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Trying to Mix by weight but end result comes up short in volume
submitted about 10 years ago by Errck

Hey,

I recently took the dive into Diy and am extremely happy with my results. I am having a major issue with my conversions. When I create a batch of lets say 30ml, it barely fills my 30ml bottle if that makes any sense. Juice tastes fine. My quantity to fill the bottle seems to be missing. I've been using Recipe Calculator. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am confused. I haven't used any nic yet. I plan to today, 36mg 120ml.

Thanks!!

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3 points
 
by ReverendSaintJayabout 10 years agoProud Sidebar Reader!

Glass bottles or plastic? Most of the glass bottles I know of have a bit of "head space" in them so that you can insert a dropper without overflowing the liquid inside.

If you are concerned about the volume you could fill one of your bottles to the brim with distilled water and weigh the contents. 1ml of water = 1.0g, so a bottle that is exactly 30ml will hold 30g.

0 points
 
by Errckabout 10 years ago

When I make 30ml it only uses up 1/3 of the bottle. I should of mentioned how much I am missing.

3 points
 
by ReverendSaintJayabout 10 years agoProud Sidebar Reader!

Ok, that's a bit different.

You said you haven't added any nic yet, but did you account for nicotine in your recipe? As in, the recipe has a line item to add the nicotine but you skipped that part? The only reason I ask is that 24mg/ml is a known target for e-liquid strength, and it just so happens to be how strong your current juice would be if you added 20ml of your 36mg/ml nicotine concentrate.

2 points
 
by coop34about 10 years ago

Can you post the full recipe with weights of each ingredient used? Include percent needed for each flavor.

0 points
 
by Errckabout 10 years ago

Here is a screenshot of the recipe.

http://imgur.com/fKjysEo

PG: 1.036 VG: 1.249 Nic: 1.249

1 points
 
by JustSayNoToDiacetylabout 10 years ago

Yikes. Your calculations are off somewhere. Just use this site. You'll need to create an account and be sure to enable "use grams" in preferences.

Honestly, I am not sure why anyone wants to do these conversions manually. Just use ELR.

1 points
 
by Errckabout 10 years ago

I need to recalibrate my scale. It's off by 6grams now.

2 points
 
by AOSpadesabout 10 years ago

Something's not right. Post up the recipe you're using and we should be able to spot it right away. Sometimes I'll have a little room at the top of the bottle (which is suspect is the flavor weights not being 100% accurate in the calculator) but never half a bottle.

1 points
 
by JustSayNoToDiacetylabout 10 years ago

If using a glass bottle, you will have room at the top. It's normal. Those bottles have 2-3mL of head room in them.

0 points
 
by Errckabout 10 years ago

The weird part is the juice that it makes tastes amazing! It's just not the right quantity to fill a 30ml bottle. I am terrible at math, I followed the juice calculator. I might of missed a setting or something.

2 points
 
by phil_1ppabout 10 years ago

Are you sure that you put the scale on "gramm" mode? Yesterday I set my scale to dwt instead of grams... (fml)

2 points
 
by Errckabout 10 years ago

I have fixed my issue! My scale needed to be properly calibrated. Just finished mixing 2 30ml bottles FULL of juice. Thanks for the help!

1 points
 
by elitegunslingerabout 10 years ago

Multiply VG and PG specific gravity, flavoring can be 1g:1ml but VG is like 1.26 and PG is 1.035 (I think); this can really skew your volume at the end if not accounted for.

1 points
 
by TheBadStickabout 10 years ago

Are you using a direct conversion of 1ml VG/PG = 1 gram? If so you might want to look into the specific gravity of each.

This might be helpful

1 points
 
by DrMclovensabout 10 years agoThe Mad Alchemist

not being a smart ass at all but you are sure you dont have it set to make 10ml worth of juice right?

after all that WOULD be 1/3 a 30 ml...and you did say its only 1/3 the way full sooo...Just checking m8 :)

0 points
 
by Errckabout 10 years ago

Yes, I have made 20ml and 10ml batches and they come out smaller then the 30ml.

1 points
 
by DrMclovensabout 10 years agoThe Mad Alchemist

ok, not trying to be insulting in any way (I don't think you took it like that but I wanted to make sure you knew) Past that I don't know, i dont mess with mixing by weight much, i prefer using my graduated cylinders. sorry I couldn't help. I'm sure the mystery will be solved though :)

1 points
 
by bodah97about 10 years ago

Shouldn't the PG/VG percentages add up to 100? Right now it totals to 98. That still doesn't account for not filling 1/3 of the bottle.

1 points
 
by shrine399about 10 years agoMixologist

Check your bottle's volume by filling it by volume. i.e. either fill it to the brim then dump the contents into a measurable graduated cylinder or other device, or slowly fill with a syringe 1-5mL at a time until you reach the top.

What happens is, often, bottles have a higher capacity than marketed, the 15mL bottles I buy from ecig express hold just under 20mL's of liquid. Quite the difference, leaving a noticeable gap if I fill it only 15mL's.

1 points
 
by returnityabout 10 years agoArmchair Flavorist
  1. Your scale is severely out of calibration. It's reading ~3X too heavy. Calibrate it with a calibration weight (you'll need to check the manual of the scale to see if this is possible and with what weight you need to calibrate), or get a new scale -- scales are sensitive to overloading and impacts, as well as liquids, and must be treated with care.

  2. VG weights 1.261g (won't help til you fix #1).

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