Just started this DIY thing. I've been lurking this sub for a while and finally bit the bullet and bought a nice care package from Wizard Labs. Read the sidebar links and figured out what a good self starter kit for myself would be. Got like ~25 flavors and equipment I need to mix by volume ( syringes ). Already mixed two flavors and am loving this so far. But I had some troubles and would love some pointers.
Whats the proper way to deal with freezer VG nicotine? It was so viscous and nearly impossible to suck up with the syringe.
Do I need to worry about cross contamination dipping the same needle into multiple flavor bottles?
Whats a good way to clean and dry the syringes and needles?
Anyone know of a good juice inventory and calculator that works on Mac?
I've read that some flavors can mess with a syringe? Like menthol? Or is it that they stick so much that it contaminates future uses?
What size batches do you guys usually mix? I've been doing 10 mL but it seems pretty large, I've been thinking about 5 mL batches.
How different are flavors from different manufacturers of the same named flavor?
Any other tips and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The proper way to deal with VG nicotine is to not freeze all of it. You break it down into small batches and have one thawed with your gear and the rest in the freezer. Buy a bottle of private reserve wine preserver and a quick spray in the bottle will keep your thawed nic from oxidizing. Shake it for about 5 minutes straight(I know, it's a bitch) once every week or two(the good part about VG being so hard to get into solution is that it also takes a really long time to fall out of solution.)
When I mixed by volume, I just made sure that I double-dipped in like flavors. Don't mix cinnamon and menthol for instance.
Break down the syringes into their 3 parts; plunger, needle, and syringe. Fill a tupperware bottle with 50/50 hot water/vodka. Put a cap on it, and shake the shit out of it. Empty the liquid from the container, run some water over the contents for like 3 minutes, then put all that shit on a clean, dry dish rag. Hold all four corners of the rag with the syringes on it, and shake the shit out of it to dry them a bit. Leave the syringes for a day or so to dry completely.
No, buy a PC.
Menthol, cinnamon, banana, clove, and some citrus. Just mark them with a Sharpie and wash them separately.
10mL, you have enough juice to taste it while it steeps and get a feel for how your flavors are interacting.
Very, very different.
OP, you don't need to buy a PC.
www.e-liquid-recipes.com
There are inventory and calculator functions. Takes a bit to set up, but well worth it. You can also search recipes other users have created that you will be able to make based on what you have in your flavor stash. Also, if you decide to switch to mixing by weight, which I would highly recommend for ease and prevention of cross contamination, you can calculate your recipes by grams as well as ml. Great website that has helped me immensely.
But really though, buy a PC OP
lol, I have a PC but it's a desktop and isn't mobile, my work provided me with a macbook so I've been using that for my mixing since I can plop it down at my workspace for mixing.
I have Parallels and can run a VM, it's just annoying and I'd rather have a native app for OSX... What do you use Recipe Calculator?
Quick question about ELR...
Once you create an account, can you not only store your recipes, but add and edit notes on them as well? I've got e-juice me up on my laptop, as I like being able to note as much as I can, but would love something cross platform, particularly with offline access, but has the ability to sync (maybe using dropbox) with my other devices. That way, it doesn't matter which device I'm using (laptop, phone, tablet).
If ELR does this, however, at least I get the cross platform aspect, even if I have lag for loading pages and have to be connected to the interwebs.
Yeah that's what I'm using so far, it doubles as my notebook as I can write notes in the comments.
I just wish I could use it offline, or had some way to export/download the data.
Put scotch tape over the graduation markings on your syringes. The ink will rub off after just a few uses.
Overstock on bottles. I hate running out of bottles.
You're going to use a lot more vg than pg. Overstock your vg.
Record everything: date of mix, flavor percentages, nic content, name of juice, batch number, etc. you can't be too thorough. I have a box of unlabeled bottles that I sift through from time to time and I hate not knowing what this random delicious mixture is. Keep a journal with your all your recipes, correlate bottle labels accordingly. Seriously, can't stress this enough. If it isn't written, it never happened.
Edit: feel free to pm me if you have any more questions. Welcome to the community!
Yeah I kept reading to tape off the syringes, havn't done that yet, but I'll give it a try. I bought 50x of the 10mL bottles but I could see how I would run out eventually.
I've been using e-liquid-recipes, and was planning on using the comments for my notes. I have been labelling the mixes and numbering and naming them as well.
Just have to throw my 2 cents as I've been doing diy for about a month now. Everything you literally need to know is in the sidebar or in the search bar. Every single question you asked I found by looking. I've honestly figured out diy is a solo sport. It's like wrestling, at least in high school, you're an individual and individually you can learn by yourself minus the few things that aren't on here. You have a question on syringes, type in just "syringe". Don't type in "how to clean my dirty, peachy syringe", because no one will post that. Elr is your friend for recipes. I personally do 30 ml batches because I'm cheap and unless it's shit I'll vape it. As far as other companies flavors. That is all trial and error. Didn't mean to rant, seems like you did some research. But within a month I've seen at least 20 posts like this and I haven't had any questions I couldnt find or figure out.
Good tip? If you are using a protank or subtank or really, any tank, buy a dripper to test your flavors. It's much easier test your mixes on a dripper then filling a tank worth of it if it sucks. You can get a clone of a derringer online for $8.
I love my Derringer but flavor varies so much, I prefer my Velocity with 24g dual coils and airflow set to just right for flavor. Derringer is my RTA of choice but flavors tend to be different in it than every other atty I use.
I was thinking about getting a Velocity clone off fasttech, I just used to be able to mooch all the coil building tools and supplies off my roommate who I don't live with anymore, so I gotta buy a bit more than just the RDA to get started
I'm sure you have a nail clipper to cut wire. Any pair of tweezers or small pliers will do just don't touch the coils red hot or while firing unless they are ceramic. A spool of 24g wire and a pack of cotton from Amazon is 9.99 for a combo pack. You may not have any money to spend which is understandable but I just want to clarify you don't need any coil building master jig set blah blah blah super sub ohm twirlie tools. Velocity 1:1 from FastTech is good to go!
fasttech?
I have a shitty old chimbus RDA, but I mostly vape on my aspire atlantis, and I tried to go back to the chimbus and the airflow is just too horrible. I think I have a 3D clone somewhere, but that thing just sucks up all the juice into the reservoir and is impossible to drain without just vaping it all up or taking it apart.
I've been thinking about grabbing a Velocity clone or a Mutation clone off fasttech, but I have to buy a bunch of coil building gear as I used to be able to mooch off my old roommate.
If your on a mobile then you may not be able to see all the sidebar stuff. There is a plethora of help and info there.
Just noticed the app I use on mobile Relay screws up the search links, but I did read most of the sidebar a couple times on desktop already. Didn't think to search using reddit's search because typically it sucks, but I tried that out yesterday and it does seem promising for most info.
Read the side bar >>>>>>>>over here >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>^^^^^^^
In all fairness, most of these aren't answered in the sidebar. Like handling VG nicotine.