Noob tasting questions

[BumbaCLot]

I will be receiving about $300 in supplies in the next week. I'm a new vaper and am on day 24 without a cigarette.
I've spent over $200 on juice and $450 on hardware so this has been a really expensive journey that I keep telling my wife will pay off in the long run.
I also drink coffee heavily and have to take pain meds due to a foot injury I sustained 3 years ago. I also have had a runny nose and sinus issues since December 31.
Reading through a lot of posts here I see some people make a new vape every day or run tests on different recipes.
The first time I sampled high end juices I had been vaping a mix of two coffees (vapin plus cap and atmos double?) and my cold had just went into effect. I drove an hour to get to the place and immediately tested out the 5 pawns rack.
Nothing stood out and the next hour my buds were wrecked. I even tried Mother's Milk and it was nothing like my previous attempt at home. I didn't have any water and had been drinking coffee on the drive as well.
The only thing that tasted good to me was a peanut banana sandwich called the King by vinyl vapes and namberjuice donut pounder.
I can barely stand the donut now and I have traditionally hated Runts/Wacky Wafer so it was rough.
I seem to find some buttery note in some vapes that worries me after reading all of the health posts.

So I am looking for some help on how to start DIY without any friends to shoot ideas off of.
I don't do RDAs yet, but have close to 20 tanks.
I'd like to hit the ground running but don't want to and can't afford to waste anymore money.
How much testing is reasonable in a day and what tips and tricks do you have for testing small batches without ruining tanks?
Thanks in advance to everyone for the wealth of knowledge. I really want to progress ASAP so I can start giving back.
--Bumba

 

[freemind]

When I taste test, I ALWAYS use a dripper.

You can change cotton and burn your coils clean between batches much easier than using a clearo.

You can pick up a dripper cheap enough, like a TOBH or a Doge. Cotton, you can use cheap organic balls or Jap cotton.

When I mix juice, I start with a 5 mil batch, sometime with nic, sometimes without. Most recommend without the nic. If the batch is good, I'll then progress to a bigger batch.

Just keep in mind, some flavors, like tobaccos, benefit from aging. The flavor will change over a period of weeks aging.

 

[vaperature]

Welcome to VU and congrats on starting your journey. I don't have much advice to offer as far as diy but there are tons of people here who are experts who will gladly help you out, so stick around and relax and meet everyone.

 

[AmandaD]

Welcome! I use a cheapo Igo-L for initial testing. Dirt cheap, very simple to build ($5+ from Fasttech) and does the job well:
http://www.vapesquad.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/igo-l.jpg

I make little 6ml (or less) testers when I'm trying flavors/recipes.

There's a wealth of info in the DIY forum here. And one of the easiest ways to start is to take one of the many recipes here and go with that!

 

[BumbaCLot]

I actually bought an IGO-W4 but haven't taken the time to learn building yet. I own a multimeter and the following MODs: itaste MVP2, itaste vv 3, vision spinner ii, aspire cf vv, some EVODs and some Vapin Plus gas station batteries.
I don't have a specialized ohm tester for RDAs so didn't know if I could just use my multimeter for my first build.
I can start learning builds I guess while I wait for my flavor orders to come in.

 

[UncleRJ]

Drink lots of water!

 

[BumbaCLot]

