so I’d select ,”PG” under the flavor base? But in my NIC mix, I selected the CNT 4.8%(48mg/mL) PG base nicotine solution. When entering this Nic into the calculator, it asks for the strength of nicotine, Pg content percentage, and the VG content percentage. How do I fill that out? I’m confused, as under the nicotine it has spots for both PG and VG content, but the bottle only seems to list the solution as a Pg base. The bottle also ready ,”10%” which I assume is the strength( 10% meaning at 4.8% nic it’s 48mg/ml).

Can anyone clear this up?I apologize if this is long winded or confusing. Thanks in advance!

 

[BrotherBob]

Hello all! I’ve been vaping for about a year now, and decided to try my hand at DIY vape fluid. I think I have a handle on most of what I need to know before mixing my first batch, but I am looking for some clarity when it comes to nicotine and base identification.
In the calculator I’m using(e-liquid-recipes), I have everything entered, but I have a question as to the PG/VG in my nicotine. I’m using PG/VG/NIC/ flavor from LiquidBarn. The flavor has a indication of 88% PG base, which I assume means the remaining 12% is flavor chemical, so I’d select ,”PG” under the flavor base? But in my NIC mix, I selected the CNT 4.8%(48mg/mL) PG base nicotine solution. When entering this Nic into the calculator, it asks for the strength of nicotine, Pg content percentage, and the VG content percentage. How do I fill that out? I’m confused, as under the nicotine it has spots for both PG and VG content, but the bottle only seems to list the solution as a Pg base. The bottle also ready ,”10%” which I assume is the strength( 10% meaning at 4.8% nic it’s 48mg/ml).
Can anyone clear this up?I apologize if this is long winded or confusing. Thanks in advance!
View attachment 805507 View attachment 805509 View attachment 805511

Welcome and glad you joined.
ECF is very reasonable regarding the rules while mentioning other forums. You may or may not get an answer for your question. I suggest ELR may answer your questions or you might try another calculator like the one I use:
E-Liquid Calculator Ten Flavors with PG/VG Adjusting
You can save/bookmark your recipes online and can also make your recipes Private or Public.

 

[bombastinator]

Welcome and glad you joined.
ECF is very reasonable regarding the rules while mentioning other forums. You may or may not get an answer for your question. I suggest ELR may answer your questions or you might try another calculator like the one I use:
E-Liquid Calculator Ten Flavors with PG/VG Adjusting
You can save/bookmark your recipes online and can also make your recipes Private or Public.

Well that explains why I couldn’t make heads or tails of that set of pics. Brand specific calculators tend to have issues because one of the things they do is attempt to force brand loyalty by leaving out important things. A non brand based calculator will probably serve the OP better.

 

[Steensj2004]

Well that explains why I couldn’t make heads or tails of that set of pics. Brand specific calculators tend to have issues because one of the things they do is attempt to force brand loyalty by leaving out important things. A non brand based calculator will probably serve the OP better.

I’m checking the one posted above out. Although, I don’t really see a difference between the two. The information I entered seems to be identical, the only difference is that the original calculator I used give milliliter/ gram measurements instead of milliliter/ drops?Am I missing something?

What I really need to know, is if my flavor and nicotine solutions contain zero VG, and only contain PG, do I enter 100% PG on the calculator for those ingredients? I think that the breakdown on the one says 92% PG and 8% flavor additives. For example, should I enter the actual percentage of PG or just enter 100% under the flavor section?

 

[Coyote628]

Try the juice calculator at steamengine.

 

[bombastinator]

I’m checking the one posted above out. Although, I don’t really see a difference between the two. The information I entered seems to be identical, the only difference is that the original calculator I used give milliliter/ gram measurements instead of milliliter/ drops?Am I missing something?

