Wow, the flavor difference between a cartomizer vs. Vivi Nova is insane...

[souvik]

I think what Chemist meant was...the silica wicks tend to separate the flavor molecules from our juice and hold it back from reaching the heating element and vaporize(thus reducing flavor somewhat). Where the carbonized SS wicks or polyfills transfer the entire juice along with the flavorings to the heating element, making the vape more flavorful....
I am a VIVI user, and I think he may have a point there

 

[Rocketpunk]

That would explain why my butterscotch gunked up the atomizer coils so quickly. Is it possible sugar or a sugar-like compound crystallized on the coils? One person told me my juice will crystallize on my VVN coils, another person told me "there is no sugar in ejuice". Now, I know the difference between sugar and "sweetner", but could this be the reason why my butterscotch lasts about 3-5 days in cartos, whereas all my other juices can stretch up to two, maybe even three weeks?

 

[Racehorse]

First time I ever smoked Gorilla Juice was in my Vivi Nova and I was not impressed, all I taste is a tiny hint of sweetness which I couldn't be able to describe, just some mysterious sweet flavor. I come back 2 days later and I use up one of my boge cartomizers and fill it up after reading that carto's give more flavor than clearomizers/vivi nova's/wicked stuff. I fill it up using the condom method take the first hit and BAM! the flavor hits me like a mac truck. I can taste bananas and the flavor is SO sweet. Now I know what everybody is talking about. The flavors are so crisp and refreshing. I could not put it down at ALL and was chain vaping like mad.

I now kind of regret getting all those extra replaceable heads for it, i have like 7 extra head for the vivi nova, but I don't think I ever want to go back to it again. Yes, the vivi is a fog machine and it's very reliable, but there is absolutely no flavor. I think there has to be some type of scientific explanation to why the flavor is so muted on the Vivi Nova. Flavoring liquids must somehow not fully penetrate through the wick? No clue why.

Sell the replaceables in the classies or trade for somethig you need, or offer them in PIF swap if you see something you want there. Very little has to go to waste here on ECF.

We also have Treaure Chest. That's to just give away stuff. It PAINS me to hear people say they have a bunch of juice or hardware thrown in a drawer somewhere they will never use. Somebody needs it or wants it. Put in Treasure Chest.....it can even be the simplest thing like a syringe. Very little is gonna cost ya more than $2 to mail out to another member.

 

[oh u mad]

Don't be to quick to judge. I always try dripping and then the tank. I usally notice a differance, but not much-- a lttle bit more muted perhaps. Do you have the version 2.5 head on the Vivi Nova? That would make a big difference.

i'm being honest when I say there is a significant difference. But I still love the Vivi Nova because it's so user-friendly and reliable. Yeah, I have the 2.5 head

 

[oh u mad]

I have the opposite experience too. Can't stand the filler taste in cartos. (Except Volt cartos, where the filler is seperated from the coils.) Love my clearos and my Vivis. I guess that's why we have so many options.

i don't taste any filler. but i'm using the boge carto's directly from provape.com. Maybe they have either the old ones that worked really well or the brand new one's which they went back to using some proper QC.

 

[oh u mad]

How thick is the Gorilla? Unmodified clearo's generally have a bad time with thick juices.


EDIT: The IkenVape Platinum's do rock! Suckin' on one now in my 6ml tank. Great flavor (don't dry burn it), vapor, and TH.

The Gorilla is VERY thick. It's almost as thick as maple syrup since it's 100% vg. I'll get slight dry hits at the end if i try to take a large pull. Still, the Vivi does pretty well wicking it.

 

[oh u mad]

As an organic chemist I have a hypothesis to this whole thing. Most e-liquid contain flavoring that is water soluble. Some flavorings have more polar group moieties than others (and some protected moieties de-protect upon heating). If your wicks are silica, they'll hold the flavoring in them quite strongly especially since their surface areas are high. It depends on the flavoring in your e-liquid whether or not it will travel through the wick efficiently. This is why we use silica columns in the industry; their polar properties are useful in separating analytes of varying polarities. I have to see what the polyfill is made of but I suspect they're more non-polar than polar as they're a foam of some sort. They won't hold onto polar flavoring very strongly and thus it's released onto the coil to vaporize. This is why carbon-coated stainless steel wicks are all the craze now because they don't hold on to the flavoring like silica and polyfill.

Wow, great explanation. It would be nice if Vivi Nova released a "Premium" line with steel wicks.

 

[oh u mad]

I'm with the OP. VVN disappointed me. To a previous poster in another thread who suggested user error in the reasons why I did not like my VVN, there shouldn't even need to be a user error. I've filled enough carto tanks that tasted scrumpdidlyumptious with juices that I used in my VVN, and they just tasted DIFFERENT. But then again, taste is subjective, I guess.

OP, don't feel bad. The current rave is the VVN. If you get it to work for you, awesome. The heads are relatively cheap so it's not all that bad.

