VERSION 2.5 Vision ViVi Nova Is IN STOCK Now, VIVI NOVA Review Thread

[mwa102464]

I think where pretty fortunate to have a guy like Chris who works very closely with his manufacturer, many vendors just take what there given and he doesnt, he attacks this with lots of heart and tries to get us the best he can. Chris has been at the CE2 forfront from day one and has helped a great deal to improve them for the better in many ways.

Now onto the Vivi,,, I took my Atty head and re-built it in only a couple of minutes, I used 36AWG Kanthal and my own 2mm wick. The 2mm wick seems to be better in the Vivi in my opinion then the smaller wick and makes it run more like the stone tank as far as flavor and vapor. pop off the center pin from the bottom of the Atty head and take it out then take out the gommit. wrap your kanthal around a needle 3 wraps then wet your wick and twist it through your coil. this makes a nice tight coil instead of just wrapping around the wick but you can go either way, I like wrapping around the needle for a really tight coil and twisting the wick through better. Then slide your wires through from the top pulling your wick down tight from the bottom, one wire through the center the other wire in between the side wall and grommet, then push your center pin back in securing it against the one wire, then break the leftover off. Anyways see pic below and you will see the stock Vivi head in the background compared to the new one I made, this feeds the coil with more juice giving me some more flavor then the smaller wicks do, but it may not be the end all I'm sure Chris will come up with an even better resolve for the flavor but I'm very happy the way this is performing like this.


On another note, a 306 Atty in this tank is dam close to working and will work with some small modifications I think. I was fiddling around with a 306 & i06 looking at how to get it to feed in this tank, so lets hope maybe Chris can work with his manufacturer and also get this done too because this would make for a real Monster of a tank with a 306 or i06 Atty in this tank.

 

[harleydiva]

thats what i would like to know as well, but right now im seeing them vape a few of them and they say the taste is normal but they are opening other pack and will do random testing all day and we will work this out and as i said previously, customers that bought vivi novas form gotvapes and have a head or heads with issues will be taken cared of.

vapor i totally understand, you wont see me here making excuses and hiding, thats to show you all i respect you all, i dont dissapear when products are released, its because i love this and i respect you all.

Always feel free to express your opinion , just keep in mind that we are family here and by helping us we can help you.

Just wanted to say thank you for your great attitude. I'm a new customer to Got Vapes....just got 2 boxes of Phoenix, 2 3ml Phoenix, and a Vivi Nova. Also helped a friend enter an order this afternoon for 2 boxes Phoenix and a Vivi Nova. I really appreciate your willingness to listen to problems, and deal with the issues. My stuff just arrived yesterday, and I haven't had a chance to try it out yet....but am feeling like you guys are really paying attention if I do have problems.

 

[LordDavon]

Well, what fixed mine was puling out one or two of the wicks. They were too tight in the coil, and weren't able to expand properly. Once they were pulled, after a few draws, the taste is no longer muted.

 

[harleydiva]

Well, what fixed mine was puling out one or two of the wicks. They were too tight in the coil, and weren't able to expand properly. Once they were pulled, after a few draws, the taste is no longer muted.

LD...can you post a picture of what you did? I'm pretty new at this (7+ weeks)...and not sure about all this mod stuff.

 

[LordDavon]

LD...can you post a picture of what you did? I'm pretty new at this (7+ weeks)...and not sure about all this mod stuff.

I will have it in my review. That was on the 2.4ohm head. Looking at the 2.8, it also looks to be wound too tight, but I can't be sure if that will be the only fix, like the 2.4ohm.

 

[mwa102464]

the 2mm wick worked way better for me Davon, Im going through liquid pretty quick with this set up, runs similar to the stone but better, YMMV but for me the 2mm wick

 

[vapspaz]

mwa - THAT is great info! I was hoping someone would yank one of these apart to see if they could be rebuilt. I'm a little confused as to how you got a fat wick through your 3 wrap coils if you used a needle for the diameter. You're either extremely talented or your using a BIG needle. lol Can you tell me what diameter the needle is? And thanks for taking the plunge for all of us and sharing that info.