My 4 orders are below.
I'd like to start with a Mother's Milk Clone, a NicQuid Day Break Clone, and HIC's German Chocolate Haze and/or any other coffee drink flavors.
I don't know much about the Nude Nicotine flavors or if they aren't worth messing with. I saw some posts on the other site from We2RCool but I'm not to excited about them.
Sweet Strawberry-Cap (Size: 4oz (120ml))
Orange Cream-TFA (Size: 10ml)
Sweetener-FW (Size: 10ml)
Vanilla Custard V2-Cap (Size: 4oz (120ml))
Butterscotch-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Caramel-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Catalan Cream-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Coconut-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Cocoa-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Fresh Cream-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Custard-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Hazel Grove (Hazelnut)-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Jamaica Rum-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Madagascar (Vanilla Classic)-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Nut Mix-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Pear-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
Vienna Cream-FA (Size: 10ml Original Bottle)
100mgml-nicotine-pgvg-ratio: 50% PG / 50% VG,
flavor-1: Apple Pie,
flavor-2: Guava Papaya,
flavor-3: Kiwi Strawberry,
flavor-4: Ooples & Boonoonoos,
flavor-5: Passion Fruit Coconut Creme,
flavor-6: Peaches & Creme,
flavor-7: Strawberry Banana Smoothie,
flavor-8: Very Berry
Malted Milk Flavor Concentrate by TFA (0.27oz)
Dragon Fruit Flavor Concentrate by TFA (0.27oz)
Vanilla Swirl Flavor Concentrate by TFA (0.27oz)
Bavarian Cream Flavor Concentrate by LA (0.27oz)
Espresso Flavor Concentrate by TFA (0.27oz)
French Vanilla Regular Flavor Concentrate by TFA (0.27oz)
RY4 Type-1 Flavor Concentrate by TFA (0.27oz)
Toasted Almond Flavor Concentrate by TFA (0.27oz)
Tobacco Type Flavor Concentrate by TFA (0.27oz)
Turkish Flavor Concentrate by TFA (0.27oz)
Double Chocolate Clear Flavor Concentrate by TFA (0.27oz)
•Regular Flavors: Dark Bean (Espresso)
•Buy All Flavor Enhancers: Yes
•Buy All Tobacco Flavors: Yes

 

[BumbaCLot]

Drink lots of water!

Yes, with my medications I take daily I have definitely noticed the effects of vaping and dehydration (along with my 2 week runny nose).
I actually had layers of skin in my mouth coming off but don't know to attribute that to vaping, sickness, meds or quitting smoking. I haven't noticed lots of brown hacking since I quit smoking but I am sure most of what I am vaping still must be healthier than smoking.

 

[BumbaCLot]

My sister-in-law and brother both quit smoking in April. I'd like to get some samples to send up to them. She vapes nothing but Soho but I've only seen one small clone recipe of it so far. I got completely off of cigarettes from v2's Congress flavor in 24mg. I have a half bottle of NicQuid Day Break but I'm hesitant to vape any more of it before I get my clone done. It would be my ADV if I could afford it and didn't have 50 bottles of premade already. I see a lot of DIYers just quit their premade stuff once they start DIY.
Looking above at my ingredients list I see I only got 3ml of the coffee HIC loves but 10mls of everything else. Not sure how much I can get out of that but looks like I will need a FA-Espresso ASAP!

 

[BigNasty]

OK for tfa tobaccos start low 1-3% until you find your range than can over power.
FA coco, go LIGHT another flavor than can cloy and over ride a bit, same with TFA double chocolate.

 

[BumbaCLot]

My bottom few lines is all tobaccos and flavorings samples from PureVapors FA. I only got the TFA tobaccos for the DayBreak clone recipe I saw. If FA are better I will most likely stay with them once I learn their strengths.
I think besides my liter of nic I received earlier this week, this is all that will arrive today. I just tried buying VG at Walgreen's and Rural King unsuccessfully. My nic is 100mg so won't be able to mix anything but some 0mg premade bottles to play around with. I thought I would try to vape 24 and 0 alternatively but its not working out too well. I'm a nicotine addict, smoked for 27 years, and happy enough to be 24 days off analogs. I'll worry about nic addiction maybe later, or not

 

[AmandaD]

I'm surprised you couldn't find VG at Walgreens - it's just called 'glycerine'

 

[HeadInClouds]

Looking above at my ingredients list I see I only got 3ml of the coffee HIC loves but 10mls of everything else. Not sure how much I can get out of that but looks like I will need a FA-Espresso ASAP!

Your 3ml of FA Coffee Espresso will make LOTS of liquid - it's strong flavoring.

 

[HeadInClouds]

Congrats on 24 days cig-free!!

 

[BumbaCLot]

I'm surprised you couldn't find VG at Walgreens - it's just called 'glycerine'

The assistant manager said they order it for the Pharmacy to use but they only had Glycerin suppositories!
I got my PureVapes package in the mail. So sad I can't do much with it! 21 tobaccos, 2 additives and my Espresso.
I read somewhere Wal-Mart sells VG for Fog Machines.. I have a CVS in town too. Nude Nicotine mailed me an invoice but no tracking number and they are in California and I am in Indiana so I probably won't see any VG for a week.

