new to DIY and in need of some guidance

[Matt B]

hello my fellow vapers! as the title states im new to DIY but not to vaping...i have done none nicotine juices in the past and they where pretty good but now i am trying again with nicotine. here is where my question lies, i just received my nicotine in the mail which is 125ml of 100% VG 24mg unflavored nicotine. my target nicotine level is 3mg.

im not sure if i should be diluting the nicotine into 3mg and if so how do i do that? or should i just use my ejuice calculator and input the base and target strength of what im looking for? i tried the calculator method for a sample of 5ml just to taste flavors and all and my result was a juice which tasted outrageously strong and a terrible throat hit. im lookig for a 80/20 VG/PG or even 75/25 VG/PG.

i hope this makes any kind of sence to anyone reading this. if i can clarify anything thats not understood i will. thanks for reading and PLEASEEEE HELPPPPPP ahahaaa

 

[EthelMaltol]

A calculator is best, imo. Do you have a recipe? Its best to start off with single flavors. I think its best to order nic in pg as it mixes better. Since you already have the vg base, you have to make sure to shake well. If your samples are too strong, try diluting with vg.

 

[Matt B]

A calculator is best, imo. Do you have a recipe? Its best to start off with single flavors. I think its best to order nic in pg as it mixes better. Since you already have the vg base, you have to make sure to shake well. If your samples are too strong, try diluting with vg.

I do have a recipe that is not complex being more then one flavor. Is there a sure way of diluting the 24mg down to a 3mg vg base to use each and every time I use the nicotine in a recipe? Or am I getting ahead of myself? by adding more VG to the samples wouldn't it then change the PG/VG ration of the liquid overall.

 

[OBDave]

What brand of flavors are you using? I use mostly FA (strong flavors), so my mixes usually use 10% flavoring or less. Based on that, I'll cut a big batch of nic down to where I make 300 ml or so of 3.25 mg 10/90 base - since the flavoring I add is all PG based, I end up with 3ish mg nic and somewhere around 15/85 to 20/80 on my final PG/VG ratio. It's not exact, but it's easy, and it means I only have to deal with handling my concentrated nic once every few weeks...

 

[EthelMaltol]

I do have a recipe that is not complex being more then one flavor. Is there a sure way of diluting the 24mg down to a 3mg vg base to use each and every time I use the nicotine in a recipe? Or am I getting ahead of myself? by adding more VG to the samples wouldn't it then change the PG/VG ration of the liquid overall.

Yes, it will change the ratio slightly, but if you can't vape it, the alternative is to throw it away, your choice. As Dave said, you can make an unflavored base, but the %wont be exact, depending on how much flavoring you add. Everyone develops their preferred method. I mix using pc nic and flavorings. I add them to my bottle and fill with vg. Its fast and simple and is what works for me. Some people mix first without nic, to make sure they like the mix before they add nic, which is usually the most expensive part. If you add vg and/or pg to your current mixes and like them, you will know that you have added too much flavoring.

 

[Matt B]

What brand of flavors are you using? I use mostly FA (strong flavors), so my mixes usually use 10% flavoring or less. Based on that, I'll cut a big batch of nic down to where I make 300 ml or so of 3.25 mg 10/90 base - since the flavoring I add is all PG based, I end up with 3ish mg nic and somewhere around 15/85 to 20/80 on my final PG/VG ratio. It's not exact, but it's easy, and it means I only have to deal with handling my concentrated nic once every few weeks...

Almost all are FA as well. I want to do the exact thing and make a large quantity of the low nic level to make it easier and safer then handling a large bottle of nic everytime.
How would I go about making the 24mg Into 3mg? I realize now the pg base was probably a better choice but my reasoning was that I wanted a higher vg ration for my juices. The thickness of the vg does not make a big difference to me while mixing

 

[Teresa P]

To each his own, but I keep all my fluids - PG, VG, and nicotine in separate containers. I do personally prefer 50/50 100mg nic. If any fluids come in larger bottles, I pour what I think I'll need into smaller ones with air tight lids or just pour what's left back into the original containers when I'm done. I use the ejuice me up calculator, which allows me to put in the precise percentages of what I want in a mix and do each individually. It's not that much more trouble, nor is it much more time consuming. I always have separate containers of nic, one in a PG base and another in a VG base. That way if I change my mind on a base preference, I can do that.
BUT, you do whatever suits you. I mix for other people, so sometimes I have to use different %s based on their preferences or sensitivities.

