Home made coils for the Vivi Nova Clearomizer.

[Boeriemore]

I wish to make my own coils and wicks.
Apparently the most suitable resistance wire is nichrome or kanthal.
Can anyone tell me where I can get the correct wire?
I stay in Durban.
Any ideas on obtaining suitable wick material would also be appreciated.
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[Sarje]

Kanthal 32 is what you need. Haven't managed to find it locally, but costs about R100 for 50m delivered if you get from Ebay. Ordered a couple of times from them and it's here inside a week! Not bad considering they're in Germany..
I'm using cotton wicks and they work great, just remember to prime them with some liquid first as you can't dry burn them. Use 100% cotton candle wick. I ordered mine from the UK, but you should be able to find it locally. Make sure it's 100% cotton and boil it before use. I've seen guys using cotton wicks made from cotton wool balls too. If you're set on the silica wicks, you can get it from the same place as the wire. I'll PM you the Ebay seller details.

 

[Boeriemore]

Thankyou Sarje.

 

[oupa]

Hi Sarje, could you PM me the details for the Ebay seller as well please? Thanks

 

[Boeriemore]

Does anyone know what material the standard Vivi Nova wick is made from?
Whatever it is, I do not wish to use the same type of rope as within a short time the wick at the coil
becomes black and brittle due to the heat and performance deteriorates.

 

[oupa]

Those come with silica wick as far as I know.

 

[Sarje]

Hi Sarje, could you PM me the details for the Ebay seller as well please? Thanks

Done with pleasure Oupa.

 

[Sarje]

Does anyone know what material the standard Vivi Nova wick is made from?
Whatever it is, I do not wish to use the same type of rope as within a short time the wick at the coil
becomes black and brittle due to the heat and performance deteriorates.

They are indeed silica. They do gunk up and get brittle after a while. A lot depends on your juice. If you run it dry, or if you're using really sticky juice it will be worse. You will get the same issue with the cotton though (and even more important you don't run the tank dry).

 

[Berylanna]

Some YouTube demos use cheesecloth, another uses bamboo embroidery yarn. I've tried both, and the cheesecloth tastes GREAT! (I didn't like the taste of the bamboo yarn.)

The recommendation is to cut a piece 30 threads across.

You do need to prime it in the middle and let it sit awhile before using, it starts out wicking slowly then catches up.

DO NOT FORGET to flame the Kanthal with a match or candle then wipe it off before making the coil. If you do forget, then soak the new head in vodka overnight and let dry for a day or two. (I usually re-wick 4 heads at a time, and I do it before I run out.) The reason for this is that Kanthal is made for coiling for hair dryers, ovens, all kinds of industrial uses, not for vaping, so it needs in industrial oils burned off or it tastes like @#%* for the first 1/2 tank.

I've heard of using wire Stainless-Steel (SS) mesh instead of cheesecloth but I haven't tried it yet.

 

[Sarje]

I've tried the SS mesh on a vivi head. Ain't working for me. I reckon it's too easy to get shorts between the head and the wick. Not worth the bother. If you want to use mesh, get an RBA they're geared up for it.
On the other hand, if any of you guys find natural cheese cloth locally, drop me a line please. Want to give it a go on the protank heads.

 

[Boeriemore]

Sarje, I can buy 0.152mm Nikrothal 80 Wire in South Africa,
Any knowledge of this wire?

 

[oombok]

+1 on the cheesecloth vibe, I'm quite keen to try it out since I'm too lazy to order silica from the overseas. Gonna try SS wick for my Igo-L soon, it's a fantastic little RBA!

 

[Sarje]

Sarje, I can buy 0.152mm Nikrothal 80 Wire in South Africa,
Any knowledge of this wire?

