Any way to change JUST the wick in a Vivi Nova?

[xanderxman]

I was wondering if there was a way to change only the wick in my Nova Mini. I currently don't have a way (or the know-how, yet) to read resistance so a complete rebuild is out for now. I want to try cotton wicks and plan to get what I need to rebuild but right now that is not an option. Anyone try to change the wick while leaving the coil intact?

 

[njay23]

Anyone try to change the wick while leaving the coil intact?

The coil is wrapped around the wick so I think that would be impossible, or nearly impossible

 

[xanderxman]

Not the answer I wanted but it is the answer I feared. Until I feel a bit more confident in building a coil/wick from scratch and until I have a multimeter or a mod that can check resistance I do not want to attempt a full rebuild.

It would be nice if I could find a coil/wick building workshop. I learn so much better in a hands-on environment than from watching videos online. 15 minutes with someone that knows how to do it will help me 100 times more than hours of internet research. Anyone in my local area care to help a completely ignorant coil builder? lol

 

[Unforeseen]

Moved to Assorted PV Topics - tanks

 

[njay23]

The wire and wick are pretty cheap so you could practice without worrying too much about waste. I haven't tried it yet but only because the replacements are pretty inexpensive, but I think the only way to use a cotton wick is to do it yourself. Awww... go ahead and try it, might be fun. My eyes are so bad I think I would have much difficulty.

 

[Bronze]

xander, you can rebuild your own Nova wicks. It is not hard. The YouTube vids are fine. Busardo has a good one. Rockin' Robbie, others. Folks can walk you through it when you get your materials (can tell you what materials and where to get them too), etc.. As for changing the wick only...forget it.

 

[donnah]

Before I attempted to rebuild a coil.. I wanted to see one and try installing it myself. I ordered premade coils (with wicks) at avidvapor for $1 each and was able to practice installing it before I decided to order wick and wire. The only thing about the premade wicks is the coils are extremely small.. no way I could wrap something that small and close.. my coils are bigger and I guess that's why my resistance is so low. I have a multimeter but it's not wanting to work right now for some reason but I can check my resistance on my provari. Be careful recoiling.. if you get a short (which will happen sooner rather than later) you will need a device that won't be harmed.

I am now happily recoiling/rewicking my heads with cotton and it's working pretty good All my coils meter around 1.7-1.8 ohms, so I start them out at super low voltage.. 3.3v and slowly work my way up. Cotton wicks burn easily if the voltage is too high and they're not wet enough. It's taken my quite a bit of trial and error as far as rebuilding and lowering my voltage but it's been fun

and yep.. I watched pbusardo and Rockin Robbie and just did what they did. There is a lot of discussion on "hot legs" since the vivi nova doesn't use non-resistance wire for the legs. I haven't had an issue with that, just the cotton wick burning because the voltage too high. But many are doubling and twisting the legs to reduce the resistance. I just built a coil and I used a cotton ball for the wick and I doubled the legs. I haven't tested it out yet because I only have two vn tanks and as of right now both of them are vaping way too good to mess with LOL.

 

[Bronze]

Before I attempted to rebuild a coil.. I wanted to see one and try installing it myself. I ordered premade coils (with wicks) at avidvapor for $1 each and was able to practice installing it before I decided to order wick and wire. The only thing about the premade wicks is the coils are extremely small.. no way I could wrap something that small and close.. my coils are bigger and I guess that's why my resistance is so low. I have a multimeter but it's not wanting to work right now for some reason but I can check my resistance on my provari. Be careful recoiling.. if you get a short (which will happen sooner rather than later) you will need a device that won't be harmed.

I am now happily recoiling/rewicking my heads with cotton and it's working pretty good All my coils meter around 1.7-1.8 ohms, so I start them out at super low voltage.. 3.3v and slowly work my way up. Cotton wicks burn easily if the voltage is too high and they're not wet enough. It's taken my quite a bit of trial and error as far as rebuilding and lowering my voltage but it's been fun

and yep.. I watched pbusardo and Rockin Robbie and just did what they did. There is a lot of discussion on "hot legs" since the vivi nova doesn't use non-resistance wire for the legs. I haven't had an issue with that, just the cotton wick burning because the voltage too high. But many are doubling and twisting the legs to reduce the resistance. I just built a coil and I used a cotton ball for the wick and I doubled the legs. I haven't tested it out yet because I only have two vn tanks and as of right now both of them are vaping way too good to mess with LOL.

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donnah, quick tip. Find something with a slightly larger diameter than what you need for the wicks you're going to use (I use the shaft on a jeweler's screwdriver). Wrap your coil tightly around it first (I actually use 5 - 7 wraps for my Novas). Squeeze the coil wraps together (all the way) a few times all around. Tweezers are good for this. Makes for a pretty coil. Then slide your wicks through the coil. Yes, you need to be coordinated to do that but it's not that hard. I use single strand legs and don't double them or triple them or anything like that. Sometimes we get too cute with these things. Use Kanthal A1 32 ga. wire and whatever wick material you like. I use silica. I've used cotton...PITA if you ask me and doesn't add a whole lot to the experience. I just keep my stuff clean so I don't worry about wicking issues.

