Vivi Nova Rebuild tutorial

[gdeal]

I am not sure why I did this, the dual coil settled down and is back to a steady 3.1 ohms and is performing very nicely. vape smoothed out considerably from where it started which was slightly metallic with a bigger than expected TH (probably from a short).

I looked at the geometry of the dual coil sitting in the slot of the head opening and thought I could fit a bit more SS in the same space. So here is my set up:



I used two 20mm #400 SS wicks and two 15mm #400 wicks (70mm of SS!) and a small wrapper of mesh to even out the coil placement. I did not use the screw coil, that was wishful thinking. I initially only oxidized the wrapper and then hand wrapped the coil. I notched the silicon head to create an additional 1.5mm of slot space.



After I loaded this in the head, it failed immediately, The wrapper shifted, the coil shorted and given the tight dimensions I scrubbed it and started over. I oxidize all the wicks and re-coiled the wicks without the SS wrapper.

Success:



Since the wicks were difficult to immobilize when coiling I only managed to get a 2ohm coil with 4 turns. It was a PITA to get the rounded coil mass into a straight column to fit in to the head slot opening. But....

Second test burn produced nice vapor with no-nic no flavor 50/50 juice.

Link to Video: http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1567/neszzlqosmfvmywmgulkza.mp4

Vapor production is as good as the double wick, the taste evened out on the test juice after about 1mls.

I will not be doing this one again.....

 

[gdeal]

Tri-fecta wick/coil update.

So, I've been vaping on this wick for a few days. Probably only a couple tanks of BWB RY4, which is a fairly clear, light amber color. My 1st reaction was, YIKES, it sure did turn dark. Now I've read that genisys atty/tanks can heat up and cook the juice, turning it darker along with the crud from the coil, etc. But I didn't expect it so fast with this setup after just 6-8ml of juice.

First off...great follow-up post..Bravo!

The discoloration is normal. It is feedback from the coil and probably a bit of accelerated aging due to heat. BJ43 has described this in detail in other threads.

I have cotton wicks that have turned black from use after a couple of mls. I usually discard the juice when I notice it getting thick. Usually a wick change follows after a couple of more mls. This rebuild is next on my list. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MikeE3]

I deduce that cover wicks generally preserve coil life by keeping the coil clean @ the cost of the gunk ending up quickly in eliquid, instead of as deposits on the coil 8-o

Thus additionally, vapors rise off the coil, need to penetrate through the cover wick, staining it, & also adding to the quickly polluted ejuice

If one vapes hard enough to need the extra wicking it would be worth using a topper ,then swirling a bunch until wicking gets near nil, & then a cleaning of some degree. Sadly that equates to: no often topping off due to quicker eliquid pollution

P.S that Tri-fecta wick/coil is awesome thinking!

Reasonable observations there, MISTer E. I'm also wondering (watching too) how different juice reacts. I've got another of these wicks/coils using KBV RY4 and it's darkened too. Then I have an all bamboo yarn/cotton over-wick using Bounty Hunter - this one hasn't changed color hardly at all. Is it the different juice or not having the SS mesh as part of the wick - right now I don't know. But I'll be trying the BH in a tri-fecta wick and see how it reacts. Maybe one of the flavs / ingredients of RY4 make it more susceptible to darkening when it's 'cooked'.

However - at this time I'm thinking the darkening has something to do w/ the SS mesh in the wick. In yet another setup w/ the Tri-fecta I'm vaping NLV's Gold. The Gold is a similar color to Bounty Hunter. The Gold in a tri-fecta setup has turn basically the same dark color and shade as the 2 RY4s. Of the 4 only the Bounty Hunter with all bamboo/cotton wicking has the same color as the original juice.

Does the SS mesh warm up and cook the juice more than just a coil wrapped around bamboo or cotton? Don't know!

 

[MikeE3]

Just stripped down another of my combo wicks using mesh, bamboo, and a cotton topper. This one has been in use since Aug 12, about a month now. And I'm impressed how clean the coil and SS mesh under the coil is. Seems like the bamboo wick and cotton topper are helping to eliminate a crud build up on the coil. This is what the coil looked like when I removed to wicking - looks like a well seasoned cast iron skillet.

and the wicking

 

[gdeal]

Just stripped down another of my combo wicks using mesh, bamboo, and a cotton topper. This one has been in use since Aug 12, about a month now. And I'm impressed how clean the coil and SS mesh under the coil is. Seems like the bamboo wick and cotton topper are helping to eliminate a crud build up on the coil. This is what the coil looked like when I removed to wicking - looks like a well seasoned cast iron skillet.

