Thinning VG...to PG consistency

[liveaboard]

I don't remember where... but seems to me I read somewhere that most recommend thinning VG by 20% with PGA or distilled water... that's what I've been doing anyway...

But then we got the tankos - and with wicking issues it was recommended that you not use more than an 80/20 PG/VG blend...

So... I was wondering... if anyone has experimented with thinning their VG even more to approximate the consistency of PG so that they could use it at higher percentages in their mixes... and if you did... did it solve wicking issues for the tankos

[davej]

Lets bounce some numbers around shall we?

Since the suggested ratio of thinning VG is 20%,
you would add the following amounts of PGA
to your overall mix amount.

40% VG = 8% PGA
35% VG = 7% PGA
30% VG = 6% PGA
25% VG = 5% PGA
20% VG = 4% PGA
15% VG = 3% PGA
10% VG = 2% PGA
<10% VG = why bother adding VG at all?

If you have concerns about "liquid flow", whether it be for tankomizers or otherwise,
just add some additional distilled water into your recipe-

VG amounts over 30% = 3% DW
VG amounts 30-20% = 2% DW
VG amounts less than 20% = 1% DW

Some folks may prefer to use all PGA or all distilled water instead of using both.

Since I can actually taste either ingredient once they get above a certain threshold level in a mix,
I tend to take the blended approach, which helps prevent either one from altering the taste
perception of the mix.

Also note that these amounts get deducted from the total amount to be mixed, not added to.

Failure to account for this properly will result in unintentional "thinning" not only of the mixture, but also the flavor.

[Maddoktor2]

As always, Dave has the best DIY answers and advice!

[liveaboard]

Lets bounce some numbers around shall we?

Since the suggested ratio of thinning VG is 20%,
you would add the following amounts of PGA
to your overall mix amount.

40% VG = 8% PGA
35% VG = 7% PGA
30% VG = 6% PGA
25% VG = 5% PGA
20% VG = 4% PGA
15% VG = 3% PGA
10% VG = 2% PGA
<10% VG = why bother adding VG at all?

If you have concerns about "liquid flow", whether it be for tankomizers or otherwise,
just add some additional distilled water into your recipe-

He's THE man

So can we extrapolate and go with
45% = 9% PGA
50% = 10% PGA
55% = 11% PGA
.
.
.
100% = 20% PGA ?

Now you bring up another question - Is the 20% figure derived from where PGA alters taste perception? Because it doesn't seem to equate to achieving the same viscosity

And is there any reason I can't pre-dilute the VG? For example making a 60 ml bottle of pre-diluted VG I would put in 48ml VG & 12ml PGA? And if I want to dilute further I can add in the DW to this mix so I don't have to worry about flavor loss in the overall recipe...

I just got some new "larger" glass bottles with droppers so I'm thinking about mixing up a batch of prediluted VG - and I share a lot of my juices - so I want to make them vapable by different devices - and -

I use the iPhone mixing app - so I've been pre-diluting my VG and then putting the amount of VG I want in the water/alcohol field - so for example:

Making a 10ml bottle of juice - with 10% flavoring -using 24mg NIC juice to get a 12 mg mix of 70/30 PG/VG:
Nic Juice = 5ml
PG = 1ml
Flavoring = 1ml
VG = 3ml

[davej]

There are obviously multiple schools of thought on the whole VG thinning concept.

And what is best for any particular person is largely dependent upon HOW you mix.

If for example, you use an all VG base mix, then most certainly pre-diluting everything is not only a good idea, it makes working with your liquids much easier.

If you work with a PG base, and add your VG in separately, it is probably also a good idea to thin your VG in bulk.

For various reasons, back when I first started fooling around with DIY, I was using a nicotine base that was a blend of 50% PG and 50% VG. Needless to say this affected not only how I mixed, but how I calculated everything, and how I thinned everything as well. For me it was much easier to calculate the amount of thinning agent to be added as a percentage of the entire mix.

If you wanted the uber technical approach, to determine how much thinning to use on your VG,
you could compare the actual viscosity ratings-

VG = 1.2 Pa·s
water = 1 Pa·s

No need to be a math whiz to see at a glance where the 20% thinning concept comes from!