Rebuilding Vivi Nova heads - What wick/kanthal?

[corey5188]

So I am totally loving vaping. Today is one week analog free for me! I literally opened up the box, popped my already charged battery into my Provari, put my filled Vision Vivi Nova mini tank on and started vaping, and having looked back since! Anyways, I have about 3+ months worth of juice on hand, a total of 3 heads for my nova, (one in and 2 unused) at 2.4ohms. Now, to finish off my purchases so I can finally sit back for a while, I would like to get some wick and kanthal wire. My conundrum is that there are SOOOOO many types of wick, silica, cotton, and then various sizes of each, and with the kanthal wire, it was all these numbers or letters after that I have NO clue what they mean.

My vivi heads have 4 wicks, very small in size, coming out each side. The videos on youtube showing how to rebuild them seem to use 1 larger sized wick. Is this preferred? Does 1 larger absorb better than 4 little?

So in a nutshell, what wick of what size, and what type of kanthal wire do I need? Also, what are some good vendors for the two?

Thank you,
Corey

 

[corey5188]

Added the actual question to the title!

 

[Neofolis]

There are various options, most people use 2-3mm silica or fibreglass, but cotton is also used for wicks. Due to the small scale you will want a fairly thin wire to get a reasonable resistance and kanthal 'A' has the best performance although there is little in it between kanthal 'A', 'D' or nichrome. So go for 0.20mm or thinner wire guage, I think that's 32AWG or higher. In terms of length and quantity of wicks, most people seem to use one longer wick with one or two extra layers of wick just where the coil is.

 

[skoot]

I use 32ga Kanthal A1, e-bay has the best prices, I think I paid $8 for 100 ft. I use undyed organic cotton yarn, "bone" color from here Blue Sky Alpacas Cotton Yarn | Organic Cotton Knitting Yarn. It fluffs up like crazy once you get it in there, I've had no issues with it burning. I think cotton provides a better flavor. I haven't tried layering the wicks as Neofolis mentioned but it's a good idea, the yarn compresses a lot when you tie the coil on.

 

[corey5188]

Yarn? Really? Wow, I would think that would burn super easy.... Whats the difference between the fiberglass/silica/cotton?

 

[skoot]

There are some potential health issues from fiberglass and silica. Both are terrible to inhale and there is evidence that you could inhale those fibers when vaping. Plenty of people use them though, it's a personal decision. That's why I do cotton, but I also think the flavor is better.

 

[corey5188]

But does the cotton tend to burn easier? Or what about life span of the cotton heads vs silica? I have only taken my head out to rinse with filtered water and dry burn once over the past week, and i think it still tastes the same as the day I started using it....

Are you able to rinse/dry burn the cotton to extend life?

 

[skoot]

Yes, the cotton does tend to burn easier so you can't dry burn. I don't rinse the cotton or wick, I just tie up a new one. I get a week out of one, but I don't vape during the weekdays.

 

[mikewill45]

Yes, the cotton does tend to burn easier so you can't dry burn. I don't rinse the cotton or wick, I just tie up a new one. I get a week out of one, but I don't vape during the weekdays.

Is that to say you only get two days out of it then?

 

[corey5188]

Thats what I was just wondering myself...

 

[skoot]

No, sorry... I don't vape while I'm at work. Easily 3 or 4 full tanks.

 

[supertrunker]

i use cotton too - sometimes with a little saddle of SS mesh on it. Novas are easy - i use 32g Kanthal and 4 wraps hits close to 2.2 Ohms - near enough is good enough for me. Takes me all of 5 mins if i am half asleep to recoil a Nova.

If you make your coil first - on a nail or screw etc then you can also torch it - a cigarette lighter will do - and save some of that 'break in' period - when it tastes like filth. As Scoot rightly says you cannot dry burn cotton - but you can silica wick since it's heat resistant and all that is is holding the fire button down and usually pulsing it - to burn crap off your coil. This extends the life of the coil since it vapes like new again.

