PG or VG Based Nic?
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I haven't diyed myself but from what i have read it wont matter too much. Maybe get the pg nic if you not wanting to make max vg liquid as its thinner and a little easier to work with.
I use 100% VG because I vape high VG e-liquid.
Here's a good calculator to run your PG/VG ratios thru....you can practice with it to figure out your ratios -
eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator
Good Luck....Happy Vaping!!!
Here's a good calculator to run your PG/VG ratios thru....you can practice with it to figure out your ratios -
eJuice Me Up - Best eJuice Calculator
Good Luck....Happy Vaping!!!
Just some thoughts... at least one nic vendor suggests that long term storage in VG is somewhat better, but I've seen some controversy over that.
The bottles of nic I bought from MFS say "SHAKE WELL BEFORE USING". Ever tried shaking up pure VG? And it seems to me that, as DIYers, the most likely problem we might have is a "layered mix" where the nic we decant for a particular batch may not be the average strength. Consider that your source of the 100mg concentrate probably mixed 1000mg pure concentrate in with the PG/VG base. In a totally worst case scenario, they might have just squirted the pure nic into the bottle, capped it and shipped it. I am not suggesting any nic vendors do that, I am just being philosophical with a worst case scenario, and I think it would be prudent to assume that is what was done???? Just to be ultra-conservative and to be masters of our own destiny. Leave nothing to chance.
From that point of view, it would probably be safer to get a PG only base, simply for ease of initial mixing. I personally have bought 3 bottles from MFS in 50/50, but if I ever need more I might go PG just for this reason. You may also want to consider pouring the entire bottle of 100mg nic into a much larger bottle to shake it up before splitting into smaller bottles or decanting the top off for your first batch. The bottles, as shipped, are usually filled as full as possible to minimize oxidation but that does not make it possible to mix properly. I used an empty and well rinsed 2 liter pepsi bottle.
You may also want to buy a basic nic test kit, such as what Wizard Labs sells. Then you can test what you decant for a mix, and/or test your final base mix to make sure it is within reason. I bought the Methyl Blue and HCL from WL and found that my MFS tested within 10% of the labelled concentration, or my final mix, and that is as accurate as I can probably do since I am a bit color blind. And that was from an earlier buy that I never shook up properly before decanting off into some smaller bottles (my bad, but I am still learning!).
You also need to consider your final PG/VG ratios. If you like super high VG concentrations you may want as little PG as possible, and then you might want a 50/50 mix, or even hassle with shaking up pure VG.
ETA: in your case, since you like 50% or greater PG mixes, then buying in pure PG base would not be an issue in terms of getting the final mixes you want. My note was more for others that might want to avoid PG to the extent possible.
The bottles of nic I bought from MFS say "SHAKE WELL BEFORE USING". Ever tried shaking up pure VG? And it seems to me that, as DIYers, the most likely problem we might have is a "layered mix" where the nic we decant for a particular batch may not be the average strength. Consider that your source of the 100mg concentrate probably mixed 1000mg pure concentrate in with the PG/VG base. In a totally worst case scenario, they might have just squirted the pure nic into the bottle, capped it and shipped it. I am not suggesting any nic vendors do that, I am just being philosophical with a worst case scenario, and I think it would be prudent to assume that is what was done???? Just to be ultra-conservative and to be masters of our own destiny. Leave nothing to chance.
From that point of view, it would probably be safer to get a PG only base, simply for ease of initial mixing. I personally have bought 3 bottles from MFS in 50/50, but if I ever need more I might go PG just for this reason. You may also want to consider pouring the entire bottle of 100mg nic into a much larger bottle to shake it up before splitting into smaller bottles or decanting the top off for your first batch. The bottles, as shipped, are usually filled as full as possible to minimize oxidation but that does not make it possible to mix properly. I used an empty and well rinsed 2 liter pepsi bottle.
You may also want to buy a basic nic test kit, such as what Wizard Labs sells. Then you can test what you decant for a mix, and/or test your final base mix to make sure it is within reason. I bought the Methyl Blue and HCL from WL and found that my MFS tested within 10% of the labelled concentration, or my final mix, and that is as accurate as I can probably do since I am a bit color blind. And that was from an earlier buy that I never shook up properly before decanting off into some smaller bottles (my bad, but I am still learning!).
You also need to consider your final PG/VG ratios. If you like super high VG concentrations you may want as little PG as possible, and then you might want a 50/50 mix, or even hassle with shaking up pure VG.
ETA: in your case, since you like 50% or greater PG mixes, then buying in pure PG base would not be an issue in terms of getting the final mixes you want. My note was more for others that might want to avoid PG to the extent possible.
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6 of one, a half dozen of the other. Given your ratios, PG nic is slightly easier to work with.
