# DIY: Scale vs. Drops.



## Petrus (29/7/16)

Good Evening Vapers. I am about to hit the checkout button, so far I am measuring my mixes and add drops for the concentrates and it works well. I think of buying a scale at VV. Is it worth and why?.
Thanks.


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## Andre (29/7/16)

Drops are inconsistent - it depends on many factors - weather, pressure exerted, type and size of bottle and type of bottle nipple, etcetera. Presume you use syringes for VG, PG and Nic - very messy and lots of washing up. Scale is far more accurate, makes for faster mixing and is much less hassle. 

Get the scale, you won't be sorry.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 3 | Winner 1 | Informative 1


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## Petrus (29/7/16)

Andre said:


> Drops are inconsistent - it depends on many factors - weather, pressure exerted, type and size of bottle and type of bottle nipple, etcetera. Presume you use syringes for VG, PG and Nic - very messy and lots of washing up. Scale is far more accurate, makes for faster mixing and is much less hassle.
> 
> Get the scale, you won't be sorry.


Where can I get the values from ml to g for nic,pg, vg and concentrates?


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## Petrus (29/7/16)

On the positive side @Andre, after your post my shipping is for free.

Reactions: Like 1 | Creative 1


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## Soutie (29/7/16)

Petrus said:


> Where can I get the values from ml to g for nic,pg, vg and concentrates?


Definitely opt for the scale, it works so well. 

This is all you need, the weights all all there and it's a great 'how to'. I found it invaluable.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DIY_eJuice/comments/2iq3km/botboy141_guide_to_mixing_by_weight/

Reactions: Thanks 2


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## Warlock (29/7/16)

Hi @Petrus, I have just started mixing my own e-liquids and I use a scale. The trouble with drops is that all the liquids have different viscosities and all the droppers make different size drops. I have three assorted makes of droppers and they don’t drop the same. So IMO counting drops, especially on small test concoctions isn’t very accurate at all.

A scale makes everything so easy and fast and repeatable. Another advantage is that you land up doing less washing and cleaning.

Is a scale worth it.....OH yes, you won’t look back.

Also you would need to use a good e-juice calculator.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1


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## Petrus (29/7/16)

Sorry for asking, but if you guys mean less washing, do you mix straight in your bottle?


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## RichJB (29/7/16)

I mix straight in the bottle, yes. Switch on scale, put bottle on, tare, add nic, tare, add VG, tare, add PG, tare, add each flavour with tare between each one. You get a 40 or 50 or however many ml mix right in the steeping bottle. The only thing I wash afterwards is the pipette is use to drop the flavour in. I actually do a double measure on that - ml as well as g. It helps to be sure that you are bang on.

Reactions: Like 2 | Agree 1


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## Petrus (29/7/16)

Thanks Guys, you rock, trigger pulled, looks like an installment of a small car.

Reactions: Funny 3


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## AlexL (29/7/16)

New to vaping , I must say i am loving this forum and it has been a pleasure to deal with the vaping shops i have visited everyone is so passionate about what they are doing.. if only all retail industries worked like this......back to the drops vs scale debate.. i am thinking about making my own juices... why not.. ... the scale would be far more accurate the variance between droppers the differing viscosities and surface tensions of all the juice components would make mixing by counting drops a hit and miss affair .. and worst of all.. when u finally make that magical mouth popping juice... you wont be able to exactly replicate it... ever... bummer... so in the near future when i start to play with juices i will be using my reloading scale and writing everything down.... they cost under a grand and measure to 3 decimal points.. not that one needs that type of accuracy for ejuice


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## MurderDoll (29/7/16)

Been wanting to get a scale for a while now and finally decided to take the plunge and get one. 

Will do some shopping around tomorrow and see what I can source. 

On a side note. Anyone know of a decent Ultrasonic cleaner that's not hecticly priced to use for steeping? 

Sent from my SM-G928F using Tapatalk


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## Andre (29/7/16)

Yip, I also mix straight into the bottle. Used glass pipettes at first, but found it less hassle to use a 50 ml glass beaker for the nicotine. For VG and PG those spouts from VV is handy. The concentrates I just do drops directly into the bottle.


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## Andre (29/7/16)

AlexL said:


> New to vaping , I must say i am loving this forum and it has been a pleasure to deal with the vaping shops i have visited everyone is so passionate about what they are doing.. if only all retail industries worked like this......back to the drops vs scale debate.. i am thinking about making my own juices... why not.. ... the scale would be far more accurate the variance between droppers the differing viscosities and surface tensions of all the juice components would make mixing by counting drops a hit and miss affair .. and worst of all.. when u finally make that magical mouth popping juice... you wont be able to exactly replicate it... ever... bummer... so in the near future when i start to play with juices i will be using my reloading scale and writing everything down.... they cost under a grand and measure to 3 decimal points.. not that one needs that type of accuracy for ejuice
> View attachment 62174


Actually, for small volumes a 3rd decimal would be nice to have. Where can one get hold of one like yours?


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## AlexL (29/7/16)

MurderDoll said:


> Been wanting to get a scale for a while now and finally decided to take the plunge and get one.
> 
> Will do some shopping around tomorrow and see what I can source.
> 
> ...


check out your local gunshops you should find them in the reloading department... beware... shop arohnd for the best pricing

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## AlexL (29/7/16)

Andre said:


> Actually, for small volumes a 3rd decimal would be nice to have. Where can one get hold of one like yours?


hey there... i got mine from a gun shop in Pretoria but i see the local gunshop in Alberton has them now to.... Die Blou Meul..