 

[Matt B]

To each his own, but I keep all my fluids - PG, VG, and nicotine in separate containers. I do personally prefer 50/50 100mg nic. If any fluids come in larger bottles, I pour what I think I'll need into smaller ones with air tight lids or just pour what's left back into the original containers when I'm done. I use the ejuice me up calculator, which allows me to put in the precise percentages of what I want in a mix and do each individually. It's not that much more trouble, nor is it much more time consuming. I always have separate containers of nic, one in a PG base and another in a VG base. That way if I change my mind on a base preference, I can do that.
BUT, you do whatever suits you. I mix for other people, so sometimes I have to use different %s based on their preferences or sensitivities.

Thanks for that Information! I need to find out how to dilute the 24mg down to 3 to make things easier and get this show on the road. Ahaha

 

[Teresa P]

The calculator will tell you all that per recipe. I never dilute mine before I mix, but some do for simplicity's sake. If you're only mixing for yourself, that's the route to go. But I vape a higher nic level than some of the folks I mix for, and some of them want more. The calculator asks what nic strength you want and I just do it by the mix.

 

[Teresa P]

@freemind is good with calculations like that, btw. P.m. him, he'll be glad to help.

 

[EthelMaltol]

Thanks for that Information! I need to find out how to dilute the 24mg down to 3 to make things easier and get this show on the road. Ahaha

Any calculator should do this for you. If you want to adjust for flavoring, just put in maybe 10% flavor, desired ratio and nic and make your base. Easy Peasey!

 

[Matt B]

The calculator will tell you all that per recipe. I never dilute mine before I mix, but some do for simplicity's sake. If you're only mixing for yourself, that's the route to go. But I vape a higher nic level than some of the folks I mix for, and some of them want more. The calculator asks what nic strength you want and I just do it by the mix.

Yeah that's how I did it originally. Maybe I'll try doing a 15 ml this time

 

[EthelMaltol]

Are you saying the nic is too strong or the flavoring? Nic suspended in vg can "ribbon", meaning it separates and must be shaked. You may even want to warm it first, just a bit to thin it. Where did you get the nic? I know one company had an issue with overpowered nic, but that was recalled. Other places can have pepppery nic. If it is unflavored, you will be able to taste the nic.

 

[OBDave]

Thanks for that Information! I need to find out how to dilute the 24mg down to 3 to make things easier and get this show on the road. Ahaha

Okay, I plugged your numbers in (24 mg 100% VG base) using my recipe (for 10/90 3.25 mg juice) - here's mixing instructions for 100 ml. You can set up your calculator however you want in order to get precise instructions on mixing the base you want...

Edit: First pic was hard to read, tried cropping for a clearer shot...

 

[Matt B]

Are you saying the nic is too strong or the flavoring? Nic suspended in vg can "ribbon", meaning it separates and must be shaked. You may even want to warm it first, just a bit to thin it. Where did you get the nic? I know one company had an issue with overpowered nic, but that was recalled. Other places can have pepppery nic. If it is unflavored, you will be able to taste the nic.

The nicotine is very strong. Can't even taste the flavors with the nic overpowering it. I adjusted the recipe to accommodate a 5ml tester. This is how I mixed:
Nicotine 24mg 100%vg: 0.63ml
PG: 0.18
VG: 3.13
Flavor 1: 0.50
Flavor 2: 0.40
Flavor 3: 0.18
Was supposed to be 3mg nic 70/30 VG/PG

 

[Teresa P]

What brand flavoring are you using and where did you get your nicotine?


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[Matt B]

What brand flavoring are you using and where did you get your nicotine?


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I got my nicotine from myfreedomsmokes.com and most of my flavors are TFAs and just acouple LAs off of myfreedomsmokes.com. The flavors aren't an issue is the nicotine strength

 

[Teresa P]

Tfa isn't very strong to begin with, but you're the second I've read complain about the harshness of MFS nic.
Hope it isn't that, as I just received a liter from them myself to stash in the freezer. If you can, get another nicotine soon and see if it turns out the same. Bull City Vapor carries Vaperstek (the best, imo) and NicVape's nicotine is very good as well.

 

[Time]

The nicotine is very strong. Can't even taste the flavors with the nic overpowering it. I adjusted the recipe to accommodate a 5ml tester. This is how I mixed:
Nicotine 24mg 100%vg: 0.63ml
PG: 0.18
VG: 3.13
Flavor 1: 0.50
Flavor 2: 0.40
Flavor 3: 0.18
Was supposed to be 3mg nic 70/30 VG/PG

Your nic is correct for 3mg in 5ml. Unless you measured wrong, the problem is not the ratios you used for the nic base.

1. You measured wrong.
2. Either one or more of your nic base, VG, PG or flavors is bad.
3. Your nic is higher than 24mg or you didn't shake it well.

Make sure to read the label on your nic and verify that it's 24mg/ml. It's VG, so make sure you shake the shit out of it before you mix with it.

