Vivi Nova rebuild problem

[ScottP]

I currently have an eGo-T battery and a Vivi Nova mini (uses same heads as normal VN). Well the 2.4 Ohm head finally gave out so I decided to try my hand at rebuilding.

Everything seemed to go as expected. I wrapped the coil, got it put back in and checked the resistance with my multimeter and it was reading at 2.6ohms. Perfect. So I put it on my eGo and the light on the eGo blinks one time and that's it. When I unscrew the VN the light on the eGo then blinks a few more times. So I was thinking ok maybe I shorted something somewhere.

I took it apart and rebuilt it a few times being extremely careful about making sure wires did not touch where they were not supposed to. Still same results. Any factory built head still works but the rebuilt one does not. So the battery is working.

So I then started checking the ACTUAL resistance of the factory built heads and ALL of them were way over spec. The 1.8 ohm rated head was reading in at an even 3.0 ohms and the 2.8 ohm rated head was reading at a whopping 5.1 ohms!

Next I decided to try my rebuilt head on an old Auto-cig-a-like battery I had laying around and it works PERFECTLY. Great vape and flavor with no burning or any problems that I can see.

What could be the problem here? Could it be that my rebuild is somehow too low resistance for the eGo-T battery? I can't imagine that at 2.6 ohms.

 

[DoogieTony]

No offence intended, but I think something may be wrong with your multimeter or how your using it.
I've checked many vivi heads and the stock ones never read anywhere near 5 ohm.
The 1.8 and 2.4 did have variations but the 2.8 heads were always very close to their intended resistance.

I'm thinking that your rebuild may be too low ohm for the ego to handle.

BTW what gauge wire are you using and how many wraps did you make?

 

[TheSystemHasFailed]

Use NR wire too. You don't have to but, RUBBER!

During the changing between devices a short could have worked itself out, by movement. That's how fragile coils can be sometimes.
Tug those legs snug. Fun stuff when trying to integrate NR wire into it.

 

[ScottP]

No offence intended, but I think something may be wrong with your multimeter or how your using it.
I've checked many vivi heads and the stock ones never read anywhere near 5 ohm.
The 1.8 and 2.4 did have variations but the 2.8 heads were always very close to their intended resistance.

I'm thinking that your rebuild may be too low ohm for the ego to handle.

BTW what gauge wire are you using and how many wraps did you make?

I thought the same thing about the multimeter. So I cut off slightly more than 1 inch of my 32 awg Kanthal A-1 which should have been 1.2 ohm +/-0.1 for exactly 1 inch. The reading was 1.7 ohms which should be correct. I then did a standard 5/4 wrap and measured it out at 2.4 ohms. This is the same wire and 0.1 difference from what PBusardo got in his video. When the problem surfaced I rebuilt it with 6/5 wrap and the reading was 2.6. Once again in line with expectations.

I am at a loss as to why it appears to read perfectly in line with expectations on the rebuild yet wonky on the factories. I am also confounded that my rebuild that is within range of what factories SHOULD be is not working on my eGo bat.

Maybe I will try to find some actual resistors and measure them and check my readings against the expectation for a wider range of calibration of the meter just to see but that would mean my wraps are way off from expectation using that wire.

 

[DoogieTony]

That's just weird. The reading from your rebuild sounds about right, but at 2.6 ohm it should work on your ego. The only reason I can think of for it not to work is a short.
Id suggest trying another build and see what happens.
I've rebuilt my heads easily over 100 times and never had a short (some were REALLY ugly too) so it isn't that fragile. If you're following pbusardo's video the only thing id suggest is to wrap your coil around something like a nail or micro screwdriver then thread the wick through. I use a 2mm screwdriver and it works perfectly. Just make sure the legs aren't touching and you should be good.

 

[ScottP]

Ok so I found a completely different multimeter in my toolbox. Here are the readings this one is giving:

My rebuild: 2.3 O
1.8 rated: 2.5 O
2.8 rated: 4.6 O

This other meter was definitely reading lower than the first meter so, I snatched a few of my wife's Boge LR Cartos to test them. They are supposed to be 2.0-2.4 Ohms. The original meter read them all at 2.9 while the second meter read them all correctly at 2.4.

So this means that the original meter was reading a bit off and that the second one is at least closer. Still this one shows my rebuild at 2.3 Ohms which I though should still work on the eGo-T. Since the 1.8 Ohm head is apparently either mis-labeled or is way out of spec maybe the eGo-T only works down to 2.5 Ohms and my 2.3 is too low.

All I know for sure is that there is not a short in my build. I have been vaping it just fine on my Auto-battery nearly 24 hours now.