My first time...

[Disastrous]

Wow, that took longer than expected!
I just made my first batch of ejuice. I ordered 9 flavors from Capella and made 10 ml testers of each at 10 mg nic, 30/70 PG/VG, and 10% flavoring to get a baseline. I'll have to recalculate my ratio as the flavoring is PG based. Although, I have no idea how much per ml it is. Is this something people worry about when factoring ratio?
Anyway, it took longer than expected because the nic is VG based and that and the straight VG took forever to extract from their containers with a 16 ga needle!
I shook each 10 ml bottle for 60 seconds when mixing was completed. Should I wait for steeping before I try them? Also, my current vape had no taste after sitting and smelling all those flavors for an hour or so.
Last question, if I am using a mech to test flavors, do most people just re wick them in between each test? Thanks in advance for any insight.
Regards,
Mark

 

[Lurch]

Wow! You have been busy haven't you?
When I get new flavors I usually use a base mix (30PG/70VG) that I keep pre made and make up 3ml testers of each flavor. I don't even try to figure out how much PG may be in a flavor!

I use a cheap dripper (probably a reproduction of a copy of a clone) to taste test. I rinse it under running water and blow dry between flavors.

VG can be a pain to work with huh?!?

So, any surprises with the flavors you mixed up yet?

 

[Disastrous]

I haven't tried the samples yet. I was going to shake them ever hour for another 60 seconds each (totaling 180 seconds for each one) to ensure the nicotine and flavoring mixes well. I don't have much experience vaping to know what I like, from flavors to ratios of PG/VG. I am trying to get into mechanicals and dripping (cause I hear that's where the flavor is) so I dropped the nic from the 18 mg I use in my Aspire Nautilus, to 10 mg for use in my dripper. I tried a juice that's labeled at 18 mg in my dripper last night and got way more throat hit than I was prepared for. I hope 10 is alright because I want a juice I can drip or put into my Clearomizer.
I like the idea of pre-mixing the PG/VG base but until I know what consistency I like, I'll have to wait.

 

[tazzle]

I use 50/50 pg/vg, and the worst part used to be trying to measure the vg, but these days I use a little 25 ml measuring cylinder, and it's sooooo much easier and faster.

I use 510 bridgeless atomizers for testing, or, since a lot of the fruit flavors can be vaped right away, I might go ahead and try those in a regular (non dripping) atomizer.

I don't personally factor in the pg from the flavours, though a lot of people do. There are vaping calculators that will do this for you. Here's one I use, but there are many online, as well as phone/tablet vaping calculator apps.

Welcome to the wonderful world of DIY! Soon you will have no table or counter space anywhere in your house, and waaaaaaaaaay too many flavours, but you always still need to buy juuuuust one or two more that you don't have because you want to try a specific recipe. Or maybe that's just me.

Enjoy!

 

[Disastrous]

My wife won't let the counter space get taken up...I'll be doing this in the back yard before that happens.
If the Green Apple flavor comes out like I hope it does, I may never need to buy anything else!

 

[DetraMental]

I never got that in to mixing and I've been doing it for over a year. I don't worry with the pg or vg amounts in my nicotine or flavors since they are small in comparison to my base mixture. Maybe I'll try it just to see how off I am. I do a 50/50 mix.

You could do a hot water bath for your vg to make it more workable. I do about 15 minutes in a hot water bath.

 

[Panorama911]

Last question, if I am using a mech to test flavors, do most people just re wick them in between each test? Thanks in advance for any insight.
Regards,
Mark

To get a real idea of flavor it would be beneficial to re wick. Some flavors are next to impossible to remove, mask over another flavor. Some buy several cheap clearomizers to use for each flavor then switch to the "go to" topper for actual use.

 

[DeloresRose]

To get a real idea of flavor it would be beneficial to re wick. Some flavors are next to impossible to remove, mask over another flavor. Some buy several cheap clearomizers to use for each flavor then switch to the "go to" topper for actual use.

I use a 510 atty to taste test, which gives me a fairly good idea, but you're right, those clearos give a far more accurate idea of what the juice is going to taste like in my regular toppers.

There's a link somewhere on this forum for the ejuicemeup calculator. I did not figure in pg from flavor until I started using that. I still don't think it's a big hairy deal to get the exact ratio of pg/vg as long as you're happy with your results.

PS - I'm lucky, I am the wife and I get to decide what goes where. I took over an entire piece of furniture for my stuff, lol.

 

[dannyv45]

A few observations.

1. If your flavoring is PG based then yes you do need to factor that in to the total PG content.

2. Taste your mix before you steep so you have a baseline to compare steep progress. It's always a good idea to keep a little unsteeped on the side to make comparisons as steeping progresses if you speed steep via ultrasonic cleaner or hot water.

3. to extract VG from the bottle remove the needle and just use the syringe. You can warm the VG to thin it if nessessary. For measuring large amounts of VG I find a measuring cylinder works best.

4. Yes when testing re-wick if using an RBA. I use a 510 atty with a little cotton inserted then discard the cotton rinse then replace cotton after each test because thats the fastest and easiest method. I also use an RDA and re-wick after each test as I get closer to what I want. Then use my everyday gear to do a final test

5. Get a good calculator the ejuicemeup is the best