 

[Huckleberried]

I've also never been able to find glycerin at Walgreen's. I have bought some from Rite Aid. Probably most Wal-marts, too. Many people buy there.

 

[Huckleberried]

Check in the first aid section when you look for it at a pharmacy.

 

[UncleRJ]

Yes, with my medications I take daily I have definitely noticed the effects of vaping and dehydration (along with my 2 week runny nose).
I actually had layers of skin in my mouth coming off but don't know to attribute that to vaping, sickness, meds or quitting smoking. I haven't noticed lots of brown hacking since I quit smoking but I am sure most of what I am vaping still must be healthier than smoking.

The "brown" hacking is just your lungs trying to get rid of all the tarry goodness you have given them over the years by smoking

Don't know about your meds but if you want to make sure you are properly hydrated, drink Gatorade, Powerade of the other things on the market.

You can easily find 32 oz bottles of the stuff on sale for less than $1.

Sadly, Coffee and Beer don't count as proper hydration.

 

[BumbaCLot]

Found 6oz bottles for $6. Grabbed some organic cotton pads, gloves, and distilled water. So does everyone suggest cutting my 100mg liter of PG into 25 or 50% pg to get started? And I read about making 10% mixes of flavorings and then using 10% of that for 1% flavorings? All I have today is tobaccos and espresso but figure I could spike some weak store brands or standalone tobacco.

 

[Huckleberried]

I did cut my nic the 1st time I used it, but haven't done that in a while. I just pop my preference in the calculator, measure the amounts it tells me to.

If you got all FA tobaccos and the espresso, mix up 2%Cuban Supreme and 0.25 to 0.5% Espresso. Yummy.

 

[Dan Knight]

Sadly, Coffee and Beer don't count as proper hydration.

Actually, caffeinated drinks (coffee and tea) are as hydrating as water - http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...ting-cup-of-joe-may-help-hydration-and-memory

This is a good thing for me.

 

[Huckleberried]

@BumbaCLot, I make a big base mix, 300mls at a time of 13mg nic @ 80pg/20vg. When I go to make a recipe or a sample, I draw out however much I need, then add my flavors to that. Shake it like I mean it, then vape away. Some require steeping, some are better are a few days later, most are good right away.

Whatever you decide to do, do what is comfortable for YOU. Be safe, have fun.

 

[freemind]

@BumbaCLot, I make a big base mix, 300mls at a time of 13mg nic @ 80pg/20vg. When I go to make a recipe or a sample, I draw out however much I need, then add my flavors to that. Shake it like I mean it, then vape away. Some require steeping, some are better are a few days later, most are good right away.

Whatever you decide to do, do what is comfortable for YOU. Be safe, have fun.

Really?! You run PG that high?

 

[Huckleberried]

Really?! You run PG that high?

I have to. VG mistreats me even at 25%. My lungs won't tolerate it. My chest starts hurting with every breath and I end up coughing a lot. I know it's the exact opposite for many people. But, I do love the throat hit from PG, too. I started tweaking the VG at various amounts, 20% happens to be the # for me.

I'm weird like that.

 

[LoveVanilla]

Congrats! Drippers are how I sample. Before making my own coils I used to buy pre-made coils w/ wicks from Fasttech. You can now buy with cotton (rather than silica) wicks. And 1.8 ohm might likely best suit initial needs. With some of the symptoms you're describing, I would try mixing juice without additional PG to see if symptoms improve. Instead thin your VG juice with 15-20% distilled water.

And yes, starting out you should definitely downmix your nic. Something under 50mg would be more prudent. Indeed many of us mix large batches (with distilled water) to ~1mg above target nic. Then just draw from this and add flavors for juice.

 

[BumbaCLot]

Without any PG, my options are the opposite! Can make some 20mg 20/80, or 25mg 25/75. The first sounds ok for a small batch tonight. I think I prefer PG myself as I could care less about clouds at the moment but until my vapemail gets here! I read that nicotine breaks down in higher percentages and in light plastic vs dark glass, so my plan was to cut the liter I got down into 8 amber glass bottles and keep in the freezer as well as having only as much as I need exposed to air. I am getting a smaller bottle from Nude when I get my PG / VG but after reading all of the gripes on here and reddit and being a spoiled Prime member my patience will get the best of me!