Since the concentrate you are getting is so high it really doesnt matter. I get 100 in 500ml bottles of pure pg for the freezer. Once you mix it down a calc like juicemeup will tell you what to add to adjust it to what you want
Unless you think you want very heavy vg mixes just get one of each
Unless you think you want very heavy vg mixes just get one of each
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I go with a 75PG/25VG personally as the above mentioned about being easier to mix nic solution before starting the DIY. Although that will limit your VG max ability because of the high PG content of the nic solution. It would all depend on ones preference.
That is not necessarily true, on a general level. The higher the final nic level the less wiggle room you have, in the event you want your juice to have high concentrations of the "other" side of the nic base. A quick back of the pencil calc...
Assume you want 24mg final strength. Your 100mg nic is in PG, but you want a high VG final mix. You are mixing roughly 1 part PG concentrate to 3 parts VG. You will end up with about a 25/75 PG/VG mix.
But, But, but, you need to flavor it and many flavors recipes run to 35% or more of flavoring. And flavoring is, as best I understand it, typically mostly PG although most flavors do contain alcohol or water, or other base materials. But whatever it is, it is further diluting the VG since flavorings never come in VG bases.
If you take 25/75 PG/VG and mix in 35% flavoring, assumed to be PG, then your final mix is 51% PG and 49% VG. This is a worst case, but actually where I was at when I was trying to reproduce a 28/72 PG/VG commercial mix I really liked. I used 50/50 concentrate, though, and that is why I am still thinking 50/50 is a good nic concentrate base for those that want to dabble in high VG mixes. Of course, I also question if the commercial mix I bought, labelled "28/72" actually accounted for the PG in the flavoring, or if that 28/72 represented their base before flavoring????
Now that I have managed to wean myself down to 12mg final nic, this has become less of a problem of course.
35% flavor? wow like it a little strong?
I have never used over 10-12%
But hey not the first time I been corrected.
I have never used over 10-12%
But hey not the first time I been corrected.
That 35% number is used a lot in the big TFA thread, the idea being to eliminate steep time. Typically a primary flavor in the 10-15% range, and the balance in creams, vanillas and sweeteners. So that's what I'm used to because I like a lot of recipes there, especially Bill's Magic Vapor recipes. He is a big proponent of high flavor mixes with little or no steep time. My example was stressed to be "worst case", just to point out that it is very possible, using well known recipes here, to have problems mixing a PG based nic into a high VG final mix. It is equally likely not to have a problem in a less worst case situation. I guess my point was to play with a juice calculator before committing to a big buy of nic, just to make sure the numbers work out.
There are some flavors available in VG-only; I know ecigexpress offers some, and I think bullcityvapor may also... but they are STUPENDOUSLY outnumbered by those in PG or PG/alcohol.
Andria
Its all good I make my faves by the pint so steeping has never been an issue for me.
But I agree with your points
Great information. Thanks all for taking the time to respond. I particularly like the couple of juice ingredients ratio calculators that were posted. I've come across other calculators, buy these two seem to be quite easy to work with. Since I prefer 50/50 or higher PG/VG ratios and PG sounds like its easier to work with because of viscosity, I'll probably by my nic concentration in a PG solution.
Peter
Peter
I don't know if this calculator was suggested: -> http://www.ecigvape.com/pvn_calculator.php -- but that's my own favorite; what I like best is that you can include an actual ejuice as a flavor, and it takes account of the juice's nic level and PG/VG for the final mix. Since I started doing DIY with mixing pre-made ejuices, that was a godsend to me!
Andria
Andria
I've seen that calculator recommended a lot. I downloaded it and tried to run the setup program but Norton got really mad at me and gave me dire warnings not to run it. Said it was dangerous and bugged. I scanned it with Malwarebytes and it came up OK, but I'm still a little nervous about ignoring the Norton warnings. Do you reckon it's OK?
I'd say the problem is with Norton. They're notorious for false positives.
Go with the 50/50 if that is what you like now. It will mix easier and you can always adjust the VG up more for the overall % if you want around 70%VG. Unless you are PG sensitive, if you like max VG juices the little bit of PG in the 50/50 base will help thin the VG out a bit. You will notice many people add 5-10% distilled water to max VG mixes to get them to wick better. Using 50/50 nic base I find I don't need it with the max VG juices I have made so far when combined with the PG base of most of the flavorings. The higher the concentration you use will also reduce the overall amount of base liquids needed so keep that in mind as well. I use 100mg/ml base but my juice are 3mg or less per ml so needless to say even thinned out it doesn't take much to get my level where I want it.
CC
CC
False alarm. Sorry.
I tried to run setup again just now. Norton deleted it and said it was a dangerous program. Never had that happen before. Anyway, I just downloaded it again and it ran fine. I must have downloaded a bad version somehow. Or I've got some malware that interferes with my downloaded files.
Yah, I downloaded it a couple of days ago when it popped up on this thread and had no problems. My Norton was completely up to date and did not provide any warnings.
Peter
Probably it just got corrupted during the download. That happens sometimes, it just doesn't get the very last byte of the download or something.
Andria
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