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DIY Tips and Info I know this is a lot of information, but I hope it helps those looking at trying their hand at DIY. Keep in mind, This is just my own experience. PG- Propylene Glycol : It is a colorless, nearly odorless, clear, viscous liquid with a faintly sweet taste, http://en.wikipedia....ropylene_glycol VG-Vegetable Glycerin(Glycerol): In foods and beverages, glycerol serves as a humectant, solvent and sweetener, and may help preserve foods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerol PG and/or VG are both used as the base of the E-Liquid. PG/VG can be purchased from most E-Liquid suppliers with or without Nicotine. Unflavored PG or VG with Nicotine can be purchased for the purpose of mixing your own liquids and can be purchased is many strengths. PG/VG without Nicotine is necessary for mixing your own liquids. Glycerin can also be purchased from most pharmacies-over the counter. Humco is one brand of Pharmacy Grade (USP) glycerin. It is sold as a skin protectant. It is a clear, slightly thick liquid and has a sweet taste to it. There is also a Food grade VG- Wiltons- sold at Craft stores in the baking sections. Can sometimes be found at Walmart in the craft section. The information will have to be put into a couple posts--The server doesn't like the long version....

In a regulated mod, you'd want to use unprotected batteries, but QUALITY batteries, such as the ones from LG, Samsung, or Sony. Sony batteries are getting harder and harder to find (that aren't clones, seconds, or re-wraps), but if you can find authentic VTC4, those are good to use, and rated at 20A discharge. LG and Samsung batteries are my go-to batteries, but both are still only rated to 20A continuous discharge (30-35A peak @ 1-sec burst). Still though, even in your dual-battery box-mods, in parallel, that will give you 40A discharge (same Voltage as single battery, doubles the Amps)... Either way, as a single battery, they are good for running coils down to 0.22 Ohms without any issues or danger. If you are buying Samsung batteries, the 25R (Tiffany Blue wrapper) or 25R5 (green wrapper) are the ones to have... the green wrapped ones are the newest version. The pink wrapped 26F are 2600mAh, but I've not tried these yet, so I've no opinion on them for vaping. If you are buying LG... the brown wrapped HG2 are highest mAh rating @ 3000 mAh, and appear to be the current "king" of vaping batteries. The HE2 (red wrapper) and HE4 (yellow wrapper) are similar in function and 2500mAh, and I regularly use several of the HE2 without any problems. NOTE OF CAUTION: When using batteries in pairs for your box-mods... label them "A-B", "C-D", "E-F", etc., and keep that pair together forever... rotate their position left-right in the mod each time you replace them to ensure even use, and when one battery of the pair dies, do not re-marry the good battery to a brand-new battery... only re-marry it to another orphaned/divorced battery.

I have been doing DIY for about 1 1/2 years now, maybe longer, I know what's in it and if it don't come out the way I planned I got nobody to blame but myself. (you can blame the muffin man) When I do get a batch that doesn't taste right I try to fix it or vape it anyway. You will probably experiment with flavors like I did, and still am, some good some not so good, but that's what makes it interesting.

I TOLD YOU SO !!!

I got some more newbie questions for you guys, this time in regards to batteries and chargers. At the moment, I've got 1 18650 battery that is getting daily use in my kanger subox mini. I'm also charging through the subox directly, mainly because I haven't gotten around to buying a proper charger. So, first question. Should I have more than one battery, and switch off between them? Will this be important for battery life and or safety? Am I ok charging directly through the unit, or should a charger be high on my "to buy" list? I read somewhere that the subox has overcharge/ discharge protection, but the manual only mentions the discharge safety.

I have not even seen them anywhere. Looking them up it says they are made by LG and have 20A continuous discharge, and 2500 mah. I assume since the specs are the same, they are a LG 18650HE2 so if you are paying over $5.00 you are paying a premium for Kanger to add their name to it. The new Aspire 18650 tests pretty good but it is a ICR. (less safe than IMR) I don't run rewraps unless I rewrap them myself. I am not going to pay extra to get a cheap battery with a fancy wrapper that has overinflated numbers on it. Good batteries are way too cheap to buy the unknown. This is totally an assumption on my part. I just know I put a fresh battery in, in the evening and it is nearly dead first thing in the morning. I could be vaping more than I think at night, or it is pulling a little power at rest. I guess it could be the cat...but I doubt it. If I have time I will build a rig to check voltage drop. I have been wanting to make one anyway to test the efficient of the board, but I was going to wait for my shunts to come in so I can measure it up to full amp draw.

