Choosing & Making Djuice

Intro

Here we describe how to make D-juice 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 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 it's kept at lower temperatures, which can reduce leaks in some devices

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

• Adding the correct proportion of VG will not only make soften the vapour on the throat and lungs, but (from recent comparison tests) even appears to massively 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).  This doesn't seem to apply to carts, but can make it much easier to obtain a euphoric and colourful dinitri experiece when using sub ohm tanks.  From experience, it will be difficult if not impossible to obtain such trips if using only PG in sub ohm tanks.

Choosing Your D-Juice Mix

Your chosen mix will vary depending 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. However, I no longer use nor recommend Mesh RTAs.

• 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, especially if less selective solvents such as naphtha are used, which 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.

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). Take care not to pack too hard into the blunt tipped needle or it will be hard to push the liquid through, plus it'll be tricky to retrieve upon completion. 

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.

Mixing Procedure

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

2.  Add juice to the vial.   If intending to filter, don't add the 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 not intending to filter, you can 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 in typically 10-15 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, and be wary of the filter popping off under pressure (ime the luer lock can't be relied on). 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 0.97ml 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 darkens over time, and there are mixed reports over whether and how much this affects trip ambience. I've noticed that the use of darkened juice can create a lot of black residue all over and around the coil and inner chambers of tanks.

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 (protected by a baggy). 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

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For djuice kit description and  links, please visit this page