Now.... As for this funky taste others and myself are getting. One thing that I'm starting to wonder is something very basic yet has been over looked in this thread and all other threads talking about a strange taste with different carto's. Everyone talks about PG/VG ratio's all the time and how they think that my cause this issue but the only thing the various viscosity of a persons juice can have is how well it wicks and thus giving dry hits. God knows we all know what that taste like. LOL

But what I'm starting to believe is it's the strength of the flavor in peoples juice that masks or hides the nasty burnt rubber taste. I use almost exclusively BWB Casa which in the big schema of things is a fairly mild flavor as all BWB are on average. I'm almost certain that what could explain why some folks pick up on the nasty rubber taste and others don't is because of the strength of the flavoring in the juice they are using. Let's face it, I could vape the hell out of this Vivi I have right now if I loaded it up with Willy Wonkas Everlasting Gob Stopper super supreme extra strength with a menthol twist. (holy crap, lets see a juice vendor fit that name on a bottle) LOL

What say you folks out there?
The folks that are getting this burnt rubber taste, are you using a mild flavor juice?
The folks that are NOT getting a burnt rubber taste, are you using a strong flavored juice?


And now for my contribution for Chis and his notes he's taking to discuss with the folks at Vision.
Here are a couple crappy cell phone shots I took while dry burning my Vivi 2.4 ohm head. One very important thing to note is that the leads before they reach the coil area are immediately glowing red hot before the coils begins to heat up, even when bone dry. I think (which I could be wrong) that the long leads are burning a silicon ring or seal below the coil. Now that mwa posted that they can in fact be yanked apart I will take this one apart soon and inspect it to see whats going on down in there. I'm thinking it's the same issue that the Stardust have if the silicon ring thing below the coil is too close. I have burned several of them and I know that nasty taste in my sleep now. lol

I couldn't get the timing right taking the picture to show the long leads glowing before the coil but you get the idea.
Hope this helps everyone and especially Chris in hopes that it can be corrected quickly at the manufacture.

BTW... These Vivi's look friggin awesome on Provari's don't they! I think they were almost made specifically for them.

 

[LordDavon]

the 2mm wick worked way better for me Davon, Im going through liquid pretty quick with this set up, runs similar to the stone but better, YMMV but for me the 2mm wick

lol... Yup, it would. But, I did what I could for the average user.

 

[mwa102464]

@ vapspaz


There is a little trick to coil making,,,,, I am using a good size needle, but,,,,, you wrap the Kanthal around the needle,, then you put either a little spit, or PG on the very end of your wick,, then you just twist/spin the wick as you are threading it through the coil circles vapspaz,,, its a little tricky but it is how it is done,,, I will look for the video to show you if I can find it,, but just do as I say here and you will see,,, wet the ENd of that wick and spin it at the same time your threading it through the coil circles, OK

@ Davon, haha, I dont consider myself Avg,, hahah,,, this isnt no brain surgery here, in fact it is dam simple stuff,,, please try what I posted, I am trying to find the video for you guys hang tight a minute please

 

[WindLvr]

I have had issues with the 2.4 and the 2.8 head. The low resistance once provided excellent flavor and great vapor production. Although when I tested it under load to see what resistance it was running at it measured at 2.3 Ohms. That is far cry from the 1.8 it is stated to be. Although I am using this head (the 1.8) and getting incredible results I think they should measure out more accurately. I am happy with the tank. It shows no signs of seaping, leaking, burning my juice, and has incredible potential to be something great. I don't mind being a test dummy for a product with this kind of potential. As far as the two heads, 2.4 and 2.8, they are useless for me, and provide me with wasted vaping time and wasted juice. That is a big bummer. I am on my fourth tank now since Monday. I put one tank through the two unusable heads, and I am on my second tank with the 1.8 head. I am enjoying it for now, but wish the heads measured out more accurately.

I also did have to fix threads to get this to fit on my Ego battery. It fit a standard 510 connection on my box mod perfectly. I just ran a thread chaser over it, and now it threads perfectly into my Ego battery. I wish I wouldn't have had to do that, but I did what I had to do.