Cotton coils need to be kept wet - mine last close to a month usually and i am not easy on them.

T

 

[skoot]

I should add I do use 100% VG (flavors too) so that gums it up quicker. Once you do a few of them you can knock out a dozen coils in as many minutes. I used to tie flies for fly fishing, it's exactly the same.

 

[Mariss716]

RIBBON Kanthal D is the TICKET.

Kanthal D Ribbon - Zivipf Onlineshop If you prefer eBay, they sell on there, just search for ribbon Kanthal D and they have English listings.

I bought the 9.08 ohm/ft resistance which was the highest available and it gives me btw. 1.3 and 1.6 usually with 5/4 wraps. I usually like higher but I wanted to try the ribbon SO badly. I see they have the 9.69 ohm/ft in stock now.

Very consistent - only needed to rewrap after two weeks, compared to ever few days with the A-1. Huge plumes of vapor. Ribbon is easy to wrap too, believe it or not even though it looks so thick.

5m will last you forever and it arrived in two weeks.

I'm never going back to round wire, and am ordering the higher resistance as soon as it's in mid-April.

 

[Calivapour]

Hi, I rebuilt my wifes nova using braided, raw cotton but it doesn't seem to be wicking well. I think this cotton is for use in candles (got it from Amazon). It seems to be braided pretty tight which I suspect may be causing the wicking problems. Anyone have any recommendations on a cotton that is good for wicking the liquid up rather than for like dripping or wicking the liquid down (e.g., spheroid or vst)? The coil and wick on the nova tank is above the liquid. Any suggestions is appreciated.

 

[Oktyabr]

That's the problem with cotton wicks in a top coil design (besides burning if/when they get dry!) You really want some raw cotton (no chemicals or die) in the longest parallel threads as possible to create the best wicking. Check youtube. I know some have recommended trying cotton balls or the larger, cotton pads (probably better!) and one person recently suggested using the innards of a tampon on the theory that you might find more aligned threads (for better wicking) in such a thing.

I'll try cotton some day myself but probably on a bottom coil first like a T3. Right now I just have too much silica to ignore and since it doesn't start to burn until something like 1000 degrees...

Might google "hemp twine" too. I've heard some prefer it over the rest.

 

[Calivapour]

That's the problem with cotton wicks in a top coil design (besides burning if/when they get dry!) You really want some raw cotton (no chemicals or die) in the longest parallel threads as possible to create the best wicking. Check youtube. I know some have recommended trying cotton balls or the larger, cotton pads (probably better!) and one person recently suggested using the innards of a tampon on the theory that you might find more aligned threads (for better wicking) in such a thing.

I'll try cotton some day myself but probably on a bottom coil first like a T3. Right now I just have too much silica to ignore and since it doesn't start to burn until something like 1000 degrees...

Might google "hemp twine" too. I've heard some prefer it over the rest.

Thanks for the information!

 

[craigsdocks]

I use silica it doesn't burn at the temp these fire at, I think its burn is over 2,000 degree's, so dry burning isn't a problem ... if you like the 4 wick small heads use .8mm or .6mm 4 or 5 strands ... I also use 2.5mm I think the size the single size in the Nova's is 3mm ... depends what size you think works better and I use Kanthal 32 gauge 5 wraps is usually around 2.5ohms+ or so

I read some about the silica, I used to sandblast and was very aware sand can cause problems/cancer, but that's dust/not strands and its long term exposure... if you want to use silica look into it cause I am sure "not" any authority on it, the amount I read about it was enough to convince me that it was ok to use

 

[skoot]

I had good luck with knitting yarn.

 

[Bobby G]

I rebuild mine with bamboo wick I bought at High Desert Vapes and 32 kanthal wire. The bamboo wick works great with 32 Kanthal with 5 wraps. You can buy the bamboo wick and wire on-line at High Desert Vapes (highdesertvapes.com ). They have everything you need or want at good prices and fast delivery. I only buy my wicks from them. Check them out.