Mixing by weight - flavor weight

That really sounds “odd” I use one of the cheaper scales and often mix batches with 8 different ingredients or more and it has never been confused so to speak. While I agree when measuring only a weight of 0.01 things tend not to register, I would think it wouldn’t register whether it was tared or not. To me it sounds like your doubling the amount of work… having to use a calculator to see what weight you should be at after each addition and having to hit 3-5 buttons on the calculator each time instead of just the one button on the scale. Just me…

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Agreed. I use the etekcity scale and haven’t had a problem with it, but maybe I just got lucky. As far as weighing 0.01 I can’t imagine even trying. Most of my ‘drops’ weigh 0.03g (really more like 0.025 as 4 typically puts me at 0.10). I guess I could squeeze out a tiny bit and dribble it on the edge, but I usually just make sure everything in a recipe is over 0.03g to make my life easier. LoL. That being said, I’m not super anal about mixing. If something is close but under (and not something crazy concentrated like Flavorah Lime), I’ll do another drop. Usually it winds up over, but everything winds up a drop over so in my mind it all evens out. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

Precisely. And speaking of being precise - if 1/1000th a gram precision is cause for alarm, then I say might as well just give up mixing entirely, especially if using any flavors that have any alcohol content because you could lose that much in evaporation by the time the mix is done. At the same time, it’s good to know which flavors in your stash will make that huge difference in taste if using 1 too many or too few drops. I say make a dilution of those flavors because if 1 drop will ruin a mix, a 10% dilution reduces that effect by 90%, am I right? And who here hasn’t ever accidentally squeezed out an extra drop? :slight_smile:

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Haha exactly. I need to do that with the Flavorah Lime. Like I told you in chat, I made Lime Light and wasn’t paying attention. Wound up with 3 drops in a 10ml I think and could only taste lime. :stuck_out_tongue: I remade it recently and did it right. Looking forward to it. :slight_smile:

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Yeah that’s actually 10x as much as I prefer with that recipe (I use 1 drop/30ml). I hope you like it more this go around. But if you used 1 drop for the 10ml, then you’re still 3x what I used. Not sure that’s a bad thing but no doubt it would be far different.

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I did exactly as I said in the other post…just the tiniest little dribble. LOL. I really do need to dilute that stuff. It’s yummy but it is crazy strong.

I usually do it in my head unless its a larger amount or something but I know some of these bottles drops sizes and I know when the scales off a hair… for some reason I can tell I put more than enough drops so why didnt it show as being enough? So I take it off and tare it to zero or turn it off and on and then it reads exactly what its supposed to. Maybe I should just tell etekcitiy send me another…its nice with the case and the space to work on it I really like it! sometimes the container will be sitting there and I wont touch it but it will jump up or down a couple points and stay there. I have had similar problems with other types so I just figured screw taring, my brain will stay a bit more sharp using math to do this lol. Sometimes ill have my kids or someone interrupt the mixing and I can actually figure out where I left off if I have to. I have tried taring just the container itself and adding from there and it works well that way too as long as you remember exactly what the container weighs. Why must little things irritate me so, maybe cuz im so relaxed about the BIG things lol I just hope this isnt contagious!!

Is there a thread or something here that helps people unfamiliar with the more technical mixing processes like diluting strong flavors or making/using flavor bases…tips and tricks are always nice and yeah dilution will help me out im sure, guessing just basically 10% flavoring and rest pg? Some of these flavors I really need to just try solo to get a better idea of how it is but I feel as though 3d mixing has spoiled me… I know 9 times outta 10 I wont vape it more than to taste it a couple times and probably dump it later on.

I know what your saying, sometimes if I lean against my workstation my scale will change a bit, and if I stop leaning it will change again, also sometimes it doesn’t register when I add something for a second or two, then it will suddenly change. I guess I’ve just become accustomed to it.

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I have a really stable desk and dont lean on it or even try to breathe on it (unless im trying to get it to register…lol) and yeah I may just not be used to it either. Some scales may have a slower reaction time too? didnt think about that before maybe ill have to try to wait longer for it to balance out.