 

[LoveVanilla]

I have several liters of 100mg locked in freezer (here's my storage approach). When I need more, I remove, thaw, and immediately downmix to working strength.

Some are sensitive to pg and some to vg -- though certainly way more of the former. Mix enough for a day or two and see if your symptoms improve. I don't generally add any pg but am mostly okay up to about ~20%.

 

[CgS_Drone]

I actually bought an IGO-W4 but haven't taken the time to learn building yet.

This part is easy enough, go to youtube and do a search for RDA coil building. There are a bunch of different video's on it. Hopefully you have some Kanthal already. I would recommend you start off with a simple single micro coil and go from there. If you don't have a 5/64 bit you can use a wire coat hanger, the brown looking ones, it's just slightly larger than the 5/64 bit and works great.

Check and see what the lowest ohm's you can go on your devices and just keep the coil ohms above that and it will work fine.

Here are a few, If you watch the first one you can see that you don't have to burn (torch or lighter on the coil) you can just pulse it until you get it hot and squeeze it then.

I don't have a specialized ohm tester for RDAs so didn't know if I could just use my multimeter for my first build.

Yes you can use a multimeter. The meters made with a 510 connector just make it easier and they offer something to hold the RDA when putting the coil on but it can be done without one.

Here is a video on testing using the multimeter.

My wife uses a Vamo V2 and she makes her coils (single) around 1.7-1.8 ohms and it vapes great.

 

[Huckleberried]

Oh, I do split up my nic when I get it. I just leave it at full strength, pour into several smaller bottles, almost all the way full, label them, wrap them with bubble wrap and a ziploc, then into the freezer they go. When I need more, I also let mine come to room temp, like LoveVanilla said.

 

[BumbaCLot]

The IGO came with some TINY/CRAPPY! wire. Couldn't get it wrapped well enough to trust it so I'll hold off until I decide on an Amazon purchase. Multimeter was bouncing all over the place. I'm hopefully rightly scared of electricity (I'm a computer tech but I prefer software, hehe). Also noticed I didn't get any blunt tips for my 3 sizes of syringes yet so I may text my wife and see if she can grab some from work! Desk is a mess so I think it's time to put away my toys and wait for the gear. I'm excited but I can wait a little longer I suppose...

 

[BumbaCLot]

I have several liters of 100mg locked in freezer (here's my storage approach). When I need more, I remove, thaw, and immediately downmix to working strength.

Some are sensitive to pg and some to vg -- though certainly way more of the former. Mix enough for a day or two and see if your symptoms improve. I don't generally add any pg but am mostly okay up to about ~20%.

20 bottles are $9, but shipping is $11. Do you recommend anything else from that store to make shipping worth it? Trying to figure out all of the GOTCHAS. Thanks for all of the replies!

 

[BumbaCLot]

Woohoo! Wife brought me a needle for a 1ml syringe, so I pulled out 1.5ml from my 10% VG NIC, pulled 4.5ml of VG out with my tipless 5ml syringe, and put in 1 drop FA-Espresso and 2 drops FA-Cuban Supreme! DIY rules!

 

[Huckleberried]

Drops from the little 3ml bottles?

 

[BumbaCLot]

Drops from the little 3ml bottles?

Yes. Didn't have a totally clean clearo, but wiped a 30 2ohm out and filled it. Using vision spinner 2 at 4.8v and definitely prefer this coffee flavor to anything else I've had.

 

[BumbaCLot]

Definitely weak at 3% but great flavor. This is too much VG for me as well (75%) but I know I'm going to enjoy DIY.

 

[AmandaD]

Woohoo! Wife brought me a needle for a 1ml syringe, so I pulled out 1.5ml from my 10% VG NIC, pulled 4.5ml of VG out with my tipless 5ml syringe, and put in 1 drop FA-Espresso and 2 drops FA-Cuban Supreme! DIY rules!

