Wick materials. Safe vs dangerous.

[kwalka]

Ok Non expert-expert cotton people. I just took a cotton ball, tore off a strip, rolled a fairly loose 4-5 mm strip long enough to span ody all the way and then some. Used a needle to coil it. Left the needle in place until I had to install neg ring. I am now having serious wicking issues. Its either all or nothing. Is a cotton ball too loose in nature to create a proper wick. I notice most of you seem to be using gauze, cheesecloth, or yarn. Items that seem to mimick a strand effect, if you will. Have we made strait cotton balls work? If so how?

 

[bilboda]

Make the leg wires extra long, fold it over so it's doubled, twist it tight. You have halved the resistance +-. Only the coil will heat up now. The video still applies, gives you a good look at the innards and the rebuild process, just make your legs doubled or use nr wire.

 

[bilboda]

I never noticed that cotton balls wick so well in normal use and I haven't tried it in an ecig. Gauze gets soaked easier in normal use. I have seen a page linked from somewhere in this thread where some have debraided the gauze. By golly, they even made a device for it.. You can experiment before making your wick. Just use some water or whatever and see what gets wet through and through. I don't think Bounty will be good, even if it is the quicker picker upper.

 

[Quigsworth]

Ok Non expert-expert cotton people. I just took a cotton ball, tore off a strip, rolled a fairly loose 4-5 mm strip long enough to span ody all the way and then some. Used a needle to coil it. Left the needle in place until I had to install neg ring. I am now having serious wicking issues. Its either all or nothing. Is a cotton ball too loose in nature to create a proper wick. I notice most of you seem to be using gauze, cheesecloth, or yarn. Items that seem to mimick a strand effect, if you will. Have we made strait cotton balls work? If so how?

I use rolled cotton in my Ody exclusively now (I've used a cotton ball to, just to see if it was any different, once you pull the ball apart it's for the most part the same consistency as rolled)...getting the right wick density is critical with the Ody's and unfortunately almost impossible to describe but a rule I go with, twist your wick as tight as it will go, you should be able to fit it in the ceramic slots with about .5 mm + to spare (add/take away if not), I then wrap my coil (no pin) on a semi relaxed wick...you'll get it, and it does work (incredibly actually)...one other thing, you will be closing your flow control more than you would with silica or ceramic...just keep trying, and take notes ...you'll get it.

 

[Quigsworth]

I never noticed that cotton balls wick so well in normal use and I haven't tried it in an ecig. Gauze gets soaked easier in normal use. I have seen a page linked from somewhere in this thread where some have debraided the gauze. By golly, they even made a device for it.. You can experiment before making your wick. Just use some water or whatever and see what gets wet through and through. I don't think Bounty will be good, even if it is the quicker picker upper.

I think you may be right, when I used a ball it wasn't as good as the rolled cotton, but I just chalked it up to maybe it was an "off" wick, but like I said, I just wanted to see if a cotton ball would work...

 

[Robert T]

I needed to rewick one of my Maptanks last night so I got a cotton ball from my wife, tore off a piece and rolled a wick. Made a coil and pulled the wick through it, attached it to the ce2 put back together and it works really well. No off taste or anything. It's the first one I've done, no problem. Talk about cheap! One cotton ball looks like it would make several wicks.

 

[Quigsworth]

It's the first one I've done, no problem. Talk about cheap! One cotton ball looks like it would make several wicks.

...enjoy it, the next 5 wicks will suck and you'll wonder what the hell is going on...

...raw cotton is a fickle, cruel mistress, she'll lure you in like a Siren and give you that sweet, sweet taste of her glorious fecundity, making you feel the conqueror!

...however, you will find that in reality, you've been weighed, measured and found wanting when trying to attempt a repeat performance...

 

[hildicat]

Success! After three tries I have successfully re-wicked/coiled my V2.5 Vivi Nova. I used cotton batton from Rite Aid, made a tight wick dampened with juice and wrapped it along a paper clip with kanthal 32. Made the first one this way and took the advice to double wrap the ends of the wire to add resistance (since its reported that the V2 uses NR wire). Well that kept reading low ohms on the Provari so I decided to ditch that and use the simple method demonstrated in the video. This time it read about 0.8 ohms and quickly gave me errors as well. Tried again with more wraps, i think five total and got the same thing. I think I may have been a bit sloppy and the wires may have been touching where they shouldn't have. The last attempt was six coils, I think. Slapped it all together and I got a 1.8. Filled up the tank and started vaping. About a half hour in and the resistance keeps creeping up, about 2.2 now, vaping at 4.1 volts and its great. Nice flavor and the vapor is huge. Its still breaking in I think, but there is no foul taste and no dry hits yet. I initially cut a fat strip of the batton but quickly realized no matter how tight I rolled it, it would not fit through the slots in the head so I kept pulling away more till it fit in nicely. Its surprising just how little material it take to make a wick.

 

[Quigsworth]

I initially cut a fat strip of the batton but quickly realized no matter how tight I rolled it, it would not fit through the slots in the head so I kept pulling away more till it fit in nicely. Its surprising just how little material it take to make a wick.

I know!, and yet I'm still the definition of insanity...doing the same thing over and over expecting different results ...I have to force myself to use very little batton...it's so hard, you look at it and think "ah, that'll squish down", and it does, and you force it in and then wonder why it's choking and dry...

