ViVi Nova coil head issue

[Dominicanto]

Recently I started to get a very fowl, plasticky, burnt taste from vaping off my ViVi tanks getting progressively worse. It got so bad that I got a headache and was left with such a foul taste that I stopped vaping for almost 3 days (didn't smoke an analog though - miracle)!

I thought it could be any number of things and went to work doing everything short of re-wicking/re-coiling as I don't have the materials for it:

- cleaned the whole tank out several times
- switched juices
- switched PVs (for a moment I thought maybe my Lavatube had something funky going on as it's running a bit hot, but my twist did the same thing)
- changed drip tip (what the hell, why not?)
- etc.

Turns out that the white ring around between the coil/wick and the metal tube was turning black and melting. Pulled it out without removing the coil. At first it looked like silica, but it's not, it's harder, but I'm sure it's not meant to burn. Long story short, I removed it, put the head back on, filled the tank and my good ole vape is back!

Questions for y'all:

- what the heck is that white plastic material?
- does it need to stay where it is or can I safely vape without it?
- anyone have the same issue?

On top of everything the flavor is much improved.

Weird.

 

[Flyer]

Sounds like the coil resistance is too low. Change to a higher resistance head.

 

[Dominicanto]

Could be, but I ran the gamut of heads (new): 1.8, 2.4 and 2.8 all with the same flavor. That's why I thought it might have had something to do with my LT, but it checks out. Again, I've had some heads that were fine and the white wrap around the coil was definitely black and parts were melted. Never noticed on the ones that vaped fine until they simply stopped working after their useful life span. Might just've been badly assembled - who knows. Thanks.

 

[Andyhrn]

I have the same problem with Vivi Nova 2.4ohm (Provari says 2.9 ohm. Lol). The carto had been in use for 12 days (about 70 ml total). Noticed some "mist " shows up in the tank occasionally. Cleaned/dry burned to the "new condition". The problem is still exists but not so bad. Noticed the piece inside which is turned dark . Looks like a wide silicon tube but only harder.
BTW, how did you remove the "piece" with the wick in it?

 

[TBinAZ]

It could that the atty head coil has just shorted out, or is in process of. The Vivi Nova positive post that contacts the center post of your battery is very finicky unless you file it down like it should be. I filed my V1 posts down to a better length, and they have been working well for me.

Another thought, the rubber boot at the top of the replaceable atty head is too long, depending on what revision you have, and is choking off the wick delivery.

Edit: I guess I waited too long to post. LOL. Interesting though, I haven't heard of, or personally seen this kind of stuff happening to VV Nova.

 

[TBinAZ]

My only input at this time, is that too much wattage was being pumped through the coil somehow. It's a full length resistance wires as opposed to non-resistance wire at both end of the coil. Something was causing too much wattage to go through the coil enough to melt the plastic atty head bottom plug. Kind of scary if you ask me. What brand of Rider-style PV are you using? Are you stacking shorter batteries by chance? That really shouldn't affect one of those Rider-style 'protected' PVs, but just have to ask.

 

[Dominicanto]

Good thoughts all around on this. I'm leaning towards this being an issue with the YoungJune 1.5 black LT that I'm using. Some reports, including one from Andrew at Crystal Clear Vapors, are that this version may have electrical/shorting issues. Does anyone know how I can confirm which version of the YJ 1.5 I have (there is a 1.5T version that was supposed to have resolved this). I went back to my local shop and we played with different atty/carto combinations at various voltages and this thing is definitely running hotter than it should. I get that the PWM tech in these will cause it to fire a bit hotter under load, but a 3.7 vape has the kick and feel of a 5V and I've killed many an LR atty as a result. They handed me another LT same batch for me to experiment with for a few days and it seems to be functioning better. Warmer hit at 4V than, say, a Twist, which is expected, but it's not causing a firework of juice to propel into my mouth, which is good.

How'd I pry out the silicon wrap? The owner of my local shop just used tweezers to pull gently on one side of the wrap so that it circled over the coil exposing the broadside of the silicon cylinder and then tugging at the bottom end to peel it off. If you do it gently, it won't do any damage to the coil. I did it to two heads that tasted like crap and they're vaping fine now. Anyone know what those wraps are supposed to do? Thanks, all.

 

[Andyhrn]

Thanks,Dominicanto. With a close examination this piece design to prevent the coil from touching the head core . Kinda like insulation.

p.s Just pulled it out. It's literally burned down to pieces.
Thanks again.
On the side note I just found out the wick is burned down too under the coil and falling apart. I pulled out the whole tread from the coil. Kinda strange that silica gets burned. It shouldn't.

 

[Dominicanto]

Yup, Andy - this can't be food for you. It does seem to have a cleaner vape after removing it, but I suppose that the fear is a short with out the silica wrap. Yes - it shouldn't burn, but it definitely does and in less time than it takes to vape one tankful of juice. My vendor will be reaching out the manufacturer to see if this can be looked into. Even if it means insulating the cylinder with a tube of ceramic and charging a bit more for the heads.