 

[mwa102464]

Guys please watch this man do it,,,, but also read the way I said, because we are using different wick, and my method works even better then his as far as the wick and a tighter coil for this particular set up and use a big sewing needle instead of the drill bit or a much smaller drill bit then in the video, and wet the wick just a little on the end and spin it and thread it through while spinning and pushing it will go,

here = How to rebuild resistance and wick to an atomizer. - YouTube

only use the needle to wrap your coil, then remove coil, then just put the end of the wick in your mouth and wet it,, get it started in the first loop, the start twisting it and spinning as you push it through, you will see what I mean and how it starts to go through

vapspaz,,, my finished wick coil, is much tighter then the one you show on your pics, just saying,,,, mine looks more like what you see in a 510 Atty when I'm done

 

[dannoman]

Readign through this thread I see very exacting type of vapors picking apart certain things that are not generally large problems (the Nova tested well and it has been generally very satisfactory for most vapors). Some of you guys try these with various PV's and at different voltages with exotic and various juices and everything may not be to complete satisfaction and this is true with any set-up. If after trying it and its not a great set-up for your vaping habits then it may not be for you. I have that experience with several pieces of vaping equipment that others imply love but I then do not go in and say, this is a failure, we are guinea pigs, etc. Thats RIDICULOUS.

You guys that are more exacting on every little thing tend to be more vocal and come in to the forum and slice and dice everything. Others see that, who will generally have a good experience with these, and say, "Hey there must be big problems with the Nova" and they are pre-prejudiced before they can even try the unit.

This has tested VERY well and especially our first feedbacks on bought units were VERY good. Some of you are very vocal if it hasn't worked out for you but that is not indicative that there are major design flaws. It could be that there is a coil that was wound too tight here and there, some of you are finding that with your juice, by trimming the wicks you get better performance, etc.

When Chris says he will take care of things what he means is he is ACTIVELY giving all feedback back to the Vision team to make it even better. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THERE IS SOME MAJOR MAJOR PROBLEM THAT WE ARE GOING TO REPLACE VIVI NOVAS WILLY NILLY. It WILL NOT happen. If someone has a head atty that doesn't light up and is DOA you can submit a ticket but we are limited to what we can do until we get the replacement heads in. Generally the heads have had no major problems.

Please back off of this hysteria. This is RIDICULOUS. This item was tested and tested and generally has had a very good response. If it isn't for you it isn't for you and those of you who like to tinker and tinker with the unit to make it better for your situation go right ahead but that is not an indictment on the general state of the unit.

and btw--some of you who knee-jerk reactions often times come back and say, I did this and that and it seems to be workign much better now, etc., THIS IS THE NATURE of the beast...otherwise we will turn GotVapes into a single product store and mass-market like Green Smoke and Blu Cig :O

 

[melloyello]

i think most people know that these came out few days ago and they are smart enough to weed through us jerks that voice their opinion when something doesnt work. most every user will have a knee-jerk reaction if something doesnt work out of the box. what most people dont know is that these (along with most ce 2's) need to be modded for full potential. some leak, some dont. some have dry hits, some dont. typically its due to the juice but not always. its not fair to ask us not to say something isnt working for us when it isnt. if it isnt working for us, we are supposed just say hm...i guess this isnt for me, and move along? for the most part the critizism has been constructive and that is what you need at this stage because the ce2 business is in its early stages. you will always find the ones that say they will never buy a certain product again but...every manufacturer deals with those kinds.
there are many ( just about everyone who has posted here) that is reporting little to no flavor with the vivi nova and it needs to be fixed for its survival. i got a vivi nova and i get no flavor but i dont rant about it here....nor should i be reprimanded for a negative product opinion.

just my 2c

 

[timothy]

I think where pretty fortunate to have a guy like Chris who works very closely with his manufacturer, many vendors just take what there given and he doesnt, he attacks this with lots of heart and tries to get us the best he can. Chris has been at the CE2 forfront from day one and has helped a great deal to improve them for the better in many ways

