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Nicotine test kit prob with bromothymol blue turning yellow
submitted almost 9 years ago by treebeardtrimmer

I'm titration testing some NN 1.5mg nic strength 70%vg/30%pg pre diluted solution. I bought a liter and this batch seems extremely strong. Wanted to do a quick test before asking for refund/exchange. I have noticed a prob when adding the 6-8 drops of brom blue to the 3ml nic and 15ml distilled water initial solution. It turns yellow immediately. No blue or even greenish blue. Any thoughts or advice on this would be appreciated. Not new to vaping or diy ejuice making, just not sure if I'm making an error or if this predilluted nic solution is just WAY over the top in terms of concentration. I have already purchased two different brom blues thinking that maybe that I I initially had a bad batch of brom blue but I received the same results with the new batch. Pls help!

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5 points
 
by project_twenty5oh1almost 9 years agoMixologist

It sounds like your test would indicate exceptionally weak Nicotine (which is basic) not exceptionally strong. If you add blue to nic and water and it turns yellow, there is some acid present in some way.

The purpose of the acid is to neutralize the alkalinity of the Nicotine. 1ml of the acid you're using should neutralize roughly 15mg of Nicotine, and so your nic strength would be determined by how much acid is required to neutralize the solution.

2 points
 
by treebeardtrimmeralmost 9 years ago

Yes and thanks for your response. It seems that I mistakenly thought I could test at lower percentages of nic. What I've had to do for this batch of nic, to make it palatable, is mix it with 2/3 of pure VG. So I'm using 1/3 of the original NN 1.5mg/ml nic mix with 2/3 of pure VG and whatever flavorings on top of that. So I am guessing that somehow Instead of sending me 1.5mg/ml they sent me 15mg/ml mixture. At least that's is what my tastebuds and head(ache) are telling me.

5 points
 
by project_twenty5oh1almost 9 years agoMixologist

Well it wouldn't be the first time: https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/2yccii/nude_nicotine_ridiculously_strong_lets_go_to_the/?ref=search_posts

Check your invoice, check the bottle, make sure everything is right, then do a test using 20ml of solution (if you have enough to spare) which should be 30mg of nic. it should take roughly 2ml of acid to neutralize it. If it's 15mg, it will take closer to 20ml of acid to neutralize it. I would suspect it's probably somewhere in between, as I do not believe 15mg is a nic strength that nude offers.

4 points
 
by treebeardtrimmeralmost 9 years ago

Ok and actually I'm aware of your previous issues with nude and I'm glad that you personally chimed in here. I've also had really bad experiences with NN regarding customer service so I'm on the fence about even dealing with the testing/return process. I've come to a peaceful place by just diluting (heavily) what should already be a heavily diluted nicotine mixture. Annoying but I will still get the usage out of the original NN mixture but will just be adding another step and a little more math to each mix I make. I just don't think I will be ordering from them anymore.

3 points
 
by coop34almost 9 years ago

I've only ever tested 100mg/ml. Following the directions that came with your testing kit, what strength do you think you have?

1 points
 
by treebeardtrimmeralmost 9 years ago

1.5mg/ml, very low concentration.

3 points
 
by coop34almost 9 years ago

I'm titration testing some NN 1.5mg nic strength

If i'm reading you correctly, you bought 1.5 What I was asking is what strength was indicated when following the test to it's final step?

Edit: I just reread the instructions. Since the nic level is so low to begin with, it may be throwing the test off. My instructions assume 36mg/ml or greater to be able to test. I honestly don't think testing that low is possible.

4 points
 
by project_twenty5oh1almost 9 years agoMixologist

OP could just use a lot more Nicotine solution. 20ml of Nicotine solution at 1.5 would yield 30mg, and 1ml of H2SO4 titrates ~15mg of Nicotine iirc. There should be no problems with using more solution, and more DW to thin it for easy mixing.

1 points
 
by treebeardtrimmeralmost 9 years ago

Ok thanks for the help. I was a little worried about that going in to it.

1 points
 
by McHairpiealmost 9 years ago

I've tested as low as 3mg nic concentration and had no issues at all. That was only using 2ml of nic base. I can't imagine 1.5 being any exception.

2 points
 
by thebermudalocketalmost 9 years ago

Are you adding the 6-8 drops one at a time or all at once? You really need to add them one at a time, shake well, wait a few seconds for the color to stabilize, and then proceed.

Also, it's nearly impossible to have a "bad batch" of bromothymol blue.

2 points
 
by treebeardtrimmeralmost 9 years ago

Yes, I added the bromothymol blue in drops and shook the solution in between. I even went so far as to add the brom blue into 15mg of distilled water, getting a blue color. Then (out of order per instructions) adding 3mg of the nicotine solution and the color changed to yellow immediately. Not having added any acid yet at all.

2 points
 
by McHairpiealmost 9 years ago

This doesn't make any sense. You add distilled water and bromethyl blue to your liquid. Mix that up and then add the acid. Only then should it turn yellow. There's instructions on nudes website that detail the process very well. Go read that and try again.

2 points
 
by treebeardtrimmeralmost 9 years ago

Ya pretty weird. I'm guessing with some of the help above that the nicotine % is just to low to get an accurate measurement. I followed the directions and tried multiple tests and got the same results.

2 points
 
by McHairpiealmost 9 years ago

You should be able to test any strength. It just takes far less acid to neutralize a lower concentration.

2 points
 
by treebeardtrimmeralmost 9 years ago

I will re sanitize everything and give it one more go. Probably not this evening though. I just don't see it changing the results and in the meantime I will send a sample back to nude to see if they can/will test it for QC

-3 points
 
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