Any of you guys use something like this to mix/blend your juice? Is it any good? Good or bad idea?
It's kind of a novelty thing to have and fun to use, but at the end of the day, shaking your bottles for 30 seconds is a lot quicker and a lot less mess.
Source: I have one and don't bother with it anymore. It makes zero difference despite the extra time involved with using it and cleaning everything, plus the cost of batteries.
I saw someone recommend a similar one, the Norpro mini mixer, and i think it cost a whopping $7.00. I bought it and used it a few times but it just seemed like a hassle compared to just capping and shaking.
It's a cute little thing. It won't beat an egg like it claims, but my husband loves it for mixing his Carnation Instant Breakfast so it's pretty much his now.
IMHO and experience you don't really need any tools for mixing (besides a scale or syringes if you like to make your life more difficult).
Mix your juice and shake your bottles for 1-2 minutes as hard as you can. Shake your bottles for a few seconds before dripping/refilling.
If you're mixing at scale – or at least mixing large batches – a magnetic stir plate is what you need. Pricey, though.
If I'm just making a little 30 or even 120, though, I just shake it in a bottle while I run on the treadmill. You get double points that way.
They work fine, just be careful not to aerate the mix too much. Don’t turn the tool on until it’s fully submerged. And if you have some extra money laying around, I recommend getting a magnetic stir plate. I let all my mixes stir on the plate for 2-4 hours and it cuts “steep” time down substantially.
Just ordered one last week super excited. Any pointers on it? Like temp setting and maybe how long to do it? Wouldn’t of guessed 2-4 hours I’m glad you said that I figured like five minutes
This guy has had quite a bit of success doing it this way.
When it's time to blend my juice I just take it for a shake on the sawzall beats the hell out of shaking 7 or 8 60ml bottles
ya know, I have thought about that. I had thought of gettin someone to 3d print an adapter that holds the bottles securely.
Shaking works fine for anyone mixing at a personal level 90% of the time. You don't really get good returns on equipment until you start looking at higher end lab gear. A stir plate can be okay for smaller batches if you're not doing max vg. The only thing that -really- picks up saved time is lab grade homogenizers, which run around 1200-1500 used and aren't particularly useful unless you're mixing 20+ bottles a day and absolutely have to test sooner than 1 week.
I have a prosumer level ultrasonic cleaner with a heating element in it, as well as a timer that goes as high as 99 minutes.
Has anyone used an ultrasonic cleaner, heated or no, for mixing/steeping their freshly made ejuice? I just started making ejuice tonight by starting on a bunch of 15ml test runs, mostly single flavorings at 5% so i can make my own flavor notes on them, although i did a few combos as well such as Euroflavor Strawberry Ripe with another strawberry (did a few of this one) to see how they work together.
For now i just shook the hell out of the bottles a few before putting them away but i was curious about the ultrasonic cleaner. Im fairly new to vaping, and as i said i took my first steps into diy juice tonight so i know i have tons of stuff to learn so any and all help and informaton would be appreciated.
Also, one last question, if i used the heating element, what temp should i use, I know heat breaks down nicotine, which wont be an issue for my juice since i vape zero nic, but my 18 year old son, who turned me on to vaping uses 6mg and i make juice for him as well.
Thanks in advance for any and all assistance and information you can provide.
I use an ultrasonic cleaner for some mixes such as non-aromatic tobaccos and custard bases. I try to keep the temp around 120°F; object is to use enough heat to reduce viscosity to promote mixing but not so much that it will boil off the most volatile molecules of the flavorings.
I wouldn't worry much about heat alone affecting the nicotine, but heat + oxygen. I use the degassing mode first to get the air bubbles out (bubbles from the initial shake).
I run a 30 minute cycle then take each bottle out and turn it end over end a few times before putting it back into the tank. This is to mix the top and bottom of the contents, in case of any unblended VG tending to sink to the bottom.
If you insist on using something to mix your juice, the best suggestion is either macgyver together something from a paint shaker, or build/buy a vortexor. Either will agitate your mix sufficiently... in the bottle. So you mix into your bottle on the scale, insert the tip, and cap it, with a minimum of air inside... then agitate the mix. It's the least amount of oxygen exposure that way.