Now onto the Vivi,,, I took my Atty head and re-built it in only a couple of minutes, I used 36AWG Kanthal and my own 2mm wick. The 2mm wick seems to be better in the Vivi in my opinion then the smaller wick and makes it run more like the stone tank as far as flavor and vapor. pop off the center pin from the bottom of the Atty head and take it out then take out the gommit. wrap your kanthal around a needle 3 wraps then wet your wick and twist it through your coil. this makes a nice tight coil instead of just wrapping around the wick but you can go either way, I like wrapping around the needle for a really tight coil and twisting the wick through better. Then slide your wires through from the top pulling your wick down tight from the bottom, one wire through the center the other wire in between the side wall and grommet, then push your center pin back in securing it against the one wire, then break the leftover off. Anyways see pic below and you will see the stock Vivi head in the background compared to the new one I made, this feeds the coil with more juice giving me some more flavor then the smaller wicks do, but it may not be the end all I'm sure Chris will come up with an even better resolve for the flavor but I'm very happy the way this is performing like this.


On another note, a 306 Atty in this tank is dam close to working and will work with some small modifications I think. I was fiddling around with a 306 & i06 looking at how to get it to feed in this tank, so lets hope maybe Chris can work with his manufacturer and also get this done too because this would make for a real Monster of a tank with a 306 or i06 Atty in this tank.

Cool I knew these would be rebuild able

 

[dreezy562]

Lol danno is that threat or something

 

[karmakatie]

I am tickled with this tank so far. I was a little worried when I first opened it up I could smell something chemical, so I washed the metal caps and tube with hot soapy water and rinsed the heck out of the head with just plain water, dried it all and put juice in, and like the Poenix is an awesome vape from the get go. I have a DIY 50/50 pg/vg juice and it is producing great flavor and vapor. I did have a leak at first as I overfilled it, poured some of the juice out to the fill mark and all is good now.

This tank is a breeze to clean and fill, I love it!

I am running the tank without the wick that was just laying over the coil. What is the purpose of this wick just laying there????

 

[timothy]

mwa - THAT is great info! I was hoping someone would yank one of these apart to see if they could be rebuilt. I'm a little confused as to how you got a fat wick through your 3 wrap coils if you used a needle for the diameter. You're either extremely talented or your using a BIG needle. lol Can you tell me what diameter the needle is? And thanks for taking the plunge for all of us and sharing that info.

Now.... As for this funky taste others and myself are getting. One thing that I'm starting to wonder is something very basic yet has been over looked in this thread and all other threads talking about a strange taste with different carto's. Everyone talks about PG/VG ratio's all the time and how they think that my cause this issue but the only thing the various viscosity of a persons juice can have is how well it wicks and thus giving dry hits. God knows we all know what that taste like. LOL

But what I'm starting to believe is it's the strength of the flavor in peoples juice that masks or hides the nasty burnt rubber taste. I use almost exclusively BWB Casa which in the big schema of things is a fairly mild flavor as all BWB are on average. I'm almost certain that what could explain why some folks pick up on the nasty rubber taste and others don't is because of the strength of the flavoring in the juice they are using. Let's face it, I could vape the hell out of this Vivi I have right now if I loaded it up with Willy Wonkas Everlasting Gob Stopper super supreme extra strength with a menthol twist. (holy crap, lets see a juice vendor fit that name on a bottle) LOL

What say you folks out there?
The folks that are getting this burnt rubber taste, are you using a mild flavor juice?
The folks that are NOT getting a burnt rubber taste, are you using a strong flavored juice?


And now for my contribution for Chis and his notes he's taking to discuss with the folks at Vision.
Here are a couple crappy cell phone shots I took while dry burning my Vivi 2.4 ohm head. One very important thing to note is that the leads before they reach the coil area are immediately glowing red hot before the coils begins to heat up, even when bone dry. I think (which I could be wrong) that the long leads are burning a silicon ring or seal below the coil. Now that mwa posted that they can in fact be yanked apart I will take this one apart soon and inspect it to see whats going on down in there. I'm thinking it's the same issue that the Stardust have if the silicon ring thing below the coil is too close. I have burned several of them and I know that nasty taste in my sleep now. lol

I couldn't get the timing right taking the picture to show the long leads glowing before the coil but you get the idea.
Hope this helps everyone and especially Chris in hopes that it can be corrected quickly at the manufacture.

