Absolute line: Naked vanilla..

[stardust.hero]

Wait so I am getting these terminologies wrong huh. So the visions like the stardust and mini nova are clearomizer tanks not cartos?

I am very satisfied with the mini nova. I am reall curious to see what everyone prefers. I've used the vision stardust and I loved it because of it's great vapor production and flavor but it leaked and couldn't be cleaned so I switched to the mini nova and I love it (it's only downfall IMO is it seems to mute the flavors a bit). I am curious to try other versions but I'm hesitant as I really like the performance of the mini nova so far. It's very reliable and doesn't leak at all.

 

[orbach]

Yes, cartomizers are generally aluminum narrow cylinders that include an atomizer (coil) surrounded by some sort of absorbent mesh that acts as a wick. These can be used stand alone or inserted into a tank. When inserting in a tank you punch holes on the sides of the metal cylinder to allow juice to seep from the tank into the tube and be wicked up by the mesh. The clearomizers do not have this mesh, but have distinct wicks instead. The word "tank" can be confusing because it is used to refer to both cartos and clearos, to describe larger capacity devices. The Stardust is a clearomizer, while the Vivi Nova is a clearomizer tank. The mini Vivi is something in between. The T3 looks in shape like a Stardust but has much larger capacity so it further blurs the terms. The Boge (sp?) is a cartomizer which can be punched and inserted into a cartomizer tank. A cartomizer and its tank are two independent units, while a clearomizer tank is one integrated unit.

BTW, the Stardust comes in two forms. The sealed Stardust is the one you've tried and I had the same experience, too much leaking and hard to clean. But it also comes as the Stardust Replaceable, which can be taken apart and the heads cleaned, dry burned, and replaced, like the mini Vivi Nova. The Stardust Replaceable works much better than the sealed Stardust in my experience.

You may want to try the bigger Vivi Nova. It uses the same heads as the mini Vivi but it is easier to refill, the mini Vivi being a little tight at the opening. I am just trying the mini Vivi for the first time and the bigger Vivi may just vape a little better. Too early for me to reach conclusions yet.

Edit: After vaping a fill and a half on the mini I would say it is as good as the bigger Vivi Nova, which makes sense as they use the same head.

Wait so I am getting these terminologies wrong huh. So the visions like the stardust and mini nova are clearomizer tanks not cartos?

I am very satisfied with the mini nova. I am reall curious to see what everyone prefers. I've used the vision stardust and I loved it because of it's great vapor production and flavor but it leaked and couldn't be cleaned so I switched to the mini nova and I love it (it's only downfall IMO is it seems to mute the flavors a bit). I am curious to try other versions but I'm hesitant as I really like the performance of the mini nova so far. It's very reliable and doesn't leak at all.

 

[TamJeff]

I think that it depends on a few different variables with regard to clogging. If you measure it in terms of vapor production instead of time, it's a wash, really. I get nearly 3 days heavy use from a carto that's just over a dollar so price wise it's not so shabby either. I have some VG/PG juices and first thing I notice is less vapor.

Also, on hardware that takes a bit to 'break-in', VG is faster. It also seems to hit more consistent for longer periods of time. Only time I think VG might be a little ornery is when using it on devices you have to hold the button down forever, or those with less than adequate air flow. I think VV uses distilled water as a thinner for VG and the water component is part of what I like about VV juices. Water is also a decarbonizer by way of steam, so it probably helps mitigate the clogging issue in part. More vapor is going to equal hardware getting dirtier faster, regardless. I'm sufficiently spoiled by VG now and less vapor is just not going to cut it so, it is a sacrifice I am willing to accept and a small price to pay, comparatively.

I'm sitting here vaping 4 month (maybe more) old KCM right now and I have to pause typing until I can see the screen again. You could almost cut the fog with a knife.

 

[stardust.hero]

Oh wow, thanks orbach for that serious explanation. I know the stardust comes in the cleanble model now as well but I read that you cannot clearly see the coils when dryburning so I was hesitant to buy since the only way I know I've successfully dryburned and aren't over dryburning is by seeing the coils. I know the Kanter T3 is similar to the stardust rebuildable except it has a bottom coil. I was interested in that as well.

Are you noticing a considerble muted flavor on the mini nova? Would you recommend me give the rebuildable stardust a try because I did like the stardust original due to it's great flavor (only downfall was the leaking and ofcourse cleaning but the rebuildable would fix that issue). What about the Kanger? Do you have experience with that?

I'm not having any problems with my mini nova at all with VV juice and vaping in general. It produces a great amount of vapor, good hit (I don't like the burny throathit so much so if it mutes it which it seems to I prefer it), and it doesn't leak at all, it's cleanable and rebuildable. The only con I have is it mutes flavors but I am quickly learning to work around that by purchasing flavors that are strong and prominent and combining them with other strong prominent flavors to create a vape that has very prominent identifiable flavors.

BTW sorry to hit you with all of these questions. I'm sure they could or should be discussed in the hardware section but I feel comfortable on the VV section and I think it's relevant if we're discussing it in regards to vaping with only her juice as flavor delivery via clearo is a factor.

LOL TamJeff I am actually noticing the vapor being serious. Our room tends to get full of it worse than if we had been smoking cigs lol. The vapor takes a while to dissipate so the room gets quite foggy lol.

EDIT: most of these questions have been explained in the other thread so thanks so much orbach <3.

