Transferring gallon Nicotine to smaller 16 oz bottles. Best Method?

[Modapa]

I recently bought a gallon of nicotine to make my own juice. However, it came in a clear gallon jug and I would like to transfer it to smaller bottles and freeze it. I know that it will oxidize quickly upon contact with air so does anyone know how to make the transfer without that happening? I used to buy from Nude Nicotine but they aren't selling it anymore. They used a luer lock on their bottles and I just siphoned it out into smaller containers with a syringe.

Thanks,

Mo

 

[SupplyDaddy]

It doesn't oxidize that quickly. The amount of time you use to move will not harm it.

Use what ever you need to move it, funnels, syringes, what ever.
Ensure you fill the bottles as much as possible, use a good cap on the bottles and if possible, use a sealing of some type on the cap and top of the bottles. Heat shrink, electrical tape...

Take your time, watch for spills and enjoy your nic stash!

 

[englishmick]

I recently bought a gallon of nicotine to make my own juice. However, it came in a clear gallon jug and I would like to transfer it to smaller bottles and freeze it. I know that it will oxidize quickly upon contact with air so does anyone know how to make the transfer without that happening? I used to buy from Nude Nicotine but they aren't selling it anymore. They used a luer lock on their bottles and I just siphoned it out into smaller containers with a syringe.

Thanks,

Mo

I agree with SD above that the amount of time it is exposed to the air wouldn't make much difference. Just pour gently so you don't get a lot of bubbles.

I figure pouring from the gallon container into bottles would be really hard, even with a funnel. Mainly because the gallon container would be heavy and hard to control. And you would need a helper to hold the bottle and funnel steady. Then if you tip it a little too far and it comes out fast you would flood it out the top of the funnel. I know how hard it is to pour from a gallon of VG or PG into smaller containers. I do that regularly, pouring it from the gallon into liter bottles that I use for mixing. It's always messy, which isn't a problem with VG but you don't want spills with nic especially if it's high concentration.

I think what I would do is first pour it from the gallon container into a glass quart measuring jug. A measuring jug would be forgiving to pour into. And it would be easy to pour it from the jug into a bottle because the jug has a pouring spout.

 

[SlowTalker]

I used an acrylic water pitcher and a funnel to transfer my gallon, filling it half full at a time and pouring into 500ml bottles. I topped each bottle off with argon, which is heavier than oxygen so settles on the surface of the nic like a barrier. Argon is easy to find online as it's used to keep opened bottles of wine from oxidizing.

 

[JCinFLA]

@Modapa - The only thing I would clarify, or add to, from what's been said above, is the following, especially IF the bottle caps you got have the polycone on the underside of the lid:

You don't want to fill the bottles as much as possible (ie. to the top of the bottle neck). You've got to leave enough room for the polycone to go into the bottle neck, as you screw the cap on...without it forcing nic base out the top as you do it. The polycone is there to displace the small amount of air in the bottle neck as you screw the cap on, but NOT to push out any nic base.

Even if the caps you got don't have the polycone on the underside of the cap, you still need to leave about 1/4" of space at the top. I can't remember if it was Kurt (the resident ECF chemist) or maybe it was Rossum...but 1 of them said that small space needs to be there. It's to allow for the slight expansion of the nic base in the bottles, when you take 1 out of the freezer and let it come to room temperature before you open it to start using any. Otherwise, you could have a problem as it does that.

 

[Modapa]

@Modapa - The only thing I would clarify, or add to, from what's been said above, is the following, especially IF the bottle caps you got have the polycone on the underside of the lid:

You don't want to fill the bottles as much as possible (ie. to the top of the bottle neck). You've got to leave enough room for the polycone to go into the bottle neck, as you screw the cap on...without it forcing nic base out the top as you do it. The polycone is there to displace the small amount of air in the bottle neck as you screw the cap on, but NOT to push out any nic base.

Even if the caps you got don't have the polycone on the underside of the cap, you still need to leave about 1/4" of space at the top. I can't remember if it was Kurt (the resident ECF chemist) or maybe it was Rossum...but 1 of them said that small space needs to be there. It's to allow for the slight expansion of the nic base in the bottles, when you take 1 out of the freezer and let it come to room temperature before you open it to start using any. Otherwise, you could have a problem as it does that.

Is a 1/4" enough? Will the nic base freeze, or will it just expand from the cold?

 

[JCinFLA]

Is a 1/4" enough? Will the nic base freeze, or will it just expand from the cold?

If you're using caps that don't have the polycone on the underside of the cap...1/4" should be fine. But if you feel more comfortable leaving a little more (between 1/4" and 1/2")...it won't hurt anything. Nic base, no matter whether it's in 100% PG, 100% VG, or combination of the 2, doesn't freeze solid and expand like water does when it's put in people's household freezers. Instead, it contracts alittle. You'd just leave the space so that when it comes back to room temp. and expands slightly, there'll be room for it to do that.

 

[englishmick]

Is a 1/4" enough? Will the nic base freeze, or will it just expand from the cold?

When I started putting nic in the freezer I read you should fill the bottles all the way. Since then I read you should leave a small space for expansion and that's what I do now. Never had any problems either way, or heard of anyone else having problems.