Drops is an older measurement style that has largely gone out of fashion. It is possible to get somewhat rough measurements of material simply by counting the number of drops rather than dirtying measurement equipment. Or even require any. It’s cheaper, faster, and easier for at home juice makers. The problem is it’s not as accurate as some people like, and in particular not accurate enough to get bulletproof flavor consistency across multiple batches. It also doesn’t scale and as a result doesn’t really work on the commercial level.
I don’t sell juice, so when I mix from a recipie I use drops. Often though I just go with single flavor stuff and ignore batch consistency, so I don’t even do that. I just poure in what looks like about a tenth into a unicorn bottle. The only time I touch a graduated cylinder, let alone a scale even is when I measure out nic to make base.

What I really need to know, is if my flavor and nicotine solutions contain zero VG, and only contain PG, do I enter 100% PG on the calculator for those ingredients?

Afaik, yes. It’s what I do anyway

I think that the breakdown on the one says 92% PG and 8% flavor additives. For example, should I enter the actual percentage of PG or just enter 100% under the flavor section?

Flavor additives are generally liquids and are almost always PG based, though they can also be water or alcohol based. It’s rarer though. For your purposes you’re doing 100%PG I think.

 

[DeloresRose]

I’d be confused too. I’m not understanding what your nic bottle says and how that relates to the nic at all.

Every bottle of nic I’ve gotten will have a space for pg and vg, and the % of each, if applicable.

Example

Pg 50%
Vg50%

Or

Pg
Vg 100%

The nic will say
100 mg/ml
10% nicotine.

So I have no idea why your nic says 10%. 4.8% is correct for 48mg/ml.

I’ve never seen anything other than all vg or half and half, but I guess yours is an odd balance for whatever reason. So just go with it.

But that calculator... I don’t see where it even asks what the pg/vg of the nic is. To me - and maybe I’m not seeing it right - but it looks like those spaces are for what you want the ratio to be in the finished juice.

I’d try any other calculator, tbh.

As for flavors, most of them are going to be pg based. I only have a handful out of about 150 that have alcohol. I just enter all of them at all pg.

I’m using vapor calc. Free, but only measures in mls. Still, you can see how easy it is to use. Everything makes sense.

 

[Steensj2004]

View attachment 805727 I’d be confused too. I’m not understanding what your nic bottle says and how that relates to the nic at all.

Every bottle of nic I’ve gotten will have a space for pg and vg, and the % of each, if applicable.

Example

Pg 50%
Vg50%

Or

Pg
Vg 100%

The nic will say
100 mg/ml
10% nicotine.

So I have no idea why your nic says 10%. 4.8% is correct for 48mg/ml.

I’ve never seen anything other than all vg or half and half, but I guess yours is an odd balance for whatever reason. So just go with it.

But that calculator... I don’t see where it even asks what the pg/vg of the nic is. To me - and maybe I’m not seeing it right - but it looks like those spaces are for what you want the ratio to be in the finished juice.

I’d try any other calculator, tbh.

As for flavors, most of them are going to be pg based. I only have a handful out of about 150 that have alcohol. I just enter all of them at all pg.

I’m using vapor calc. Free, but only measures in mls. Still, you can see how easy it is to use. Everything makes sense.

Gotcha. My question revolves around the fact that the ingredient list on the nicotine, for example, says PG at ,”X” percentage and nicotine at ,”X” percentage. I was just wondering if I enter the PG at 100% or not. In this picture the green and red percentages are asking for vg/pg content of the nicotine solution. I didn’t figure it made much of a difference, I just wanted to be exact.

 

[DeloresRose]

Okay, for some reason I could only see the other picture before. I must have misunderstood about your pg/vg on the nic as well.

I don’t have any flavors that give a pg %, only some that list alcohol as an ingredient. So no, I do not bother. Flavor is such a small portion of the mix. The other numbers are though. The final % of nic has to be as accurate as possible, and the ratios of flavors I like to keep consistent. But I’ve never had an issue if my vg is a few points low.