 

[RedHen]

No I do the dryburn after cleaning an empty clearo not with any juice. So I'll take everything apart and wash it and put it all on a papertowel and then wash the wicks extra good by putting them under running water and taking off the silicone cap and let the water wash inside too.

Then I'll blow the water out of the top mouthpiece and the tube and then I'll blow through the hole on the bottom piece to get the water out of there and dry the wicks with a papertowel and then I'll connect only the bottom piece with the wick to the battery without replacing the silicone top while it's empty and dry (well semi dry because I just washed it--it's still kind of damp) and hold the button for 3 seconds while watching the coil around the wick inside the cylinder.

It usually won't glow on the first 3 seconds so I'll hold it for 3 seconds, let go for like another 5 seconds and then repeat for 3 seconds. If it's not crudded up too bad repeating the 3 seconds like 2 or 3 times I'll see the coil glow orange. If it's really crudded up I just continue to 3 second dry burn let cool and repeat until the coil on the inside glows orange then I know the crud is all off the coil and it's good to go so I'll screw all the mostly dry parts back together and fill it up and that's it.

Have you dry burned it to where you're seeing the coil turn orange?

Sorry if excessive explanations are excessive lol.

Yes, that' exactly what I do... every day.

 

[stardust.hero]

I have no idea why it's clogging for you then :-\. I'm not experiencing any problems with the mini nova other than muted flavor. That's awful that you're not getting a good vape out of it since I've found it to perform great. I was experiencing the darkening/clogging problem before I learned how to clean it properly but since then I haven't had any problems. I hope someone can shed some light on it since I personally think it's a great performer.

 

[orbach]

Redhen, maybe you are very sensitive to taste and taste the smallest deterioration in flavor and the coil isn't really that gunked up. Given your attention to flavor detail in your excellent reviews, I suspect this may be the case.

Edit: I think I misread your post. So this gunking issue is only with the mini Vivi Nova? I only started using the mini yesterday for the first time and haven't looked at the coil yet. I just filled it for the third time and it is still vaping very well. I am a chain vaper. Maybe since you don't vape all that much it has to do with the unit sitting around for longer times unused. I will post the state of my coil when I clean it in an hour or two. BTW, the Creme Caramel is excellent, the sampler is almost all gone :-(

Yes, that' exactly what I do... every day.

 

[stardust.hero]

I just cleaned the BFs mini nova which he tends to neglect worse than me. It was gunked up but burned off nicely after a few tries. Perhaps you are right about Reds attention to detail.

 

[cherrycakes]

lol I have to clean my husband's stuff too

 

[stardust.hero]

He let it get pretty crudded up too! His coils are all brown but I was able to save it. I love the novas and their resiliency. I wanted him to switch from the original stardust (lower ohm) to the mini nova (because he was wasting and leaking too much of our juice) and I thought he'd hate it because of the cooler hit and muted flavor but he got used to it and loves it. I just have to clean it for him.

 

[DesertHogRider]

He let it get pretty crudded up too! His coils are all brown but I was able to save it. I love the novas and their resiliency. I wanted him to switch from the original stardust (lower ohm) to the mini nova (because he was wasting and leaking too much of our juice) and I thought he'd hate it because of the cooler hit and muted flavor but he got used to it and loves it. I just have to clean it for him.

LOL...I got my hubby switched from those damned disposables to the mini Nova too.....AND I have to clean his gear too....spoiled boys

 

[RedHen]

Nope, both my regular and mini vivi gunk up completely after 2 ml :\

 

[orbach]

Hmm, I'm at a loss. My regular Vivi doesn't gunk up and I've vaped three tanks of Plum Crazy already.

Nope, both my regular and mini vivi gunk up completely after 2 ml :\

 

[DesertHogRider]

Definatly weird....

 

[orbach]

RedHen, I should've asked sooner. Is the gunk happening with all juices? I read above you mention three that are especially bad. I have a small bottle of Vanilla Latte and I will try this on a new Vivi head and post my results in a couple of days.

Nope, both my regular and mini vivi gunk up completely after 2 ml :\

 

[RedHen]

So far it has happened with Root Beer Float, Bella (not as bad), KVM, KCM, CKM.... all darker juices. Maybe I should try a clear juice and see what happens.

 

[MPage]

The only one my KVM does not clog as much is the mini Nova.. odd how this seems to differ for others.

I only use a basic ego battery and 2.4-2.8 head with KVM. Have you tried a cooler head of 3.2?

 

[SunshyneGurl]

Red... I suspect the problem may be that you are vaping your VN till it is almost empty before refilling. I did some research when I first started using them and after a little experimentation of my own I learned that it's best to NEVER let your juice level get to less than 1/3 of the entire tank size.

The best suggestion I have is to let it get to about 1/3 juice and just add more as needed. I've refilled both my mini VN and reg VN at least 3-5 times yesterday alone! They WILL taste a little funky or "off" if you let the juice get too low. You vape way too little to necessitate having to clean it out after 1 day.

 

[DesertHogRider]

I wonder about battery output too Sunshyne...have you any experience with that? On Reds reviews there are "sweet spots" I mostly use old school 900, 1000 & 1100 mah batteries. They last me so long between charges. I can use my clearo, filling several times a day, for way over a week without nasty burn taste. I just got the twist Saturday....curious about output settings with such delicate juices.

 

[SunshyneGurl]

Red, I'm just curious how you know that your VN is gunked up after 2ml without taking it apart and draining the juice you have in it?