Wicking issues with custom liquid

[UzerNaim]

Hey friends,

First of all, I've been vaping for close to a year now and it's great.. My current pv is the totally wicked tornado (aka ego?). I use the standard 510 atty, and I drip liquid into the cartridge (menthol is lovely).

The problem I'm having is that I've started mixing my own liquid and it's not wicking properly. When I use the pre-mixed liquid from Totally Wicked, I can vape continuously until the cartridge dries up (the wool turns white), but when I vape with my own custom mixed liquid I can only vape until the atty dries up (the cartridge stays saturated even though the vapor tastes burnt and dry). It doesn't seem to matter how I mix my liquid.. I've tried mixing with straight PG, with straight VG, with a 50/50 mix of PG/VG, and I even tried thinning the liquid with Vodka (even with half vodka and half PG).. No matter what I do I can only vape until the atty dries up, at which point I have to continuously drip onto the atty to keep vaping.. As soon as I switch back to the pre-mixed liquid from TW I can vape the cartridge dry with ease.. I've also had the same results with multiple attys, and have the same results with attys cleansed in alcohol..

I'm running out of things to try. WTH is going here??? Any ideas? Thanks for listening!

 

[dormouse]

1. cartridges suck

2. have you tried replacing your cartridge stuffing to make them suck less? I recommend blue foam - strictlyejuice.com has nice precut blue foam for 510 carts

3. consider cartomizers - Boge standard resistance 510 cartos and the hotter LR Boge ones

 

[CBB]

1. cartridges suck

+1 mouse

 

[UzerNaim]

Hmm, thanks mouse. Those sound like good suggestions. Any ideas why TW's liquid is working so well though? It seems like I might be able to solve my issue if I mix my liquid 'just right', but I haven't been able to hit the mark at all..

Also, I have tried fresh wool with no luck, but I haven't tried any other kinds of wool.. I think I might pick up a cartomizer and see how that goes (or maybe a tank)..

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

TW also sells a product called PEG....maybe that is what is in your tw juice....??


Here is a quote from their website..


"What is PEG-400?
PEG-400 is a glycol, like Propylene Glycol or Glycerine - it stands for "PolyEthylene Glycol", and the "400" relates to its molecular weight. Being "Poly" it can form molecular chains of different sizes, but 400 is the best consistency for vaping. It is soluble in water, acetone, alcohols, benzene, glycerin, glycols, and aromatic hydrocarbons. Not to be confused with Ethylene Glycol, which is poisonous, PEG is fully approved for pharmaceutical use and is used in a variety products like mouthwash, cosmetics and foods. PEG 400 is strongly hydrophilic.

The partition coefficient of polyethylene glycol 414 between hexane and water is 0.000015 (logP = − 4.8 ), indicating that when polyethylene glycol 414 is mixed with water and hexane, there are only 1.5 parts of polyethylene glycol 414 in the hexane layer per 100,000 parts of polyethylene glycol 414 in the water layer. "

 

[UzerNaim]

Ha, it looks like I'm using PEG-400 already.. I just put in an order for some regular PG and an ego-T atty, so hopefully one of the two will solve my problem.. I'll let ya'll know how it turns out. Thanks for the help!

 

[Astatine]

I think you have a problem with viscosity.

I don't want to get all technical on you, but those polymers can get pretty viscous (VG, PG and PEG) unless their average molecular weight is pretty low. What I would recommend is that you add a little distilled water to improve the wicking properties. I am not sure how much (haven't experimented with making my own juice...).

Look it up and try it out?

 

[UzerNaim]

I just whipped up a batch with distilled water (about 15%) and still no luck.. I've never heard of anyone mixing any more than that so maybe this PEG-400 stuff is garbage.. I have a feeling that the regular PG is going to do the same though...

 

[UzerNaim]

Ok, I've had some time to experiment with some PG and I think it has solved my problem.. Using straight PG for the dilution still gummed up the works, but with just a drop of distilled water, things started to free up..

9 drops 54 mg nicotine VG base, 5 drops Kamel flavoring, 2 drops menthol flavoring, 11 drops PG, 2 drops VG, and 1 drop of distilled water seems to be working ok so far for my ~ 1 ml batches.. I think it still needs some tweeking, but at least I'm on the right path..

Moral of the story; PEG-400 SHOULD NOT be used as a substitution for PG.. It may make an ok substitution for VG, but I haven't tested it..

Thanks for helping a DIY noob!