If you are sure you measured right, you might want to vape a bit of your VG to see if it tastes OK. If the VG tastes fine then mix .63ml in 4.37ml of VG and vape that to see if it tastes bad. (That's a 5ml test batch of 3mg VG nic base).

 

[Matt B]

View attachment 19311
Okay, I plugged your numbers in (24 mg 100% VG base) using my recipe (for 10/90 3.25 mg juice) - here's mixing instructions for 100 ml. You can set up your calculator however you want in order to get precise instructions on mixing the base you want...

Edit: First pic was hard to read, tried cropping for a clearer shot...

im going to try this one of these days coming...

 

[OBDave]

im going to try this one of these days coming...

I wouldn't do it until you figure out what's skunking up the taste of your juice...once the culprit is identified, having a nice big batch of base that's ready to measure out and add flavoring to is nice...

 

[Matt B]

I wouldn't do it until you figure out what's skunking up the taste of your juice...once the culprit is identified, having a nice big batch of base that's ready to measure out and add flavoring to is nice...

gunna try what 'Time' suggested to see if its the vg or nic...i doubt my flavors are bad since they are brand new

 

[Time]

You might want to try the PG staight up too if the VG and Nic seem fine.

 

[Matt B]

how should i try the PG, just drip some on my coil and hope for the best? lol

 

[efektt]

how should i try the PG, just drip some on my coil and hope for the best? lol

It wont hurt you. Its a little harsh to me, but I never use pg anymore.

 

[Matt B]

yeah im not worried about it hurting me just dont wan to be donkey punched in the throat lol

 

[efektt]

LOL. some people vape 100% pg juice.

 

[Matt B]

LOL. some people vape 100% pg juice.

yeah i know that shit is crazy i sometimes cant even handle 70/30 stuff....so harsh. hey man more power to them...as long as your vaping safe and off the stinkies!!!

 

[Time]

Turn the watts down if you want. Just a taste will do.

 

[efektt]

yeah i know that shit is crazy i sometimes cant even handle 70/30 stuff....so harsh. hey man more power to them...as long as your vaping safe and off the stinkies!!!

Do you drip? If so, why dont you forget about pg and try some max vg. If you use tanks its a different story, but you can thin it with a little distilled water.

 

[Mroutlaw]

A great place to get nic base, vg, and flavor sis wizard labs. A gallon of pg is $33, gallon of vg is $26 and 250ml of 36mg nic is $16. They have a lot of favors and most are $5 for 30ml and $1.50 for 8ml

A lot of the online vendors get their nic, of and vg from them.

http://wizardlabs.us


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[Mroutlaw]

I generally vape 50/50 or 60pg/40vg. I'm a flavor junkie though, don't care about the clouds nearly as much


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[efektt]

How do you know any vendors get their nic from them? Seems unlikley... I dont think they make nic, just dilute it... the same as all the other vendors do.

 

[Mroutlaw]

How do you know any vendors get their nic from them? Seems unlikley... I dont think they make nic, just dilute it... the same as all the other vendors do.

Been dealing with them for years. Their lab used to be down the street from me until they moved to Orlando. For a long time, they were one of the few places that sold nic base online.

You don't have to buy from them, just letting people know about them. Their nic is fresh and I've never had any issues with it. They mix it to order.


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[efektt]

I mostly hear their nic is peppery, harsh and doesnt allow your flavors to pop.

 

[Mroutlaw]

I mostly hear their nic is peppery, harsh and doesnt allow your flavors to pop.

I just know I've never had issues and I know a lot of people who use them. But everyone has different taste. Personally, I hate anything over 70%vg and generally don't go over 60%

But I'm kinda weird because I don't understand how anyone can vape at 40+ watts, I get near that and it knocks me on my ass, lol


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[efektt]

I just know I've never had issues and I know a lot of people who use them. But everyone has different taste. Personally, I hate anything over 70%vg and generally don't go over 60%

But I'm kinda weird because I don't understand how anyone can vape at 40+ watts, I get near that and it knocks me on my ass, lol


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Haha.. if your subohming or vaping high watts you gotta drop your nic to 3 or lower. What mg do vape at?

 

[Mroutlaw]

Haha.. if your subohming or vaping high watts you gotta drop your nic to 3 or lower. What mg do vape at?

I don't sub ohm except for my temp control devices, but that doesn't count. Generally vape between 9 and 15 watts except dripping, then I may go up to 25. I vape 'mostly 6mg but sometimes 0-3.

Most of my diy is menthol since that's my all day vape and I can't take that over 10-11 watts. I mix so much spearmint, peppermint and menthol it's like an altoid on steroids.

