Mine's small too, they're all small on the Vivi Nova's. These do draw tighter than some other devices but not unpleasantly so considering the flavor and vapor I'm getting from them especially after rewicking with cotton. Ya know, The Phoenix bottom coils are built the same way. Rebuildable with the lead wires attaching around the bottom gasket. They also have a small hole, same size as the vn. Not a drop in replacement but they do have a similiar draw. That your should shut down after installing onto a battery, well that shouldn't happen unless there are no air cutouts on the battery 510 connector. Are you inhaling like thru a breathing tube or pulling like a pipe? I pull but you mentioned your suffocating so I tried inhaling thru the drip tip and yep, that's a no go.