Yes, I've noticed some of my 25R's aren't lasting as long as they use to... but that is to be expected as they age/cycle. Interesting about batteries draining... I've noticed if I leave a battery in my IPV-mini V2 (black one), it will slowly drain a battery... If I don't use it for a couple of days, the battery will be completely dead, or at least too low to use for very long. But, none of my other IPV's do that. Guess I need to stop leaving batteries in that one, or perhaps send it back for repair/inspection?

There seems to be a pretty good availability of VTC4 and VTC5 cells on the market again. I try to only buy them from battery specific dealers. The VTC4 seems to hold a $2 premium over the 25R without a whole lot of benefits, except continuous discharge amp ratings. If you are keeping it in the 20A range the 25R is great, but the LG HG2 and the Samsung 30Q are edging it out with an extra 500mah, but they are usually $2.00 higher each. In the 25A to 30A range the VTC4 is king. It is a couple bucks higher than the other batteries out there, but it is probably the best in that range. Over 30A the LG HB6 seems to be the only one that is passing all of the tests. It only has 1500 mah though. I guess one good thing is they are cheap (around $5) My favorite battery shops lately are: Liion Wholesale (I have 4 on order here) illumn (I have ordered 12 since July) RTD Vapors (I have ordered 2 from them)

Got ya what ya think of the d4 version of that charger

I was thinking about getting a UM10 for the car, got 2 power ports in front seat 2 more in the back seat and 1 in the very back, figured I could use one during trips.

I've bought my last 10 Samsung from Amazon, and had zero failures or issues with them. One of the 5 I bought from the local B&M has died (would not take a charge) after 6-months or so. The Samsungs bought from Amazon came from two different sellers (both with thousands of reviews, and 99% positive), and all were PRIME shipped. The Walgreen's I spotted the LG's at had a card on the wall saying 18650 back-up batteries for the CPAP machines were behind the counter. I had to get them from the pharmacist, I presume to prevent shoplifting of such a small item? Both were individually boxed, and two came boxed together with a date-stamp on the outer box. I've only used them once so far (each), and they are working exactly the same as my Samsungs... so I call it a win!

I would personally put it pretty high on my list. It isn't a total necessity, but it is very convenient. I rotate 8 batteries in my electronic mods. This not only spreads the load out between many batteries, but it is another form of backups. It is also nice when one runs down, to just pop in another and keep vaping. The chargers are much more sophisticated and safer than the onboard one. Here is the charger I recommend: Nitecore i4 Intellicharger Here are some good batteries that are not too expensive: 18650 Samsung INR18650-25R or 18650 LG 18650HE2 Dang, I am a bit slow today Earthling!

There is also this reasonably priced alternative. http://www.vaportekusa.com/hcigar-dna-40-authentic-evolv/ The advantages are a spring loaded 510 pin, inbuilt charging and venting. Note venting will help to keep the chip assembly running cooler.

I get it now, Rixter. Thanks! One of the beauties of this device is how airflow plays on temperature. Less airflow means more temperature. Dryness means more temperature. So this unit corrects for that automatically. That is awesome. I used to wonder why my wife was harder on coils than I am. Now I see the difference in vaping styles. I like an airy pull. My wife tends to just fire the coil and nurse the pull. This would correct that automatically. This is pretty awesome.

i am not an expert in temperature control but my basic understanding so far is that nickel wire has properties that its resistance changes with heat. The chip continuously monitors the resistance of the coil and determines the temperature based on on that. If you use Kanthal, wire temperature control wont work since the resistance is constant. So since the unit wont let the coil ever get hot enough, in theory you should never burn your cotton. As your wic holds less juic, the heat rises quicker and thus the unit stops current flow. Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are believed to be by products when PG|VG break down from high temperatures, again in theory temperature control should eliminate this. As your wic dries up the pg/vg left over/residue will burn at higher temperatures if the temperatures are high enough you get the unwanted byproducts. My question is what is the magic temperature you should avoid. I cant seem to find any research paper done with a qualified testing procedure. Sorry if i went off track, perhaps i should have answered this prior to my scotch.

The more I look at it the more I want it lol

Not what I am looking for but pretty cool. IPX4 is still not technically waterproof lol. Looks pretty cool though!

Doesn't seem to grasp the significance of temperature control, does he?

AND it's less than half the price of the Vaporshark RDNA...under $70!

Also, jason, if you have any ads, I'd be more than happy to place them on my blog for no cost or desire for recompense. And you're always welcome to post a submission or two to my blog for publication.

