Choosing & Safely Making D-juice

Intro

Here we'll describe how to choose and make uncontaminated D-juice blend to suit your vape tool, using a blend of freebase dimitri, Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerine (VG). Other carrier fluids such as PEG400, terpenes etc will not be discussed. 

IMPORTANT - all pics on this page are simulated using common household chemicals (motor oil, turps, candlewax and butter). Genuine djuice is not shown here or anywhere else on this site.

VG Properties

• Dimitri is practically insoluble in VG (Vegetable Glycerine), although if a dimitri/VG mix is sufficiently heated and stirred the dimitri will melt and spread evenly through the VG, giving the false impression that it has dissolved.

• Adding VG thickens the mix if the mix is kept at lower temperatures, which can act to reduce leaks in some circumstances

• The viscosity of VG increases considerably with reducing temperature (i.e thickens as it cools), emerging from -18°C freezer as a thick, almost solid gel

• A thicker juice mix will travel slower in the wick as a result of reduced capillary action, potentially increasing the risk of juice starvation in some circumstances

• Subjectively, adding VG may make soften the vapour on the throat and lungs, and (from recent comparison tests) may even benefit the carrier properties of the juice - (i.e. transporting the Dimitri to the lungs without breaking down and allowing partial condensation in the airways en-route to lungs)

Choosing Your D-Juice Mix

Your chosen mix depends upon your vape tool plus your own individual preference. For example...

Vape Cartridges 

A common cart mix is a 1:1 using 500mg of dimitri dissolved in 0.5ml of 100% PG, making a total d-juice volume of ~0.95ml, which will conveniently fit into a 1ml cartridge. However significantly stronger ratios are possible. I have personally verified that ratios as high as 2:1 (for example 800mg dissolved in 0.4ml) are possible to dissolve at room temperature.  A tek for max strength carts is outlined here.

'Sub Ohm' Atomisers

These devices have a much more abundant airflow (Direct To Lung) and higher available Wattages than carts. Therefore, it's common to use a weaker dimitri mix, and perhaps some added VG (as much as 50% of the ejuice). 

• Rebuildable 'sub ohm' atomisers (wire RTAs)  Preferences can vary widely but, I myself prefer a 1:4 (e.g. 500mg of dimitri dissolved in 2ml of 60PG/40VG)

• Rebuildable 'sub ohm' atomisers (mesh RTAs) Depending upon the mesh fitted, scope exists for using weaker mixes and using a higher wattage to maintain vapour potency, I have used a full width(6.8mm) #150 mesh, d-juice 1:5 with mid 40s Watts and higher on a 6 sec toke with very smooth results.

• Non-Rebuildable 'sub ohm' atomisers  The pre-manufactured disposable coils that fit these devices vary considerably in resilience to heat damage, but generally far less resilient than rebuildables. In general, a stronger mix of 1:2 to 1:3 is preferable to maximise the life of the coil by enabling lower Wattages to produce required vapour strengths.
  Here's the difference between rebuildable and non-rebuildable sub-ohm atomisers

For example...

- 1:2.5, try 750mg of dimitri dissolved in 2.1ml of 70PG/30VG, making a total d-juice volume of ~2.7ml

- 1:3,    try 660mg of dimitri dissolved in 2.0ml of 70PG/30VG, making a total volume of ~2.5ml

• Pod systems - the power (Wattage) and airflow of pod systems varies so much. Some research & experimentation will be required for your device

Clogging & Filtering

This is a major issue with dimitri-based ejuce vaping methods, its severity appears directly related to the purity of the dimitri used to make the d-juice. Impurities that cause clogging seem far more abundant if higher temperature pulls are used in the extraction process, which will results in waxy yellow or even brown produce. However, even if it appears pure and white clogging can still occur, although it's severity may not be sufficient to warrant potential filtering losses.

Symptoms of clogging include...

• In cartridges - sharply decreased potency with increased vapour harshness. Carts appear to recover if allowed to rest, only to quickly re-deteriorate during or shortly after the first toke. Burned taste and burnout results if vaping is continued. If badly yellow/waxy dimitri is used to make the d-juice (without filtering), expect a 1ml cart to be useless even before it has run empty.

• In "sub ohm"  tanks - decreasing potency and dimitri vapour being replaced by an oily lingering smoke. Increasing harshness, burned wicks and risk of unpleasant dry hits despite tank still containing sufficient reserve.

How Do I Know If It's worth Filtering?

The disadvantage of filtering is potential losses in the filter itself (see section below on minimising losses). However, if any cloudiness is visible in my solution of dimitri/PG (before adding any VG) then I will filter. If the unfiltered mix is crystal clear without any cloudiness (a yellow tint is perfectly acceptable) then I will not to filter. 

Filtering To Prevent Clogging

Fortunately, we can use a 1µm syringe filter to clean a solution of PG/dissolved dimitri (prior to the addition of VG), to practically eliminate clogging.

Note: the end of a cotton bud sliced off and pushed into the blunt tip can suffice in place of the filter (see the video at this point  clicking on this takes to the part that describes how to use cotton buds)

Despite the effectiveness of filtering, I still prefer to use as clean dimitri as possible so as reduce the rate at which filters clog and need to be replaced.  The filtering process is described as an optional step in the next section.