MikeE3 - looks good. Are you saying that you did not need to clean your coil? I was wonder how I was going to get the gunk off from underneath the coil....

I took a cut at this today. On the first try, I did a set-up as you described but I found that the wicking was a bit slow for faster vaping. I made a couple of changes to your set-up that made a noticeable difference for me.

I increased the inner diameter of the 30mm wick with an additional 20mm strip of SS to get the equivalent of a 50mm SS wick in the coil. While providing a bump in wick's juice reservoir, it significantly increases the coil on mesh surface area. Vapor increase dramatically. I also wrap my cheesecloth around the wick sticking outside the head to get as much juice feeding directly to the SS wick.

Only been through about 1ml, but this is working very nice. BTW, the juice I use turns very dark and gunks cotton wicks after 5ml, so I hope my results are like yours. ...well seasoned skillet

 

[MikeE3]

MikeE3 - looks good. Are you saying that you did not need to clean your coil? I was wonder how I was going to get the gunk off from underneath the coil....

I took a cut at this today. On the first try, I did a set-up as you described but I found that the wicking was a bit slow for faster vaping. I made a couple of changes to your set-up that made a noticeable difference for me.

I increased the inner diameter of the 30mm wick with an additional 20mm strip of SS to get the equivalent of a 50mm SS wick in the coil. While providing a bump in wick's juice reservoir, it significantly increases the coil on mesh surface area. Vapor increase dramatically. I also wrap my cheesecloth around the wick sticking outside the head to get as much juice feeding directly to the SS wick.

Only been through about 1ml, but this is working very nice. BTW, the juice I use turns very dark and gunks cotton wicks after 5ml, so I hope my results are like yours. ...well seasoned skillet

A to you. I like the additional piece of mesh you put on the wick to increase it's thickness. I got tired of fussing w/ enough wraps of 32g to get what I like 2.4-2.8Ω's in that little space and went to 34g. With the fatter wick under the coil, I could get back to 32g. Folks, smarter than me about all this, have convinced me that the more surface area of coil the better the vapor production.

hmmm - I'm a chain vaper. The PV is never out of my hand yet alone away from my mouth. I've not had a problem with dry hits using bamboo yarn. Today I just filled a tank w/ BWB malty which is 70vg/30pg and even that is wicking well enough for my back-to-back-to-back hits on my PV. I've used cheese cloth in other applications but not this setup say I can't say 'for me' whether one works better than the other.
In general for me - the coil isn't gunking up near as much as a stock head. This one was the cleanest I've taken apart after using, I didn't even have to dry burn it before re-wicking. Others I just gave a short dry burn, rinsed and re-wicked. I like just being able to replace the wicking and re-use the coil/SS mesh 'inards'.

PS: not much activity in this thread any more, I think everyone's over in the 500 mesh thread.

 

[MISTer E]

MikeE3

Does the SS mesh warm up and cook the juice more than just a coil wrapped around bamboo or cotton? Don't know!

You seem to have exposed another factor of

gdeal

I also wrap my cheesecloth around the wick sticking outside the head to get as much juice feeding directly to the SS wick.

I think the spiral draping could possibly reduce backwash eliquid pollution to some degree, by the naturally awesome scientific looks of it

 

[gdeal]

A to you. I like the additional piece of mesh you put on the wick to increase it's thickness. I got tired of fussing w/ enough wraps of 32g to get what I like 2.4-2.8Ω's in that little space and went to 34g. With the fatter wick under the coil, I could get back to 32g. Folks, smarter than me about all this, have convinced me that the more surface area of coil the better the vapor production.

Yes, you can definitely notice the difference in vapor production...BTW, I used 32g and got 2.6ohms exactly! I used a machine screw the same diameter as the pre-oxidized mesh to pre-coil. I don't think I ever have had an easier time or nicer fit placing a coil on a wick. In hindsight, I did not have to tweak it once, no shorts, no movement, no ohm drift.

hmmm - I'm a chain vaper. The PV is never out of my hand yet alone away from my mouth. I've not had a problem with dry hits using bamboo yarn. Today I just filled a tank w/ BWB malty which is 70vg/30pg and even that is wicking well enough for my back-to-back-to-back hits on my PV. I've used cheese cloth in other applications but not this setup say I can't say 'for me' whether one works better than the other.
In general for me - the coil isn't gunking up near as much as a stock head. This one was the cleanest I've taken apart after using, I didn't even have to dry burn it before re-wicking. Others I just gave a short dry burn, rinsed and re-wicked. I like just being able to replace the wicking and re-use the coil/SS mesh 'inards'.

