Vivi Nova Rebuild tutorial

[Thompson]

Defo agree on a solid burn. I've lucked out I think though, given my first 2 wicks had no issue.

 

[Dirty]

Quick question - should you prime the non-resistance wire? Like with a lighter the same way we do with the kanthal to get rid of any nasties on it?

I'm using pure nickel wire 32awg.

Also, should it be twisted all the way down the legs of the resistance wire? Meaning it's the twisted together nr wire and the r wire coming through the grommet at the very bottom where you clip the excess. Or is it just part way down (in the original pics from the tutorial it appears only one set of wires are coming down through the grommet to be clipped-either the nr or the r wire-which is it?

Just attempting a rebuild again with the nr wire now that I have my vamo...I mean apv.....I mean bamboo...I mean whatever it's called
Thinking the variable wattage could make life a little easier with the vivi.

Also, as an aside, I've been burning through my cotton wicks. Pulling them out after it starts to taste too nasty or barley able to vape and the wick has literally fallen apart where the coil is wrapped I've burnt them so bad - inhaling a lot of cotton in the process. Not cool. I found very tightly wrapped coild wicks gave the best hit, but perhaps this is well...too tight.

Thanks

 

[Thompson]

I never flame the stirling silver. It doesn't seem to have the same tension as kanthal. Plus stirling silver has a very low melting point, a bic lighter can melt it.

What I've been doing is putting the NR wire on only the positive lead (goes down center of grommet). I get the splice as close to the coil as I can, and the NR wire is the only one to protrude out.

You want to make sure the wicks never get dry or they'll burn through. I think some darkness around the coil is standard but burning through has me thinking too dry of wick or too high of wattage.

Hope this helps

 

[Butters78]

I guess I'm lucky. I don't use any nr wire at all and I never burn the rubber grommet.

 

[Dirty]

Thanks Thompson, I just rebuilt from your tips a 1.8ohm coil and ran the nr wire down the positive lead (thanks for stating the one that goes down the grommet. Good call on the burnt wick not getting enough juice, I was putting a piece of cotton ball on the top of the coil, I had to crush the top cap piece on and everything was obviously squished - choking the wick from receiving juice. I slotted the plastic angles in (as I've seen suggested before in this thread) to allow more juice through. It's vaping like a champ after letting it soak for 15min, we'll see how it holds up. The only problem I have with this set-up (and I've seen it noted before) is chain vaping isn't easy as things seem to heat up a lot and it takes time to cool down, using a metal tank especially. Other than that I'm loving this thing when I can build it right and you've seemed to hit the nail on the head.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions.

 

[xMackx]

Thanks Thompson, I just rebuilt from your tips a 1.8ohm coil and ran the nr wire down the positive lead (thanks for stating the one that goes down the grommet. Good call on the burnt wick not getting enough juice, I was putting a piece of cotton ball on the top of the coil, I had to crush the top cap piece on and everything was obviously squished - choking the wick from receiving juice. I slotted the plastic angles in (as I've seen suggested before in this thread) to allow more juice through. It's vaping like a champ after letting it soak for 15min, we'll see how it holds up. The only problem I have with this set-up (and I've seen it noted before) is chain vaping isn't easy as things seem to heat up a lot and it takes time to cool down, using a metal tank especially. Other than that I'm loving this thing when I can build it right and you've seemed to hit the nail on the head.
Thanks a lot for the suggestions.

If you are burning the cotton at all something is wrong. If you do it right you wont need to use a secondary wick on top either. If you are using cotton wool (balls/batting/gauze) try a method that has been fool proof for me.

Roll your coil onto small or medium sized needle, roll a piece of cotton ball until you can slide it through the coil. If it is too thick keep rolling and squeezing in your fingers until it fits easily. Always let your cotton wicks soak in juice for a little while before using or they will burn (even if it looks wet). Cotton cheese cloth should soak 1-2 hours before use, cotton wool takes a half hour to soak and expand.

The differences between how different cottons types work best can be very different. Cheese cloth seems to work best with the coil wraps side by side touching and wrapped tight, but cheese cloth can not be choked by the slots at all ( I had to modify the slots bigger for cheese cloth). Cotton wool I didn't have to modify the slots and seems easier to learn from my experience because it's so pliable and the most absorbent wick material I've seen.

Also I must say I prefer 33 awg kanthal as it has quicker heat up and cool down response and less wraps as where in vivi nova's space is an issue. Also I like lower ohm coils with my cotton same reasons.

Unfortunately the only way to learn cotton is to inhale burnt nasty until you figure it out like most of us lol.

 

[mrelwood]

Quick question - should you prime the non-resistance wire?

No. The no resistance wire won't heat up, so it will not affect the taste. Also most NR wires are too fragile for priming or burning.

Also, should it be twisted all the way down the legs of the resistance wire?

I filmed a video today on how I recoil a Vivi Nova. I should get it edited and uploaded in a few days.

The wrapped wires are a bit too thick to go through the bottom, and may cause problems. What I do nowadays is I wrap the wires so that only the NR wire goes through the grommet. I lay the R and NR wire between my fingers in a 90 degree angle so that the R wire will extend about 6mm past the intersection, and NR will go 30mm. I then twist them around eachother, wrap one tight round of NR wire at the coil side of the twist, and cut the excess. The "knot" will be about 3mm in length and will fit just nice in a Vivi Nova.