 

[charlie1465]

Gotcha. My question revolves around the fact that the ingredient list on the nicotine, for example, says PG at ,”X” percentage and nicotine at ,”X” percentage. I was just wondering if I enter the PG at 100% or not. In this picture the green and red percentages are asking for vg/pg content of the nicotine solution. I didn’t figure it made much of a difference, I just wanted to be exact

It's quite simple...welcome by the way Nearly all flavourings, apart from a few are PG based so you would put 100% PG. For your separate bases it 100% VG 100%PG as appropriate. The PG/VG at the percentages for the liquid your making are about the ratio of PG/VG so for example most liquids are 30% PG/ 70% VG so that's what you put there. The nicotine is just how much the mg/ml so you would put 48 in there...

I think that's everything.....let us know if you have any other questions.

 

[Steensj2004]

Thanks guys. This batch just got finished steeping. Great vape, but the flavor is fairly muted. What percentage are you adding flavoring at? I started at the flavor recommendation of 8%. Im sure different flavors and combos require different percentages.

 

[charlie1465]

Thanks guys. This batch just got finished steeping. Great vape, but the flavor is fairly muted. What percentage are you adding flavoring at? I started at the flavor recommendation of 8%. Im sure different flavors and combos require different percentages.

If you're referring to a single flavour you may need to go to 12% or even more depending on the flavour company (some are weaker than others).

If you search the flavour data base you can see comments by other vapers and also single flavour preferred percentages...just be aware that sometimes these are skewed by some crazy recipes on the data base. They are usable and pretty helpful though

Often a combination of two different flavours is used to enhance that particular fruit/cream or whatever. For example strawberry ripe (TFA) is often mixed with Strawberry Sweet (CAP) to produce a more rounded strawberry. I suspect in your case you need to up the percentage.

Hope this makes sense

 

[bombastinator]

Thanks guys. This batch just got finished steeping. Great vape, but the flavor is fairly muted. What percentage are you adding flavoring at? I started at the flavor recommendation of 8%. Im sure different flavors and combos require different percentages.

They do. It also varies a lot by individual. “Generally Correct” is not as much of a thing with flavorings as one might expect. Some people like their flavorings below 5%. Some at above 15%. There are no specific rules. I usually hang somewhere around or a bit above 10% myself. I’m about a sloppy and rudimentary a juice mixer as you’ll see though. There are some vague rules of thumb. I only know a few of them. Fruits tend to need higher percentages. Menthols often lower. “Food” type things vary tremendously by individual flavor but often require astoundingly small amounts. Like you have to retitrate a single drop because it’s just too much small. Or not. It varies a lot by individual too.

 

[Steensj2004]

Thanks guys! I appreciate the help

 

[Steensj2004]

Can someone go over steeping with me. I’ve read a lot in it, but this juice I’ve done seems to have little to no flavor. How long do you step Pire fruit flavors? Does the flavor intensify or Lessing as you age it. We did 3 bottles, one was at 8% the other at 14. Neither seems to have any taste after about 3 -4 days.

 

[bombastinator]

Can someone go over steeping with me. I’ve read a lot in it, but this juice I’ve done seems to have little to no flavor. How long do you step Pire fruit flavors? Does the flavor intensify or Lessing as you age it. We did 3 bottles, one was at 8% the other at 14. Neither seems to have any taste after about 3 -4 days.

Steeping is one of those mysterious chemistries. At least to me. I have a theory about what may happen in part of the steeping process, but it may be total crap. It’s based on two observations only, for one, and those themselves may be garbage to begin with.

I’ll lay it out for you though. Do what you will with it.

Observation 1: juices that are steeped experience flavor change and tend in general to become less harsh.
Observation 2: steeping does very little to “salt” juices.

The theory: unprotonated nic will slowly partially protonate by combining with nearby acidic chemicals more or les spontaneously. This will change the nature of the juice flavor, and very slowly absorb some of the acids in the juice and turn the juice into something that is partially protonated with some fairly complicated and unusual salts.

Might be true, might not. Might not even matter even if it IS true. It’s not much, but it’s all I got for you. :/
Hopefully someone else will be along with something more concrete.