Rebuilding the MiniNova

[Jeff M]

For $9.00 for 100' of coil and $25.00 for 30' of wick, I can say that rebuilding the MiniNova is simple and bliss! You don't have to feel like you are ditching $2.50 - $3.00 in the garbage in order to start fresh and get back to a perfect vape. You can rebuild 3 of these heads in about 10 minutes. This is the way to go, for sure. Don't have to buy on-line all the time. No more $4.00 in postage to send you $15.00 in stuff. I wish I'd have known this from the outset.

A simple Vision Spinner with a basic charger, a MiniNova with 3 heads, a spool of wire and a bunch of wick. It's all you need. I don't know how people vape with 6 volts. I vape around 3.7 volts. When you crank the Spinner to 4.8, it's too darn hot. I did notice that for gunked-up coils, you have to crank the volts. So, that's another reason to get the spool of wire and wick material in bulk.

 

[Oktyabr]

Yeah! I haven't tried making my own coils for them yet... waiting on some new wire and wick material! What wire did you end up using? Phil has an excellent video on how to rewrap these:

A PBusardo Tutorial - Vivi Nova Cleaning & Rebuilding - YouTube

 

[Oktyabr]

For $9.00 for 100' of coil and $25.00 for 30' of wick

Mind me asking where you are finding those prices?

 

[Jeff M]

Kanthal A1 Wire 32 Gauge 100 ft 0 25oz Resistance Resistor AWG A 1 | eBay

3mm Silica Wick 10 Meters

 

[jaydustrose]

Mind me asking where you are finding those prices?

eBay is the best place to get wire. Spool of 100 feet for 9 bucks. You can get wick from a ton of vendors, but I've moved on to just using cotton balls. 1 dollar will make enough wicks for at least a year, and it wicks LIKE MAD. I haven't had to tip a nova a single time since using cotton.

 

[Jeff M]

Yeah! I haven't tried making my own coils for them yet... waiting on some new wire and wick material! What wire did you end up using? Phil has an excellent video on how to rewrap these:

A PBusardo Tutorial - Vivi Nova Cleaning & Rebuilding - YouTube

That video is where I discovered you could do this. It was a game changer. It's so easy!

 

[Jeff M]

Post a few picks of how you're doing this with cotton balls. Interesting...

 

[cignomo33]

So I thought of being a genius and putting a ss mesh on a vivi nova. The tank has plastic in it. The mesh got hot and I got lungs full of plastic or whatever they make the tank out of. Wont try that one again. Not without a metallic tank anyways.

 

[corey5188]

eBay is the best place to get wire. Spool of 100 feet for 9 bucks. You can get wick from a ton of vendors, but I've moved on to just using cotton balls. 1 dollar will make enough wicks for at least a year, and it wicks LIKE MAD. I haven't had to tip a nova a single time since using cotton.

How would you say the taste is vs silica? Or its burning threshold? Or how much use you get out of it?

 

[Jeff M]

I will say this: For optimal performance, rebuild the head after 3 days of use. It's great! Whenever the sound of frying eggs is present (not air, but popping grease), you know you're getting the best vape.

 

[jaydustrose]

3-4 days is pretty standard I think. As far as the cotton goes, the flavor is actually cleaner than on silica. Not sure how mesh compares, since I don't have anything to put some in.

I keep seeing that cotton burns easily but I really haven't had any problems. You definitely know when you're dry though

I thought I saw a cotton ball thread recently, but if people are interested I can throw up a few pics.

 

[Jeff M]

Throw up the pics. I'd like to see.

 

[jaydustrose]

Basic Look:



Take a cotton ball (left) and unroll it (right)



Peel some off and roll it up in your fingers to look like a wick (left). It's about 2mm wide and 2 inches long. Rebuild as per usual. The PBusardo video is a great guide. I actually need to rebuild that one so I can get more detailed tomorrow when I've got decent light. Only thing to be sure of is that the cotton is "natural" or "pure" meaning unbleached or undyed. It's "recommended" that you boil the cotton first, but honestly, I'm lazy and don't do that. Haven't died yet.

 

[Jeff M]

I see. Cool! Why not kite string?

 

[jaydustrose]

I see. Cool! Why not kite string?

Would probably work, assuming it's cotton, but a bag of balls was literally a dollar. One ball will make like 16 wicks of that size. Extra work, but I like vaping too much to care about that part.

There's a whole wacky world of wicking possibilities Silica, bamboo, cotton, mesh, ceramic, and god knows what else...

 

[Jeff M]

Tampons. They're ultra-absorbent!

 

[julesb]

I found it! lol Thanks

 

[Oktyabr]

Tampons. They're ultra-absorbent!

You know... that might not be quite as crazy as it sounds!