 

[xanderxman]

I want to go to cotton due to all the negative hype I have seen about silica. Those pre-wrapped wicks are silica. Nice though and I appreciate the effort but I don't think those are going to work out. I have plenty of replacement heads but I want to make the change to cotton.

Guess I am just going to have to run to Lowes tomorrow for a multi-meter and grab some cotton wick and kanthal and just jump in. Should be fun.

 

[dragonbone]

I bought an awesome little 'Atomizer/Cartomizer Ohm Meter' for $20 at EmpireMods for my Phoenix RA wnd Vivi Nova. I have a multimeter but just never ever use it. Too geeky tor me lol. I also have a Provari, but don't want to take the chance of damaging it with a faulty carto, so I really love this product. So easy and hassle free. It sits right next to all my other vape gear, and use it with every carto and tank now.

 

[Bronze]

I bought an awesome little 'Atomizer/Cartomizer Ohm Meter' for $20 at EmpireMods for my Phoenix RA wnd Vivi Nova. I have a multimeter but just never ever use it. Too geeky tor me lol. I also have a Provari, but don't want to take the chance of damaging it with a faulty carto, so I really love this product. So easy and hassle free. It sits right next to all my other vape gear, and use it with every carto and tank now.

I'd rather have the multimeter because I use it for a ton of other things besides e-cigs. But you know what, if you aint gonna use it for a ton of other things, then your contraption is perfect for the e-cig user.

 

[LongHaul]

Get on vaperjoes.com there was a post about a multimeter for 6.00 and free shipping


Of course I'm a right wing nut job.....I believe in personal responsibility, NOT government responsibility...

 

[donnah]

I bought an awesome little 'Atomizer/Cartomizer Ohm Meter' for $20 at EmpireMods for my Phoenix RA wnd Vivi Nova. I have a multimeter but just never ever use it. Too geeky tor me lol. I also have a Provari, but don't want to take the chance of damaging it with a faulty carto, so I really love this product. So easy and hassle free. It sits right next to all my other vape gear, and use it with every carto and tank now.

I only use the vivi novas on my provaris. It will give an error code and just not fire if there is a short.

 

[Bronze]

Get on vaperjoes.com there was a post about a multimeter for 6.00 and free shipping


Of course I'm a right wing nut job.....I believe in personal responsibility, NOT government responsibility...

Not sure how the rightwing thing fits in the subject.

 

[xanderxman]

Going to buy a mulitmeter later today. I have decided to jump in with both feet and just go for it. Any recommendations on a good place to buy kanthal and what gauge to buy? I prefer around 2.4 ohms on my coils.

I believe LongHaul's right wing nutjob comment was not a comment at all, BTW. It seems to be similar to a sig banner when people are using Tapatalk to post on forums. I have seen his change a few times since I have been on the forums. I rather enjoyed his MacGyver one.

 

[Bronze]

Going to buy a mulitmeter later today. I have decided to jump in with both feet and just go for it. Any recommendations on a good place to buy kanthal and what gauge to buy? I prefer around 2.4 ohms on my coils.

You can get A1 32ga. Kanthal on e-bay or go to Mountain Oak Vapors (cheaper on e-bay). Wicks can be got at MOV too but I don't like them and they are expensive so I get wick at Carolina Vapes (1.5 mm Glassfibre). Can never get everything at one place. Make sure it is Kanthal and not nichrome. Nichrome is too high resistance. Need any help with the multimeter or recoiling, let me know and we can walk it through with you. It's not hard.

 

[-VapoHolic-]

I recently was fiddling with one of my atty heads and accidently pulled my wick straight through . Also sad to see cant just replace the wick, ohh well just gotta buy a new head no biggie, one day I'll rebuild just not yet.

 

[xanderxman]

You can get A1 32ga. Kanthal on e-bay or go to Mountain Oak Vapors (cheaper on e-bay). Wicks can be got at MOV too but I don't like them and they are expensive so I get wick at Carolina Vapes (1.5 mm Glassfibre). Can never get everything at one place. Make sure it is Kanthal and not nichrome. Nichrome is too high resistance. Need any help with the multimeter or recoiling, let me know and we can walk it through with you. It's not hard.

Thanks for the input. I will probably take you up on your offer to help out when I finally get to doing it.

 

[Bronze]

Thanks for the input. I will probably take you up on your offer to help out when I finally get to doing it.

Here's a vid that you can get started with. Might want to watch the whole thing but the rebuild segment is in the last half somewhere if you want to skip to it. There are other vids too but this one has the best camera work so you can see it a little better.

A PBusardo Tutorial - Vivi Nova Cleaning & Rebuilding - YouTube