So you're using 100mg nic - and you used 150mg in a 6ml tester? Wow....strong stuff! LOL

 

[BumbaCLot]

I started vaping / quit smoking with v2s 2.4% Congress flavor. So this is equal to a few of my strong juices. I'm only 24 days in but hate the smell of smoke now and have no desire to go back. I've noticed a lot of people who vape all day and shop employees try to talk people into low nic juices. If some people are actually burning through a bottle of juice a day in their RDAs, I see a point in low nic. A friend of mine went to a shop an hour away and was talked into some low nic juice on new year's eve. He bought an Atlantis and two EVOD kits. Still smoking a pack a day.

 

[Huckleberried]

What nic strength are you going for?

 

[AmandaD]

I started vaping / quit smoking with v2s 2.4% Congress flavor. So this is equal to a few of my strong juices. I'm only 24 days in but hate the smell of smoke now and have no desire to go back. I've noticed a lot of people who vape all day and shop employees try to talk people into low nic juices. If some people are actually burning through a bottle of juice a day in their RDAs, I see a point in low nic. A friend of mine went to a shop an hour away and was talked into some low nic juice on new year's eve. He bought an Atlantis and two EVOD kits. Still smoking a pack a day.

Ah, that explains it! Use whatever nic level you need to stay away from smoking

 

[BumbaCLot]

What nic strength are you going for?

I don't have any PG until my NN lab gets here, and although it had an invoice saying it shipped, I got no tracking and live in Indiana. I like PG and don't really want clouds. I like the throat burn of smoking so PG and "peppery nic" appeal to me. I got my nic from MFS but will have whatever NN puts in their $100 kit.
To answer your question I didn't want to put more than 75% VG in and the only way I can do that today is with 2.5% nic in PG.

 

[LoveVanilla]

20 bottles are $9, but shipping is $11. Do you recommend anything else from that store to make shipping worth it? Trying to figure out all of the GOTCHAS. Thanks for all of the replies!

If you're like me, you'll probably want a passel full of 15ml and 30ml bottles with eyedroppers. I also use several 500ml/8oz bottles for pre-mixed nic, vg. etc. I might have spent more on glass than most anything (but they'll last a long time). And @RocketPuppy has a write-up of various DIY suppliers. Try a search here -- or maybe she'll drop by.

BTW, you should be just fine using the MVP built-in ohm meter to check coil resistance. And congratulation on your first mix -- enjoy!

 

[BumbaCLot]

I have 4 250s, and 4 more on the way. 4 30s with droppers, and whatever is in the NN kit. And 50 vendor bottles full to dump, use, or give away over the next 6 months

 

[Huckleberried]

I don't have any PG until my NN lab gets here, and although it had an invoice saying it shipped, I got no tracking and live in Indiana. I like PG and don't really want clouds. I like the throat burn of smoking so PG and "peppery nic" appeal to me. I got my nic from MFS but will have whatever NN puts in their $100 kit.
To answer your question I didn't want to put more than 75% VG in and the only way I can do that today is with 2.5% nic in PG.

Nicotine strength, I knew about your PG. OK, 25mg. gotcha. Forgive me, my math was WAY off, I read it SO wrong. What part of IN? Only curious, I'm in KY.

I like high pg, too. I've used the VapersTek nic with throat hit, but they don't have it. WL nic, definite throat hit!

 

[BumbaCLot]

So you're using 100mg nic - and you used 150mg in a 6ml tester? Wow....strong stuff! LOL

Ahh so you thought it was 6x stronger? Nah I just quarter strengthed it. Still too smooth. Got my big order of flavors in today and some kanthal from a local shop. Dunno if I want to try coil building today yet or wait until I get my PG.

 

[BumbaCLot]

Nicotine strength, I knew about your PG. OK, 25mg. gotcha. Forgive me, my math was WAY off, I read it SO wrong. What part of IN? Only curious, I'm in KY.

I like high pg, too. I've used the VapersTek nic with throat hit, but they don't have it. WL nic, definite throat hit!

Columbus, about halfway between Indy, Cincy, and Louisville.

 

[CgS_Drone]

Dunno if I want to try coil building today yet or wait until I get my PG.

Couldn't hurt to try a couple to see how well you wind them. What ga. did you get?

 

[BumbaCLot]

Couldn't hurt to try a couple to see how well you wind them. What ga. did you get?

50' 26GA. Need a .8 or higher I believe.