Measureing by drops not a good idea when making DIY juice, my opinion.

[charly1954]

I haven't been making DIY juice a long. So I don't really have enough time under my belt to tell others what and what not to do. But. In my opinion measureing out NIC, PG, VG, and flavoring by drops is not a good idea to get a accurate NIC mg mixture.

X amount of drops per 1ml of NIC is not nessecary the same amount of drops for 1 ml of VG or PG. All drops may not be equal.

I use a 1ml and 3ml pipet when making batches and for each liquid there was a difference in drops/ml.
Note: These where my finding, do not go by them when making your DIY juice, test for yourself.
using the 1ml pipet I counted 41 drops per ml on TFA Vanilla flavoring
using the 1ml pipet I counted 39 drops per ml on 30mg NIC(60ml 60mg NIC cut with 40ml PG and 20ml VG)
using the 1ml pipet I counted 35 drops per ml on 100% PG
using the 1ml pipet I counted 23 drops per ml on 100% VG

I am by no means telling others to not mix their DIY juice by counting drops, I just think its not the most accurate & SAFE way. Pipets are very cheap and accurate, I would advise useing them when making DIY juice.

 

[yzer]

Yes, measuring by drops is very inaccurate. In fact, most of the inexpensive pipettes and graduated cylinders (glass or plastic) that get used in DIY leave a lot to be desired in accuracy, especially at low fill levels. For bigger batches they can be fine if used in a consistent manner. For measuring small amounts of 5 ml or less syringes seem the best bet to me.

 

[charly1954]

not trying to argue, but most syringes are as cheap if not cheaper than pipets. Cheap has nothing to do with accuracy.

The longer and smaller diameter the measurer that is used, the more accurate. Short stubby measureers with short distances between each ml would be less accurate than measurers with long distances between each ml. The longer and smaller diameter measure would be more accurate, its just logical.

So to me a 3ml inexpensive pipet with 1 inch increments between each ml would be more accurate than a 3ml inexpensive syringe with 1/2 inch increments between each ml. I have both and the pipet is more accurate. I guess thats why chemist use pipets instead of syringes. Even though I keep all my stuff put up, a syringe with a sharp needle is more dangerous to keep around than a pipet, when it comes to kids.

Bottom line for me, long thin diameter measurers will be more accurate than short wide diameter measurers.

 

[yzer]

Syringes seem to be accurate enough for medical use. Blunt tipped needles are available and I recommend them. A Class A volumetric pipette will be more accurate than a syringe if you have one.

 

[Dougiestyle]

Recently, I passed-on a recipe for one of my DIYs to a fellow vaper who enjoyed it at our local meet. I had to apologize that I had come up with the recipe using drops. The main flavor component worked out to 300+ drops! This was for a 180ml batch. I tried to describe how my drops work out to mL, but you're right that it's not completely accurate. I measure VG, PG and Nic with syringes, but so many of these flavors vary in strength, so sometimes it's neccessary to "tweak" the content by a drop or two.

 

[charly1954]

Ok, heres what I am trying to get accross. No mater what you use to measure any liquid, the accuracy is no more accurate than the smallest marked increments. Syringes have way smaller increments than pipettes, therefore a pipet would be more inclinded to be more accurate.

Example and comparision between a long narrow container(pipet) compared to shorter fat container(syringe)

Take a normal short gallon gas can with a 1 gallon line marked on it and try to get a exact 3785ml(1 gallon) of gas in it by stopping it on the line. Compared to a long tube with a 1 gallon line marked on it. See which one is closest to 3785 ml, I am willing to bet you can get closer using the long tube.

Its just logical the short distance between increments the more room for error. I'm not trying to argue, just trying to get people to be more safer when measureing.

 

[BakuPeg]

I only use drops when putting in finishers that only NEED a drop or two in my 15ml batches. For the main part of my recipies I always use the syringe.

Examples of Finishers:
3 drops Lemon Juice
3 drops Oba Oba
6 drops Black Tea
4 drops red hots (for that nuclear touch)
2 drops S.C. Apple
2 drops S.C. Raspberry.. etc

 

[glasseye]

I use small syringes for nic, pg and vg. How the flavorings are bottled depends on whether or not I'll use a pipette or syringe. If they come in a dropper bottle, I'll drop into a syringe to measure since it seems every company uses a different dropper bottle. If they come in a dram or bigger screw-top bottle I'll use the pipettes that I know are 36 drops to a ml.

 

[cricque]

hmm I started out with measurements, and never got to really something. Then I started using drops, and the world of DIY opened up to me. I have bought like 40 glass bottles, all with same droppers and so on. So all my drops are equal, and this has been working out very well for me. I generally make 5ml sample first. And go drop by drop. Even for the high concentrated ones, this works out pretty well

Also when I mix for myself, I do not care if my result is 12mg, 11mg, 10mg, 9mg etc. I have my base of 12mg and add flavor to that

 

[Renolizzie]

When it comes to flavors. I often use drops for small batches but I use syringes for the nic, pg, vg.

 

[rockymtnrobin]

Please if you don't understand the difference between the two go study some more.... its a DANGER!

 

[cricque]

For just adding flavoring ? What on earth can be dangerous about using drops instead of accurate measurements, you are using the same thing.

For making a base yes, this has to be 100% accurate. Well especially if you go up the higher levels. Anyway these days I just order 12mg 50/50 base and add flavor. So i just need to add flavor ... what on earth can be dangerous about that

 

[charly1954]

Please if you don't understand the difference between the two go study some more.... its a DANGER!

No I don't need to do anymore studying. I have done that and it seems others need to study. There is so much info about using syringes, that's what people start out with when they first started doing refills and DIY. If you did some research you would find a long narrow measurer are more accurate than a shorter wide measure, those are facts not guesses.

Go to any place that is setup like a chemistry class where liquid is measured and you will find they do not measure with a syringe/needle. WHY? Cause what I am saying is correct, pipettes are more accurate.

Fact: Accuracy is only as accurate as the incriments, Pipettes have bigger incriments than a syringe.