BTW... These Vivi's look friggin awesome on Provari's don't they! I think they were almost made specifically for them.

There was someone that posted adding a little wire to the coil wire so that the wire won't even heat up around the silicone center PC on the stardust maybe something like that would work with these ? Something to look into .

 

[harmonic]

ok i do actually see an issue here too. some of the vortex cartos i had did the same thing and while i couldn't quite get the hang of reworking them my experience with other stuff now i see why some did work rather well... and why some didn't and what to do about it -
first the wires should contact the seal as little as possible - as it was mentioned if the wire overheats it could melt into the center gasket.
second and prolly more important is that the ends of the coil line up underneath the wick and not hanging off to the side. if its done right there wont really be any wire between the connection and the coil to dry out as the wire is immediately going into the wick as it comes out of the connection
and third it needs to have a little arch to it or the center coils can short to the center pin since the coil is basically sitting on top of it.
note i haven't taken a nova apart but these are observations based on seeing the guts of several similarly constructed bottom coil assemblies like the vortex
hope this helps somebody lol

 

[Vapor2112]

So to sum things up, Caveat emptor.
Having worked in corporate retail for several national retail chains, it saddens me to see statements like this made.
I can only speak for myself, but don't believe anyone posting feedback within this thread meant any ill intent, or were looking for handouts. I would have been happy to hear that problems with the coil were experienced, will be resolved by the following actions, etc...
I don't believe any of the comments were looking for any extravagant functionality.
Personally, I was looking for only a few key features:
- No leaks (success)
- Reasonable wicking (seems to be a success, even with high VG liquids, I commended this in previous posts)
- Good flavor - Possibly somewhat subjective, and often based on liquid as well, but many posts have been made here stating muted flavor. I don't think any one of us has taken negatively to any suggestions made, and we've openly tried all recommendations made to improve this.

All this would have taken is a statement asking for continuing feedback, a strong statement as to what would or would not be done (replacement heads, no replacements, are you putting the replacement heads due to be up for sale soon on hold until problems may be resolved should any be found, etc...)

All I ask for is clarity, honesty, and respect.

Clarity has not truly been provided, Chris made statements that you would "make good" on any issues discovered, but its never been stated what that means. Clearly from your post above, no replacements will be made except for DOA, understood, but state that clearly up front.

As for respect, calling out this "RIDICULOUS".. "hysteria" is not how I would ever expect my employees, or our store team members to treat our customers. Surely we wouldn't have them for long.

Several, myself included stated that we do indeed feel like guinea pigs... The reason boils down to how these products are launched and hyped. They are never announced as v1, etc.. Only that they are the next perfect big thing.

If you want feedback outside of ECF, how about a very pointed survey on your storefront for new items asking to rate the key categories of leakage, wicking, vapor production, and flavor?? There are plenty of ways to promote feedback if you guys aren't open to receiving it openly in forums.

Apparently, its time to seek a new vendor who can respect the needs and opinions of their customers, and who may encourage honest feedback as opposed to speaking out against it.

Regardless, thank you for the strides you continue to make for the community, and best of luck in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
Your former customer...

Readign through this thread I see very exacting type of vapors picking apart certain things that are not generally large problems (the Nova tested well and it has been generally very satisfactory for most vapors). Some of you guys try these with various PV's and at different voltages with exotic and various juices and everything may not be to complete satisfaction and this is true with any set-up. If after trying it and its not a great set-up for your vaping habits then it may not be for you. I have that experience with several pieces of vaping equipment that others imply love but I then do not go in and say, this is a failure, we are guinea pigs, etc. Thats RIDICULOUS.

You guys that are more exacting on every little thing tend to be more vocal and come in to the forum and slice and dice everything. Others see that, who will generally have a good experience with these, and say, "Hey there must be big problems with the Nova" and they are pre-prejudiced before they can even try the unit.

This has tested VERY well and especially our first feedbacks on bought units were VERY good. Some of you are very vocal if it hasn't worked out for you but that is not indicative that there are major design flaws. It could be that there is a coil that was wound too tight here and there, some of you are finding that with your juice, by trimming the wicks you get better performance, etc.