Thinking the variable wattage could make life a little easier with the vivi.

Having used a Vamo for about a week, I think it makes life easier in general. ) Kanger T2's and T3's doesn't fit though, which is a disappointing oversight from Vamo.

Also, as an aside, I've been burning through my cotton wicks.

Make sure your coil is not too tight at the wick. I wouldn't wrap the coil around cotton, but wrap a coil around a drill bit, insert the coil in the head, and only then pull the cotton through the coil. All this will be in the video once I get it up.

 

[JUDGMENT AFFIRMED]

Also would add that some people do not like silica wicks.

There is a little bit of discussion over at this thread on wick material....
http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/modding-forum/284030-wick-materials-safe-vs-dangerous.html

A LITTLE? That's the first reading I did on ECF, in late May, .......and on it goes.......got a lot of catch-up to do.

 

[xMackx]

One of the most important things I learned was let the cotton soak in juice in the tank for awhile before running any electricity through it.

My first day at trying to rebuild with cotton I would wrap a coil around the wick and as soon as I put juice on the wick and in the tank i would try and vape it (horrible burnt cotton taste). Even though it looks wet, it hadn't had any time to absorb and expand to perform with any capillary action that is so needed in any wick material.

 

[Thompson]

I some times forget that and it is regrettable.

With SS it at least doesn't burn anything horribly. Fabric wicks I've accidentally burnt in half.

Nice rest during that initial soak is a must.

 

[JD1]

One of the most important things I learned was let the cotton soak in juice in the tank for awhile before running any electricity through it........

I had to learn that one the hard way also. I'm now making two small wicks and letting them soak for hours so they expand and fill the coil with out being too tight.

 

[xMackx]

I had to learn that one the hard way also. I'm now making two small wicks and letting them soak for hours so they expand and fill the coil with out being too tight.

Yeah it's really the main mistake I think everyone goes through and one of the most important ones to learn. What type of cotton are you using?

 

[JD1]

I'm using cheese cloth but I'm planning on trying some of those pads you use from dollar tree.

 

[rem700]

Where are people buying these for $7

Are people still rebuilding these?

They sell a blister pack of heads for less than $7.

Buy 2 of those & your good for months. Why spend hours fiddling around with this stuff?

 

[xMackx]

Kanthal 33 awg 100 feet- $8.20 (shipping included)= $0.082 per foot or $0.006 per inch


80 Cotton rounds- $1.00= $0.0125 per round

I use about 3 inches each time I rebuild one of my vivi novas which comes to $0.018 of wire per build.

I get about a 8-10 wicks off each of the cotton rounds which comes to $0.0015 per build.

All together rebuilding my vivi nova with kanthal and cotton cost $0.0195, lets round that up to 2 cents per build.

Now for the $7 a pack 5 atomizer heads I could rebuild my vivi nova 350 times. What would last a month could last 6.7 years rebuilding the same atty once a week.

 

[MF DOOM]

Excuse me for possibly not seeing this mentioned in this 70 page thread, but did they fix the live ended wire issue for the POS that lies under the rubber gasket for the POS nipple?I have a new V2 mini 2.5, and after reading about this AFTER vaping my tank, I syringed the juice out, and unscrewed the atty head.Well, to my surprise I found NO burning from either wire (I know it will only come from one, yet peace of mind is PRICELESS) the obvious positive wire left zero/0 burn on that gasket, leading me to believe they've fixed this?
I still like the durability of this unit, so I will keep to mod like you fine minds of vaping have done.
Thanks.

 

[L7D4N]

I believe in 2.5+ they used NR wires for the leads connected by the gasket, so there should be no further burning.

I haven't purchased a new head in the last 6 months or so, and I can't say for certain though. If you look at the top of the coil and notice different colored or bigger wires that meet the wires of the coil, those are NR legs.

 

[Butters78]

Kanthal 33 awg 100 feet- $8.20 (shipping included)= $0.082 per foot or $0.006 per inch


80 Cotton rounds- $1.00= $0.0125 per round

I use about 3 inches each time I rebuild one of my vivi novas which comes to $0.018 of wire per build.

I get about a 8-10 wicks off each of the cotton rounds which comes to $0.0015 per build.

All together rebuilding my vivi nova with kanthal and cotton cost $0.0195, lets round that up to 2 cents per build.

Now for the $7 a pack 5 atomizer heads I could rebuild my vivi nova 350 times. What would last a month could last 6.7 years rebuilding the same atty once a week.

How do you set up the rounds for the nova? I bought a pack the other day.

 

[mrelwood]

How do you set up the rounds for the nova? I bought a pack the other day.

Here's one way:

http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...nt-cottons-different-wicks-2.html#post8189335

 

[Jimi D.]

Meatsneakers, I went ahead and milled a hole on both sides of the bottom edges of the wick slots, two pieces of 2mm ody wick no longer get choked and get zero dry hits, unless I don't pay attention to it when I'm low on the juice, gotta tip it and roll it. Here is a pic.

What a difference this modification makes. Thanks for posting this Man.