It may just be that Bamboo thread wicks faster than cheesecloth? I use all VG juice, though. I have tried Bamboo (Aunt Lydia's #`10), but not in this mod. It did worked really well, but I am reading way too much over at the Wicks thread. Bamboo Viscose has me a little bugged out for some reason. I am trying to find something called "original bamboo fiber", but it does not appear available yet in the US.

I am now 3mls into the wick and this set up is still rockin! Funny this is the first time I am actually looking forward to a wick change out....

PS: not much activity in this thread any more, I think everyone's over in the 500 mesh thread.

[/QUOTE]

Ha, agreed. But those guys are making some good progress and I am am coming up the learning curve fast because of it.....

 

[gdeal]

gdeal I think the spiral draping could possibly reduce backwash eliquid pollution to some degree, by the naturally awesome scientific looks of it

It may..but I am sure that it will find its way into my juice.........."eliquid pollution" , trademark that one

Another nice piece of art. I really did not see that at first...

 

[MikeE3]

It may just be that Bamboo thread wicks faster than cheesecloth? I use all VG juice, though. I have tried Bamboo (Aunt Lydia's #`10), but not in this mod. It did worked really well, but I am reading way too much over at the Wicks thread. Bamboo Viscose has me a little bugged out for some reason. I am trying to find something called "original bamboo fiber", but it does not appear available yet in the US.

I am now 3mls into the wick and this set up is still rockin! Funny this is the first time I am actually looking forward to a wick change out....

The 'Wick materials. Safe vs dangerous.' thread - yea I caught some of that too. I'm playing ostrich w/ that info.

I know what ya mean about 'wick change out time'. I too, couldn't wait 'till i had a few tanks through one of these wick/coil setups to see what it looked like when I took it apart.

Oh-oh, making pre-fab coils w/ a screw is really nice, very little to - no putzing around with them.

 

[gdeal]

The 'Wick materials. Safe vs dangerous.' thread - yea I caught some of that too. I'm playing ostrich w/ that info.

I know what ya mean about 'wick change out time'. I too, couldn't wait 'till i had a few tanks through one of these wick/coil setups to see what it looked like when I took it apart.

Oh-oh, making pre-fab coils w/ a screw is really nice, very little to - no putzing around with them.

BTW, With the thicker wick, I can power up significantly higher around the 12-13 watt range. Grand Plumage!

 

[recidivus]

OOF! Just rebuilt mine with 2mm cotton unwound to 4 threads. Don't have any NR yet but decided to give it a go regardless. Reading 2.0ohms and even at 5.8w the vapes/clouds are as good or better than when I was going up to 8w on a 2.4ohm head. No funky taste, no dry burns. This thing is wicking like it's going out of style, actually have to ease up on my usual chain vaping.

I keep reading about using screws to precoil, but haven't found much specific information on it via search (I haven't read through all 300+ posts). I picture just taking a properly sized screw and use it to guide the coil, remove and thread wick through?

 

[gdeal]

OOF! Just rebuilt mine with 2mm cotton unwound to 4 threads. Don't have any NR yet but decided to give it a go regardless. Reading 2.0ohms and even at 5.8w the vapes/clouds are as good or better than when I was going up to 8w on a 2.4ohm head. No funky taste, no dry burns. This thing is wicking like it's going out of style, actually have to ease up on my usual chain vaping.

I keep reading about using screws to precoil, but haven't found much specific information on it via search (I haven't read through all 300+ posts). I picture just taking a properly sized screw and use it to guide the coil, remove and thread wick through?

Yes correct. Best bet is a machine screw (very tight pitch) with a matching diameter to your wick. With textile materials I match the screw diameter to the compressed diameter of the wick (twisted tight). Or you can take a screw with a diameter of your preference and match the wick to the screw.

 

[mrelwood]

With textile materials I match the screw diameter to the compressed diameter of the wick (twisted tight). Or you can take a screw with a diameter of your preference and match the wick to the screw.