Any molders out there? If so, when you re-wick/re-coil do you remove the silica wrap altogether or put it back in?

 

[Flyer]

I remove it every time I rewick/recoil a factory head. Recently, I tried putting it back on a rebuilt head and makes no difference I can tell.

 

[Dominicanto]

Thanks, Flyer - good to know. And TBinAZ, it's just a single 18650 in the LT. But I also get the same results over time (more like after a few days, not hours) out of an Ego Twist so I'm chalking this up to bad design/quality control on Vision's end.

 

[TBinAZ]

Like I mentioned, I have yet to have to rebuild the Vivi heads I have. Interesting bit about the silica wrap. I'll have to look into this, although I really haven't noticed a problem with that yet. Appreciate the info.

 

[XCypher]

I have just started to have this issue on a new batch of V3's. On my 1.5T the 1.8 and 2.4 so far just meter everywhere and kinda settle about +0.2/0.4 over and the 2.4 head has hella burnt taste but after kinda moving that circle insulator piece it's gotten better. Will remove it later tonight as I'm at work and don't wanna be S.O.L for the rest of the day

 

[Maka]

Can someone post a picture of this part you're talking about removing as I don't get where it is.
I am having plastic tasting problems on my Vivi Nova

 

[jon5212]

It is right around where the coil/wick is, looks sort of like fabric. I removed the ones in mine, don't taste any difference however it did looked burned. I'll be trying to rebuild it shortly with stainless mesh/making my own coil.

 

[gthompson]

The silica isn't burned, it just has juice gunk burned onto it. You should be able to dry burn it off.

 

[The Ocelot]

I was just about to start a thread regrading this same issue. Thanks to gthompson for bumping it up. I have pictures (although not very sharp ones).

Both of these attys are 2.4Ω I used on a Twist at ≈ 3.8 volts (yeah, I like it cool). When I cleaned them I just rinsed them with water, then let them soak in water overnight, and then set them in a window sill to dry for a couple of days. I do not dry burn.

#1 - I used for awhile with dark liquid, so even after cleaning, I wasn't surprised it burnt out. The coil is fried and the part of the wick it's wrapped around is toast.

#2 - Is what I don't understand. I started getting a burnt taste and figured it was fried, but when I took it apart the coil and the wick looked fine (or at least I think they look fine - I don't know), but the cap* around the wick is melted. I watched PBusardo's video on rebuilding (which I have no plans to try) and he said the part wasn't necessary, so he didn't use it, but he didn't say why. I also see posts above saying to remove it, but being a noobe, I'm nervous. If it doesn't serve a purpose, why is it there?

One more noobe question: the bottom part, the post that the atty screws into, is it okay to soak that too or have I messed up?

View attachment 147065 View attachment 147066

ETA: *I initially wrote "plastic," but I just pulled it out of the burnt one and it's fiber.

 

[LTV1]

The plastic top hats intended purpose is to minimize flooding the atomizer. It'll work ok without it but you can't fill the tank quite as high, do not fill above the wicks at all.

A person asked how to remove the atty head in this thread. After unscrewing the base and pulling the tank up you will have the centerpost with atty head on top, ok. Just grab under the white top plastic cap (and above the wicks) and give it a few twists + then pull straight up.

Ya, you clean the centerpost also. I put a finger OVER the center hole and hold it under the faucet. It cleans the post very well, and the wicks. Put parts on papertowels overnight (pat the wicks dry before you place them on papertowels GENTLY).

 

[The Ocelot]

...Ya, you clean the centerpost also. I put a finger OVER the center hole and hold it under the faucet. It cleans the post very well, and the wicks. Put parts on papertowels overnight (pat the wicks dry before you place them on papertowels GENTLY).

Thanks for the info! When you talk about putting your finger over the hole, I guessing you mean the hole at the bottom (?) What happens if water gets up into the hole, like if the whole piece is soaked? As I posted, I soak all of the pieces and let them dry on the window sill, so there's no water inside when I reuse them, but I'm wondering if getting any water up there at all damages it?

I figured I had nothing to lose except some juice, so I pulled the ring out of the atty that looked trashed (#1 above). I followed the instructions I saw on a video about dry burning and the gunk (or most of it) came off. The coils burned bright and I could see they were still wrapped around the wick, but when I went to vape it - gosh it was nasty! Someone else may have known how to fix it, but I gave up.

The reason I posted on this thread is because I'm trying to decide if I want to get more nova heads and keep trying to get it to work or throw it in a drawer and get more Stardusts since I've figured out how to keep them from leaking. The Stardusts (or equivalent clearos) have a tighter draw and don't hold as much juice, but I get a least 2 or 3 uses out of them and they're inexpensive. So many people rave about the novas, but they are driving me up the wall.

 

[LTV1]

If water gets up in that center hole you need to wait longer to dry unless u have a can of compressed air (used to clean out pc's).

I just pulled the tophat completely off an hour ago + mine is flooding. Prolly the best bet is just keep it on and lift it up slightly. I read about a guy pulling his off on a website so I did it. Not good.