Adding nicotine to a nicotine-free mix

[doveman]

I made up a batch of nicotine-free e-liquids as I've tried them in the past for a day or two and didn't notice any withdrawal symptoms, so that I might as well do without if possible as it will save money and without the nicotine I can have virtually colour-less e-liquids that don't stain my teeth, which is a bonus.

However this time I'm definitely noticing my usual nicotine withdrawal symptom, i.e. eating non-stop to the point where I make myself ill!

So I want to add roughly 3mg (my VG nic base is 72mg) of nicotine to my nic-free 10ml mixes but I can't do the math needed, so could someone please tell me roughly how many ml of nic I should add?

[Postmodern Smoking]

Adding 0.4ml of 72mg/ml nicotine to 10ml of nic free will give you 10.4ml of 2.8mg/ml of eliquid
or,
Adding 0.5ml of 72mg/ml nicotine to 10ml of nic free will give you 10.5ml of 3.4mg/ml of eliquid

(Calculated using the "nic combine" tool of Ejuice Me Up calculator and a bit of trial and error)

[Perpetua]

There's also this Nic Combine Calculator, which is quite useful:

ecigvape.com/combine_calculator.php


Though my overall preference is for Dave's Postmodern Smoking calculating skills.

[Postmodern Smoking]

Jun 16, 2015 17:13:36 GMT Perpetua said:

.... Though my overall preference is for Dave's Postmodern Smoking calculating skills.

If only my calculating skills paid my overheads!! 

[letsavit]

As an expert at giving up smoking.....

Nicotine stays in the body for about 5 days when going cold turkey, the first day or two is the easiest, around day 4-5 is when the cravings hit you like a train, that's when the last of the nicotine is leaving the body. If you're trying to get to 0mg and not getting cravings for a day without then it might be worth you doing a nic day - non nic day?

[cigeliquid]

As you are working with 10ml bottles and aiming at a low finished nicotine content(3mg) the first thing i would do is work in drops rather than ml
This would involve filling a small dropper bottle with your 72mg VG and allow it to reach room temp
You then need to work out the number of drops per ml you get from this bottle - writing the number on the bottle--keep this bottle at room temp not in the fridge
It is very important that you get the true number of drops per ml from your bottle and you must do this with the room temp VG 72mg NOT water

Then input this number into a mixing calculator in the section marked drops per ml
this should make life simple


For example if you are getting 20 drops per ml you would then add 9 drops to your bottle of nicotine free e-liquid in order to give you around 3mg finished strength

[doveman]

Jun 16, 2015 13:26:36 GMT Postmodern Smoking said:

Adding 0.4ml of 72mg/ml nicotine to 10ml of nic free will give you 10.4ml of 2.8mg/ml of eliquid
or,
Adding 0.5ml of 72mg/ml nicotine to 10ml of nic free will give you 10.5ml of 3.4mg/ml of eliquid

(Calculated using the "nic combine" tool of Ejuice Me Up calculator and a bit of trial and error)

Thanks, you make it look so easy

[doveman]

Jun 16, 2015 17:13:36 GMT Perpetua said:

There's also this Nic Combine Calculator, which is quite useful:

ecigvape.com/combine_calculator.php

Thanks Perpetua but even that confuses me! I'll just stick to making 10ml bottles and then if I ever need to add nicotine again I can refer back to the calculations done by Postmodern Smoking and not have to hurt my head 

[doveman]

Jun 16, 2015 17:29:23 GMT Postmodern Smoking said:

Jun 16, 2015 17:13:36 GMT Perpetua said:

.... Though my overall preference is for Dave's Postmodern Smoking calculating skills.

If only my calculating skills paid my overheads!! 

Well they saved my head from exploding, if that's any consolation 

[doveman]

Jun 16, 2015 19:48:02 GMT letsavit said:

As an expert at giving up smoking.....

Nicotine stays in the body for about 5 days when going cold turkey, the first day or two is the easiest, around day 4-5 is when the cravings hit you like a train, that's when the last of the nicotine is leaving the body. If you're trying to get to 0mg and not getting cravings for a day without then it might be worth you doing a nic day - non nic day?

letsavit I thought of doing that but won't the nic days just restart the whole process again. I'll obviously be using less nic overall but I don't see how it will help me get off it completely. Not that I'm desperate to at the moment, I'll see how I get on with 3mg for a bit.

[letsavit]

Jun 17, 2015 10:00:27 GMT doveman said:

Jun 16, 2015 19:48:02 GMT letsavit said:

As an expert at giving up smoking.....

Nicotine stays in the body for about 5 days when going cold turkey, the first day or two is the easiest, around day 4-5 is when the cravings hit you like a train, that's when the last of the nicotine is leaving the body. If you're trying to get to 0mg and not getting cravings for a day without then it might be worth you doing a nic day - non nic day?

letsavit I thought of doing that but won't the nic days just restart the whole process again. I'll obviously be using less nic overall but I don't see how it will help me get off it completely. Not that I'm desperate to at the moment, I'll see how I get on with 3mg for a bit.

Wouldn't of thought so, like I said nic stays in the body for a while. So aday 0mg a day 3mg over a week you would half the nic in your body without cravings.

I'm on 6mg for a while, going cut to 3mg then cold turkey the last...can't be as bad as cold turkey from 30 fags aday...!!

