Max VG recipes and sore throat

E-liquids Beginners
21

Were you using a saline solution that has other ingredients in it besides just water and saline?.. All of the store-bought stuff I’ve seen, have a few other ingredients in them…

2 Likes
22

No, they are the medical ampules with no additives… Nothing over the counter. Might just be 2-4% was too much? But I may eventually test with just a couple drops and see if it makes a difference.

1 Like
23

The issue might be the wire you are using. I had the same problem when I started using 24 gauge, went back to 26 gauge and the sore throat issue went away.

1 Like
24

So I am having similar issue as you. Throat is sore-ish, feels weird. Gone in the morning, but comes back. No saline though. Happened once a while ago when I got juice from DashVapes which isn’t steeped at all. I thought it was PG so I started DiYing. First batch I put in ultrasonic for 4 hours (equiv of 2 weeks steep) - No issues. This batch, I have let sit for a week and a half, and this stuffy throat feeling/Short breath is happening again. I don’t think it was the PG like I originally thought, because after 2 months of the DashVapes stuff sitting, I could vape it with no issue. Could it really be that juice so fresh irritates the lungs and throat? Has anybody else found this??

3 Likes
25

I had a weird sore throat when i fist started diy. I let it go for about 2 months thinking it would clear up.It finally cleared up when i switched my nic out for some that was decidedly fresher.

Turned out my first batch of nic was off, smelled like old, dry fish! How’s yours smell?

Also, I’d recommend drinking a ton of water on top of what you think you need. When you start making your own liquid, you might be vaping a lot more than before, and both vg and pg can dry your thoat. We can get dehydrated pretty quickly.

4 Likes
26

Hm. Mine smells just a tad peppery. And yeah, I am vaping more than I was. I started on 6 mg and did that for a year. had some pretty bad panic attacks and so this new batch is 3 mgs.

3 Likes
27

I believe it should be almost odorless if it’s fresh. Peppery is a sign of oxidation, but just a tad peppery should be acceptable. Hopefully someone else can help more.

3 Likes
28

Somehow the correlation seems to be between the two offending juices being really freshly made. But then there are a bunch of Shake and Vape stuff everywhere - So apparently that can be done without throat irritation issues.

3 Likes
29

You are correct! This is why I started with nicotine and hydration.

Best advice is to try a test with zero nic added, see if it still irritates.

Hydration is a given, if you’re already a very good hydrater, you can rule that out. If you’re average, it is a must to up your intake.

Edit: there also could be a flavor concentrate that needs to mellow.

Also, 4hrs in a USC is not equivalent to two weeks steeping! 2 weeks steeping is two weeks steeping!

3 Likes
30

When I quit smoking (even before vaping but also when I started vaping), I started coughing and have throat aches. I don’t understand why but I’ve experienced it a few times and I’ve seen it in others too.
The last time I quit, thanks to vaping, I really had it worse when I started DIY. Everybody’s always talking about PG sensitivity so it’s easy to point a finger at it… but in fact, very few people actually do have a PG sensitivity. Anyways, I jumped on the wagon of Max VG, tried distilled water, vodka, etc, only to return to a 70VG mix, have it steep long enough and enjoy a smooth vape.

I can’t tell whether it’s this or that, but using the same ingredients, I no longer have a sore throat.

Ah… the only thing that I did do, was reduce my vaping. The more you vape, the easier it is to get irritation from it. At a certain moment in time, I was made aware by a number of people that I was constantly vaping, even more than when I was smoking (even though I had the same nicotine intake as with cigarettes). I nearly doubled the nic in my juice, from 3mg to 5mg, and the result is that I vape way less than before.

So if you’re getting irritation, perhaps it’s just your body adjusting to the new environment… I’d say limit your vaping so don’t go for a nic level that is too low for your addiction.

4 Likes
31

This is, of course, highly debatable! I was speaking in absolutes, which is often a good way to stick my foot in my mouth.

Here is a nice thread to accompany my declaration. Ultrasonic steeping.. Ok?
There is a complex chemical molecular thing happening during a steep that can’t be (just can’t be i tell ya!:wink: replicated in 4 hours.

4 Likes
32

I use 70/30 also. I would agree that I prolly vape too frequently and was getting a pounding heart. I looked into it, and apparently nic is a contributor to anxiety, so I went lower nic. I think tho, that with this weird throat feeling and shortness of breath, it has only occurred twice in a whole year, and really my habitual uses haven’t changed, or I would say that it’s from vaping too much.

2 Likes
33

Yeah I know. It certainly helps it along anyway.

3 Likes
34

Just some various thoughts than (may, perhaps) relate to some of your reported experiences above:

If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, May and June are prime pollen season (with both decreasing tree and increasing grass and weed pollens being present in May through June). For the northeastern U.S. :

https://www.vox.com/2019/4/8/18300342/pollen-season-2019-allergies-climate-change

.

