Rebuilding Vivi Nova Heads

[DENGkevon]

Hey guys,

I know plenty of you guys have rebuilt your heads if not just took the lazy route of just buying replacement heads, but I've been practicing re-coiling with the 2.8ohm heads but I want to make them >1.8ohm heads. What gauge of wire have you guys tried and had success with? What size of the wicks did you use? I've been going strong on the factory 1.8ohm heads for the past 2 months, but I feel as if they'll break down on me soon.

Also, WHERE have you guys been ordering your wire/wicks from? I can't seem to find a vendor that has a one-stop shop.

 

[williebb123]

i build mine with ss mesh and they are a pain in the ... to get right but when you do they will last for a couple of months im very hard on them too but when they get gunked up just rinse and dry burn and ther are no good deals on one stop shopping there out there but they sell small qty heres some links
McMaster-Carr for ss mesh
Resistance Wire | Silica Wicks for silica wicks and bulk wire 30ga to 36ga sorry no 28ga yet

 

[williebb123]

hey while your in the city eat one for me....pats or genos ...freakin love that place lol

 

[STVNMR]

I used 32awg kanthal and 400 mesh to rewick my devices (not just ViVi Novas). I got both of them from eBay at pretty reasonable prices. After learning more about mesh, though, I'll be sure to get 500 instead next time.

I think I used a 3/4 wrap for ~1.8 ohms, but I can't be sure. It's been a while.

 

[DENGkevon]

i build mine with ss mesh and they are a pain in the ... to get right but when you do they will last for a couple of months im very hard on them too but when they get gunked up just rinse and dry burn and ther are no good deals on one stop shopping there out there but they sell small qty heres some links
McMaster-Carr for ss mesh
Resistance Wire | Silica Wicks for silica wicks and bulk wire 30ga to 36ga sorry no 28ga yet

Don't you have to worry about shorting out the VN if you use SS mesh? And recommend lower gauges and less coils or vice versa? I was thinking about 32ga since from what I've been reading up on, it's a good starting point unless you're going full-rebuildable.

hey while your in the city eat one for me....pats or genos ...freakin love that place lol

Eaten too many in my 5 years of living in this city! Gotta cut back!

I used 32awg kanthal and 400 mesh to rewick my devices (not just ViVi Novas). I got both of them from eBay at pretty reasonable prices. After learning more about mesh, though, I'll be sure to get 500 instead next time.

I think I used a 3/4 wrap for ~1.8 ohms, but I can't be sure. It's been a while.

Why would you use SS mesh over silica? Wouldn't it leak a lot easier with mesh?

 

[LazyBulldogge]

I'm in Europe, and I buy my rebuild stuff from http://www.zivipf.com/
I've been using Kanthal D 0.20mm AWG 32 so far, and next time I order, I'll probably get some Kanthal A 0.15mm AWG 34, to make it a bit easier to get some resistance in my Vivi coils.
With D AWG 32, I need 6 turns of wire, to make a ~2.4 Ohm coil, which can be done, but it's a tight fit - works great though
I've been using 4x1mm silica wick, but next time I order, I might try some 3mm as well, to see if it wicks better/worse/the same as 4x1mm.

 

[heateris]

i got my wick and wire from zivip thru ebay. 32g kanthal works on my CE4+(same style heads as nova's) and my evod. four wraps around 4mm of silica gives me about 1.8-2.0 ohms.

25M Kanthal A D Resistance Heating Wire 5M High Quality Silica Rope Wick | eBay

 

[Richard75]

I've tried rebuilding Novas with little luck... my concern is that you want non-resistance wire for where they meet the rubber grommet; otherwise you'll melt it after a while. Does anyone here worry about that, or do you just wrap and roll?

 

[heateris]

I've tried rebuilding Novas with little luck... my concern is that you want non-resistance wire for where they meet the rubber grommet; otherwise you'll melt it after a while. Does anyone here worry about that, or do you just wrap and roll?

wrap and roll! i see some marks on my evod rubber gaskets, but never my CE4+'s. im not too worried about it.

 

[williebb123]

i laugh at myself when i wrap a coil with ss mesh ( 32ga x 400 mesh)im gettin too old i got these granny glasses from the drug store plus i got a set of helping hands ( the one with the big ... magnafying glass on it) and im trying to wrap like 5/4 coil and if thats not enough trying to fit it in a vivi nove head believe me im cursing like a sailor cause its still hard to see and then try to work out the hot spots mostly from the 1st and last coil touching the side its a site to see some times i just laugh at my self but it is worth it it wicks extreemly well and last for months

 

[STVNMR]

Why would you use SS mesh over silica? Wouldn't it leak a lot easier with mesh?

Mesh performs better or equal to silica when set up correctly, it lasts much longer, and it can handle more watts. I haven't had a problem any of my mesh wicks leaking so far. They really are a PITA with Novas, though.

 

[STVNMR]

I've tried rebuilding Novas with little luck... my concern is that you want non-resistance wire for where they meet the rubber grommet; otherwise you'll melt it after a while. Does anyone here worry about that, or do you just wrap and roll?

I've only noticed burn marks on my gaskets after using them for multiple rebuilds and putting the coils through extended dry burns. Those little suckers will hold up well enough to last a few months without having to worry about melting them.