Best mixing measure- syringe or .001 digital scale?

[AlaskaVaper]

I am just beginning to put together a bucket list for a soon to begin DIY adventure. I want to mix my potions as accurately and efficiently as possible. One major question for me is what method of measuring my ingredients should I adopt. I see that there are two main techniques one being to use various syringes to measure out in ml's and another to utilize an accurate digital gram scale to measure ingredient additions by the drop and weight. What are you DIYer's using and why do you prefer one technique over another? An inquiring mind would like to know.

 

[satchvai]

I'm really new to DIY, just over a month, but switched to a gram scale last week and can give you my impressions. Mixing by volume using syringes required a lot of clean up time and some inaccurate mixes when I didn't take into account air bubbles or got lazy with making sure I had the right amount or couldn't see the numbers on the syringes very clearly. With the scale, I've found there is a lot less clean up time and it gives me better feedback on the amount that I am putting in the mix. Plus $25 bucks for a scale is a lot cheaper in the long run than continuing to go through syringes. The less consumables, the better IMO. (I also invested in a 12 pack of glass syringes)

 

[AlaskaVaper]

I'm really new to DIY, just over a month, but switched to a gram scale last week and can give you my impressions. Mixing by volume using syringes required a lot of clean up time and some inaccurate mixes when I didn't take into account air bubbles or got lazy with making sure I had the right amount or couldn't see the numbers on the syringes very clearly. With the scale, I've found there is a lot less clean up time and it gives me better feedback on the amount that I am putting in the mix. Plus $25 bucks for a scale is a lot cheaper in the long run than continuing to go through syringes. The less consumables, the better IMO. (I also invested in a 12 pack of glass syringes)

Thanks, I have had the impression that the scale might be the best way to go so your remarks help a lot with coming to a decision. Would you recommend a .001 or would a .01 accuracy scale be ok. What scale did you get and is it working ok for you?

 

[satchvai]

I got a .01 scale based on a recommendation from a youtube video I saw from New Amsterdam Vapes. Here is the link for the scale: http://www.amazon.com/American-Weig...e=UTF8&qid=1439213114&sr=8-1&keywords=aws+501
( I mixed up his Lemon Blueberry mix in one of his videos. Yummy!)

 

[AlaskaVaper]

I got a .01 scale based on a recommendation from a youtube video I saw from New Amsterdam Vapes. Here is the link for the scale: http://www.amazon.com/American-Weig...e=UTF8&qid=1439213114&sr=8-1&keywords=aws+501
( I mixed up his Lemon Blueberry mix in one of his videos. Yummy!)

Thanks much bro.

 

[classwife]

Moved to DIY e-liquid from General E-Liquid Discussion

 

[dc99]

I actually use both depending on what Im mixing. If its simple strawberry I just grab the needle. If its anything more than that I use scales. Way more accurate to me

 

[twgbonehead]

Scale all the way. Much easier, no cleanup.

 

[chopdoc]

I been mixing around a year now and done it both ways. My personal impression, scale is far easier and faster without all the clean up.
Get a scale that measures .01 and your good to go. On the recommendations of people here I picked up the LB 501 thats linked above and its great. Well worth the price.

 

[jcglz26]

Using the scale, How do you manage with those flavors that don't come with the dropper cap? Don't you have to use one anyways and clean them or throw them away (in case disposable ones)?

 

[sketchness]

Using the scale, How do you manage with those flavors that don't come with the dropper cap? Don't you have to use one anyways and clean them or throw them away (in case disposable ones)?

With a pipette or my old syringes. Doesn't matter if the markings have worn off. Though usually it is pipettes.

 

[chopdoc]

Mixing by weight I use a 50 ml cup and pipettes. All my juices nowadays are max VG so i use the cup for pouring in the VG into the bottle and pipettes for the nicotine and the flavors that dont have dripper tops. Many 4 oz bottles of flavors here so pipettes are required.

 

[Steelgirl]

How do you convert MLs into grams ? I like using a site called e-liquid recipes dot com sometimes. And I thought I saw grams, but now on a recipe i just created, all I see is MLs. I wish e-juice me up which I use ALL the time, showed grams.

 

[Steelgirl]

Never mind, I figured it out (on the e-liquid recipes dot com site). I had to change my preferences.

 

[mhertz]

Both methods are fine; I prefer scales strongly, because of simplicity of operation and no cleanups... I believe pretty much any .01g scale will be good enough for our purposses, e.g. I wouldn't get the widelly recommended lb-501 as it was many times more expensive to get it where i'm at than in the states, so I just bought a cheap 500/0.01g china scale for 20 bucks or so, and it's been perfectly fine and reproducible for my mixes. Later I bought another china scale to have a backup and thats good too...

I would probably pour all non-dropper bottles into there own dropper bottles, but most flavors have droppers, or atleast the ones i've seen/used.

Also, you can e.g. get away by using the cap to hold over the opening of the bottle and then adjust the cap so that there's just a very slight opening which you can then control better the amount that comes out, but it would be better to just place them in there own dropper bottle, or else have designated pipettes for each of those rare flavors... Ok, maybe they aren't rare, I dunno

Edit: Of course bigger flavor bottles often dont have droppers, sorry - I forgot!

 

[Capt.shay]

All these people weighing in on weighing! Six months ago I was told I was being foolish to use
a scale and only people making huge batches should use scales.

I predict that in the near future measuring by volume will be akin to wrapping a coil around a wick
making sure the coils never touch. That's the way we all did it so it had to be the best way.
Now days, newer vapers don't even know that we use to use any thing but micro coils. I believe that
with measuring by weight, we will discover what we once thought of as the "wrong" way is the best way.

 

[crxess]

Hmmmm...........
So no-one is cleaning their mixing cups or Pipettes?
If Ejuicemeup adds Grams I might give it a go.

 

[mhertz]

Ejuicemeup changelog:

[...]
Version 15.0 - 02/28/15
Added grams for weight measuring
[...]

 

[Str8vision]

I started out using syringes, converted to a digital scale. At ~$25 the cost of a 0.01g digital scale is highly competitive. Mixing by weight is easier, faster and more convenient than using syringes, you set a bottle on the scale add each ingredient by weight and... your done! Seal and shake. Syringes w/blunt dispensing needles worked just fine but were more problematic, time consuming, messy and labor intensive. I don't miss the clean-up, sticking plungers, "the" air bubble, being careful not to spill the -open- bottle of flavoring you're drawing from or having to tape/seal the volumetric measurement markings to keep them from smearing off. Fond memories though....

 

[Froth]

Digital scale here and I'm always mixing by weight, I've gone so far as to purchase a bunch of 24-410 twist top bottle caps as these fit directly on the TFA 4oz flavoring bottles and a few others, a dispensing cap on the bottle makes mixing by weight easier for small quantities IMO.