bad results with e-cigs

[anoregami]

Ah ok I see, but only 15-20% of VG and 80-85% of water?? I thought you would only need a minimal amount of water. Because if I mix it in bulk, I can only have one try, hence I would have thought you should be quite conservative regarding the percentage of water you put in the water/VG mixture.

[domesticextremist]

Lol - no 15-20% of water, the rest VG.
It thins down pretty quick.

You might want to read this thread GRIZWALD's GUIDE TO ALL THINGS MIXING

[anoregami]

Ah fair enough, that seems more logical and reasonable
Pure VG was such a PITA to suck in the syringe, and even to expel it from the latter afterwards

Wow hat's quite an exhaustive guide lol, I'll definitely read it attentively later, thank you for sharing the link.

[domesticextremist]

Yeah, it's pretty gloopy neat. Prethinning makes it
a lot easier to work with.
I do mine by eye - for instance I got 200ml from Boots the other day.
I just marked the level, decanted 30ml into a spare juice bottle and
topped it back up with water. gave it a good shake and let it stand
for a day and job done.

[anoregami]

You buy your VG in a pharmacy, that must be more expensive, no?
I'll add a little amount of water at a time, and see how it thins down.
Thanks

[Perpetua]

Welcome to the forum Anoregami . . . I don't have much to add to the already excellent advice given you, but I'd echo the sentiments that you need to walk before you run with vaping.

Mixing can be a minefield in itself, let alone getting to grips with vaping . . . although if you are going to mix your own, you really need to let your flavours steep/infuse before testing them, normally I allow at least a week with mine.

And you'll find an atomiser/drip tip set up a much better option for trying flavours out, whether you buy pre-mixed or otherwise.

We can pick neat VG up pretty inexpensively here, under a Euro for a 250ml bottle from the Pharmacies . . .

[anoregami]

Hello Perpetua and thank you for your welcome message.

I indeed realized than mixing e-juices was not as straightforward as I thought it would be ...
Well at least I think I'll learn from my errors

I eventually managed to get a fairly good amount of vapour, and although the taste is quite decent, it is rather weak.
I just checke, and I bought all my flavour concentrates when I placed my first e-cig order, so they date back to early 2011.
Most bottles were left sealed, would opening them speed up the steeping process?
Or is it safe to put them in a warm oven for like one or two hours?

Lucky VG is that cheap in your pharmacies, if I knew back then when I was in London I'd have picked up a few bottles

[Perpetua]

Your flavourings should be all ok still Anoregami . . . they've a shelf life of 2 years plus, assuming they've not been in direct sunlight and kept in a cool dark place.

If you'd like to speed up the steeping process of your mixes ( not flavourings ), place your bottles with the tops off, in a bowl of warm not boiling water . . . I always mix my flavourings at 20% plus, unless it's a particularly potent flavour - that I test by tasting just a drop.

I wouldn't go near the oven, as you could well end up with a melted plastic calamity . . . I always think mistakes are more of a lesson than success's, but there is a limit to the errors any of us want to make.

[anoregami]

Lol I was not even saying that jokingly about the oven
I mean if I set the temperature to 60°C, you think my plastic bottles will melt?

Otherwise I was not implying that my flavourings may be too old and therefore might have gone bad (yes they have been stored in good conditions, such as you described), but rather that they are no recent, so I imagined that the steeping process would be over since since last year.

Incidentally, I didn't know you had to steep the final mixed e-juice, I assumed that only flavour concentrates were concerned, so perhaps that explains why it doesn't taste great?

[azzie]

Placing plastic bottles in an oven sounds like a recipe for disaster, if you want to accelerate the steeping try dropping the sealed bottle into mug of hot water and allowing it to cool to room temperature.

You have to be careful as they may warp/melt.

May be a good idea to go back to basics and buy some premixes

[Deleted]

better steeping is with the lid off so the mixture can "breathe"

[Takshaka]

Jun 16, 2012 13:20:42 GMT anoregami said:

Incidentally, I didn't know you had to steep the final mixed e-juice, I assumed that only flavour concentrates were concerned, so perhaps that explains why it doesn't taste great?

It's just the final mix that requires steeping to allow all the components to be thoroughly combined and whatever chemical reactions are needed to take place. As I understand it, it's really only when nicotine is involved that real stepping is required as there is a chemical process which has to occur before that bad taste goes away. If you are just mixing PG/VG/Flavouring with no nic then vigorous shaking/mixing is all that's needed.

[Perpetua]

Jun 16, 2012 13:20:42 GMT anoregami said:

Incidentally, I didn't know you had to steep the final mixed e-juice, I assumed that only flavour concentrates were concerned, so perhaps that explains why it doesn't taste great?

Yep, pretty much Anoregami.

Flavour concentrates don't require steeping, nicotine ejuice mixes do generally benefit from being left to steep/infuse, some flavours more so than others.

A week minimum I leave mine, in practise it's more like two.

Bit of a misnomer this thread title isn't it, as it's really more about mixing technique.

[VE Jason]

Some flavours take longer to combine with the nicotine than others.

Also, some flavourings can only be combined with nicotine up to a certain strength point before they react badly and give you a burnt taste.

Trial and error in small quantities is the best way

[Chrissie]

Going to change the title of this thread to "bad results with DIY mixing"