 

[sailorman]

I am liking the new Vivi Nova's right out of the box. There is break in period. seems every atty or cart has one, but then they vape like mad. Vision Vivi Nova, Part 2 - Changing Wick (COTTON) & Final Impressions - YouTube
The new 2.5 have nr wire for the legs and you are going to want this when you build your own. 1 fellow solves the problem by bending the legs to double them and twisting them. This lowers the resistance on the leg allowing the heat to build onlt on the coil. I haven't tried cotton balls or gauze but I will.
I use the stock coil before building a new one. You might pull it and replace the silica wick with twisted gauze or cotton right off the bat.
One last thought. When you twist on some nr wire, you make it stiffer and it just wants to go straight down, possible shorting out on the sidewalls .You can always run the wire to the same side of the connector instead of opposite
sides as seen on the video. 1 can touch the side, it's negative anyway... I've seen copper used for the legs but I'm not sure that's good in our atty's, copper and cooking, been a while since I put a penny in my mouth..yuck

Where did you get the info. that the V2.5's were coiled with nr wire? I just dissected a 1.8ohm and a 2.4ohm V2.5 coil and the wire is all a continuous piece. This makes sense since, unlike most RBAs, the legs of the coil are so short. I looked at the uncoiled wire under 15-20X magnification and there is no way that there is any type of joint. It is definitely a single piece of wire.

BTW, I got mine at Gotvapes. The heads are identical to the V2, except for the longer, mutli-stranded wicks.

 

[sailorman]

Been liking the 2.4 head so far. I'm about two tanks into this and its working very nicely. I was really hoping I could rebuild this just like in the vid you linked. Are you saying that with the V2.5 I'm going to need NR wire as well? Too bad for me, I dont have any on hand. Is this also another Ebay purchase or can it be sourced locally?

You can rebuild the 2.5 just like in the vid. You don't need NR wire. The only difference between the 2.5 and the vid is that there is a small silica tube surrounding the coil. Just replace it (or not) before you re-assemble the wick/coil into the head.

 

[Stosh]

You can rebuild the 2.5 just like in the vid. You don't need NR wire. The only difference between the 2.5 and the vid is that there is a small silica tube surrounding the coil. Just replace it (or not) before you re-assemble the wick/coil into the head.

The V2 I rebuild was from Madvapes and had the small silica tube surrounding the coil.
So what is actually different with the V2.5?...

 

[Robert T]

You, my friend, have a way with words! You should have been a writer

...enjoy it, the next 5 wicks will suck and you'll wonder what the hell is going on...

...raw cotton is a fickle, cruel mistress, she'll lure you in like a Siren and give you that sweet, sweet taste of her glorious fecundity, making you feel the conqueror!

...however, you will find that in reality, you've been weighed, measured and found wanting when trying to attempt a repeat performance...

 

[kwalka]

You can rebuild the 2.5 just like in the vid. You don't need NR wire. The only difference between the 2.5 and the vid is that there is a small silica tube surrounding the coil. Just replace it (or not) before you re-assemble the wick/coil into the head.

I noticed that and wasn't sure what it was. Is it ok to dry burn w that in place? BTW, Sailorman, welcome to the party!

So I just rebuilt my Ody, again. This time I setup a 2 ohm wire, used stock silica all the way around, but I put a piece of nextel on top then wrapped the coil. So far so very good.

 

[bilboda]

The last 1 I looked at was definitely a fat leg soldered onto the skinnier coil wire. I still got it, maybe a pic will do.

 

[Gummy Bear]

Hey guys, I would like to know if there are any Florida modders here using the ViVi Nova that are having any flooding problems.

Mine has been flooding for a few days now. The 1st thing I though was that the gunk build up on the coil was keeping the cotton yarn from being absorbent but I have made 3 new ones and even put a stock head back on and it still floods. So now I am wondering if is the weather here. We have a tropical storm in the gulf and it has been raining here for 3 days.

 

[kwalka]

Hey guys, I would like to know if there are any Florida modders here using the ViVi Nova that are having any flooding problems.

Mine has been flooding for a few days now. The 1st thing I though was that the gunk build up on the coil was keeping the cotton yarn from being absorbent but I have made 3 new ones and even put a stock head back on and it still floods. So now I am wondering if is the weather here. We have a tropical storm in the gulf and it has been raining here for 3 days.

FWIW, I'm 4 blocks off the gulf and I've been chain vaping my vivi and ody for days and not a drop of leakage. As you know this low pressure effects everything, shrinking and swelling.

For all you deviant minds out there, that was a serious comment...

 

[bilboda]

Don't rub your eyes, my phone took this pic. You can see where the wires meet.
This a vivi nova coil with nr wire.
Without nr or another solution, the rubber gasket burns because the whole wire gets hot.
I do have scorch marks on my original ones but not on the new ones.

 

[RavenTai]

Yep raining like mad, drove from lake city to tampa in them mess this afternoon, saw many wrecks,

sorry no vivi nova in my arsenal, but from what I know of it small barometric changes should not affect it. I would take a look at the o-rings and their seats, a cut o-ring or an obstruction on a seat could cause leaks.

 

[bilboda]

Flooding means too much juice in the coil . You getting gurgling and maybe some juice in your mouth? How's the draw?