Use a tank which gets partially refilled with juice (as opposed to being depleted before refill) ? Note that the PG content is being vaporized more than the VG content - requiring higher temps to produce (VG) vapor:

… evaporative partitioning theory for ideal solutions (i.e. Raoult’s Law) … states that the evaporation rate of each species is proportional to the product of its intrinsic vapor pressure and its mole fraction in the liquid phase. … Because the vapor pressure of PG is much greater than that of VG, vapors evaporating from a 50/50 PG/VG solution must be composed mainly of PG. … Application of Raoult’s law shows that a liquid composed of 7/93 PG/VG is required to produce an aerosol of 50/50 PG/VG composition.

.

Do you think that your coil/wick-interface temperatures exceed ~200 *C (~392 *F) ? Note that Glycerol (VG) begins to decompose into Formaldehyde and some smaller amounts of Acrolein above those temperatures.
Source: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0169811

Here is what OSHA says about (acute and chronic) Formaldehyde exposure:

II. Toxicology
A. Acute Effects of Exposure
Inhalation (breathing): Formaldehyde is highly irritating to the upper airways. The concentration of formaldehyde that is immediately dangerous to life and health is 100 ppm. Concentrations above 50 ppm can cause severe pulmonary reactions within minutes. These include pulmonary edema, pneumonia, and bronchial irritation which can result in death. Concentrations above 5 ppm readily cause lower airway irritation characterized by cough, chest tightness and wheezing. There is some controversy regarding whether formaldehyde gas is a pulmonary sensitizer which can cause occupational asthma in a previously normal individual. Formaldehyde can produce symptoms of bronchial asthma in humans. The mechanism may be either sensitization of the individual by exposure to formaldehyde or direct irritation by formaldehyde in persons with pre-existing asthma. Upper airway irritation is the most common respiratory effect reported by workers and can occur over a wide range of concentrations, most frequently above 1 ppm. However, airway irritation has occurred in some workers with exposures to formaldehyde as low as 0.1 ppm. Symptoms of upper airway irritation include dry or sore throat, itching and burning sensations of the nose, and nasal congestion. Tolerance to this level of exposure may develop within 1-2 hours. This tolerance can permit workers remaining in an environment of gradually increasing formaldehyde concentrations to be unaware of their increasingly hazardous exposure. … B. Chronic Effects of Exposure: … Formaldehyde is a complete carcinogen and appears to exert an effect on at least two stages of the carcinogenic process.

.

My personal approach is to maximize (base) Nicotine concentration (of which I am able to tolerate up to an ~18 mg/ml concentration without much irritation). I also find (in my own experience) that I am able to tolerate a multiplicative product of Power (in Watts) and the Nicotine concentration (in mg/ml) of up to ~120. I vape NETs mostly in a tank system at ~8 Watts, Nicotine equal to ~15 mg/ml. Nicotine flux (in vapor) is limited by temperature, as well as by the PG component present for vaporization. Nicotine is far less expensive than is lung disease. Restricting the coil/wick-interface temperatures also makes for longer lasting wicks and coils.

3 Likes
35

I vape at 65Watts. I really think it’s a matter of the juice being too fresh. I just put my juices in the USC for a couple hours, and I’ll see if that helps. It cant be the flavor because I’ve made this recipe before with no issue. Yesterday when I got home from work I put a juice from last batch and had some relief. I think that means its really the juice, not the environment, nor the hardware.

3 Likes
36

Can you post your recipes that are giving you trouble?

1 Like
37

Well the first time a couple months ago was a store bought. Called Pear Haze which is a 60/40. Was first time having different than 70/30 so I thought was the ratio. but after it sat for a month while I used other juice, I tried it again with no problem. Was 6 mg. This time the juice is a week old 3mg caramel cheesecake flavor. I made this same recipe in 6mg a month ago with no issue - However I put that in the USC for 4 hours before vaping it, unlike this time. 30ml bottle with a few drops cheesecake graham crust, caramel, cream cheese icing, and sweetener. I don’t understand. was fine last time. I my have increased the caramel a little bit this time tho.

2 Likes
38

If you’d like for someone to help you troubleshoot the issue, you need to post the actual brand names, flavor names and percentages used in the recipe. If you have it saved, you can copy the link and paste it here without making it public.

"To share a private recipe, click the blue wrench, then click “Share URL privately” - After this, below “Short URL”, a new field will appear: “URL to share privately”.

You can stop sharing a recipe at any time, by going to the wrench and click “Stop sharing URL privately”. The old URL will no longer work. Re-sharing it will create a new URL." -daath

1 Like
39

http://tjek.nu/r/w9E2

2 Likes
40

Personally I agree steeping is the answer here. Might try experimenting with larger batches to avoid mixing as often to stay ahead. When I mix a larger batch I pull off 30ml since it will steep more quickly. That way you have some to tide you over.

1 Like