Some DIY Eliquid Questions

[kev mac]

I am anxious to start mixing some serious DIY recipes and hope some of the forum Mixmasters will give me their insights (@Andre ,@RichJB ,@shaunnadan among others) I have been tuning to DIYorDie on line ,a great site but I have a couple of questions that I think my forum members can answer.my main one is why are so many recipes higher V.G.? If p.g. transmits flavor?Also if high V.G.wicks harder what's the advantage? I have started to enjoy some juices using higher v.g.and this has me wondering why.Now if I can just get rid of the world's worst case of vapers tongue I'd be a happy camper. If this thread is misplaced or redundant please take appropriate action.

 

[Huffapuff]

You don't need a lot of PG to carry flavour. Some people find PG a bit harsh on the throat.

While VG is the velvety, smooth, voluminous cloud. It has great texture.

And stay hydrated to avoid vapour's fatigue in the future

 

[craigb]

PG also thins the juice, making it more likely to experience flooding and spitting.

I've just started with max VG on my squonker and over all its a much nicer and tastier experience for me. YMMV.

 

[Silver]

I am anxious to start mixing some serious DIY recipes and hope some of the forum Mixmasters will give me their insights (@Andre ,@RichJB ,@shaunnadan among others) I have been tuning to DIYorDie on line ,a great site but I have a couple of questions that I think my forum members can answer.my main one is why are so many recipes higher V.G.? If p.g. transmits flavor?Also if high V.G.wicks harder what's the advantage? I have started to enjoy some juices using higher v.g.and this has me wondering why.Now if I can just get rid of the world's worst case of vapers tongue I'd be a happy camper. If this thread is misplaced or redundant please take appropriate action.

Great question @kev mac and I think you will get a lot of input from the DIY folk. Your thread is not misplaced at all.

I am not a DIYer but will add my thoughts.

I think the ideal PG/VG ratio depends on you and your preferences as well as what gear and setups you are using.

For me , I tend to prefer 50/50 up to say 60VG. I find these juices tend to give me more throat hit (which is what Im after) and they just seem to vaporise better on my (more basic) setups. Also, in the very basic devices like the Evod1, the higher VG juices just dont work very well.

When I vape max VG or very high VG juices it tends to be softer on the throat (which seems to be what most people like) and it produces more vapour. I am not too concerned about vapour and dont like it too soft on the throat. I also find that higher VG juices dont vaporise as well (with as much vigour) on my basic coils at lowish power. They also take longer to squonk up the squonk tube on my Reos. (You have to press the bottle for much longer).

My mom on the other hand has moved away from throat hit and is now seeking a softer vape. So we are adding VG to some of her 50/50 juices to bring down the nic and soften them up (flavour is being diluted though).

So i think the spectrum of ratios from 50/50 up to max VG is more a preference thing and I dont think there is necessarily a "best ratio". Maybe 70 VG (where a lot of commercial juices are at the moment) is probably a good compromise and to an extent, the best of both worlds.

 

[Andre]

VG is sweet. I do not like too much sweet. I mix at 60VG/40PG, which for me is the perfect balance between the pros and cons of both VG and PG.

 

[shaunnadan]

with newer devices and tanks the trend seems to be lower nic concentrations and higher VG ratios. tanks are now able to handle much thicker that ever before. Higher VG juices are not necessarily muted of flavour. some juices are mixed at such a high VG ratio that the only PG in that bottle is the flavourings and the nic. more aggressive or longer steep times can definitely help to get the flavours all blended in nicely.

start with the commercial juices that you are comfortable with and see from there what VG ratio works best for you. if you vape 50/50 and want to move to a higher VG ratio then do so in small increments in small batches till you find what works for you.

 

[Lord Vetinari]

I am anxious to start mixing some serious DIY recipes and hope some of the forum Mixmasters will give me their insights (@Andre ,@RichJB ,@shaunnadan among others) I have been tuning to DIYorDie on line ,a great site but I have a couple of questions that I think my forum members can answer.my main one is why are so many recipes higher V.G.? If p.g. transmits flavor?Also if high V.G.wicks harder what's the advantage? I have started to enjoy some juices using higher v.g.and this has me wondering why.Now if I can just get rid of the world's worst case of vapers tongue I'd be a happy camper. If this thread is misplaced or redundant please take appropriate action.

Higher VG juices are naturally a little bit sweeter also. With most tanks these days MAX VG wicks perfectly fine, matter of fact I moved to MAX to save a bit on juice.

I dont know if you have tried it but VM's Menthol Ice cures vaper's tongue with one drip. Highly recommended.

 

[RichJB]

I'm with @Andre (and Wayne) on this, 60/40 is my sweet spot. I don't think it makes a huge difference, though, I reckon I could vape anything from 50/50 to 80/20 without any complaints. I'm not a cloud chaser and I have no sensitivity to PG so I have no motive to max VG. I mostly do 60/40 because I use PG nic so that gives me a big margin for total % flavouring before I hit the 40% limit of PG in a juice. I am not going to get VG nic. Life is too short to spend it on shaking that goop.