I'm not a cloud chaser, more into flavor. Been vaping for almost 5 years and I've only recently started dripping. When I started vaping, dripping was for testing flavor and was done on a taken apart cartomozer. Always been a tank person, so I never even dropped below 1.5 ohms until I got my rdna40 and Hana modz. Since then, I've bumper up the wattage a little and pretty much tossed my provari's. Also not into mechs at all. I much prefer regulated devices for safety.


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[efektt]

Heh, the menthols can be rough at high wattage.

 

[Mroutlaw]

Heh, the menthols can be rough at high wattage.

Yes they can, but I can't even take the heat on other juices at high wattage, just too much for me. I do know what u mean about the nic at subohm though. I recently ordered some juice from good life and accidentally ordered 12mg. Doing a video review of the marquis, I bumped my sx mini m up to 25joules which is about 30 watts, and it through me for a loop. Went into a severe coughing fit and had an immediate headache. Must have gotten a lot of nic in that one vape. How far I've come since I used to smoke up two packs a day


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[Matt B]

View attachment 19311
Okay, I plugged your numbers in (24 mg 100% VG base) using my recipe (for 10/90 3.25 mg juice) - here's mixing instructions for 100 ml. You can set up your calculator however you want in order to get precise instructions on mixing the base you want...

Edit: First pic was hard to read, tried cropping for a clearer shot...

Hey man I tried that program and I really like it, best one I've came across yet. I have a question tho...once I have my 70/30 VG/PG 3nic base how would I input Into the calculator that base with my target 70/30 3nic juice with the flavors added.

 

[OBDave]

Here's the thing - you're not going to get an exact nic content using my method, as after you've mixed the base the flavors dilute the nic strength - that's why I mix base at 3.25, so that after adding flavors I end up at 3-ish. It's also why I mix more VG-heavy than I'm expecting the final mix to turn out after factoring in the PG-based flavors.

What kind of flavor percentages are you expecting to use? I figure around 10%, so I mix 10/90 base anticipating somewhere around a 20/80 PG/VG ratio after flavors are added, also diluting my nic content by 10% so 3.25 mg becomes 2.925 mg, which is close enough for me but still not exact...

 

[Matt B]

Here's the thing - you're not going to get an exact nic content using my method, as after you've mixed the base the flavors dilute the nic strength - that's why I mix base at 3.25, so that after adding flavors I end up at 3-ish. It's also why I mix more VG-heavy than I'm expecting the final mix to turn out after factoring in the PG-based flavors.

What kind of flavor percentages are you expecting to use? I figure around 10%, so I mix 10/90 base anticipating somewhere around a 20/80 PG/VG ratio after flavors are added, also diluting my nic content by 10% so 3.25 mg becomes 2.925 mg, which is close enough for me but still not exact...

Are all flavors of based? They don't say either way on the bottles of flavors I have...even if I mix it and shoot for 3 1/2nic. How would I calculate. When I plug it in it says I can't do negative amounts and it won't calculate. That's my biggest issue, it being a fraction or so higher or lower then 3 isn't a problem it's the overall recipe using the new nic base and the flavors is my concern.

 

[OBDave]

Assume your flavors are PG-based unless they say otherwise. Can you post a screen shot of your calculator after plugging in the numbers?

 

[Matt B]

I could...I'm on the way home now and am going to jump head first into another attempt. I'll put it up once I have it in front of me

 

[Time]

If you do a base like that and it's fine if the nic content is off then it's really simple math to add the flavors. No calculator needed.

Just figure per ten mls.

A 8% flavor in ten mls is 0.8mls. 10X8%=0.8 That comes to 9.2mls base + 0.8mls flavor.

So, 20mls would be 1.6mls flavor for 8% 0.8X2=1.6

30mls would be 2.4mls flavor for 8% and so on.

1% flavor = 0.1mls flavor + 9.9mls base for each ten mls of juice.
2% flavor = 0.2mls flavor + 9.8mls base for each ten mls of juice.

Etc....................

 

[Matt B]

Assume your flavors are PG-based unless they say otherwise. Can you post a screen shot of your calculator after plugging in the numbers?

here is the base im trying to make

 

[Time]

You need to change your target VG at the bottom left side to 100% VG.

The end result for just a base should be;

7.5mls nic
52.5 mls VG

That is, if you are going for max VG

 

[Matt B]

You need to change your target VG at the bottom left side to 100% VG.

The end result for just a base should be;

7.5mls nic
52.5 mls VG

That is, if you are going for max VG

when i change the target to 0%pg and 100%vg i get this

 

[Time]

when i change the target to 0%pg and 100%vg i get this

Download this one. http://www.vitalsparks.com/ez-mix.html

I'm still not sure what your trying to do.

If you use a pre-made base @ 70VG 30PG, your juice will be higher PG after adding flavor.