Looks like it's Nichrome, so should be OK. Not seen any reference to it for ecig use though. Do you know the resistance per meter? If you want to use it for vivi heads / Protank heads etc. then it should be the equivalent of AWG 32. If it's for RBA's look for the AWG 30. I started on the RBA's with the 32 that I had and it works fine. Ordered some 30 and it's easier to work with and you can wrap an extra coil or 2 for the same resistance on your mod = more vapour. If the wire's too thick (as in 30), you won't be able to get enough coils in to the small space in the vivi head to reach a useable resistance.

 

[Boeriemore]

Looks like it's Nichrome, so should be OK. Not seen any reference to it for ecig use though. Do you know the resistance per meter? If you want to use it for vivi heads / Protank heads etc. then it should be the equivalent of AWG 32. If it's for RBA's look for the AWG 30. I started on the RBA's with the 32 that I had and it works fine. Ordered some 30 and it's easier to work with and you can wrap an extra coil or 2 for the same resistance on your mod = more vapour. If the wire's too thick (as in 30), you won't be able to get enough coils in to the small space in the vivi head to reach a useable resistance.

I quote from an e-mail response to my query "The other Kanthal Wires that we sell are called Kanthal A1 and Kanthal D, the closest size to AWG32 (0.2mm) we have available is in Kanthal D and it's 0.28mm (AWG29)"

Problem is, can only buy a spool weighing 3.4kg.

 

[Boeriemore]

They are indeed silica. They do gunk up and get brittle after a while. A lot depends on your juice. If you run it dry, or if you're using really sticky juice it will be worse. You will get the same issue with the cotton though (and even more important you don't run the tank dry).

I've just ordered the Kanthal 32 and silica wick from Germany.
Has anyone found something that works better than silica, lifespan wise?

 

[Sarje]

I've just ordered the Kanthal 32 and silica wick from Germany.
Has anyone found something that works better than silica, lifespan wise?

Stainless steel mesh, without a doubt. Unfortunately, pretty difficult to build a 'U' wick for a vivi in SS. Been there, tried that, gave up.
On a genesis style attie though, that's a different matter...

The silica or cotton will work just fine. When you've built your first heads, you'll see how easy it is (and the wick and wire are cheap). You won't worry about the lifespan and just rebuild them. I find a cotton wicked rebuilt vivi head lasts about a week.

 

[iPWN]

Hi Sarje

Wont you pop me a pm with the eBay sellers details , thanks.

 

[Sarje]

Hi Sarje

Wont you pop me a pm with the eBay sellers details , thanks.

PM Sent

 

[Boeriemore]

Stainless steel mesh, without a doubt. Unfortunately, pretty difficult to build a 'U' wick for a vivi in SS. Been there, tried that, gave up.
On a genesis style attie though, that's a different matter...

The silica or cotton will work just fine. When you've built your first heads, you'll see how easy it is (and the wick and wire are cheap). You won't worry about the lifespan and just rebuild them. I find a cotton wicked rebuilt vivi head lasts about a week.

I just received my order from Germany, Kantal D 0.2mm and the silica wick (although the package states that the contents are resistance wire and fibreglass wick.) I wouldn't know the difference.
I have made my first coil but find that there is not much vapor. I checked the resistance and get a reading of about 5 ohms.
Too much resistance. Can this be solved by reducing the number of coils from the five I made to say three?

 

[Sarje]

I just received my order from Germany, Kantal D 0.2mm and the silica wick (although the package states that the contents are resistance wire and fibreglass wick.) I wouldn't know the difference.
I have made my first coil but find that there is not much vapor. I checked the resistance and get a reading of about 5 ohms.
Too much resistance. Can this be solved by reducing the number of coils from the five I made to say three?

I personally ordered Kanthal A (has a higher temperature rating), but it shouldn't make too much difference. I use a 3 / 4 wrap on my coils. This means, from one side, you'll see 4 wraps and the other side 3. This gives me a 1.6 - 1.8 ohm coil with awg 32.
However, 5 ohms is really high. I would say you've almost certainly got a short there. Make double sure that none of the coils and neither of the legs are touching the metal in the head. The only contact points should be where one leg goes under the grommet and the other goes under the positive post.