Did my first vivi nova mini rebuild...

[Big Mac]

Howdy folks,

i rebuilt or I should say, replaced the wicks on 2 minis for the first time and its a success for me, yahoooo.

Used 32 gauge kanthal, wrapped wire on 18 gauge needle, one with 5 wraps, the other with 6, squeezed the coils together, and the springiness of the wire opened the coils up just right. Installed it while still on the needle. Use thread, inserted thru coil, pulled thru then back in the way it came out to create a loop. Pulled thru 4 strands of 100% cotton crochet thread ( after a complete boiling and drying). One has a 1.7 the other 1.9 resist.

Loaded up the 1.7 on the lavatube and it hits and tastes great! Tried it on my puck, great. My only problem, I'm using juice at a rate of 2ml ever 2-3 hrs. Now, I'm a heavy vaper, but not that heavy.

i read some of the posts about drilling out the center post and one hole in the base and plugging the other in the base of a full size Nova. Does this actually cut down on the juice consumption? Is there other ways I should try, or am I just gonna be sucking down the juice at that rate. Is it different with the minis?

appreciate your assist,


Big Mac

 

[PepNYC]

So how many wraps would ya need for a 2.4 resistance?

 

[Big Mac]

Howdy,

Being new at re-wicking and wrapping a coil, I'm not even close to being up on everything, but..... After all the reading I did before buying stuff to do the rebuild, to get to 2.4 I believe you are going to have to use a different gauge wire. To get to the resist you want, using the 32 gauge would probably take 8 or 9 wraps, and there just isn't the room available on the vivi mini to fit that many wraps within the head...at least I don't think so. The 34 gauge wire has a bit more resistance associated with it than the 32 ( I compared the resists listed at DVs site on the wire they sell) so maybe using that and 5 wraps on your first attempt should get you close. Please check around, cause like I said, I ain't no expert by any means.

Good luck, let me know how it goes!

Big Mac

 

[PepNYC]

Howdy,

Being new at re-wicking and wrapping a coil, I'm not even close to being up on everything, but..... After all the reading I did before buying stuff to do the rebuild, to get to 2.4 I believe you are going to have to use a different gauge wire. To get to the resist you want, using the 32 gauge would probably take 8 or 9 wraps, and there just isn't the room available on the vivi mini to fit that many wraps within the head...at least I don't think so. The 34 gauge wire has a bit more resistance associated with it than the 32 ( I compared the resists listed at DVs site on the wire they sell) so maybe using that and 5 wraps on your first attempt should get you close. Please check around, cause like I said, I ain't no expert by any means.

Good luck, let me know how it goes!

Big Mac

Thanks Mac. That sounds about right. I did a little experiment and 4 wraps with 32 Kanthal yielded me 1.8 ohms while 5 wraps with the same wire gave me 2.1 ohms. Some higher gauge wire and more wraps should get me where I want to be. Now I just have to figure out whether to get 34 or 36 gauge to get my desired resistance. I'm trying to get it above 2.4 ohms. I'll let ya know when I figure it out. Thanks again!

 

[Big Mac]

Howdy Pep,

Yeah, I would appreciate any info you can pass on. I'm gonna recoil one tomorrow or the next day, and add another wrap, want mine to be in the low 2s. I'll let ya know what happens.

Big Mac

 

[PepNYC]

Howdy Pep,

Yeah, I would appreciate any info you can pass on. I'm gonna recoil one tomorrow or the next day, and add another wrap, want mine to be in the low 2s. I'll let ya know what happens.

Big Mac

Will do my friend. I just ordered some 34 gauge wire and a little thicker wick. I think the combination of the two should yield a bit higher resistance. I might just go all out and get some 36 gauge wire as well. Luckily this stuff is cheap so trial and error isn't much of an issue. I'll keep ya posted.

 

[PepNYC]

Ok. So here's the update. Just got the 34 gauge nichrome and the 2mm square braided 1/0 wick. Just made a coil for the nova using 6 wraps and got a reading of 2.8ohms. Actually better than I was hoping for. Thought I was going to get around 2.4 ohms. So thicker wire and thicker wick makes the difference. Oh and number of wraps too. Here's a little chart, if you will, of my findings.

32 gauge Kanthal and 6/0, 1mm square braided cotton wick with 4 wraps - 1.8 ohms

32 gauge Kanthal and 6/0, 1mm square braided cotton wick with 5 wraps - 2.0 ohms

34 gauge Nichrome and 1/0, 2mm square braided cotton wick with 6 wraps - 2.8 ohms

 

[Big Mac]

Howdy Pep,

Cool, cool. Sounds like you're at the goal you wanted. I just got finished rewicking a bunch of heads, using 100% cotton crochet thread, using 4 strands, using kanthal a1 32 gauge, and using 6 wraps and getting 2.2 consistently. That I can live with all day long, lol, and the flavor using the cotton is better, IMHO.

Next is to start doing some changes to the head itself to see what differences it can make in juice usage and flavor. Lots of info out there, now to find out if its the same for me as for some others.

Good job Pep. If you try anything else, post it here to share, I'll do the same.

Happy New Year My Friend
Big Mac

 

[PepNYC]

Howdy Pep,

Cool, cool. Sounds like you're at the goal you wanted. I just got finished rewicking a bunch of heads, using 100% cotton crochet thread, using 4 strands, using kanthal a1 32 gauge, and using 6 wraps and getting 2.2 consistently. That I can live with all day long, lol, and the flavor using the cotton is better, IMHO.

Next is to start doing some changes to the head itself to see what differences it can make in juice usage and flavor. Lots of info out there, now to find out if its the same for me as for some others.

