UPDATE on long-term unflavored nic storage

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NICnurse

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I am sure the FDA article scare yesterday has a lot of people thinking about stockpiling nic base in the freezer. I would be lying if I said I didn't order yet another liter of 100mg last night.

Long story short, when the 100mg arrives, I immediately cut it with PG down to 50mg. I always buy a fresh new gallon of PG when I cut 100mg nic base down to 50mg. Figure freshest is best. I bottle the 50mg into glass liter bottles, tape around the top of the cap, and store it in my garage refrigerator freezer. As of now, I have 5 full liters of 50mg and the new bottle of 100mg on the way.

I have the nic test kit that you can measure your nic level of any juice or base. Ordered it online from http://eliquidtest.com/
I test my nic everytime I receive a new 100mg batch AND I test it everytime I fill my mixing bottle I keep in the house with my frozen stash in the freezer. I do this to monitor if the nic is degrading or oxidizing down to a lesser nic strength as it is being stored.

The bottle of 50mg nic base that I am currently using was purchased in December, 2011. It is 20 months old, stored in the freezer the entire time. I just filled my in-house mixing bottle last week and when I used the eliquid test on the nic, it measured at 48mg. Everytime I have done the eliquid test on this bottle I get 48 or 49mg as my result. The standard deviation for error with the test is +- 1-2 mg, so the nic is measuring right on target, so to speak. Plus, I cannot say I am totally precise when cutting down the nic...it is possible that I had a skosh more PG in the bottle and it was 49mg, not 50mg when I cut it down originally.

What this test does is tell me a few things. One, this nic is almost 2 years old and has not experienced any nic oxidation or degrading yet. Second, visual inspection of the nic is virtually the same. It MAY have the TINIEST hint of yellow to it, but I have to look pretty hard at it to see it. Third, smell is no stronger than when I purchased it. Also no foul or funky smell to it at all. And fourth, flavor of the vape is exactly the same as the first bottle of juice I made with it over a year ago.

I do not vacuum seal or anything like that. Just pour into either a clear or amber glass bottle. I do not pad it or put it in additional boxes, the bottles are just laid flat on the floor of my freezer. It is not my in-kitchen fridge, to that helps.

Long-term storage has been a bit of an unknown, but based on the experiences I have had so far with storage of my nic, I believe that long term storage capabilities are longer than we may have thought. While the 1 year shelf life is a general guideline, I have exceeded that by almost a year already with no bad effects on my nic.

Hope this helps those of you who are considering a big bulk nic purchase in advance of possible FDA regulation changes. :vapor:
 
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2coils

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Im going to continue to buy nic until this whole thing plays out. like many of us, I need enough for two. I haven't seen anything concerning with the load that's in the freezer, color is still good etc... though Its only 8 or 9 months so far. Good idea to tape the bottle caps! never thought of it. Thanks for the post.
 

DancingHeretik

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From what I've read:
  • Nic will keep for about 8 - 10 years if stored correctly.
  • It's only been tested for that long, so it MAY keep indefinitely if stored correctly.
  • Even, if it does start to degrade, it just slowly loses nic content. It doesn't actually "go bad".
  • Once flavorings have been added to the nic, all bets are off. The shelf life is only about a year or so.
 

NICnurse

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Thanks for posting this up. I ordered a liter of 100mg last night myself. I was going to bag it and freeze it in the original container. You think the glass bottles are important or are they just a convenience to have it broken down in usable quantities?

I do glass only as a precaution against the nicotine leeching plasticisers out of the plastic container long term. In a couple of the other long term nic storage threads people highly recommended using glass to prevent the plastic leeching.
 

SonHouse

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I do glass only as a precaution against the nicotine leeching plasticisers out of the plastic container long term. In a couple of the other long term nic storage threads people highly recommended using glass to prevent the plastic leeching.

Good to know! Time to order some bottles.
 

Rickajho

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I do glass only as a precaution against the nicotine leeching plasticisers out of the plastic container long term. In a couple of the other long term nic storage threads people highly recommended using glass to prevent the plastic leeching.

With long term storage in plastic I would be concerned about flavor transfer into the liquid. But what's the deal with... glass? Doesn't this stuff expand at all as frozen with the resultant risk of breakage?
 

NICnurse

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With long term storage in plastic I would be concerned about flavor transfer into the liquid. But what's the deal with... glass? Doesn't this stuff expand at all as frozen with the resultant risk of breakage?

It actually does the opposite. While water expands when in the freezer, PG and VG never completely freeze solid. Their freezing points are lower than most household freezers. The liquid gets thicker and almost gelatinous, but it does not freeze. Also, it contracts rather than expands. Learned that lesson the hard way when I put my PG from the freezer into a bottle here in the house and an hour later it had oozed out around the lid when it came up to room temp. It re-expanded. Oops! :)
 

NICnurse

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I am thinking about making my own. So I might stock pile up on some also. What type of glass container did you use ?

Sent from my Motorola Galaxy s3 using Tapatalk 2

I actually use vodka bottles. :) You can order bottles online as well, but since I buy cheap vodka for cleaning ecig parts I had some empties around the house and use those for my juice. Figure the insides of the bottles are super clean since vodka has been sitting in them! :)
 

DC2

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I actually use vodka bottles. :) You can order bottles online as well, but since I buy cheap vodka for cleaning ecig parts I had some empties around the house and use those for my juice. Figure the insides of the bottles are super clean since vodka has been sitting in them! :)
Hey, great idea!

And if an FDA or ATF Swat team ever comes to your house looking for your nicotine stash...
You can just tell them that stuff at the bottom of the freezer is vodka!
:)
 

r77r7r

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    I 'm thinking it might last quite long being frozen. Based on the nic I've been keeping at room temp in my desk drawer for several months. Looks, smells, and tastes same as purchased. Totally clear and scentless.

    I just checked a bottle I rejected on 9-2011 based on smell ( I need zero smell) from in my closet ( room temp) and that was also same as purchased. Same yellow color same niccy smell.

    Funny, there's guys on another part of the forum doing a caps-off, set-in-the-sun test to try to get a "fuller" taste. Yup, we're all pioneers here...
     

    r77r7r

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    I actually use vodka bottles. :) You can order bottles online as well, but since I buy cheap vodka for cleaning ecig parts I had some empties around the house and use those for my juice. Figure the insides of the bottles are super clean since vodka has been sitting in them! :)

    Oh no!! When your family drags you off to rehab because of all the vodka bottles around the place, they'll come to your house and toss all your stash before you get home, lol.
     
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