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## Soutie (29/7/16)

AlexL said:


> New to vaping...... Snip. .... they cost under a grand and measure to 3 decimal points.. not that one needs that type of accuracy for ejuice
> View attachment 62174



Damn that is a nice scale, though I think you are right, 3 decimals would be a little overkill as a single drop is a little heavier than a grain of powder.

What's the max weight on that?


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## AlexL (29/7/16)

Soutie said:


> Damn that is a nice scale, though I think you are right, 3 decimals would be a little overkill as a single drop is a little heavier than a grain of powder.
> 
> What's the max weight on that?


hello Soutie... max on this model is 50 grams but there are larger capacity ones available...


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## kyle_redbull (29/7/16)

How do u measure using the scale vs drops?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk


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## Warlock (29/7/16)

Hi @kyle_redbull Download the "ejuice Me Up" calculator from www.breaktru.com It gives you everything. ml and drops and mg.


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## Soutie (29/7/16)

kyle_redbull said:


> How do u measure using the scale vs drops?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk



It's pretty simple actually, instead on working on fluid volumes you work on weights. PG and VG both have a static weight so you can calculate how much weight per volume you need to add for a particular recipe. Drops are very unpredictable, as Andre mentioned earlier, drops are dependent on variables such as the viscosity of the liquid or the opening of the nozzle, working on weight is perfectly repeatable.

The easiest way to start (especially for small batches) is 1ml=1g. If you want it a little more precise you can see my link above to get the weights of PG and VG, flavours are for the most part calculated on the weight of PG as they are usually shipped in PG.

Play with it. It really is the way to go, and IMHO not more expensive at all. My scale cost R180 from Blckvapour, factor what you would need to spend on syringes, beakers and decent pipettes (a decent pipettes will cost north of R100 with a nice pump)... You sure better off getting the scale for sure

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Warlock (29/7/16)

Also read @RichJB post above. He explains the procedure very succinctly. If you are not familiar with scales, the TARE button zeros the scale after you have added each component of the recipe.

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Silver (29/7/16)

I dont have a scale
But have a question, excuse me if its ignorant

But when you adding a flavour and you presumably use the dropper to add into the bottle while its on the scale - am i right in saying your accuracy is limited by the weight of each drop? 

Would it ever happen that you need say half a drop extra and you cant get it?

Or is that not a problem?


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## Warlock (29/7/16)

Yes @Silver it happens. You get quite good at getting half a drop or even less into the bottle. 

Squeeze until a drop starts appearing out the nozzle then touch it to the inside of the target bottle.

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## Soutie (29/7/16)

Silver said:


> I dont have a scale
> But have a question, excuse me if its ignorant
> 
> But when you adding a flavour and you presumably use the dropper to add into the bottle while its on the scale - am i right in saying your accuracy is limited by the weight of each drop?
> ...



you are limited with the weight of the drops but I figure that's unavoidable regardless of how you are mixing. You will always use drops but it becomes moot with larger batches. A drop would be a fraction of a gram but you can see exactly what you are doing. I was able to mix a 30ml tester of Rhodonite perfectly.... And this was my third ever mix (became my wife's ADV since actually)

I couldn't imagine trying to get in 0.17ml raspberry into a bottle yet I can watch the scale go 0.11g the 0.14g Then 0.18, yeah close enough.

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## rogue zombie (29/7/16)

Get the scale!

It's the quickest method. The VV scale IS pretty damn accurate. I use glass bottles and I know more or less where 30mls should fill the bottle to. I used to constantly be off by a ml or two before I started with the scale.

It's so effortless whipping up a quick bottle. Before, heaven forbid anyone break my concentration when I was mixing. Fuss free mixing.

And drops can be fairly accurate, but you drop sizes can be thrown off if suppliers use different bottles. With a scale it doesn't matter.

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## rogue zombie (29/7/16)

Silver said:


> I dont have a scale
> But have a question, excuse me if its ignorant
> 
> But when you adding a flavour and you presumably use the dropper to add into the bottle while its on the scale - am i right in saying your accuracy is limited by the weight of each drop?
> ...


You can go a drop or two under or over, and probably won't notice a difference.

So if I understand you correctly, say you are on 0.24grams, and the recipe asks for 0.25grams of that flavour, you can just leave it on 0.24, because a drop may take you to 0.26... but it probably won't matter anyway, when you that close to the mark either way. I usually go a little bit over.

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## Silver (29/7/16)

Thanks for all the feedback guys
Much appreciated
Am looking forward to the DIY and a scale

My first juice with a scale will probably be a super icy menthol. But I won't really need a scale for that
Lol

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## Spydro (30/7/16)

Silver said:


> I dont have a scale
> But have a question, excuse me if its ignorant
> 
> But when you adding a flavour and you presumably use the dropper to add into the bottle while its on the scale - am i right in saying your accuracy is limited by the weight of each drop?
> ...



A half a drop difference with most recipe ingredients is splitting hairs so thin I seriously doubt anybody can tell the difference when the finished product is vaped. Drop size being variable is well known, but with a half a drop you're only talking about 0.025g if 20 drops equal 1ml. My scale is accurate to 0.01g, but I can assure you that when I mix I do not hit exactly on say 1.8g of a flavor no matter what I am using to add the flavor with.

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