How to Make The D-juice

As an example we'll use the same 1:3 (70PG/30VG) mix described above for the non-rebuildable 'sub ohm'.

For this we'll use ...

• 660mg of dimitri

• 2.0ml  of 70PG/30VG (1.4ml PG and 0.6ml VG)  

Which makes a total d-juice volume of ~2.6ml from the formula above -  (0.9 x 0.66) + 2)

Required Items (for links, see section at bottom of this page)

• individual bottles of PG & VG (pre-mixed no-nic PG/VG may be used if not filtering), use and type of flavouring is optional

• 1ml glass luer-lock syringe with 14ga blunt tipped needle

• 1 (or 2 if filtering) small glass vial(s) (3-5ml is good)

• if filtering, 1µm syringe filters (0.45µm is just about OK if the dimitri is non-waxy) preferably 13mm diameter. Membrane types glass fibre or PTFE have been tested OK, but some others (e.g. Cellulose Acetate (CA) ) reported as incompatible with PG, see membrane compatibility chart

• weighing scales. Lab quality is unnecessary, as long as they'll weigh out a gram with roughly ± 50mg accuracy

Mixing Procedure

1.  Funnel the dimitri into a glass vial (3-5ml is a convenient vial size)

2.  Add the ejuice to the vial.   If intending to filter, don't add any VG yet - just add approx 1ml of the PG to the vial, save the remaining ~0.4ml to flush the filter/syringe at the end. However If you're not intending to filter, slowly add the entire 2ml PG/VG mix, tamping down and stirring as necessary

3.  At room temperature, allow the dimitri dissolve. If very pure, it will dissolve in PG at room temp (typically less than 10 minutes for the lower concentration we have here). Anything that doesn't dissolve at room temperature after an hour or two with occasional stirring can be considered as impurities and best left floating. Gentle heat won't hurt, but it's unnecessary.  Above all - don't use heat to force dissolve stubborn bits or a thick gel will be the likely result upon cooling.

Skip steps 4 and 5 if not filtering

4.  Suck up some dimitri/PG mix into the syringe. Then attach the filter, slowly inject the contents into another vial. Go slowly to avoid damage to the filter membrane. Repeat until all the PG/dimitri solution has been filtered. If the freebase dimitri was especially impure, the filter may clog and need replacing to complete the process

5.  Now remove the filter and inject the pure PG we saved in step 2 into the vial that just contained the unfiltered PG/dimitri and stir to capture any remaining d-juice. Then still without filter attached, suck this up into the syringe. Reattach filter and inject into the filtered juice vial. This step is useful to reduce the amount of residual dimitri lost in the vial, filter, syringe and needle.

6.  Add the 0.6ml of VG into our dimitri/PG solution and shake vigorously to mix. Stirring is OK if necessary, but there will be a slight loss as the mix is quite thick and some will adhere to the chosen mixing tool.

7.  Your D-juice is now ready to be transferred to your vape tool.

New tank? Get to know it with just pure PG first - arguably better to find incorrect assembly, missing seals, misaligned coils, cause of leaks etc with pure PG rather than your costly D-juice

Storing D-juice

Djuice seems fine to be kept at room temperature in a dark place for weeks, although reports of darkening of colour has been received.  For longer term storage I use the freezer (in glass vials, which themselves have been placed in small baggies) and have never experienced crystallisation occurring with dimitri/pg mixes of 1:1 or weaker at the -18°C standard temperature. Note: I've never performed any practical experiments to gauge the neccessity of refrigerated storage and therefore my procedures may be overkill.

For part-filled cartridges consider the following:

1.  At any time the cart is not in use,  I recommend storing carts inverted (i.e. mouthpiece lowermost), which has proved 100% successful for  prevent leaking from the usual location (an over-saturated wick dripping down through the air inlet holes adjacent to the 510 screw connector). Just take care that both mouthpiece seals are in place and the cap is properly screwed on. 

2.  For mutli-month storage or longer, consider sealing the cart in a baggy, leaving the d-juice inside but stored inverted in the freezer. 

For part-filled 'sub ohm' tanks multi-month storage

This will depend on your confidence in how leak-proof the tank is. For my rebuildable atomisers (Kylin Mini v2, Zeus X and Arbiter 2) I'm happy to leave them filled, provided they are stored upright in the freezer. The worst I've had has been a flooding resulting in a gurgling sound upon re-vaping.

However, with my non-rebuildable Zeus, I would probably drain as much as possible before storing in the freezer as in step 2 above for the carts.

Kit Links

for Zeus kit links, see the links section on the Zeus Atomiser page

If you're using a VPN, you may need to bypass this to get these links to work. Please report broken links to Minty

• 1µm 13mm diameter Syringe Filters be sure to select the 1µm version

• 1ml Glass Syringe from Wish, Aliexpress. Higher quality syringes (recommended)  Aliexpress, Ebay

• 14ga blunt tip needle from Wish

• 3ml/5ml glass vials from Wish 

• Propylene Glycol (PG) from UK Ebay

• Vegetable Glycerine (VG, Glycerol) from UK Ebay

• Weighing Scales from Wish. My guess is that the 0.001 to 10g option is better for what we want rather than the 0.001 to 100g version