Vivi Nova Rebuild tutorial

[Rader2146]

Wow, stock Vivi Nova heads......garbage. Tight draw, little flavor, little vapor, poor wicking. 10 minutes of use and I knew I needed to do something. Good thing I read this thread while waiting on vape mail. Tried the cotton over-wick, still dry hits.

Drilled out the center post of the head, re-coiled the stock wick to 2.4ohms with 33awg kanthal and twisted legs. Flavor and wicking is still down (assuming because of the stock silica wicks), but better than before. Loose draw, just how I like it.

Next is rolled cotton ball wick with SS mesh under the coil. Then waiting for the cotton candle wick to arrive.

Thanks to all the contributors in this thread.

 

[Shofixti]

I guess I should just give up figuring out the versions and just enjoy rebuilding it.

I love how you caption photos MISTer. lol

 

[MISTer E]

I love how you caption photos MISTer. lol

I enjoy tweaking pix, as well as atomizers. Some people may not notice that it was more than a caption, sometimes my images(Example: Vapor Shots") are composed of an image file type called a APNG.

APNG is a high resolution .png animation file (as sharp as the original it was made from & the one some can not see animate)

compared to .gif which is lower in quality. (more speckles & the one most can see animate)

I do not have a list of which browsers support APNG, but I do know google chrome needs a plugin to see them & firefox can see them with no plugin needed.

Rader2146 I too expect a cotton delivery, some freshly ginned cotton strait from the bolls. It should be @ my door tomorrow
Lint/Seed Cotton(pricing page)
Lint Cotton(close up images page)
I eagerly anticipate its arrival & expect it to be great wick material.

Next year I shall be planing some cotton in my garden

 

[MikeE3]

I do not have a list of which browsers support APNG, but I do know google chrome needs a plugin to see them & firefox can see them with no plugin needed.

Nice animation work. FYI, you can add Safari to the browser's that don't support APNG.

 

[BJ43]

Large 28g oval coil for the vivi nova. Lydia's #10

 

[Shofixti]

compared to .gif which is lower in quality. (more speckles & the one most can see animate)

I'm stealing this and you can't do anything about it.

 

[j4mmin42]

In regards to the OP (nice tutorial BTW ...

It seems like you used NR wire around the actual coil. Isn't that the exact opposite of what you want? I mean, aren't we looking for less heat on the leads and nearly ALL of it centered on the coil?

With that said, wouldn't you want the leads to be NR-wrapped kanthal and the coil to be just the kanthal itself, no NR wire?

Maybe I am missing something here- but I did some searching around and I keep coming up with the same conclusion. Either way, after messing with the Nova *way* too much and still hating it, I think an NR build might be the only way to save the thing.

 

[j4mmin42]

...Ok, I think I see what you did- the leads ARE NR wire, as I was assuming they should be- you just attached the NR wire onto the Kanthal in a way that looks like it's wrapped around the whole coil (until you look more closely). The previous pic to the one of the coil itself, with the long NR twists, is what threw me- and the suggestion to "twist the remainder of the nr wire onto the part you twisted first"- that pic and that advice actually still makes no sense to me, as far as making NR leads. All you need is a good, strong connection between the silver and the R wire, not a million twists.

Sorry for doubting you, though- I think we have the same intentions, lol...

 

[britchris]

Just double the kanthal on the legs saves having 2 types of wire and works just fine

 

[j4mmin42]

Just double the kanthal on the legs saves having 2 types of wire and works just fine

...Yes, it can- I even have two photo tutorials (of silica and SS setups, respectively) up on my blog about it- but it does not always work as planned. If it doesn't work perfectly, every time, I don't use it- especially in a case like this where the entire reason I rebuilt the Vivi was to get rid of the burning bits. It malfunctioned badly- many times- when I started doing multiple rebuilds, so now each of my posts carries a disclaimer that I no longer recommend twisting up R wire to cool the leads. I am pretty sure the problem lies at the connections between the grommet at the bottom of the coil assembly and the respective leads, sandwiched in-between the connection and the grommet- the extra girth of the doubled leads seems to be the cause of the problem for me. That point on the assembly seems to be the first place to catch on fire (or glow red hot), after 10-20 minutes, a day, or sometimes well over a week after building and using it. I have some more exacting suspicions as to why it keeps happening, but it's not all that important.

Contrary to what I said in my final blog post, I kept ONE of my two vivi's and plan on trying the NR wire. This is a serious war I've had with this unit, after all, and it's not going to win (by getting tossed in the trash, lol).

I should mention though that all four of my other SS (or silica, fo that matter-but I don't use silica anymore) rebuilds are still working perfectly, all day every day, after having been dropped, mistreated, etc...I still have not had a single issue with the Did clones or Phoenix/Phoenix-style RBA's.

 

[mrelwood]

Just double the kanthal on the legs saves having 2 types of wire and works just fine

That will work, but concentrating all electrical energy to the coil gives about 20% more performance. I don't think it takes that much more work to twist with a NR wire instead of double twisting the Kanthal.

 

[Endor]

Large 28g oval coil for the vivi nova. Lydia's #10

Interesting idea, BJ43... I consistently enjoy your posts and ideas.