Good job Pep. If you try anything else, post it here to share, I'll do the same.

Happy New Year My Friend
Big Mac

The tinkering with this stuff never ends eh?

Same to you. Hope it's just a tad bit better than last year.

 

[Big Mac]

Lol, ya wanna talk tinkering..All the stuff I do to the vivi novas are for my out and about mods. No leaking, good vape, ease of use and maintenance. For the 'at home' stuff I now have a Chobra, 2 x AGA-T, and 2 x DUDs. Started with mesh wicks, now I'm gonna try the hybrid mesh wick ( cotton under the coil with a Peter K type setup for making the wicks and coils ). I've setup and used the Chobra and the DUDs (normal mesh wicks ) and just got the AGAs. Of course I saw a post in the modding forum about de-knurling the AGAs so I've done one of them and will do the other in the next few days, lol. Of course I had to have it match the brushed type finish on the ZMax my wife got me for Christmas. Damn, a nice IBTanked tank would sure look good on all those....they are chrome, need to be brushedddd....and that's just for the stay at home mods and tanks ....MUHAHAHAHA.

You are, of course, completely right about the tinkering aspect of Vaping. It is gonna be never ending....for me at least. Industry is still too new in its infancy to not tinker and try to get to the next level of vaping.

I knew when I got my first 650 Twist, and saw my first modding post, that I was gonna be hooked. I love building stuff that can be useful. I have now built about 5 copper mods, one wood box mod, 2 battery box mods and have 2 more in build and god knows how many weird ones on the drawing boards. Lol..tinkering, HA!

Talk to ya soon Pep,
Big Mac

 

[PepNYC]

Lol, ya wanna talk tinkering..All the stuff I do to the vivi novas are for my out and about mods. No leaking, good vape, ease of use and maintenance. For the 'at home' stuff I now have a Chobra, 2 x AGA-T, and 2 x DUDs. Started with mesh wicks, now I'm gonna try the hybrid mesh wick ( cotton under the coil with a Peter K type setup for making the wicks and coils ). I've setup and used the Chobra and the DUDs (normal mesh wicks ) and just got the AGAs. Of course I saw a post in the modding forum about de-knurling the AGAs so I've done one of them and will do the other in the next few days, lol. Of course I had to have it match the brushed type finish on the ZMax my wife got me for Christmas. Damn, a nice IBTanked tank would sure look good on all those....they are chrome, need to be brushedddd....and that's just for the stay at home mods and tanks ....MUHAHAHAHA.

You are, of course, completely right about the tinkering aspect of Vaping. It is gonna be never ending....for me at least. Industry is still too new in its infancy to not tinker and try to get to the next level of vaping.

I knew when I got my first 650 Twist, and saw my first modding post, that I was gonna be hooked. I love building stuff that can be useful. I have now built about 5 copper mods, one wood box mod, 2 battery box mods and have 2 more in build and god knows how many weird ones on the drawing boards. Lol..tinkering, HA!

Talk to ya soon Pep,
Big Mac

Holy moly. I don't even know what to say. I've just started rebuilding coils. I think thats my limit...for now. I love doing stuff like this and If I had the time I'm sure I'd be out of control. But at least I'm saving a few bucks by rebuilding the coils myself. Plus I can build them to my standards and I'm not at the mercy of the poor QA habits of some of these vendors. Rock on brotha!

 

[DkGanz]

I use a #4-40 machine screw available at any Lowe's or Home Depot. Wrap the wire around it, unscrew(obviously), and compress from the ends to tighten up the spacing a little. The coils come out PERFECT every time! I then pull a doubled up 1.5mm silica wick through with a beading needle and cut the looped end so there are two seperate wicks running through the coil. I lay another 1.5mm wick on top. Vapes like a champ! A 5/6 wrap normally yields about 2.4 ohms, 6/7 about 2.8 ohms. I have done as much as a 9/10(it was a TIGHT fit), but due to the really tight coil spacing it would gunk up in about 4-5 tankfuls. It gave some really warm and flavorful vapor though! I have found that a 6/7 wrap yields the best performance to longevity ratio. The more wraps, the better the performance, but the shorter the life.

 

[DoogieTony]

Howdy,

Being new at re-wicking and wrapping a coil, I'm not even close to being up on everything, but..... After all the reading I did before buying stuff to do the rebuild, to get to 2.4 I believe you are going to have to use a different gauge wire. To get to the resist you want, using the 32 gauge would probably take 8 or 9 wraps, and there just isn't the room available on the vivi mini to fit that many wraps within the head...at least I don't think so. The 34 gauge wire has a bit more resistance associated with it than the 32 ( I compared the resists listed at DVs site on the wire they sell) so maybe using that and 5 wraps on your first attempt should get you close. Please check around, cause like I said, I ain't no expert by any means.

Good luck, let me know how it goes!

Big Mac

Nope, I'm at exactly 2.4ohm with a 5/6 wrap (meaning 6 coils looking from the top, 5 if looking from the bottom)
Also, I've had 10 wraps fit in a nova head (just for fun, but it worked)

 

[DoogieTony]

Thanks Mac. That sounds about right. I did a little experiment and 4 wraps with 32 Kanthal yielded me 1.8 ohms while 5 wraps with the same wire gave me 2.1 ohms. Some higher gauge wire and more wraps should get me where I want to be. Now I just have to figure out whether to get 34 or 36 gauge to get my desired resistance. I'm trying to get it above 2.4 ohms. I'll let ya know when I figure it out. Thanks again!

You can get it above 2.4 with 32ga. But for example 34ga with a 5/6 wrap get me 4.0 ohm.