If interested, I'm always willing to do some writing. I have a blog but would be more than happy to contribute as much as I can...I know I'm not the most experienced or number crunching guy that might attract your more experienced used but I also believe those just starting out would like a friendly voice in the wild. I would like to see more zines/papers reach out to the noob and just starting out crowd for which I would be willing to help. Obviously, it being your paper and your baby...I'm willing to work with you, obviously, to create what you want. And anything I submit would be subject to your advice and editorial input.

Ok thanks Compenstine

A very good read for anyone interested in "clouds" http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/general-vaping-discussion/611315-my-thoughts-about-sub-ohm-latest-vv-vw-devices.html

I'm not fond of big clouds, but sub ohming can produce it. That said, my SO, I believe sub-ohms, but doesn't cloud chase on purpose, unless he's doing it right next to my head on purpose to annoy me. Nothing I hate worse than going into a vape shop that doubles as a vape lounge and there is as much vapor hanging in the air from the two dudes sitting on the couch watching TV as you would get in a bar on a Saturday night when smoking was still allowed in bars.

Although I don't currently "cloud chase", I will say that each one of us need certian things to keep us off analogs. That said, they all have a place given the obvious safety aspects. The one thing we all have in common is no more stinkies! And we don't blow smoke, it's vapor!

Wow. You are very defensive, VapeHappy. My comments about personal attacks was to warn others not to attack you on a personal level. And I am done with this nonsense. The next person who comments in this thread that's off topic and makes a negative comment that's personal to anyone...will get a warning.

Troll

Joe, you make a good argument for freedom of expression, I get it. And I personally wont give up one once of liberty for added security, I get it. What I`m really trying to convey is that your argument will never hold any water whatsoever with the anti vaping establishment that has already formed around us. It may be different in Bama, Maybe you don`t pay attention to the rest of the union. But here in California, we are fighting for our rights with every once of reason we have. In New York, they want to ban all ecigs period. You would be breaking the law if found vaping in public. This aint my tin foil hat talking, this is the reality in New York. Try advertising a cloud comp in the city of NY, see how many do gooders you get to come out and shut you down. In Iowa, absolutely no ecig juices or anything ecig is allowed to be sold on line, I cant buy a damn thing from Iowa. Your can argue passion all want, but you cant argue the facts as they are right now. You have a good set of facts, almost no one blows themselves up. But every now and again, someone goes kaboom. You can argue with every once of passion that I am dead wrong, and every now and again, someone will prove me right. I would be willing to bet the average vaper has absolutely no interest in these competitions, and can understand logic when its put fourth reasonably. But let natural selection take its course, of course. :?)

OK I'll try one more angle to try to get through that tin foil hat. You do have a point,it's been shown in the past that mis-use of a product can cause restrictions on that product.However just because you participate in something doesn't give you the right to decide how everyone else gets to participate.That should be decided by a majority. Comps are not necessarily bad if there are reasonable safety rules in place.There will ALWAYS be Darwin award candidates who push the limits and YOU will never change them. Vaping is now seen as a revenue source by big corp and big gov so it's already going to be regulated and taxed but even if it's banned there is enough info on this site alone for people who are determined to keep vaping to do so. And by the way,if you're treated like crap for doing something you shouldn't judge the actions of others who do it. Maybe it's just your attitude about it since I and a lot of others have had good reactions from the public in general and even the local police.

Even a VTC 4 would be nice to see.

I'd like to see someone do this with a vtc5

A good reason to choose IMR over Li-ion batteries. IMR will vent and the chance of exploding is slim if your mod has proper venting in place.

Banana and some dark Chocolate are ones I have found so far. Anise will as well.

I frequently have the same problem. sometimes if you set them aside to steep for a bit, that can help. I find when I am having trouble with my taste buds I try to mix up something new. then when I go back to my favorites they taste good again. I vape a lot of coffee type flavors, so if I switch to fruit flavors for a few days, that seems to help reset my taste buds.

Vodka is like pledge lol. Cleans it all up

LMAO!

Great info I've been thinking about DIY and after all these great posts I'm definitely going to give it a try.

