It Tilts!

[nestormakhno]

So, I got a hand-me-down a while ago and recently, while trying to smoke it, I noticed that the body tilts pretty substantially.

It doesn't tip over or anything, but there's a half inch of separation on one side between the body and the vase.

Yes, I screwed it in tightly. Yes, the "rubber thing," if you will, is straight, at least in the beginning, and sits well.

What are some ways to fix this?

Thank you!

[quakerotis]

it only looks that way because you're wearing one shoe.

[anathema]

My friend's syrian hookah is tilting also, it just has a rubber sealant, it just needs some of that caulking tape or w/e you use for those pipe to help them fit kind of.

So if it's a screw on then it's just poorly made, but HALF AN INCH GAP? That shouldn't be happening with a screw on/in

[blueyesopn]

there is always duct tape.

[Big Boss]

My Egyptian is starting to lean. I think its a stem problem and not a seal problem, though

[ghostofdavid]

Are you sure it is not the vase having imperfections in the very bottom of the hookah? I've had one before that leaned slightly because of the glass not being made perfectly flat.

[stryet]

it only looks that way because you're wearing one shoe.

Happy Gilmore!

[nestormakhno]

Tape has been tried. I think it's the "rubber thing's" fault, because it can be positioned so that it doesn't tilt, but then it starts to move sideways (Leaning Tower of Hookah?). Plus, if you blow out, smoke escapes through a crack, and it's a pretty substantial escape.

When I tried tape, it tilted even more and it was a pain in the ass to the stem into the vase. Are there rubber things for sale in this global economy of ours or should I just buy a new hookah?

[Allia22]

Yep, gaskets are widely available. If that one's worn out so badly, you may as well pick up a grommet set and replace all of them.

Edit: Try hookahcompany or Social Smoke for gaskets. I personally think SS's are nicer... Edited July 25, 2007 by Allia22

[Sonthert]

Until a gasket falls into two pieces, keep using it and reinforcing it with electrical tape. There are several reasons that might cause a hookah to lean: (Do these tests with just the hookah and the hose...no bowl or charcoal)

1)The floor is crooked. Really. Rotate the hookah on the floor/ground, if the angle of the slant doesn't rotate with the hookah, its the ground. Solution:Move hookah somewhere else.

2) The most common is that a jar gasket has become loose. The weight of the hose tilts the hookah towards the hose port. If your hookah is lower on the hose port side, this may be the problem. Solution: use electrical tape UNDER the jar gasket to bolster its sealing power and tighten the seal. Watch this tape closely over the coming weeks and months. It will give up and slide, loosening the seal again. Additionally, the tape often slides down over the hose port hole on the bottom of the shank, blocking the smoke flow.

3) The jar is crooked, has a bubble or has other imperfections on the bottom of the jar. Rotate the hookah on the ground and the lean follows the rotation of the hookah. If you remove the shank from the jar, rotate it slightly, put it back down, the same point on the jar has a lean. Solution: new jar if lean is dumping coals or knocking hookah over.

4) The stem is bent or crooked. Similar to number three, except the point on the jar that has the lean moves when you rotate the stem in the jar. Solution: None

5) Slightly more difficult problem, the hole in the jar is out of round. As the gasket gets more worn, a lean will develop from the slightly larger of the two major axis biases in the jar hole. Remove shank from jar, look at hole...is it round? Many jars are slightly out of round and you'll never notice without looking, but it doesn't affect much...maybe a tiny bit of leakage from the jar. More leakage from the edges of the jar signals a significant problem. Solution:New jar Edited July 25, 2007 by Sonthert

[nestormakhno]

Until a gasket falls into two pieces, keep using it and reinforcing it with electrical tape. There are several reasons that might cause a hookah to lean: (Do these tests with just the hookah and the hose...no bowl or charcoal)

1)The floor is crooked. Really. Rotate the hookah on the floor/ground, if the angle of the slant doesn't rotate with the hookah, its the ground. Solution:Move hookah somewhere else.

2) The most common is that a jar gasket has become loose. The weight of the hose tilts the hookah towards the hose port. If your hookah is lower on the hose port side, this may be the problem. Solution: use electrical tape UNDER the jar gasket to bolster its sealing power and tighten the seal. Watch this tape closely over the coming weeks and months. It will give up and slide, loosening the seal again. Additionally, the tape often slides down over the hose port hole on the bottom of the shank, blocking the smoke flow.

3) The jar is crooked, has a bubble or has other imperfections on the bottom of the jar. Rotate the hookah on the ground and the lean follows the rotation of the hookah. If you remove the shank from the jar, rotate it slightly, put it back down, the same point on the jar has a lean. Solution: new jar if lean is dumping coals or knocking hookah over.

4) The stem is bent or crooked. Similar to number three, except the point on the jar that has the lean moves when you rotate the stem in the jar. Solution: None

5) Slightly more difficult problem, the hole in the jar is out of round. As the gasket gets more worn, a lean will develop from the slightly larger of the two major axis biases in the jar hole. Remove shank from jar, look at hole...is it round? Many jars are slightly out of round and you'll never notice without looking, but it doesn't affect much...maybe a tiny bit of leakage from the jar. More leakage from the edges of the jar signals a significant problem. Solution:New jar

Thanks, it was no. 2. The tape I put on there before slid a little and I was wondering why I put it there in the first place, so that when I savagely removed it, the lean got worse, lol, and more smoke came out of the gap. I guess it's back to electrical tape.