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Cheap reliable scale? And best measuring droppers?

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Artdragon

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
ok, I know there's a few posts about scales and such, but I'd like to request some suggestions on a cheap scale under $10 or not much more. I know you get what you pay for and I'm fine with that. I just don't want to spend a lot of money on a scale if it's not the method I want to stick with. I just hate using syringes because it really does take the fun and desire out of making juice. And I have to make juice because I'm not spending $20+ a bottle on juice. Anyway, I'm looking for one that plugs in (if $10 allows that option) and accuracy of 0.01g. It may not be a factor since I think everyone tares out after each ingredient? I'm just concerned about VG in that I usually make 30mL bottles and I don't have anything with at least that much capacity to be able to get an accurate weight between measurements. Like right now, I use 10mL syringes for 25-28mL VG amounts and I have to basically suck VG through a 14G blunt tip needle and that takes a few min to fill a bottle or beaker with 3 pulls. So a 60 sec shut off wouldn't be ideal if I have to remember the last measurement and calculate the addition if it shuts off mid measurement. And that brings me to my next question. What kind of droppers/syringes do you all use to pull your flavors and bases? I'd like to be as accurate as possible so I'm not pulling flavors and having to put any remaining amount back in the bottle. I don't like having to get up and wash droppers/syringes between flavors. Right now, I plunge my needles several times and wipe of the tip between flavors. I was just thinking, maybe I can find a tip like ECX offers on their bottles that I can put on the WizLabs 8mL bottles so I can just drop the flavors instead of use a dropper or syringe. I just don't know if they make them and what size they would be. The other option would be moving them to different bottles but then I'd lose the labels and I'd have to drop more money on a ton of bottles.

I really want to try this method to try and bring the joy back to DIY. It just feels like a chore and I hate that. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated and again, sorry for the duplicate question I'm sure many others have asked
 
Foggz

Foggz

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
horizon ds-19 can be had for 11-15 $ , works great .. uses batteries tho.. but so far has lasted a year on the same batterys that came with it so not an issue. Have never had it 'turn off' unless I'm watching tv ;p

Most seem to get their flavors in dropper bottles - this eliminates the need for syringes. (of the few bottles I picked up from WL with out a dropper I just bit the bullet and moved them to dropper bottles and made a label) .. might be a pain at first but once it's done.. mixing is no longer a chore ... almost zero clean up and about 10 times faster. Mixing by weight is much more accurate and reproducible .. I at first thought that syringes would be the most accurate .. and they can be very .. but what a pain... ;p
Yes, do use a syringe for NIC and sometimes transferring to unicorn bottles but thats it.

and with the money you save on 'not' buying syringes = more flavors or money for scale

oh and for PG/VG .. pick up some ketchup / mustard style squeeze bottles .. and just pour in the amount you need by weight!! .. I picked up some yorker cap bottles ... takes nothing to add vg for 30/60/120 ml bottles when mixing.
 
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A

Artdragon

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Foggz said:
horizon ds-19 can be had for 11-15 $ , works great .. uses batteries tho.. but so far has lasted a year on the same batterys that came with it so not an issue. Have never had it 'turn off' unless I'm watching tv ;p

Most seem to get their flavors in dropper bottles - this eliminates the need for syringes. (of the few bottles I picked up from WL with out a dropper I just bit the bullet and moved them to dropper bottles and made a label) .. might be a pain at first but once it's done.. mixing is no longer a chore ... almost zero clean up and about 10 times faster. Mixing by weight is much more accurate and reproducible .. I at first thought that syringes would be the most accurate .. and they can be very .. but what a pain... ;p
Yes, do use a syringe for NIC and sometimes transferring to unicorn bottles but thats it.

and with the money you save on 'not' buying syringes = more flavors or money for scale

oh and for PG/VG .. pick up some ketchup / mustard style squeeze bottles .. and just pour in the amount you need by weight!! .. I picked up some yorker cap bottles ... takes nothing to add vg for 30/60/120 ml bottles when mixing.
Click to expand...
Nice! Thank you so much! I like the pg vg advice, especially

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Artdragon

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I decided on the SF-400c that another poster suggested. I like it a lot because it has a power cord and doesn't shut off if plugged in. My only issue was that it stopped caculating on my 2nd flavor. I already had the nic, pg, vg and 2 flavors in. I might have to get some weights to calibrate it

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KentA

KentA

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Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Member For 2 Years
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I highly recommend the "American Weigh Scales LB-501 Digital Kitchen Scale".
 
Heabob

Heabob

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Member For 3 Years
Artdragon said:
I decided on the SF-400c that another poster suggested. I like it a lot because it has a power cord and doesn't shut off if plugged in. My only issue was that it stopped caculating on my 2nd flavor. I already had the nic, pg, vg and 2 flavors in. I might have to get some weights to calibrate it

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Click to expand...