Hi, I have 3 questions for my DIY attempt: Question 1: Do any of you know the TYPE of flavorings which you guys use for DIY Eliquid? I'm using flavoring for bakery. Is that ok? The flavor somehow "taste" diluted, no matter the percentage of volume I use. I know most of you refer to flavorings by brand name, Lorann ..etc. But are those branded flavors for bakery too? Question 2 Most commercial Eliquids have a bit of sweet taste to it. Mine is pretty bland and tasteless. I used some Sorbitol and Stevia as sweeteners but still not enough. Question 3: Throat Hit (TH). I know most people say it's from nicotine and some say it's from PG. My DIY Eliquid has no TH at all. Some pointers? IN my country, ordering nicotine is totally illegal. I extract nicotine directly from tobacco by boiling etc etc.... Please help. I'm getting really frustrated with my DIY attempt . Thank you in advance.

yeah ive added some drops to some stuff i got form vendors. Also one thing I wondered about is how do you know if something needs to steep. I never understood that. I noticed some of the bottles ive made changed to a more deeper yellowish/orange color after a few days, and even though none of them are brownish in color, they leak out of my carto sometimes brown in color out the bottom

I also use 30% on apple pie. and a drop of cinnamon and sometimes a little of something else. This is the only flavor I go that high on and it is one of my favs too. I've been meaning to get Tiramiso but I keep forgeting to add that one.

I really like flavor Arts Apple Pie (one of my favorites), no perfumy taste, Flavor Art Tiramisu- also a bit sweet. Both of these I use up to 30 % flavoring and no perfume. The most perfumy is the fruit type flavors. The best for fruit for me is Lorann watermelon--really concentrated and sweet. I like flavor west chocolate mint...mixes great with coffee flavors. For sweeteners, I use marshmallow flavoring. For cheaper rates you can go straight to the manufacturer...Both Perfumers apprentice and Flavor west have very good Marshmallo. Caramel is another great sweet type flavor....perfumers apprentice and flavorart are my favorites there. The real fruit type flavors are the hardest to mix with....they just never seem to taste quite right to me.

Flavourart apple pie tastes great and I use over 20% of the total volume of the mix. Flavourart dark vapure needs only about 2%. Many Lorranne flavors are really strong also but they all vary from flavor to flavor. Most tobacco flavors are really strong. One that isn't and tastes real good to me is Flavorwest cumarin pipe which I use at 20%..

Thank you for the info. Answered exactly what I was looking for. Thanks again.

DIY still remains my passion and obsession. Common sense always has to prevail. The last 2 1/2 years have brought so many changes.....its worse than computer technology (for me anyway). Currently I still stick to those vendors I have been using since (almost) the beginning of my vaping adventure. When I first started vaping, the selection and vendors was very simple and very few, now, new stuff is popping up at every corner. I figure, I might as well stick with what works for me. I still love mixing almost as much as I love vaping.

Thats awesome! i cant wait to start. im new to vaping well about 5 days new. Ive ordered enough e-juice to last about 4 months. but when i start something i want to know everything about it. im a research hound and a big DIY guy sort of speek. i know there has to be a cheaper and easier way to do this. the instructions are gold and i cant wait to start. thanks for the great info!

Thanks MaryAnn. I've got that on my list! I haven't done much mixing lately....haven't had the time, plus bought the full sampler from VT! Have to vape that down before I splurge again Hope to see you soon! B!

Kitsune, I think you may have created a mixing monster!! With all the talk, great advice, recipe calculators, and where to go for larger quantities of Nic Juice at a good price (Thanks Brian-another forum on this board, the weekend after thanksgiving will be one of trial and error. After scouring all the stores around here for Lorann's, bottles, etc etc.. I resorted to two hours of online hunting and shopping! Let me know if I've left anything out of my "basket" -Nic Juice 48mg, 125 ML -20 10ml bottles -5 Lorann flavors - none with oil- I like sweet so (Grape, coconut, crem de menth, rootbeer, chocolate)- Hoping for "Mounds" flavor with the chocolate and coconut (oh and wiltons clear vanalla extract- water, alcohol, artificial flavors)- they had that at Michael's- is it okay to use?? -177 ML Humco VG I've vaped so much today through all of this that I'm on my 3rd ego battery!!

Now everyone can see why I've been calling you the "Queen" of mixing. Our resident "mixologist". This is great information Kitsune a really great post. Anyone who is interested in mixing will do wonders if they just pay attention. I for one am grateful to you for your help and information. A big +1 Keep up the good work.

"With the menthol--using just 1-2 drops/3ml will give a nice cool throat hit without tasting like menthol." I cannot stress this tip enough!! I literally do this with every single juice I mix up... or for another option, I will add it to pre-mixed e-juice that I have already bought from a supplier that's just sitting in my stash of "ok" juices. (this will often times make them great to vape!) AND, to kick all of this up a notch... I will often times use cinnamon concentrate in the same exact fashion! Great tips Kits!! +1 !!