Steeping question.

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Pazazu

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Hey guys I have a bit of a steeping question for all you veteran vapers :) To me it seems like if you have a juice with multiple flavors in it, like ry4, or strawberry kiwi, steeping seems to help the flavors a lot. On the other hand, if you have a plain single flavored juice like strawberry, it doesn't seem to help too much. Do you guys find the same thing? Steeping single flavors doesn't help a lot? Or do you get a stronger taste after steeping a single flavored juice too?
 

hvac999

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I have found that all flavors are different. I had an orange one time that took a month to steep. So generally 10-30 days are steeping time on most flavors. I have had flavors, even combination flavors, that are good right out of the box. So basically it all depends on the flavor and the PG/VG mix. VG flavors are thicker and need more steeping in my book. I hope that is not too confusing.
 
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Baditude

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I'll agree with hvac on this. You can't really make an overall generalization on single flavors vs combination flavors. A lot of factors come into play to determine what flavors need steeping.

What I've found is the flavors sold by "all-everything" vendors that sell primarily vaping gear focus more on the vaping gear and not so much on their e-liquids. They likely purchase their eliquids already mixed from yet another vendor, so they have had time to steep by sitting on a warehouse shelf until they are shipped out to a customer.

E-liquid vendors who primarily sell only their line of e-liquids often don't mix them until they receive your order. These will be "fresher" as far as age and more likely to need steeping.

Another factor is how complex the flavor is. Coffee or desert or tobacco flavors tend to be more complex and to benefit for a longer steep time (1 -2 weeks or longer). Vg (vegetable glycerin) doesn't blend flavors as easily as Pg (propylene glycol) so any Vg-heavy e-liquid will benefit from shaking and time to blend. I've also read that all-organic/all-natural flavors tend to need steep time, but in my experience it depends upon individual flavors. (Nearly all of the juice that I've bought recently are that type.)
 

RedhatPat

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See, to me steeping involved 2 things, time & shaking. Shaking is a MUST, all those goodies taste better when it's mixed well. But the time factor really irritated me. If we could put our cravings on "hold" for a month or two, we probably wouldn't have gotten addicted to nicotine to begin with.

So get a hobbist paint bottle shaker or jewelry clearner to do the heavy shaking for you and in a couple days your juices will taste the same or better than someone who kept theirs locked away in a cellar as if it were a fine wine.

Long story short, automated shaking or vibration the way to go if you wanna add to your fav juices & save yourself from some carpal tunnel syndrome

Here is one in action
 

aushizz

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Hey guys I have a bit of a steeping question for all you veteran vapers :) To me it seems like if you have a juice with multiple flavors in it, like ry4, or strawberry kiwi, steeping seems to help the flavors a lot. On the other hand, if you have a plain single flavored juice like strawberry, it doesn't seem to help too much. Do you guys find the same thing? Steeping single flavors doesn't help a lot? Or do you get a stronger taste after steeping a single flavored juice too?


also wondering after you fill a cartomizer(like a boge 510) is it best to vape right away or can they be filled and set aside for days later?
 

RedhatPat

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also wondering after you fill a cartomizer(like a boge 510) is it best to vape right away or can they be filled and set aside for days later?

Yeah, what I like to do is fill one, then put a condom on both ends, then tape the whole carto to the side of the bottle it came from.
 

aushizz

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Yeah, what I like to do is fill one, then put a condom on both ends, then tape the whole carto to the side of the bottle it came from.

are you saying its better to wait for a few days? or that it's just fine to fill em ahead of time?
also what's our method of just tasting a juice? do u fill one up and hope for the best?
 

Baditude

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are you saying its better to wait for a few days? or that it's just fine to fill em ahead of time?
also what's our method of just tasting a juice? do u fill one up and hope for the best?
You can begin vaping on a cartomizer immediately after filling it, especially if you use the method I use to fill them.

I first put a toothpick into the center air hole to keep e-liquid from entering it. Then I add liquid to the filler material as I slowly rotate the cartomizer between my fingers. When the filler looks soaked like a slushy drink, I take it and shake it like one would do with a thermometer. This forces juice down deeper into the filler much like a centrifuge would.

I continue to add more liquid, and then shake it down again. When the filler will no longer accept more juice, I remove the toothpick and add a drip tip. It's ready to vape.

If you use the other popular method of filling a cartomizer (the condom method), you will need to blow out excess liquid out of the cartomizer air hole (and risk getting juice into your mouth) and still need to let the carto "sit" for a period of time for the filler to fully absorb the juice.

With the method I described first, there is no need to blow out the carto hole (because of the toothpick) and no need to let it sit (the thermometer shake technique takes care of that part).

It's perfectly fine to fill up your cartos ahead of time if they will not be used for 2 - 4 days. The method of capping the cartos with the plastic condoms that empty cartomizers come shipped with work great to keep the filled cartos from drying out, as RedhatPat suggested.

Many vapors use a dripping atomizer to test flavors. This is a carto-like device, but contains no filler material; just an empty tube with the heating coil. Since there is no filler to contain the juice, it can only use a few drops of e-liquid at a time. You add a few drops, vape a few times, and then add more drops if you wish to continue vaping with that flavor.

atomizer-3.jpgatomizer.jpg dripping atomizers

An alternative to an atomizer or dripping would be a Nano clearomizer. This is a tiny clearomizer that only holds 1 ml of juice, can be easily filled by removing the mouthpiece, and used repeatedly by removing one flavor and adding another.