Cotton swells quite a bit when wet, so I have to make my cotton wicks to only about 2/3 or even 1/2 the diameter of the inside of the coil when squeezed. A twine could be different, as I'm using 20 single threads from a hospital grade wound pad.

 

[Startle]

This post was super helpful!

I applied this technique to my mini nova and the results were astounding to say the least!

I used 4 strings of bamboo thread (pre-boiled) as the wicking medium and it is rocking with a 50/50 juice blend.

Vape On!

 

[Endor]

Quick question. I have some normal Chefmate Cheesecloth I picked up at Target... it's a pretty loose weave. For a wick, any suggestions for how wide I should cut the cloth before rolling it up? I've heard "counting threads" (and a lot of variation in this too), any suggestions on how many inches or millimeters width I should start with? I don't want to widen the slots if I can avoid it.

Thanks in advance...

 

[nebulas]

OOF! Just rebuilt mine with 2mm cotton unwound to 4 threads. Don't have any NR yet but decided to give it a go regardless. Reading 2.0ohms and even at 5.8w the vapes/clouds are as good or better than when I was going up to 8w on a 2.4ohm head. No funky taste, no dry burns. This thing is wicking like it's going out of style, actually have to ease up on my usual chain vaping.

I keep reading about using screws to precoil, but haven't found much specific information on it via search (I haven't read through all 300+ posts). I picture just taking a properly sized screw and use it to guide the coil, remove and thread wick through?

Thats the idea. Just make sure the screw is the right fatness/thinness and the threads are close enough together.

I found setting my wick up with a paperclip using a 'helping hands' with alligator clips is the easiest for me. That way I have two hands dedicated solely to winding the coil. I can get a perfect 5/6 wrap using 32awg with this method.

 

[subdude]

Thats the idea. Just make sure the screw is the right fatness/thinness and the threads are close enough together.

I found setting my wick up with a paperclip using a 'helping hands' with alligator clips is the easiest for me. That way I have two hands dedicated solely to winding the coil. I can get a perfect 5/6 wrap using 32awg with this method.

Doh! Why didn't I think of that? I use "helping hands" anytime I'm doing wiring for my guitar. Guess it just found another use. Thanks.

 

[nebulas]

Doh! Why didn't I think of that? I use "helping hands" anytime I'm doing wiring for my guitar. Guess it just found another use. Thanks.

Ha! Thats the same reason I have them! For building guitar cables and for repairs/upgrades to the old axe.

 

[gdeal]

Cotton swells quite a bit when wet, so I have to make my cotton wicks to only about 2/3 or even 1/2 the diameter of the inside of the coil when squeezed. A twine could be different, as I'm using 20 single threads from a hospital grade wound pad.

Correct you are, cotton does swell a lot compared to other materials.

To be more specific with my set-up. First I look toward the opening of the slot in the head. Regardless of the opening size, I match the tightly twisted material to that opening to create a barrier to flooding. (The balance here is preventing head flooding vs. choking off the wicking flow of ejuice: "the pinch point")

For cotton and more specifically, cheesecloth, I have found that the upper limit of the coil diameter should be the equal to this diameter. Cheesecloth is very loose dry, so when I said tightly twist, I did not mean full 100% compression, but enough so that is has density. Cheesecloth has perpendicular threads, so I guess compared to cotton yarn or threads, they would be easier to compress tighter.

Perhaps based upon your usage, a good rule of thumb for yarn/threads is that the coil should be 33% to 50% larger than the tightly twisted material.

For cheesecloth I would guess a bit larger say 75% to 100%.

In both cases, I would match the twisted material to the slot opening that you are using for flood prevention.

So for a stock Vivi head:

Slot opening: 1.5mm
Tightly twisted wick material = 1.5MM
Coil Size: For Cotton Yarn= ~2 to 3MM; For Cheesecloth=1.5mm to 2mm.

I have opened up heads to 3mm for Cheesecloth usage at 3mm tightly twisted with 3 MM Coil. I would say that my hits are more "wet" that "dry". Do not read "dry" as "dry hits", just that the vapor is heavier (juicier?). For some ejuice it is great, for others it can be overwhelming. Sort of like comparing a Chardonnay vs a Riesling.

In any case, good point. Perhaps we can hear from others on their experiences.