Older Folks and Vaping Front Porch - Part 5

[gerrymi]

You can't beat the LUC chargers for durability.

I've heard a lot of good things about LUC chargers...but...I need a charger (like my Nitecore Digicharger D4)...that ALSO charges Ni-MH and Ni-Cd (AA, AAA, AAAA, C) rechargeable batteries...for all the auto-ON/OFF night lights on the path from my bedroom to the bathroom...and for ALL my Grand Children's NUMEROUS toys...

.

 

[3mg Meniere]

No worry for me, since I already had a charger for AA and AAA

 

[pwmeek]

I suspect that more than keeping the nic base at room temperature is all those times you "looked" at it that caused the darkening. Every time you opened that jar, you let oxygen and moisture into the airspace over the remaining nic base. This could happen even if you kept it in the freezer (more slowly than at room temperature, but eventually).

The thing to do (as you plan) is to transfer your nic base into small bottles (amber is better than clear, to keep out light, both visible and UV). Ideally, small enough bottles that you can use them up within weeks or months; and filled as full as possible to exclude air.. Keep all those small bottles in the freezer, and pull ONE to use for mixing your daily vape. I have 10 liters of 100 mg/ml nic base socked away in tiny amber bottles, each one properly labeled with description and warnings. Some are three and four years old, and clear as the day I transferred them.

Now, a little Safety Nazi stuff: Get a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for the strength of your nic base (Wizard Labs has downloadable MSDSs for all strengths of nic base) and enclose it in the lockable (you're keeping it where people expect to find food) box where you are keeping all these small bottles. You might also enclose a card with instructions for disposal, just in case the next person to have to deal with that nic base is not you but some loved one. (None of us will live forever, and we don't know when our time will come. Don't leave a dangerous booby trap as your legacy.)

 

[Bolivar]

Every time you opened that jar, you let oxygen and moisture into the airspace over the remaining nic base. This could happen even if you kept it in the freezer (more slowly than at room temperature, but eventually).

You might try an old photographers trick to keep the air out. Developer is very prone to oxidation, and after it is mixed up and poured out, the developer remaining in the bottle oxidizes rapidly due to air in the bottle. After some developer was used out of the bottle, the trick was to put marbles or steel balls in the bottle till the developer level was back at the top of the bottle, then cap it (the marbles displace their weight in liquid, much like when you get in a bathtub, the water level rises). It worked better than pouring it into smaller and smaller bottles as it was being used....just add a few more marbles to bring the level back up. In the end, you will have some nic coated marbles you will have to wash off, but loss should be minimal.

 

[bigbells]

Amber glass in the freezer is good, but so is clear glass, cobalt blue glass or any other color glass. That's because it's dark in there. If you don't believe it, just drill a hole into the interior of your freezer, put your eye up to the hole, close the freezer door and watch the light go out.

OK, so there are periods of time when the freezer door is open, but unless you have a house full of people who stand gazing for hours on end into the open freezer as if they're surveying their kingdoms, the difference between clear and colored glass won't amount to a hill of beans.

I have a Nitecore charger for the same reasons as stated by @gerrymi, to charge AAA and AA rechargeable batteries. I also have an Efest LUC V4, and I read with interest the statement that it can charge at more than 0.5 amps. I spent a reasonable part of today looking for the switch before finally seeing where it is located, but hey, I've only been using the charger for about 4 years... you didn't expect me to learn everything fast, did you?

 

[3mg Meniere]

It worked better than pouring it into smaller and smaller bottles as it was being used....just add a few more marbles to bring the level back up. In the end, you will have some nic coated marbles you will have to wash off, but loss should be minimal.

I once asked a chemist at Wizard about that idea, and he nixed it. Don't remember all the reasons, but wasted nic was one.

 

[DaveP]

I've heard a lot of good things about LUC chargers...but...I need a charger (like my Nitecore Digicharger D4)...that ALSO charges Ni-MH and Ni-Cd (AA, AAA, AAAA, C) rechargeable batteries...for all the auto-ON/OFF night lights on the path from my bedroom to the bathroom...and for ALL my Grand Children's NUMEROUS toys...

.

I use my Nitecore Intellicharger i4 (older model) for NiMh these days.

 

[pwmeek]

Good point on amber vs, clear. Not much light inside the freezer most of the time. Still less light inside the locked box; not even opened by looky-loos "surveying their kingdoms". Long ago I got 4 gross (576) (good price break at 4 gross) of those 60 ml amber "boston" (high, round shoulder) bottles with poly-seal caps, so that's what I use.