DiscountVapers.com_Vision_Nano.JPG Nano clearomizer
 

RedhatPat

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also wondering after you fill a cartomizer(like a boge 510) is it best to vape right away or can they be filled and set aside for days later?

Yeah, what I like to do is fill one, then put a condom on both ends, then tape the whole carto to the side of the bottle it came from.

are you saying its better to wait for a few days? or that it's just fine to fill em ahead of time?
also what's our method of just tasting a juice? do u fill one up and hope for the best?

A dry carto is a big NO-NO. Infact never fire a carto before the polyfill is fully saturated. Never dry burn a carto, either. Because once it gets burnt you'll never get that burnt taste out. Having said that, if you're a carto kinda fella which means you prefer the taste/vape from a carto, but you haven't found a favorite juice yet (taste testing) then I'm saying you can pre-fill 1 carto per flavor, lock in the feshness with condoms, and tape to the juice bottle for easy reference.

Now, I'm not pushing you to spend any more money for a solution because you can just as easily 'drip' to an atty but I have to give a shout out to this little delivery device called a mini-carto. It's cheap, small, disposible, single coil 510 1.7ohm cartomizer that's perfect for a lot of things. Sometimes known as shortys.

Shorty 1.7 Ohm 510 Cartomizer - Avid Vaper


And here is a mii carto with a shorty drip tip on my reo (right)

 

SinX7

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See, to me steeping involved 2 things, time & shaking. Shaking is a MUST, all those goodies taste better when it's mixed well. But the time factor really irritated me. If we could put our cravings on "hold" for a month or two, we probably wouldn't have gotten addicted to nicotine to begin with.

So get a hobbist paint bottle shaker or jewelry clearner to do the heavy shaking for you and in a couple days your juices will taste the same or better than someone who kept theirs locked away in a cellar as if it were a fine wine.

Long story short, automated shaking or vibration the way to go if you wanna add to your fav juices & save yourself from some carpal tunnel syndrome

Here is one in action


Is this safe for all bottle types? Even the small and extra large bottles? Cause I think I'm going to get one!
 

RedhatPat

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SinX, from what I understand that particular model is owned by one company. I haven't found any clones yet, not even on amazon. Here a link to the manuf, http://www.robart.com/products/411n-nail-polish-shaker-electric-100-240v

This is what I know from first hand experience. They are fragile, I had one unit stop working after day 1. They can only hold up to 30ml bottles and plastic is preferred over glass because of weight, atleast for this machine. There aren't any instructions but I suggest not running it more than 20-30 seconds at a time. And it's noisy.

Alternatives are jewelery cleaners, they also heat while they vibrate which helps with thicker juices. Good for cleaning bottles too.
 

RedhatPat

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lmfao, this makes me want to take a bottle in to the shakers at work and give me a whirl.....I need bigger bottles! where's the 1 gallon option!!! Never thought of that though. Always did the hot water and shake between soaks. Might have to grab one though :D

Here's a nice one for ya pipe dreams, only $6,000.00 Linear Motion Shale Shaker For Gravel - Buy Dust Shaker,Linear Motion Shaker,Shale Shaker For Gravel Product on Alibaba.com or you know what you can do MetalRav, Turning a reciprocating saw upside down and modding the blade to hold your tray could work.



Haha, all joking aside, too bad I still don't have my "rock tumbler" from when I was a kid...

SinX, if it doesn't break down on you, I had better results with the Robart model than a jewelery cleaner, for what it's worth. I'm just giving ya the heads up from first hand experience. In other words, don't shoot the messenger :)
 
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SinX7

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Here's a nice one for ya pipe dreams, only $6,000.00 Linear Motion Shale Shaker For Gravel - Buy Dust Shaker,Linear Motion Shaker,Shale Shaker For Gravel Product on Alibaba.com

Haha, all joking aside, too bad I still don't have my "rock tumbler" from when I was a kid...

SinX, if it doesn't break down on you, I had better results with the Robart model than a jewelery cleaner, for what it's worth. I'm just giving ya the heads up from first hand experience. In other words, don't shoot the messenger :)

Hahaha sounds good! I'll give it a try. Thank you!
 

RedhatPat

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What I would like is a laterally vibrating/shaking tray with a flat top, basically an orbital shaker found in many labs with a few tweeks. A cut foam platform that holds bottles snuggly in place as the bottom platform shakes. Some form of lid or stop-measure to prevent the bottles from whipping out of the top. The limitations would be on the size of the platform and how many positions we can fill.

I've drawn up a rough idea of what has been on my mind and I know what materials are required, but my skill at making some separate unassociated things into a new device is beyond my crafting ability...and beyond the ability of the tools I have available.

 

Pazazu

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I'd have to say personally that filling something like a clearomizer and letting it sit for days may not be too good for the flavor. Since some of the juices can crack the clear's, you may be absorbing a little of the plastic material into the juice with letting it sit in there a long time, especially with fruity flavors im guessing.

Thanks for the advice as well guys, the whole steeping thing is a little confusing to a noob like myself in the beginning, but I have a bit more of a grasp now. I don't like the idea of having to do this to all of my juices, but it could be a lot worse. After witnessing my ry4 turn from something really good, into something I can't stand to stop vaping in a matter of about a week, it is definitely worth the extra effort.
 
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