Except for the flavor dept., the Vivi Nova is a 10/10.

 

[TraceyS]

Not feeling the love for the vivi nova either. T2 and T3 are awesome with T3 becoming my favorite (for now).

Tracey

 

[charmed412]

VN taste for me was a fail too. I like the concept and they are super easy to use, but I find I prefer my carto tanks with glass tubes. It may be the poly tube on the VN that is turning me off. I like the taste with glass better. I don't care for carto filler taste either, but I find it isn't an issue when the carto is in a tank. I hate cartos unless they are in a tank.

 

[martydmb]

Glad to hear because I just received my phinic tank and boge 3.0 ohm tank carto. Have two mini nova and taste is so mute. Also have a hh.357 long barrel coming Thursday to try dripping.

 

[echofinder]

I am a carto tank devotee myself, have noticed a few things:

-flavor may be slightly muted in the vivi but for me the main detractor is lesser TH, which is very noticeable.
-Cartos do start with a polyfill flavor, but this disappears after the first mil or so.
-As far as bringing out flavor is concerned, the best thing I have tried is the vision clearo, but those are too small for me and don't work natively with large mods.

Experiences may vary.

 

[Stabbie]

I stopped vaping any dark juice in the vivi novas. Any dark juice after 2 tankfuls crusted the coil and wick with a burnt, black crust and would soil the remaining juice in the tank with dark burnt juice.
Using a Zmax and adjusted wattage and rewicked with cotton. Same results.
Didn't matter which juice, which wick, which wattage...if it was dark, it killed the vivi nova and the juice in it.

My light colored juices? Vape & wick exceptionally well. Vaping some banana for the past week without cleaning the tank. No issues at all. Flavor continues to be excellent. Better than any carto IMO.

 

[rcpcdude]

I stopped vaping any dark juice in the vivi novas. Any dark juice after 2 tankfuls crusted the coil and wick with a burnt, black crust and would soil the remaining juice in the tank with dark burnt juice.
Using a Zmax and adjusted wattage and rewicked with cotton. Same results.
Didn't matter which juice, which wick, which wattage...if it was dark, it killed the vivi nova and the juice in it.

My light colored juices? Vape & wick exceptionally well. Vaping some banana for the past week without cleaning the tank. No issues at all. Flavor continues to be excellent. Better than any carto IMO.

Good to know rewicking still doesn't fix that with dark juice. Being addicted to Copper Creek's house blend, it became annoying fast having to futz with the novas every other day vs having one carto tank last me 1 week+

 

[martydmb]

I have no problems with wicking from dark juice. Maybe because I pull out a wick and trim the wicks short.. maybe try that.

 

[Jayblades]

I have the opposite experience too. Can't stand the filler taste in cartos. (Except Volt cartos, where the filler is seperated from the coils.) Love my clearos and my Vivis. I guess that's why we have so many options.

Agreed, i hated when my carto's got to much liquid in them and the filler taste was awful. I'm getting the best flavors out of my ViVi Nova, but for a quick flavor burst i'll go to my 306 atty...

 

[zapped]

try pre-punched cartos wth a pyrex tank...the flavor difference between those and a vivi nova is like night and day.

 

[epage]

I just ordered a tank system... I didn't go with the IBTanked ones yet - they're beautiful, but pricey for a first-time trial... if I like the way the carto/tanks work for me, though, I will likely go glitzy and order something from them. They really do have gorgeous stuff!

 

[tc1]

Taste is subjective. When I used cartos, I used Kanger H coils and never got a filler taste. I found they produced slightly more "sweetness" than most other devices I've used outside of dripping but I personally don't care all that much for tons of sweetner in my mouth to begin with.

My Mini Nova has never let me down and I find the flavor to be very good. I just prefer tanks and rebuilding rather than buying cartos over and over.

Honestly, no PROPER working coil device has ever made me feel like their was a massive difference in flavor or vapor. They all essentially work the same, the real difference IMHO being airflow. (which I DO believe affects flavor mildly ... and more so with vapor)

Every device I've used was "night and day" better than the taste of a cigarette though ...

 

[scribes]

This whole Vivi Nova thing is a user driven marketing dream. Those things are pure garbage yet everyone praises them. People that are 3 months into vaping and pass off products like this, as being the best out there, and have no idea what they are talking about. This forum specifically is littered with horrible information because of that. Its really annoying, and sad to think so many people buy these and have no idea how horrible the taste is compared to other delivery methods.

I have done it all, and as dripping has always yielded the best taste and hit, but its not feasible for most days/occasions.

Anyone that swears a Vivi Nova is the greatest thing out there, take $8 out of your budget and buy a REAL Vision Rebuildable Clearo, the newer ones with the V carved into them, fill it with your juice, and tell me the taste, draw, and hit arent FAR superior, then... yeah.. all hope is lost.

Im not trying to be a negative Nancy, but people backing devices that seemingly suck compared to other methods, really throws alot of people off.