New to Vaping: Looking for Vivi Nova Wick Advice
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Being primarily a Genesis user, I had to change a Vivi Nova wick over to Stainless mesh and rewire it with kanthal (yeah I am a girl too, so no excuses that females can't handle Genesis pleeez) Anyway....It worked ok, some shorting issues the first time but after I worked the bugs out....well I got bored and moved on to something else...lol
I agree about my time being worth more than that, but the reason I want to try this (and hopefully it will work) is the independence from vendors. I have a few vivi's with extra heads, enough wick/wire to last a very long time, and I DIY my juice (with enough nic juice to last many, many months). This means I most likely won't need to order anything from any vendor again this year. Never worrying running out of supplies is a wonderful thing.
any questions about wicking can be answered by spending a couple weeks reading this thread
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/284030-wick-materials-safe-vs-dangerous-5.html
but that's a job in itself so i will try to sum up what i've learned here in the past month related to cotton wicks and the vivi nova - much of this might be repetitive info for some, but since the OP is new to vaping here ya go.
you can pretty much use any 100% cotton just boil it first, it does make a difference. i first tried cotton yarn, then candle wick, unbraiding the candle wick, braided gauze, strings from gauze, and now onto the cotton batton (rolled cotton) and cheese cloth. i kept getting mixed results and almost gave up on cotton wicks because the taste was off and easily burned. i talked to someone who was even using the cotton strings from a commercial mop and getting great results! that after more reading i discovered that it will take 30 min or so to break in and start getting satisfactory vapor production, although the flavor will be great instantly - provided that you keep the voltage VERY low. if you don't have a variable voltage device i would suggest starting off with a much higher resistance than you are used to. don't wrap it tight because it needs to expand and give it 30 min to an hour of vaping before you analyze the results. with the 1/0 candle wick, or anything that size or larger you can drill a hole to allow it room to wick properly - some people even cut a v-notch in the silicone cap so it doesn't restrict the wick. but if you don't make it perfect the cap will be too loose and get smashed when you tighten the top. (you could trim the top also depending on how much room there is). the candle wick seems to be braided too tight to wick well though. you can also use a small piece of ss mesh around the cotton under the coil to keep it from burning the cotton and wicks will last longer. or you can make a ss mesh wick alone or with cotton covering where the coil is and will help prevent shorts in that tiny metal area.
all of this sounds like a lot of work and a big hassle right? really it's not. i never planned on making coils and wicks since replacement heads are so cheap, but after 20 or 30 of them piled up instead of buying 20 more I figured wth. got some wire and wick and after the first one you realize how easy it is. it might take me 5 minutes with cotton rather than 2 min like someone else mentioned, but I don't have a steady hand and tend to be a perfectionist so it takes me longer. anyways hope this helps, and hope you noticed i'm boycotting capital letters on forums unless used for emphasis or dramatic effect.
also - someone may have posted a link to this thread already but it's definitely worth reading
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/atomizer-mods/295410-vivi-nova-rebuild-tutorial-20.html
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/284030-wick-materials-safe-vs-dangerous-5.html
but that's a job in itself so i will try to sum up what i've learned here in the past month related to cotton wicks and the vivi nova - much of this might be repetitive info for some, but since the OP is new to vaping here ya go.
you can pretty much use any 100% cotton just boil it first, it does make a difference. i first tried cotton yarn, then candle wick, unbraiding the candle wick, braided gauze, strings from gauze, and now onto the cotton batton (rolled cotton) and cheese cloth. i kept getting mixed results and almost gave up on cotton wicks because the taste was off and easily burned. i talked to someone who was even using the cotton strings from a commercial mop and getting great results! that after more reading i discovered that it will take 30 min or so to break in and start getting satisfactory vapor production, although the flavor will be great instantly - provided that you keep the voltage VERY low. if you don't have a variable voltage device i would suggest starting off with a much higher resistance than you are used to. don't wrap it tight because it needs to expand and give it 30 min to an hour of vaping before you analyze the results. with the 1/0 candle wick, or anything that size or larger you can drill a hole to allow it room to wick properly - some people even cut a v-notch in the silicone cap so it doesn't restrict the wick. but if you don't make it perfect the cap will be too loose and get smashed when you tighten the top. (you could trim the top also depending on how much room there is). the candle wick seems to be braided too tight to wick well though. you can also use a small piece of ss mesh around the cotton under the coil to keep it from burning the cotton and wicks will last longer. or you can make a ss mesh wick alone or with cotton covering where the coil is and will help prevent shorts in that tiny metal area.