 

[kev mac]

Great question @kev mac and I think you will get a lot of input from the DIY folk. Your thread is not misplaced at all.

I am not a DIYer but will add my thoughts.

I think the ideal PG/VG ratio depends on you and your preferences as well as what gear and setups you are using.

For me , I tend to prefer 50/50 up to say 60VG. I find these juices tend to give me more throat hit (which is what Im after) and they just seem to vaporise better on my (more basic) setups. Also, in the very basic devices like the Evod1, the higher VG juices just dont work very well.

When I vape max VG or very high VG juices it tends to be softer on the throat (which seems to be what most people like) and it produces more vapour. I am not too concerned about vapour and dont like it too soft on the throat. I also find that higher VG juices dont vaporise as well (with as much vigour) on my basic coils at lowish power. They also take longer to squonk up the squonk tube on my Reos. (You have to press the bottle for much longer).

My mom on the other hand has moved away from throat hit and is now seeking a softer vape. So we are adding VG to some of her 50/50 juices to bring down the nic and soften them up (flavour is being diluted though).

So i think the spectrum of ratios from 50/50 up to max VG is more a preference thing and I dont think there is necessarily a "best ratio". Maybe 70 VG (where a lot of commercial juices are at the moment) is probably a good compromise and to an extent, the best of both worlds.

@Silver ,we seem to have a bit in common as my taste at the moment coincide with yours ,thanks for the input.

 

[kev mac]

PG also thins the juice, making it more likely to experience flooding and spitting.

I've just started with max VG on my squonker and over all its a much nicer and tastier experience for me. YMMV.

I recently got some yummy 70%vg.-30% canolli and also cinnamon doughnut and when I sqounk it's a little hard to get that last bit from the bottom,not a problem l dump that can on a rda.Too good to waste a drop!

 

[rogue zombie]

I like 70VG because:

A- I like flavour on the slightly lighter side, but still definitely there.
B- higher VG can smoothen harsher flavourants.
C- it's a natural sweetener, thus I can use less sweeteners
D- less throat hit. I only really look for throat hit with tobacco flavours. And I up the nic for that there anyway.

The only time I go less VG is when a recipe is just subdued. I have seen it makes a difference. For example, I made Wayne's Cuprian recipe at 70VG and the chocolate part was not as rich and creamy as the 60VG it was designed in.

With 70VG and modern devices, I have zero wicking issues. Plus thicker liquid is less likely to spit back and spil out when I over-squonk in my tiny Cyclops.

 

[kev mac]

Higher VG juices are naturally a little bit sweeter also. With most tanks these days MAX VG wicks perfectly fine, matter of fact I moved to MAX to save a bit on juice.

I dont know if you have tried it but VM's Menthol Ice cures vaper's tongue with one drip. Highly recommended.

I will keep it (the VM's menthol)in mind as one can never have enough tools in the kit when battling VT. I went through a maddening few days but it's better today,maybe the worst is over.

 

[kev mac]

Higher VG juices are naturally a little bit sweeter also. With most tanks these days MAX VG wicks perfectly fine, matter of fact I moved to MAX to save a bit on juice.

I dont know if you have tried it but VM's Menthol Ice cures vaper's tongue with one drip. Highly recommended.

I need some help, I am horrible at math and I need to know how much vg would it take to make say 100 ml of 70vg30pg out of a base of 50-50pg,vg? I have a lot of 50-50 and would like to make some high vg recipes,so could i accomplish this by adding pure vg to my 50-50 base?

 

[RichJB]

60ml 50:50 base = 30ml PG and 30ml VG
Add 40ml VG
You now have 30ml PG and 70ml VG

 

[kev mac]

60ml 50:50 base = 30ml PG and 30ml VG
Add 40ml VG
You now have 30ml PG and 70ml VG

At times I wish God gave me brains instead of good looks,seems you got both! Thanks mate.

 

[PSySpin]

I need some help, I am horrible at math and I need to know how much vg would it take to make say 100 ml of 70vg30pg out of a base of 50-50pg,vg? I have a lot of 50-50 and would like to make some high vg recipes,so could i accomplish this by adding pure vg to my 50-50 base?

