Just wonder if we have to watch the pH level closely when we do our DIY. I ain't trying to be scientific in here as my last Chemistry class was close to 30 years ago. I am just curious since in some threads people tends to discuss about pH level.
Is there an Ideal pH level in DIY Mixes?
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I use a pen style meter on juice in a shot glass these days. Started out adding lemon juice or vinegar to certain flavors, guess and check. I am still working out an "ideal" pH but I'm thinking high sixes probably.
I'm not really sure there is an ideal pH for liquid. I asked myself the same question, tried searching and never found anything. HHV (I think) claims to pH correct their juice. I know it makes a big difference - it doesn't take much experimentation adding 1%, 2%, 4% vinegar to see a world of difference in flavor and mouth feel.
The thing is, I would assume that sour gummie would always have a more acidic pH than coconut almond, just because sour gummie has to taste acidic. The funny thing is, it's the alkaline flavors that need a pH lowering supplement. Coconut almond (and tic-tac) for that matter NEED pH down in their recipe, Sour gummie only needs the acids in order to make gummie into sour gummie.
I have never pH downed an organic lemon. I'm kind of excited to try upping it a bit. My mint flavor is alkaline, maybe lemon mint...?
The thing is, I would assume that sour gummie would always have a more acidic pH than coconut almond, just because sour gummie has to taste acidic. The funny thing is, it's the alkaline flavors that need a pH lowering supplement. Coconut almond (and tic-tac) for that matter NEED pH down in their recipe, Sour gummie only needs the acids in order to make gummie into sour gummie.
I have never pH downed an organic lemon. I'm kind of excited to try upping it a bit. My mint flavor is alkaline, maybe lemon mint...?
I have tried to test with ph test strips to no avail. Always shows 7, even after manipulating with acidic solutions. Adding lemon juice, vinegar, etc, is usually just done to help enhance flavor. To answer your question, in my opinion, no. I would focus on getting a flavor you like, to be the best vape for you. I would imagine if someone would work out a way to correctly measure all e-liquids, the ph would be all over the place. And somebody's favorite could be a ph of 2, and their second favorite could be a 10, and those numbers wouldn't change how much they like them. I'm thinking it is fairly irrelevant, or there would be many threads on it. There are quite a few very intelligent, and experienced DIY'ers here, who experiment quite extensively with their liquids. And I don't see them posting about it. Just my 2cents.
Just because you couldn't figure out how to do the test does not mean it's not worth being done. If not an electronic tester, try the testing liquid in a vial. The only thing is it will cost you 5ml of juice.
And I'll try not to take that last bit personally.
Yikes, nothing aimed there. My point was that I don't think it's an important factor, as there isn't much emphasis on it here on the forums. You go ahead and dive into the relationship between ph and e-liquids, and I, along with the other 99% of DIY'ers, will continue making e-liquids we love, without determining ph. Test strips were all I had on hand. Have you found a wide range of ph's with your pen? It is an interesting subject, and would like to see quality information on it. But again, to answer the OP's question, no, determining and adjusting for ph doesn't seem to be an important factor in making DIY e-liquid. But hey, maybe it's the missing holy grail to making e-liquids, and I just haven't figured it out yet.
Here is a link to a thread from 2009 discussing ph values in DIY e-juice, http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...cussion/3204-ph-values-harshness-eliquid.html.
This is something I had not thought about until just today when I noticed my mech mod putting out a voltage without a battery installed. I made sure to zero out my volt meter and tested again, still measured a voltage. Looks like I need to clean my mod.
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Chuck2 - thanks 4 the great link!!!
In response to the OP, the answer is a slightly qualified "Yes". There is an ideal ph value for ejuice containing nicotine. That value would seem to lie somewhere between 7 - 8.5 so far as I can tell from reviewing published research (& assuming the presented info is accurate - not always a safe bet with this subject). I do not go above 8, for purely personal, subjective taste reasons. How big a deal it is would depend on a whole list of variables. I see it as an important part of making my own ejuice, a part of the R&D phase - I do not check the ph of every single bottle of juice I crank out. But it is not an absolutely necessary part of DIY ejuice - plenty of people make great juices with no thought spent on final eliquid ph.
For myself, it seems important enough to shell out $10 for a digital reader; in my procurement priorities, it fell in just behind decent measuring tools (graduated glass pipetes, glass syringes, nic test etc). I started out using a ph/tds multitester pressed into service from the Wifes gardening tools, and she was glad to have it back.
My thinking on this subject went like this:
* Ph effects how efficiently alkaloids are delivered to the bloodstream
* common ejuice additives effect ph (alkaline & base)
* personal experience using more/less ml/day of different ejuice flavors with the same mg/ml of nic
* good cost-benefit ratio (cheap testing devices, low effort to test, many ph correction additives already on hand as flavoring additives)
If one were DIYing ejuice purely for personal economic reasons & thrift, this is not an absolute must. But for persons like myself, who enjoy tweaking stuff, researching, and feeling like I know what I am doing with/to my body, its a good fit.
In response to the OP, the answer is a slightly qualified "Yes". There is an ideal ph value for ejuice containing nicotine. That value would seem to lie somewhere between 7 - 8.5 so far as I can tell from reviewing published research (& assuming the presented info is accurate - not always a safe bet with this subject). I do not go above 8, for purely personal, subjective taste reasons. How big a deal it is would depend on a whole list of variables. I see it as an important part of making my own ejuice, a part of the R&D phase - I do not check the ph of every single bottle of juice I crank out. But it is not an absolutely necessary part of DIY ejuice - plenty of people make great juices with no thought spent on final eliquid ph.
For myself, it seems important enough to shell out $10 for a digital reader; in my procurement priorities, it fell in just behind decent measuring tools (graduated glass pipetes, glass syringes, nic test etc). I started out using a ph/tds multitester pressed into service from the Wifes gardening tools, and she was glad to have it back.
My thinking on this subject went like this:
* Ph effects how efficiently alkaloids are delivered to the bloodstream
* common ejuice additives effect ph (alkaline & base)
* personal experience using more/less ml/day of different ejuice flavors with the same mg/ml of nic
* good cost-benefit ratio (cheap testing devices, low effort to test, many ph correction additives already on hand as flavoring additives)
If one were DIYing ejuice purely for personal economic reasons & thrift, this is not an absolute must. But for persons like myself, who enjoy tweaking stuff, researching, and feeling like I know what I am doing with/to my body, its a good fit.
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