When Chris says he will take care of things what he means is he is ACTIVELY giving all feedback back to the Vision team to make it even better. THIS DOES NOT MEAN THAT THERE IS SOME MAJOR MAJOR PROBLEM THAT WE ARE GOING TO REPLACE VIVI NOVAS WILLY NILLY. It WILL NOT happen. If someone has a head atty that doesn't light up and is DOA you can submit a ticket but we are limited to what we can do until we get the replacement heads in. Generally the heads have had no major problems.

Please back off of this hysteria. This is RIDICULOUS. This item was tested and tested and generally has had a very good response. If it isn't for you it isn't for you and those of you who like to tinker and tinker with the unit to make it better for your situation go right ahead but that is not an indictment on the general state of the unit.

and btw--some of you who knee-jerk reactions often times come back and say, I did this and that and it seems to be workign much better now, etc., THIS IS THE NATURE of the beast...otherwise we will turn GotVapes into a single product store and mass-market like Green Smoke and Blu Cig :O

 

[dannoman]

NO melloyello we want the feedback. What I am talkign about is a general piling on and with attitude that just doesn't work with me. NOT everyone, a FEW said they had muted flavor (and I hear that from EVERY product we release just about). Here you said that just about everyone who has commented in this thread complained about muted flavor, thus contributing to hysteria when it was a couple. So someone buys the unit and goes, "Wow, melloyello said everyone in the thread is sayign no flavor." For as many that may report back an issue with this and that we have tons who are very happy. This is my point, with any vaping equipment it doesn't work exactly the same way with everyone with their plethora of equipment and juice. We will take the feedback and tweak if we can but there is nothign in the vaping world that is one size fits all.

Give the feedback but keep the hysteria toned down. MWA has great feedback. He mentions a problem he may have had with coils beign too tight on a couple (same with LordDavon) and they didn't go into a down-in-the-mouth position. They mentioned it and then stated a few things they did and reported back but it was constructive and not all this NONSENSE about people beign guinea pigs and the such.

What Chris and I could do is not frequent the forums (especially Chris, he nervously watches everythign int he forums and tries to address EVERYTHING--he's a CHAMP). But we could be like other vendors who in thier own wisdom keep a low-profile and lower expectations and not have as much hassle. We are the largest presence geenral supplies vendor on the forum. Peopel often buy from others and come here to discuss a situation with their equipment because they know we have feedback here taken seriously.

So the point is not in the reporting of stuff but the hysteria and then the caustic and obnoxious statements made by people. Oftentimes, with everything, those who have an issue are much more vocal, and especially techy type of people who examine their experience with exacting detail (and with the infinite varableness of the human race and human condition is there ANY thing that isn't put out there that SOMEONE is goign to say it didn't work exactly as expected?). There are people who absolutely HATED the CE2 and others who swear by them. There are peopel who hate fillers and some who are just fine with a Boge or a SMOKtech dual coil or a GoGo cartomizer. I don't like the pumpcarts (not hate but I certainly don't use them) and when we thought of takign them off our list of products we got howls of protest from those who are very comfortable with them. Same with the Sapphires.

i think most people know that these came out few days ago and they are smart enough to weed through us jerks that voice their opinion when something doesnt work. most every user will have a knee-jerk reaction if something doesnt work out of the box. what most people dont know is that these (along with most ce 2's) need to be modded for full potential. some leak, some dont. some have dry hits, some dont. typically its due to the juice but not always. its not fair to ask us not to say something isnt working for us when it isnt. if it isnt working for us, we are supposed just say hm...i guess this isnt for me, and move along? for the most part the critizism has been constructive and that is what you need at this stage because the ce2 business is in its early stages. you will always find the ones that say they will never buy a certain product again but...every manufacturer deals with those kinds.
there are many ( just about everyone who has posted here) that is reporting little to no flavor with the vivi nova and it needs to be fixed for its survival. i got a vivi nova and i get no flavor but i dont rant about it here....nor should i be reprimanded for a negative product opinion.

just my 2c