all of this sounds like a lot of work and a big hassle right? really it's not. i never planned on making coils and wicks since replacement heads are so cheap, but after 20 or 30 of them piled up instead of buying 20 more I figured wth. got some wire and wick and after the first one you realize how easy it is. it might take me 5 minutes with cotton rather than 2 min like someone else mentioned, but I don't have a steady hand and tend to be a perfectionist so it takes me longer. anyways hope this helps, and hope you noticed i'm boycotting capital letters on forums unless used for emphasis or dramatic effect.
also - someone may have posted a link to this thread already but it's definitely worth reading
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/atomizer-mods/295410-vivi-nova-rebuild-tutorial-20.html
Re-wicking the Vivi Nova heads is so easy, it's ridiculous. I use # 1/0 braided cotton wick, A-1 32awg Kanthal and also niChrome 34awg. I've got 8 heads from my two 3.5mL and one 2mL ViVi Nova's ( I stepped on one, oops). After trial and error, I can make a 2.8 - 2.9 head with my eyes closed in just a couple of minutes. These threads and youtube vids are priceless. I have no issues with burning wicks and my next task is to buy some SS mesh and wrap the cotton before coiling. Thanks to all the input from everyone. Saving $3 per head from a vendor is well worth it; more $$$ for juice 
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Re-wicking the Vivi Nova heads is so easy, it's ridiculous. I use # 1/0 braided cotton wick, A-1 32awg Kanthal and also niChrome 34awg. I've got 8 heads from my two 3.5mL and one 2mL ViVi Nova's ( I stepped on one, oops). After trial and error, I can make a 2.8 - 2.9 head with my eyes closed in just a couple of minutes. These threads and youtube vids are priceless. I have no issues with burning wicks and my next task is to buy some SS mesh and wrap the cotton before coiling. Thanks to all the input from everyone. Saving $3 per head from a vendor is well worth it; more $$$ for juice
What's the advantage of the SS and cotton combo? No worries about dry burning?
hey guys, I wanna ask it the 3mm Silicia Wick is able to use to rebuild the vivi nova...cause I wanna sort things out here before buying the wick...So in my area there are 2mm and 3mm so I which is better in amounts of vapor and also can fit into the vivi when I rebuild?
The vivi heads can't be hugely different from the replacement heads for the rebuildable stardusts I have. Don't have a vivi yet. If they are, I apologize for the following....
In my "stardusts" coils I can run a 1.4mm. electronics screwdriver through it easily and use a 1mm. diameter cotton
"string" to push through the existing coil, after dryburning it. It's a 4 strand cotton so it could be adjusted if necessary,
more or less strands. Haven't had the need though, 1mm. works flawlessly in the 1.4-1.5 mm inner diameter coil.
Once the wick is untwisted(in the coil) and wet, the unit puts out plumes.
So my answer to the first quote is yes you can thread a cotton wick through an existing coil, just wet it, twist it, pull it tight and twist it through.
To answer the second quote, find out the existing coils diameter by using a 1.4mm or 2mm electronic type screwdriver,
if you have access to them. Once you know the diameter of the vivi coil just get the wick a little smaller in diameter.
If the 3mm silica wick has 3 strands each strand should be 1mm., 4 strands it would be less of course.
Depending on the diameter of the vivi coil the 2mm wick may be more versatile due to the thinner strands that it's made with.
If I have trouble threading the wick through I'll gently widen the coil with the 1.4mm screwdriver, then split a length of the 1mm. wick down to 2 strands and fold it over a piece of spare kanthal(or whatever scrap is laying around) that is also folded in half and thread the wire through the coil first gently pulling the wick into position.
Sounds hard but it's really easy, if you can get past my 'splenation.
Hope this 'splenation helps someone. The coils seem to last much longer than the wick and by replacing the wick I can literally get an extra month or more outta one head. I'm cheap....
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