From the freezer, I pull three at a time - two 50 mg/ml in 50/50 PG/VG and one 100 mg/ml in pure PG; this makes 180 ml of my EDV at 65 mg/ml in 68/32 PG/VG flavorless. I mix into a larger amber bottle where the juice stays clear (at room temperature, but dark in another locked box) for the time it takes me to consume it, which is several months as I only use around 1.25 to 1.5 ml per day.

Smaller and smaller vs. marbles: Pouring serially (with repeated exposures to air and moisture) from one size to another is different from pouring ONCE from the large shipping jar (500 ml) into many smaller (60 ml) bottles, and then leaving them sealed with no more exposure to air and moisture until the day you bring them out to be used. Also, I don't pour during the transfer process; I use a 60 ml syringe with a 7 gauge needle (4 mm inside diameter; blunt, dispensing needle) so there is even less exposure to air.

LUC V4 charger with 0.5, 1.0 and 2.0 Amp charging rates: I try to do all my charging at 0.5 Amps. I'm in no hurry since I have more than one set of batteries for my rigs, and I think slow charging helps with battery life. I do find it easy to bump the charge-rate button accidentally when inserting batteries, especially in slots 3 and 4. Vigilance is the watch-word. It would have been nice if that button was recessed, requiring a deliberate action to switch between charging rates.

 

[DaveP]

You can put the nic in the freezer, but you can't freeze the nic, at least not with any freezer designed for residential use. Annoying technical correction.

Agree. Freezing is just what we call it when we store things in the freezer. Not all turn to an icy state and PG is an antifreeze component with a freeze point of -74F.

The new liter of nic I ordered is mixed with all PG. My previous nic order (that's brown now) was 75pg/25vg. I ordered it that way because I mix at 60/40 and 70/30, but the mix level is variable to an extent. The amount of pg/vg in the nic base is a fairly small part of the final batch if you mix at low nic levels.

 

[Debadoo]

Ok, first, has anyone heard from or seen semi? I'm on here so seldom now, not sure when I last saw him post, but a search says just over a month ago, at least on the porches.

Some interesting good vaping news HERE.

kewlios!

We got nic 2+ years old that is still crystal clear. My wife rebottles it when it arrives into blue bottles ... then to the freezer.

When I moved here I lost access to my freezer. Tried to have my son take two glass liters over to my sil's house to put em in the freezer and he forgot they were in the car, then one day broke one when he opened the door and it fell out. I was able to save about 1/2 of it with much filtering, but didn't ask him to move any for me again. I did have nic in that freezer.......once we got it over here, the seal was destroyed cuz it took so long to get it defrosted that the door was warped or something......so the nic that was in it, isn't now. Most of mine is fine in the closet, but I do have a 2 liter plastic jug that turned super dark brown in like 2 months. I reckin those 2 liter plastic jugs are made of a lesser grade plastic than the one liter ones. All were bought from the same place.

I wouldn't touch that nic. If I had no other choice, I would go back to 0mg. Mine died and mine coming soon is two-bay.

as meeks said......it's just oxidation. When I open the super dark one of mine, as long as it doesn't taste peppery, I'll use it. I'm sure Iffy will second this.

This time they sent tiny ants who don't care for sweets. I guess these are grease ants.

Jup, last week I also started seeing these super tiny ants, smaller than I've ever seen around the sink. Just a few at a time. Been washin em down the drain, and told my son about it. Did the terro not work on them, or did you just decide to use the spikes outside? Did the spikes work?

Now, a little Safety Nazi stuff: Get a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for the strength of your nic base (Wizard Labs has downloadable MSDSs for all strengths of nic base) and enclose it in the lockable (you're keeping it where people expect to find food) box where you are keeping all these small bottles. You might also enclose a card with instructions for disposal, just in case the next person to have to deal with that nic base is not you but some loved one. (None of us will live forever, and we don't know when our time will come. Don't leave a dangerous booby trap as your legacy.)

excellent idea!

You might try an old photographers trick to keep the air out. Developer is very prone to oxidation, and after it is mixed up and poured out, the developer remaining in the bottle oxidizes rapidly due to air in the bottle. After some developer was used out of the bottle, the trick was to put marbles or steel balls in the bottle till the developer level was back at the top of the bottle, then cap it (the marbles displace their weight in liquid, much like when you get in a bathtub, the water level rises). It worked better than pouring it into smaller and smaller bottles as it was being used....just add a few more marbles to bring the level back up. In the end, you will have some nic coated marbles you will have to wash off, but loss should be minimal.

hmmmmmm that's interesting! I've been a photographer, but never got to do my own developing. Can't imagine glass marbles being an issue since we bottle it in glass. Unless they paint em nowadays I just have used 120 ml bottles, but will likely get 250 ml bottles next time to break down the liters, since I make about 1,000 mls or so of juice at a time so I don't have to do it often.