There is some nice calculators online and on Android platform that you can use to to help with your calculations. Here is a link to one that i think that most of us DIY guys love to use http://ejuice.breaktru.com/

 

[RichJB]

Some handy formulae for changing the ratio of premixed bases:

To turn 50/50 into 70VG/30PG: 60% base + 40% VG.
So if you want to make, say, 230ml of it, then 60% of 230 = 138ml base plus 40% of 230 = 92ml VG

To turn 50/50 into 60VG/40PG: 80% base + 20% VG

To turn 50/50 into 80VG/20PG: 40% base + 60% VG

To turn 70VG/30PG base into 50/50: 71% base + 29% PG (not exact but near as darnit)

To turn 70VG/30PG base into 60VG/40PG: 86% base + 14% PG (not exact but near as darnit)

To turn 70VG/30PG base into 80VG/20PG: 67% base + 33% VG (not exact but near as darnit)

 

[Daniel]

Some handy formulae for changing the ratio of premixed bases:

To turn 50/50 into 70VG/30PG: 60% base + 40% VG.
So if you want to make, say, 230ml of it, then 60% of 230 = 138ml base plus 40% of 230 = 92ml VG

To turn 50/50 into 60VG/40PG: 80% base + 20% VG

To turn 50/50 into 80VG/20PG: 40% base + 60% VG

To turn 70VG/30PG base into 50/50: 71% base + 29% PG (not exact but near as darnit)

To turn 70VG/30PG base into 60VG/40PG: 86% base + 14% PG (not exact but near as darnit)

To turn 70VG/30PG base into 80VG/20PG: 67% base + 33% VG (not exact but near as darnit)

Wow thanks for this been struggling with the maths I have the CLY 80/20 premix base I add concentrates currently at one to max three ingredient recipes and then add half PG/VG to balance the Nic (3mg)out. With the excellent flavour of the concentrates it balances the flavor out quite nicely at 3-4%.

 

[Silver]

Some handy formulae for changing the ratio of premixed bases:

To turn 50/50 into 70VG/30PG: 60% base + 40% VG.
So if you want to make, say, 230ml of it, then 60% of 230 = 138ml base plus 40% of 230 = 92ml VG

To turn 50/50 into 60VG/40PG: 80% base + 20% VG

To turn 50/50 into 80VG/20PG: 40% base + 60% VG

To turn 70VG/30PG base into 50/50: 71% base + 29% PG (not exact but near as darnit)

To turn 70VG/30PG base into 60VG/40PG: 86% base + 14% PG (not exact but near as darnit)

To turn 70VG/30PG base into 80VG/20PG: 67% base + 33% VG (not exact but near as darnit)

This is super @RichJB - thanks

Do you think a new thread somewhere in the DIY section where we collect useful formulae like these would add value? I think so. Perhaps this post of yours can be a great start to that thread?

Let me know what you think and I can help to make it happen by copying this post to wherever it must go.

 

[RichJB]

Thanks @Silver. I'll start a new thread in the DIY section which explains to folks how to calculate their own ratios. It's incredibly simple and once people have the formula, they can do it themselves in a jiffy.

 

[Silver]

Thanks @Silver. I'll start a new thread in the DIY section which explains to folks how to calculate their own ratios. It's incredibly simple and once people have the formula, they can do it themselves in a jiffy.

Ok super!!

I can do the math but I find those kind of shortcut conversions make things easier and faster.

 

[RichJB]

OK, I'll include these calculations in that thread, for those that just want the shortcut.

 

[kev mac]

This is super @RichJB - thanks

Do you think a new thread somewhere in the DIY section where we collect useful formulae like these would add value? I think so. Perhaps this post of yours can be a great start to that thread?

Let me know what you think and I can help to make it happen by copying this post to wherever it must go.

@Silver hey mate,can you or anyone for that matter tell me the difference between Sweet cream,Vienna cream,Whipped and Vanilla cream? I have been stocking up on concentrate for my attempt at a Canolli recipe and there's so many different types in similar categories,same with the cake flavors.Seems like I buy a crap load and I always find another I don't have.My head is spinning.

 

[Silver]

@Silver hey mate,can you or anyone for that matter tell me the difference between Sweet cream,Vienna cream,Whipped and Vanilla cream? I have been stocking up on concentrate for my attempt at a Canolli recipe and there's so many different types in similar categories,same with the cake flavors.Seems like I buy a crap load and I always find another I don't have.My head is spinning.

Sorry @kev mac , i have no clue - am still a DIY ultra noob
Maybe one of the other more experienced DIYers can help you

 

[Andre]

@Silver hey mate,can you or anyone for that matter tell me the difference between Sweet cream,Vienna cream,Whipped and Vanilla cream? I have been stocking up on concentrate for my attempt at a Canolli recipe and there's so many different types in similar categories,same with the cake flavors.Seems like I buy a crap load and I always find another I don't have.My head is spinning.

Kev, Sweet Cream and Vienna Cream are in the same category. Whipped Cream and Fresh Cream are more or less the same, far less sweet that the sweet creams and normally do not have any vanilla, which the sweet creams might have in different strengths. Problem is that a Sweet Cream from TFA, for example, will differ in taste from Sweet Cream from CAP. If a major ingredient in a recipe, it is better to get the brand name specified in the recipe. If a minor ingredient, it is usually ok to use what you have.

Here is a place where you can read up on the different concentrates. Some useful notes on FA concentrates can be downloaded here.