However, I cannot get through the funky off-taste when using Aunt Lydia's #10, even after a good long boil and break-in. I have probably 4ml+ through an atty set up with 8 strands in a Vivi Nova Mini, and can still taste a woody flavor. I'm not even pushing the wattage, either.... I've tried anywhere between 4v and 4.5v on this 2.6ohm coil, which is certainly reasonable.

It does, however, seem to wick very well (better than just about anything else). Any hints/tips to using this stuff that mitigates the flavor it gives off?

 

[BJ43]

Interesting idea, BJ43... I consistently enjoy your posts and ideas.

However, I cannot get through the funky off-taste when using Aunt Lydia's #10, even after a good long boil and break-in. I have probably 4ml+ through an atty set up with 8 strands in a Vivi Nova Mini, and can still taste a woody flavor. I'm not even pushing the wattage, either.... I've tried anywhere between 4v and 4.5v on this 2.6ohm coil, which is certainly reasonable.

It does, however, seem to wick very well (better than just about anything else). Any hints/tips to using this stuff that mitigates the flavor it gives off?

I had that same problem but it finally went away.
8 strands may be too much on a regular coil. I went to 5 or 6 strands and it was much better.

 

[Endor]

I had that same problem but it finally went away.
8 strands may be too much on a regular coil. I went to 5 or 6 strands and it was much better.

Ah, good to know! I will give that a shot, thanks.

 

[gdeal]

BJ

Are you twisting the 28ga wire legs on your oval double toothpick coil (ODTC) or does the bamboo along the legs keep it cool enough to prevent the grommet from burning?

Great idea to keep more juice reserve near the coil too. This is next on my Vivi rebuild list. Thanks.

 

[BJ43]

BJ

Are you twisting the 28ga wire legs on your oval double toothpick coil (ODTC) or does the bamboo along the legs keep it cool enough to prevent the grommet from burning?

Great idea to keep more juice reserve near the coil too. This is next on my Vivi rebuild list. Thanks.

Not twisting, double 28g get pretty thick. I am hoping the bamboo on the legs will keep them wet and cool. Good so far.

 

[Errol]

If there are any like me who favored the Vision Stone V2 and V3 with the ceramic coil cup, the predecessor to the Vivi Nova, I found some V2s at Vision Stone | Virgin Vapor | Electronic Cigarette Organic e-Liquid | Electronic Cigarettes for $6.95 + $2.5 shipping.

V3s at vaporcigzz.com/SearchResults.asp?Search=Vision+V3+Stone+Tank+ for $7.99 + $3 shipping. No V3 innards available that I could find so I went with the V2s.

My order should be here Monday so I will be able to verify they are true V2s, and perform as I remember, if anyone cares.

Errol

 

[Endor]

I had that same problem but it finally went away.
8 strands may be too much on a regular coil. I went to 5 or 6 strands and it was much better.

BJ43, again, fantastic advice that was right on. I just recoiled with just 4 strands (a 5/4 coil, 32g Kanthal, wrapped around a 2mm fine-thread screw) and it is working fantastically.... no woody flavor that I can detect, and the 4 strands of this stuff keeps the coil fed perfectly (good vapor/TH/flavor).

I guess more is not better in all cases....

 

[Cyrus Vap]

The aunt lydias has tasted good for me within the first ten vapes on my last 20 or so rebuilds

I don't boil either, but I should (ew)

I wash my hands neurotically, keep 91% isopropanol in a cup nearby, dip my hands in it, rub dry

Also my coil gets flamed, then wrapped wickless, then dry burned, then juice burned, then the wick goes in

Tastes good right away, no BS!

All in all it doesn't matter, if your patient it'll come. Sometimes dumping the tank and reloading helps speed it up too after a few mls

 

[MISTer E]

MikeE3

Nice animation work. FYI, you can add Safari to the browser's that don't support APNG.

All browsers should natively support APNG!, it does a vaper good.
APNG

GIF

Safari noted as an APNG foot dragger

BJ43 I had some just under 3mm meat skewers & only for the fun of it, (because such beastly wire/ohm/amp combos would prematurely end the life of my super ego VV) twisted 6 wraps of 28 awg a1. It was very different working with big wire & I am going to get a more powerful battery mod to power such masses efficiently soon

Not twisting, double 28g get pretty thick.

I was only able to get the 28 to twist OK with one mini plier holding & another to do the work.

The question I have is:
Did you need to heat the wire on the double stacked toothpicks or burn them away, before removal?
The reason I ask: I experienced this(spring back effect) upon removal.

I was able remedy it by inserting a pin into the twisted legs(first image) & heating it until red, thus setting it more where I wanted it.

I have a feeling my skewers are bigger then what you used, because my finished coil was soo huge, it would have shorted out on the walls of the vivi cup [had I been dumb enough to try it]. Those metal short inducing cup walls inspired me to do the ceramic grail mod, because vivi metal heads minus the OEM glass paper insert = shorts for me often.

It was fun & a learning experience, even if it does not ever get used

Errol

Very interesting on the Vision Stone. I am a newbie & had not heard of them. Seems like a nice huge cup. That sucker might even be big enough for the above stacked skewer monster coil.

My raw ginned cotton came & I decided it is easier to get some usp rolled cotton, rather than boil bake & card this stuff into sliver. I found out stink bugs mess with cotton, so insecticides would need to be removed. It will make a nice 1lb couch pillow filling & next year pesticide free straight from the garden is my goal.