Menthol home brew crystalization.

[Deathnote4U]

Does this happen to everyone using menthol crystals? juice crystalizes at to top of bottle and needs to be warmed to re fill.
I guess my main concern is does this happen in your lungs? and also how bad is this for your tank units like eGo etc.
I use pure VG Menthol crystals from local pharmacy and few drops of vanilla extract. no nicotine. or PG added for info.

 

[dirtmonkey]

Menthol is only slightly soluble in water and glycerin; I'm looking that up myself right now as I just got my menthol crystals in the mail and want to make a strong stock solution; looks like it will dissolve far more fully and stay in solution in alcohol or PG.

 

[dirtmonkey]

oh- in your lungs menthol wouldn't crystallize unless you were putting such a high concentration in there it would feel like you're killing yourself. In water it dissolves at 0.1 to 0.01%, which is much higher than you'd get on lung surfaces by inhaling vapor. I'm still looking for the technical solubility in glycerin.

edit: Menthol also melts below body temperature, so actually it wouldn't crystallize, not even at insanely high concentrations.

2nd edit: I'm finding several different melt temperatures for menthol; it depends on exactly which type. Still, the idea of it crystallizing in lungs is only a myth.

 

[Deathnote4U]

Wow that makes me feel better, thanks for the reasurance. I use a glass drop bottle that has a plastic dripper. I start with the menthol crystals about 5 in the dropper alone and a glass of hot water. Place the dropper in the hot water aggitate the dropper. add 10ml of VG 2ml water and 5 drops of vanilla extract. The menthol is fairly strong but the vanilla calms it down and although I am not using nicotine I still get a TH. I think you are probably right about the PG keeping the crystals liquid.

 

[dearme]

You can buy the menthol crystals at TPA, either as crystals or dissolved in PG. I don't use menthol, but from what I've read, most people put the crystal in a small bottle, fill it up with PG, shake it up, and then put the bottle in warm water to dissolve the crystals. It will only take a very, very few drops of the crystal solution in a DIY recipe. You might have to run the crystal solution under warm water before you use it. I haven't heard if that's necessary, or if once it's dissolved, it stays dissolved........

 

[dirtmonkey]

If you can't use PG, you might try adding a few drops of PGA (pure grain alcohol, e.g. Everclear or even a very strong vodka would work). Since menthol dissolves very strongly in alcohol, you could keep it dissolved that way... it's much like the way peppermint extract is made, the alcohol keeps the peppermint oil dissolved in the water or glycerin that (some) extracts use as a base. For myself, I'm just going to make a very potent solution of alcohol based peppermint extract, with the menthol crystals dissolved in that until the flavor seems right when I use it as menthol flavoring. I don't use tobacco flavors, so the peppermint is the whole point in mine. You could add vanilla instead of peppermint if you were to do it that way.

 

[dirtmonkey]

...and if you can use PG, what dearme says is the most practical way from everything I've read here

 

[dirtmonkey]

I keep forgetting things LOL... because of the low melting point, the menthol in your old solution should liquefy during use and not mess up your tanks. If you see crystallization, a wash with any kind of alcohol (rinse well if you use rubbing alc.) will clear it out.

 

[Deathnote4U]

This is great info, thanks alot. Its not that I can't use PG I just haven't found it locally yet and am trying to keep my costs down for my next big purchase in a couple of weeks. I will try the vodka, should i omit the water in my mix in this case and sub it out?

 

[dormouse]

I believe menthol crystals need to find be dissolved in pure grain alcohol before use in eliquids.

Check the DIY section
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/diy-e-liquid/

 

[dirtmonkey]

Are you using the water to thin the VG? If you need do that, I would just sub it out. Alcohol lowers the viscosity, too, but it doesn't seem to as much as water does IME.

 

[dirtmonkey]

I just made up a solution of about 10% menthol in the extract, so that comes to somewhere around 80% alcohol and probably <5% water, plus about 5% peppermint oil which adds some more menthol. 2 drops of that in 3ml juice gives a pretty strong menthol hit.

I think I'll bump up the peppermint part when I get one I like- this McCormick extract leaves an off flavor but you wouldn't be using that.

80 proof vodka is 40% alcohol / 60% water, so you should be able to get at least 20% menthol solution in that and have a super concentrate that takes very little in the mix to get a strong menthol hit.

 

[classwife]

Moved from New Members to DIY E-Liquid

 

[dirtmonkey]

oops- thread moved while I was posting so I don't know where my last reply went... basically I was just saying that 80 proof vodka is 60% water, and the 40% alcohol should pretty easily dissolve at least 20% menthol (probably more). The solution I just made up is around 12-13% menthol, and only takes 2 drops in 3ml juice to give a pretty strong menthol hit. This is all approximate, I did it by volume of melted menthol and guessing at peppermint extract content.

 

[Scubabatdan]

Ok, low proof of vodka will separate, you will have two noticeable layers in the bottle, one will be water. I only use PGA (Pure Grain Alcohol) when making my menthol concentration. I use Everclear, it is 190 proof, 95% alcohol. I fill a 100ml bottle with crystals, shake and add more until the bottle is filled. I then add PGA to it, go slow, the menthol crystals will soak up the PGA and you will be able to pour more in as the menthol crystals dissolve. Once it is saturated and filled with PGA, put the top on and shake. The bottle temperature will drop, the bottle will get cold. Place in a sink full of hot water, and let it soak for an hour. When you come back all the crystals will be gone or nearly. And you have a VERY concentrated menthol flavor. I use it at 4% in most all my menthol mixes. BTW the 100ml bottle was just for example, you can use any size following these directions.
Dan

EVERCLEAR

 

[dirtmonkey]

VERY cool Dan, thanks. I never would have thought that the alcohol would allow separation.

Have you ever measured how much alcohol ends up in that mix? It looks like the max total pure menthol content that tasted right to me is about 3%, I'm betting that's pretty similar to 4% of your menthol/PGA concentrate.

 

[fray]

i just dissolve menthol crystals in PG. works well for me

 

[Deathnote4U]

The Vodka did help alot with decrystalization of my new mix I left out the vanilla this time for chocolate flavoring, Chocolate mint it has a better hit with the addition of vodka and seems like a way better vape experience. Yes i was useing water to thin my VG, but I will not be doing that any more. Hooray for vodka, and thanks for these tips. Is the addition of PG only due to the nicotine addition or is there another reason to add it? I have been nicotine and tobacco free for 23 days now and still have cravings. not as furoscious as before but I vape when I feel like smoking. I figured If I was to be successful in quitting smoking I would have to cut nic out as well.

 

[GoodDog]

For me it turned out the nicotine wasn't what I craved the most. Now I can have nicotine when I want it or vape 0 nic without any cravings. I no longer have an addiction to nicotine so that leads me to believe the theories that nicotine isn't as addictive as the other substances in cigarettes.

 

[Deathnote4U]

Why would you vape the nicotine if you don't have to. it is a highly poisonous substace after all. It sounds similar to what a smoker says I can quit I just don't want to, or I really enjoy smoking. For sure the other substances cause an undying chemicle romance with your body and hold tighter than nicotine, just as heasily I can say that I am addicted to Vaping. The activity and the pleasure senses triggered by the flavour and feeling, trigger dopemine in the brain and cause a physical addiction after a period of time. Do you think that you could stop vaping? Just a friendly question nothing harsh meant by it.