 

[DaveP]

Jup, last week I also started seeing these super tiny ants, smaller than I've ever seen around the sink. Just a few at a time. Been washin em down the drain, and told my son about it. Did the terro not work on them, or did you just decide to use the spikes outside? Did the spikes work?

The spikes were supposed to be for all ants. I quit seeing the sugar ants after that, but I probably cleared the way for a new breed to move in after eradicating the previous sugar ants.

The new ones are obviously scouts since they only appear one or two at a time.

 

[bigbells]

last week I also started seeing these super tiny ants, smaller than I've ever seen

Ya can't see the ones that are smaller

 

[JCinFLA]

If you'll get some Termidor SC (super 20 oz. concentrate that you dilute a whole lot for use), and use it 2 times a year...you won't have any crawlies in your house. I use a 2 gallon pump sprayer and spray a continuous thin line of it 1 foot above ground level on the outside walls, and another thin line of it 1 foot out from the walls, on the ground.

It's pretty expensive, but the bottle lasts forever and works like a charm! My brother's friend, who's an exterminator, told him about it when he had a sugar ant problem. He's been using it at his house for about 10 years now. I've been using it on the house where I live for 5-6 years and on another house I bought 3 years ago. Have had no bugs of any kind since then.

 

[DaveP]

I've always used Terro for the sugar ants that enter our kitchen a couple of times a year. FWIW, it's a clear liquid with a honey like consistency. It comes with tear off tab squares that you use with a dollop of liquid about the size of a nickel. They find it and gather around like little pigs at a trough. A week later, no more ants. They supposedly take it back to feed the queen. Invasion over!

This year the ants we had weren't so attracted to Terro, but they obviously ate it and carried it back to the mound. The usual suspects disappeared. Later on we had some really tiny ants that appeared and paid no attention to the Terro. They dissapeared on their own.

 

[DancingHeretik]

If you'll get some Termidor SC (super 20 oz. concentrate that you dilute a whole lot for use), and use it 2 times a year...you won't have any crawlies in your house. I use a 2 gallon pump sprayer and spray a continuous thin line of it 1 foot above ground level on the outside walls, and another thin line of it 1 foot out from the walls, on the ground.

It's pretty expensive, but the bottle lasts forever and works like a charm! My brother's friend, who's an exterminator, told him about it when he had a sugar ant problem. He's been using it at his house for about 10 years now. I've been using it on the house where I live for 5-6 years and on another house I bought 3 years ago. Have had no bugs of any kind since then.

Thank you.

 

[JCinFLA]

I forgot to mention this - For the Termidor SC to work, you need to cut/trim any hedges, flowering plants, etc....that may be touching the exterior of your house before you spray, and keep them trimmed afterwards. If you don't, the creepy crawlies will have a way to access your house without running into the Termidor barriers.

 

[Kenna]

You might try an old photographers trick to keep the air out. Developer is very prone to oxidation, and after it is mixed up and poured out, the developer remaining in the bottle oxidizes rapidly due to air in the bottle. After some developer was used out of the bottle, the trick was to put marbles or steel balls in the bottle till the developer level was back at the top of the bottle, then cap it (the marbles displace their weight in liquid, much like when you get in a bathtub, the water level rises). It worked better than pouring it into smaller and smaller bottles as it was being used....just add a few more marbles to bring the level back up. In the end, you will have some nic coated marbles you will have to wash off, but loss should be minimal.

Excellent advice!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[Belhade]

I once asked a chemist at Wizard about that idea, and he nixed it. Don't remember all the reasons, but wasted nic was one.

Contamination?

 

[3mg Meniere]

Contamination?

I think so. Also many tiny oxygen bubbles clinging to the many beads/shot.

 

[pwmeek]

Once again, the problem with filling the bottle with marbles to reduce airspace is simply the number of times the jar or bottle will be opened after the factory fills it and you use the last of it. With initial distribution into small glass bottles there is only the one intermediate exposure to air and moisture - the transfer.

Two BTWs: the densest packing with same-sized spheres is just over 74%. You can't fill more than 74% of the bottle with marbles. The number is even less when you consider the walls of the jar or bottle will interfere with the lattice. At some point there will be air over the remaining nic base.

BTW-the-second: The Wizard Labs site recommends transferring the nic base to glass for long-term storage. The plastic jars the nic base is shipped in are best for transport (unlikely to break and cause a shipping incident where a hazardous material is spilled), but not for long-term storage. If you are going to transfer it, why not move it to small bottles?