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I started out using a blade scale sold on eBay . I loved it but it would only go to 100 grams.I then bought one off of amazon that goes to 500 grams but it is a pain as it takes an extra second to register.Now on large batches I use the small blade for my flavorings and the other for the base.
One day I will break down and buy another but for now it gets me by.
Here are the two I own.

http://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Digital-Kitchen-Stainless-Resolution/dp/B00QFCG5ZQ/ref=sr_1_14?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1464511427&sr=1-14&keywords=digital+scale

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There’s not a single thread, no. You can always search or post a question and I’m sure someone will be happy to help out. :slight_smile:

With diluting, people do typically do a 10% dilution. So for a final of 10ml you’d typically do something like 1g of flavor and 9g of PG. Or ml if you do volume. Or you can always create a recipe, set it to 0 desired strength and 100% PG and add the one flavor at the % you want to dilute it to. It will tell you how much flavor and PG to use for the volume you want to create.

I haven’t done many flavor bases, mostly because I don’t have many recipes that I make large batches of or any ‘stone’ type things that I reuse in a lot of recipes. If you want to turn a recipe into a flavor base, click the blue wrench and click “make flavor base”. Then you can just add the amounts of each flavor that it tells you. Typically the “desired mixing %” is not something you’ll need to change. That is for people who use lots of different flavor bases. You can set it to something higher that is easier to remember, like say 20%, and the recipe will dilute with enough PG so that when you use 20% of the base it’d be the same as using whatever % it would have been. That way you can set all your bases to 20% and only have to remember “I use 20% of base”. If that makes sense. LoL.

I bought a bunch of 5ml bottles to do single flavors in. I didn’t use to test singles, but the more flavors I got, the more I felt I didn’t know them well enough to know which ones I should use. So I make singles and test them for a month and take notes and rate them. It’s helped me get to know them a little better, know which ones I like and which I don’t, how strong they are, and know when to use certain ones. But, that’s just me. :wink:

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Thanks @JoJo for answering that question. I know you also have links for all the good newbie threads too. That requires too many organizational skills for me. :slight_smile:

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When you add a drop or two [mixing by weight] and the scale numbers do not change,
just puff a breath of air on the scale plate, and let it settle down. You should have the correct number then.
I do it all the time.

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Thanks JoJo, My booklet didn’t have that info. Just did my first batches using the scale. It went a lot faster. No more squinting to read the numbers on the syringe! Love it so far, can’t wait for the steep to be over so I can try them.

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Thanks for making me feel a bit better lol …I really feel like its a lot more than a second though :wink:, im thinking more like at least 15-30 seconds and at times you GOTTA blow on it to get it finally balance out. Just sayin, kinda annoying when youre on a roll and dont have much time to mix. I might start using the old smaller one like you @BoyHowdy and just have etekcity send out another anyway, maybe I did just get a bad one. Otherwise I think I may go for the table top AWS one if it reacts a bit faster, maybe someone with one can give me a heads up…???(sorry to revisit this topic lol) I just GOTTA get a different one or this ones gonna drive me crazy!! I use a calibration weight to check it on a normal basis and its almost always off by .01-.04, which really DOES make a difference on the more potent flavors. Another problem its causing is ending up with more juice(likely b/c I tare for pg/vg/nic), I mean I am being exact but it wont fit in the bottle. I know I am anal and honestly this whole DIY adventure has really been teaching me some serious patience but trying to nail a recipe just right and having to make another tester because it wasnt right is just not time/cost efficient for me…neither is waiting for the scale to make up its mind :joy: wooossaaahhhh

All for too much liquid…sadly not all bottles are created equal.

I bought some of the blue 30ml bottles from ecx. They truely hold 30mls up to the top. So when I mix I plan for 27ml.

All my other 30ml bottles, clear and brown, when mixing 30mls there is space left.

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No its not just that its the thinking the recipe is gonna be “perfect” but it ends up off, especially with the strong flavors…The fact they dont fit in the bottles just kind of verified it wasnt being accurate enough for me…sorry im a perfectionist and just cant help it lol. Good news though, that AWS (plug in scale mentioned above) works much better and havent had any problems so far. Bottoms of the mixing containers being curved may not help either but measuring pg/vg first seems to help stabilize it a bit more for when the important part of adding the flavorings comes into play.
I do appreciate all the help here and wanted to say thanks!! Without bein able to ask people questions with similar issues, I would have lost my patience with mixing long ago…

mine times out only using on battery power if I plug in the power adapter it does not time out it stays on until I shut it off

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I don’t tare my scale anymore… I turn it off and back on… Just seems to work for the one I have… I have started using SG’s and populating my notes with them. I’m not sure if that’s a good idea or not… but it seems to help when filling up those 30ml bottles that are exactly 30ml… I only have 150 of them left