That's the one I've got, never had it shut off yet on batteries only.
It gets fussy sometimes with certain flavors it won't measure drops properly, seems to be a repeatable problem with those flavors.
If you can find a couple of Nickels to give the scale a 10gr preload reading then the drops will read out properly.
Just Tare before you put the Nickles on...
(I measure all my flavorings in first)
Then I just use a syringe for VG, PG, & NIC as they're not as critical as the flavorings.

It's harder for me using the big squeeze bottles for VG/PG and hitting the small opening on a 15ml plastic bottle without making a big mess on the scale.
A 12ml syringe has a bigger top opening to squeeze in the VG/PG.
Long as you keep your "pinky" on the bottom so it doesn't leak out:).

Although measuring NIC from a small 30ml bottle works much like the flavorings do.
And I always add the NIC last...
 
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Artdragon

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I ended up putting a dropper from a broken 30mL on my amber bottle I keep my nic in and its the perfect fit. Fixed the leaking problem too. I also picked up some squeeze bottles for my PG and VG. I'm actually starting to enjoy DIYing again because it's so stupidly easy now ^_^ No cleanup and I don't even need gloves anymore. (I can't stand sweaty hands in those things, yuck)
 
A

Artdragon

Bronze Contributor
Member For 4 Years
KentA said:
You didn't need gloves before. Don't believe the hype.
Click to expand...
It got extremely messy for me with syringes and the nic and I have a bit of a phobia when it comes to having oily, greasy or sticky stuff on me. (Idk how I've survived motherhood with that problem tho, lol)

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J

Jim_MDP

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
Artdragon said:
... I'm actually starting to enjoy DIYing again because it's so stupidly easy now ^_^ No cleanup ...
Click to expand...

I just ordered a 501 last night (should have it Monday) so I'll have a go at DIY by weight.
But it'll be a while before I'm done with the "cleanup".

I still have 50-60 TFA/Cap/etc. flavors in the little 8ml glass from WL, so as long as I need a single pipette... not much will have changed. Not that rinsing those is much of a hardship, but I'm much happier just freehand dripping (by drops) from my FA bottles.

Even that should be more fun though with a scale... not having to keep count and eyeballing the drop size to do the guesstimate conversion in my head. :D
I just take issue with the scale fan-bois who forget not all of us have all of our flavors in droppers.


Nic is still a separate issue, but that's a once a month-ish 400ml batch of base, so no big deal there.
 
Elites

Elites

Silver Contributor
Member For 5 Years
Jim_MDP said:
I just ordered a 501 last night (should have it Monday) so I'll have a go at DIY by weight.
But it'll be a while before I'm done with the "cleanup".

I still have 50-60 TFA/Cap/etc. flavors in the little 8ml glass from WL, so as long as I need a single pipette... not much will have changed. Not that rinsing those is much of a hardship, but I'm much happier just freehand dripping (by drops) from my FA bottles.

Even that should be more fun though with a scale... not having to keep count and eyeballing the drop size to do the guesstimate conversion in my head. :D
I just take issue with the scale fan-bois who forget not all of us have all of our flavors in droppers.


Nic is still a separate issue, but that's a once a month-ish 400ml batch of base, so no big deal there.
Click to expand...

I am sure you will love that scale, American Weigh Scales LB-501 Digital Kitchen Scale made my life much more easier and clean, Thanks to @mjag and all others who advised.
 
J

Jim_MDP

Gold Contributor
Member For 4 Years
I've only had opportunity to use it once so far... a small 10ml of lightly mentholated RY4 (gack... I was never a Menthol smoker).
I'll be doing my Mango/Mandarin/Coconut/Lime in a few days though, that should be a better test.

But those are all dropper bottle FA flavors, I freehand those regularly, the scale doesn't really change anything.

It did let me verify my drops per ml though... still ~55 drops per (for those bottles).
See why I laugh when anyone declares some definitive number, and usually 20-30? :rolleyes:

I do need to check something though...
Though I looked at a handful of makes and models, I grabbed the 501 as an easy selection based on multiple recommendations and (I think) reading that it did not have a quick auto-shutoff on batteries.

Mine did shut off, though I didn't catch how quickly as I had finished my 2-part RY4 (though slowly... first time, eh?) and haven't run another test to time it.

Very cool tool to have though, I'm sure it'll encourage me to DIY more.
And it has a snazzy "unit counting" function, though I don't have a use for that. As far as I know. :p


eta: I usually proof and edit out about half of those "though"s... can't be arsed this time. :D
 
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