It doesn't actually freeze at regular freezer temps. In any case it's only water that expands when it freezes, I believe all other liquids contract when they freeze. The expansion happens when you take it out of the freezer and warm it up to room temp.

## You have to be quick around here, JC beat me to it.

 

[puffon]

Per @Kurt there will be no expansion if you open the bottle at the same temperature as what it was bottled at.
Bottle it at 68 deg, open at ambient 76 deg you could get some expansion.

 

[440BB]

Rebottling liquid has made leaps since the early days of vaping. This early method is no longer recommended.

 

[Modapa]

Thank you all for your good advice. I don't get on here much anymore but I can always rely on someone having answers when I do.

 

[SlowTalker]

Per @Kurt there will be no expansion if you open the bottle at the same temperature as what it was bottled at.
Bottle it at 68 deg, open at ambient 76 deg you could get some expansion.

I forgot to mention that when I transfer to glass bottles for freezing I do it with everything at room temp. Same when mixing DIY juices. That way I know I am getting accurate level of nic in the final product. The difference, expansion wise, may be negligible, but it makes me feel better.

 

[JCinFLA]

You have to be quick around here, JC beat me to it.

Only reason was because she quoted my post and asked me the 2 questions about the 1/4" space and nic base freezing or expanding, that I'd mentioned. So I got an Alert while I was sitting here reading other threads. It doesn't happen often.

 

[classwife]

Moved to DIY E-Liquid from General E-Liquid Discussion

 

[Rossum]

I know that it will oxidize quickly upon contact with air so does anyone know how to make the transfer without that happening?

As others have said, I wouldn't worry about that too much. I've done testing where I left some samples in their original PET plastic bottles that I never opened, and other samples from the same batch got re-bottled in glass, and thus exposed to air during the transfer. There wasn't much difference in how they aged, and if I had to make a judgement call, the samples that got re-bottled in glass did marginally better.

Is a 1/4" enough? Will the nic base freeze, or will it just expand from the cold?

It will not freeze. In fact, it will shrink a bit in the freezer. But you should still leave a small volume of "expansion space" because the temperature in the room when you open them again might be higher than it was when you did the bottling.

Assuming you're using "Boston Round" style bottle (as most everyone does), I suggest going to the top of the shoulders / base of the neck of the bottle, leaving just the volume of the the neck itself as expansion space.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Propylene glycol has a very low freezing point which is why it has been used in antifreeze (which was the source of the unfortunate rumor that some still propagate, that ecigs contain "antifreeze" ).

Vegetable glycerin also has a very low freezing point.

You'll never own a freezer that would be able to freeze either one solid.

 

[Rossum]

Vegetable glycerin also has a very low freezing point.

Waxing pedantic, that's actually a misconception. Pure glycerol has a melting/freezing point of
17.8 °C (64.0 °F). The catch is, you'll never truly find pure glycerol because it's hydroscopic and inevitably picks up a bit of water, and as soon as it does (even a tiny bit), the freezing point drops dramatically.

 

[UncLeJunkLe]

Waxing pedantic, that's actually a misconception. Pure glycerol has a melting/freezing point of
17.8 °C (64.0 °F). The catch is, you'll never truly find pure glycerol because it's hydroscopic and inevitably picks up a bit of water, and as soon as it does (even a tiny bit), the freezing point drops dramatically.

But the freezing point for VG is still below what a household freezer can achieve otherwise we've had heard about people's VG nic base freezing and cracking thier bottles over the years here on ECF.

 

[Rossum]

But the freezing point for VG is still below what a household freezer can achieve otherwise we've had heard about people's VG nic base freezing and cracking thier bottles over the years here on ECF.

Waxing even more pedantic, there are two things wrong with this statement:

1) Common VG Nic base is 90% VG (with a small amount of water impurity) and 10% nicotine. Pure nicotine has a a freezing point of −79°C (−110°F). So that 10% likely has a huge effect on the freezing point of the mixture, even more than the fraction of a percent of water that's also present.

2) Just because something freezes (turns solid) does not mean it expands in volume at that point. Water is rather unique in that property. Vere few other substances do that; most anything other than water will continue to shrink with decreasing temperatures, and if you have something that continues to shrink, it won't crack its container by shrinking.

In the end, from a purely pragmatic perspective, you are correct. There is no worry about nic base (either PG, VG) freezing solid (it won't at home freezer temperatures), or expanding at in volume at lower temperatures even if you could get it cold enough to turn into a solid.

 

[zoiDman]

Is a 1/4" enough? Will the nic base freeze, or will it just expand from the cold?

A 1/4" should be Fine. But Nothing wrong with leaving a Little More. I fill leaving more like a 1/2" or so.

Here is a Tech that I like to use when putting Bottled Liquids into the Freezer. I fill the Bottle leaving about 1/2" of so and just put the Cap on loosely. Then place the Bottle upright in the Freezer. The Next Day I come back and Tighten the Cap. The bottles can now be placed on their side if you want.

Some people like to put Tape around the Cap/Bottle Neck. Not maybe essential. But Not a bad call Either.

If you want to put Tape around the Cap/Bottle Neck, Stretch type Silicone Tape works well. And it also a Very Handy item to have around the House for all kinds of things.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Nashua-...Fusing-Silicone-Tape-in-Red-1113525/204002507