Seems like another world to me: I reshake blends after a week and adapt as is…
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The process is greatly accelerated by the high shear mixer. Homogenization is a result though some of the products we use are quasi emulsions. Not enough hours in the day but I need to write something which shows the why and how. Video’s at Silverson.com explain homogenization and the high shear process pretty well.
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i just shake my blends and that works.
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@mrpipes just thought I’d let you know that I did a mix tonight using low to medium speed and it worked just fine. No noises or rpm jumps.
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Great. I was wondering. 
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Hey Dan, I’d love to have it when it’s ready. You can PM it here or email it me at the address we’ve been using. Thanks
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Lets start with this:
For cleaning the BEST way, and the way it is designed is to unscrew the rotor and driveshaft and clean and dry. As I said to Muth, its very quick and easy. You just place something through a hole in the stator tube to keep the rotor from turning and then unscrew it. I then dip the parts in a glass of distilled water and shake out the remaining droplets and dry. But I’ve found that even that is not always necessary. For example, if I am mixing a coffee vape and next up is a fruit I remove and clean. Otherwise I run it in a glass of distilled water and shake the few remaining drops out. I never even drink tap water and certainly don’t want to vape it. If I run under a faucet, I wipe and dry the parts. Distilled water is in many concentrates and is of course in VG. In more than three years, I have never cross contaminated a mix with a homogenizer.
As to mix speeds there are so many variables that it is impossible to give a predetermined speed. Viscosity is only one factor. While the mix ratio is important, the device itself… size, type of work head, rotor/stator clearance, mix volume, and the chemical structures of the SUSPENSIONS being homogenized by mechanical forces are all at play. Generally speaking, with the moto tools start at about half speed and watch the mix. Max VG and larger volumes do require higher speeds. The appearance of micro bubbles caused by cavitation, centrifugal force, and hydraulic pressure show that homogenization is being accomplished.
A test that anyone, regardless of method used, is to heat a mix and shine a flashlight from behind. If you see separation between VG and PG in the mix… then it is of course not mixed. VG is a poor solvent which many flavor suspensions have a tendency to separate from. I have always advised against heating nicotine.
I apologize for the lack of clarity in the past. I thought that I had covered things when I guess I hadn’t. However, its seems my nearly four years of being immersed in all aspects of the science and technology of mixing nevertheless gets marginalized as some form of quackery by some.
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Thanks! I’m using Nic Salts now, so I do it like Walt does. I put in everything according to weights, minus the VG. When I’m doing several batches, I do that for all of them first, cap them as I go, then add the heated VG to all, then GC them all, though the VG does cool some during all of this. I did get that part of not heating the Nic from you, except for doing it Walt’s way. He says it has never effected the Nic Salts that he can tell. If you have a better way, then please specify. If adding Nic after GCing, what’s the process to thoroughly mix it in? I guess maybe an 80%+ VG recipe will have enough VG for the VG 100mg Nic Salts to mix in more easily? It’s only 6% of the whole recipe.
I let the homogenized juices cool to RT and then run them for 5 minutes in cool tap water in a dual element Ultrasonic Cleaner. I’ve found that if I let taller bottles lay sideways in the water, kinda floating with all the mix under water, it gets rid of all the tiny gassy bubbles faster. Sometimes I spin the the larger ones around a few times to mix in any bubbles and run them for another few minutes and just leave all of them in there. I still leave them to “settle” overnight, though they are likely already ready to vape.
I have DW from when adding it to thin some recipes, but most of my mixes have enough PG now that I don’t feel I need to do that anymore, especially with the GC now, so I can use DW for GC cleaning. The first time I used the GC, I went GCing from batch to batch by running the GC in that same glass of water for a few seconds and got some contamination of flavors, getting worse as it went on, so now I run it for a few seconds in a cup of tap water, dump that and refill for the next batch. I use two large bowls for that: one with tap water in it and an empty one to dump in. I guess DW would be better for this, but I drink tap water in my coffee all day, with taking meds, etc., so I’ve been using it for in between batch cleaning. That small amount of tap water won’t bother me, unless you think it should all be DW for the GC’s sake. I will, however, clean the GC afterward with DW with your recommended process. Do you think shaking out the DW is enough, or should I blow it all out to dry with my air compressor set to like 25psi?
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I don’t use salts so I can’t advise. The only time I used some I got crawling on the floor puking sick though I think it was a hot mix. When I threw it away it was a thick gel. I use Carolina nic at 1.5 %.
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As the maker I will only advise that you follow my recommendations and none other. They are:
A. Put everything but nic in your mixing vessel. Cap.
B. Heat to 140 F +/- 5 Degrees. Never heat past 160 or the boiling point of alcohol at your elevation.
C. Homogenize
D. Cool down to room temp.
E. Add nic by slow stirring.
F. Use the ultrasonic cleaner to degass. It will disperse the nic evenly.
G. Clean by unscrewing the drive shaft from the rotor and removing them and place all components under running water then dry. I use paper towel which can be rolled up like a pencil and inserted into the tube. I recommend that you do not use shop air unless you have a very good filtering system and even then I would be leery. Sometimes shop air can contain traces of oil. Mine does.
H. Enjoy! 
FAQ’s.
Can you adjust your mix by homogenizing again. Yes, I do this all the time. However, due to the fact that the flavor suspension has been made homogeneous with the VG, I run at slow speed which is adequate when the mix is still warm. Even at a “stir” speed, large amounts of liquid circulate. There is a learning curve to this but being able to immediately adjust a mix can be a huge benefit.
???
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Thanks! So to compensate for the VG cooling down, I can heat it to 145° and maybe 150° after checking the boiling point of alcohol here. Several if not all have Ethanol Flavorings. That will help compensate for the cooling as I make multiple batches and will make homogenizing easier
Instead of stirring Nic Salts into small test batch bottles, I’ll tumble them with both hands over and back vertically several times and sideways both ways horizontally and maybe repeat several times. I used to do that to fresh mixes for a while before shaking. After a few days of that, I’d just shake them, but I did tumble them in different directions while shaking. Say 20 shakes vertical and 20 upside down. I guess I could get a handheld stirrer/frother for that. Whaddaya think?
Walt started using Nic Salts because of throat irritation with Freebase. I had been having a harshness, so I thought I’d try it with 120ml. It’s amazingly clear and completely colorless as compared to the VapersTek Nic I had been using, which got yellow quickly, even in storage at near freezing (33°), but this does not. And my mixes stay clear. So I bought 2 liters of it and it does seem to be smoother.
Wow, 1.5% Nic is pretty low. I’ve thought about reducing to 3%, but haven’t done it yet. I vape like a fiend now at 6%, so I wouldn’t want to see how much more I vape at 3%. 
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