[doveman]

Jun 17, 2015 9:29:29 GMT cigeliquid said:

As you are working with 10ml bottles and aiming at a low finished nicotine content(3mg) the first thing i would do is work in drops rather than ml
This would involve filling a small dropper bottle with your 72mg VG and allow it to reach room temp
You then need to work out the number of drops per ml you get from this bottle - writing the number on the bottle--keep this bottle at room temp not in the fridge
It is very important that you get the true number of drops per ml from your bottle and you must do this with the room temp VG 72mg NOT water

Then input this number into a mixing calculator in the section marked drops per ml
this should make life simple


For example if you are getting 20 drops per ml you would then add 9 drops to your bottle of nicotine free e-liquid in order to give you around 3mg finished strength

Thanks cigeliquid, I don't really understand why a 1ml syringe wouldn't be good enough though. That could be due to sleep deprivation causing my brain not to work, or I may just be quite stupid 
If I need 0.4ml nic, what's the difference between measuring 0.4ml in a syringe and counting out the number of drops that amount to 0.4ml? I don't know how I'd work out how many drops make up 1ml anyway.

[cigeliquid]

Jun 17, 2015 10:12:16 GMT doveman said:

Jun 17, 2015 9:29:29 GMT cigeliquid said:

As you are working with 10ml bottles and aiming at a low finished nicotine content(3mg) the first thing i would do is work in drops rather than ml
This would involve filling a small dropper bottle with your 72mg VG and allow it to reach room temp
You then need to work out the number of drops per ml you get from this bottle - writing the number on the bottle--keep this bottle at room temp not in the fridge
It is very important that you get the true number of drops per ml from your bottle and you must do this with the room temp VG 72mg NOT water

Then input this number into a mixing calculator in the section marked drops per ml
this should make life simple


For example if you are getting 20 drops per ml you would then add 9 drops to your bottle of nicotine free e-liquid in order to give you around 3mg finished strength

Thanks cigeliquid, I don't really understand why a 1ml syringe wouldn't be good enough though. That could be due to sleep deprivation causing my brain not to work, or I may just be quite stupid 
If I need 0.4ml nic, what's the difference between measuring 0.4ml in a syringe and counting out the number of drops that amount to 0.4ml? I don't know how I'd work out how many drops make up 1ml anyway.

A 1ml syringe will work fine but may result in more time and effort for example washing up
You may also over the long term expose your larger bottle of vg 72mg to more oxygen as each time you reach for it gently shake it then remove 0.4ml you will allow fresh oxygen to enter.

Ref: measuring drop size per ml - take 1ml syringe add 1ml to dropper bottle ( any size bottle will do) replace drip tip and invert the bottle gently squeeze and count the drops till all liquid is gone.

[doveman]

Jun 17, 2015 10:09:07 GMT letsavit said:

Jun 17, 2015 10:00:27 GMT doveman said:

letsavit I thought of doing that but won't the nic days just restart the whole process again. I'll obviously be using less nic overall but I don't see how it will help me get off it completely. Not that I'm desperate to at the moment, I'll see how I get on with 3mg for a bit.

Wouldn't of thought so, like I said nic stays in the body for a while. So aday 0mg a day 3mg over a week you would half the nic in your body without cravings.

I'm on 6mg for a while, going cut to 3mg then cold turkey the last...can't be as bad as cold turkey from 30 fags aday...!!

Ah I see your point, over a week I'd be using half as much nic, so that's a good way to gradually reduce how much my body expects/relies on.
Yeah, cold turkey's no fun! When I've tried I've been lucky enough to be able to hole up by myself so I can't take it out on other people but I can't imagine trying it whilst having to be around others 

The great thing about vaping is that it allows me to satisfy my addiction to the hand to mouth action (and the visual side of the clouds) without needing to have any nicotine. When I've quit smoking in the past, although successful for some time I always ended up starting again when I got stressed but I'm fairly confident that if I manage to get down to 0mg and get the nic out of my system then the 0mg vaping will be sufficient to satisfy me even when stressed and even if I turn out to be wrong about that, I can just add some nic back into the mix and avoid any thought of needing to start smoking again (not that I can imagine ever doing so again after 2+ years vaping, although I sometimes like the smell of cigarette smoke outside, where it's diluted in the air, I find it revolting indoors now and it just reminds me of how bad it tasted).

[doveman]

Jun 17, 2015 12:44:37 GMT cigeliquid said:

Jun 17, 2015 10:12:16 GMT doveman said:

Thanks cigeliquid, I don't really understand why a 1ml syringe wouldn't be good enough though. That could be due to sleep deprivation causing my brain not to work, or I may just be quite stupid 
If I need 0.4ml nic, what's the difference between measuring 0.4ml in a syringe and counting out the number of drops that amount to 0.4ml? I don't know how I'd work out how many drops make up 1ml anyway.

A 1ml syringe will work fine but may result in more time and effort for example washing up
You may also over the long term expose your larger bottle of vg 72mg to more oxygen as each time you reach for it gently shake it then remove 0.4ml you will allow fresh oxygen to enter.

Ref: measuring drop size per ml - take 1ml syringe add 1ml to dropper bottle ( any size bottle will do) replace drip tip and invert the bottle gently squeeze and count the drops till all liquid is gone.

Thanks, that makes sense and I understand better what to do now

I found some round plastic 2301ml snack/leftover tubs with three clips on the lid in Wilkinson which I think will be good for decanting liquids into. I did buy some 100ml bottles from the poundshop but with them you still have the problem of getting to the liquid with the syringe as the level goes down, even with a needle attached (and the needles I've got aren't any good for VG anyway) but with these wide tubs that won't be an issue and the clips should keep it nicely sealed and as they let you remove the lid without needing to use any force, there's less risk of spillage when doing so compared to something with a press-on lid.