BallentineChen Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 (edited) Hey everyoneI'm new to this forum and actually don't even have a hookah yet. I'm waiting to move into my new house which is still under construction. When it's done I plan on spending a lot of time on the patio out back with my future hookah.Anyway, I was shopping around and reading these forums and I saw the Heba filter and other DIY filters. I really liked the idea, since the whole idea behind a hookah is that the smoke comes in contact with water, which will 1) Cool the smoke and 2) Capture some of the particles. The Heba filters help this process by increasing the total surface areas of the air bubbles in the water. Basically, the smaller and more abundant the number of bubbles you can turn, the more effective the water is gonna be. This made me want to explore this idea further, and I realized that aquarium bubblers can be used too. I found this flexible air stone that would do the trick. Just throwing this idea out there since I can't try it for myself... yet. edit:If you're somewhat mathematically inclined, you can see that the surface area to be gained by breaking the bubbles down into smaller size is... a lot. The formula to find surface area is 4pr2, volume is 4/3pr3. I just did a quick and dirty (haven't touched math in a long time) and if you have one bubble of a radius of say 4cm, then split it into two bubbles of radius 2cm, you have doubled the surface area. Think of how much surface area you can gain if you used an air stone (very fine bubbles), I would say at least 10 times. The only issue that remains is the back pressure made by the air stone, but the product description says it flows without a problem. Oh, and also maintenance in cleaning it, since the pores are so small. Edited September 21, 2007 by BallentineChen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted September 21, 2007 Share Posted September 21, 2007 Welcome to the forum!Looks kinda cool actually, but they look kinda long...I wonder if being that long it wouldn't increase the resistance when you draw...I may run to my local Petsmart and see if they have them in the aquarium section. Give one a try... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallentineChen Posted September 21, 2007 Author Share Posted September 21, 2007 Actually, I think the longer the tube, the less resistance you will have. I could be wrong, but because the tubing is porous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anathema Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 BallentineChen:not to be offensive but, 2 bubbles of 2cm in radius actually have less surface area than one 4cm in radius bubble.4 cm bubble is 4x4x4pi = 64pi2cm bubble is 2x2x4pi = 16pi x 2 bubbles = 32piWhat you're actually trying to explain is comparing volume to surface area and not radius to surface area.2cm bubble has 16pi cm squared in surface area and a volume of 10.66pi cm cubed.4cm bubble has 64pi cm squared in surface area and a volume of 341.33pi cm cubed.so 16cm surface to 11cm volume = 1.45 surface area in squared cm per cubic cmso 64cm surface to 341cm volume .188 surface area in squared cm per cubic cm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafeSearchOff Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 isn't he right in thinking more surface area more filtration? Learned that in chem... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallentineChen Posted September 22, 2007 Author Share Posted September 22, 2007 QUOTE (anathema @ Sep 21 2007, 10:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>BallentineChen:not to be offensive but, 2 bubbles of 2cm in radius actually have less surface area than one 4cm in radius bubble.4 cm bubble is 4x4x4pi = 64pi2cm bubble is 2x2x4pi = 16pi x 2 bubbles = 32piWhat you're actually trying to explain is comparing volume to surface area and not radius to surface area.2cm bubble has 16pi cm squared in surface area and a volume of 10.66pi cm cubed.4cm bubble has 64pi cm squared in surface area and a volume of 341.33pi cm cubed.so 16cm surface to 11cm volume = 1.45 surface area in squared cm per cubic cmso 64cm surface to 341cm volume .188 surface area in squared cm per cubic cmNo offense taken, I meant to say that there would be more surface area for the same volume of air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SafeSearchOff Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 all i know is the smaller things get, they dissolve into water faster. so it seems very plausible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hearsay Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 I think introducing a filter like this is going to damage the quality of your smoking experience, not improve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallentineChen Posted September 22, 2007 Author Share Posted September 22, 2007 (edited) QUOTE (Hearsay @ Sep 22 2007, 01:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I think introducing a filter like this is going to damage the quality of your smoking experience, not improve it.Why do you think it would damage the quality? I'm just curious. The one problem I see with the idea is that the Air Stone would be difficult to clean, and because it has small pores they may clog over time. Otherwise, the Air Stone doesn't really act as a filter, it just distributes the smoke more evenly into the water.I'm really just gonna have to test this out when I get my hookah. So far my top candidate is the Mya Obelisk, or the Vortex. I plan on using it with company often. Edited September 22, 2007 by BallentineChen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nofrendo Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 Let's see. Once you increase the filtration to a certain point, you're just going to be breathing in air and smoking is basically pointless. That's why it would decrease your enjoyment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallentineChen Posted September 22, 2007 Author Share Posted September 22, 2007 QUOTE (nofrendo @ Sep 22 2007, 02:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Let's see. Once you increase the filtration to a certain point, you're just going to be breathing in air and smoking is basically pointless. That's why it would decrease your enjoymentHmm, I could see that happening. I have to test this out sometime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HookahCulture Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 I've used the Heba filter before, it helps the splash factor if you have a high water level.The filter gets colored of course but can be cleaned.It just becomes a stream of Don Ho's Tiny Bubbles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anathema Posted September 23, 2007 Share Posted September 23, 2007 QUOTE (BallentineChen @ Sep 21 2007, 09:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>No offense taken, I meant to say that there would be more surface area for the same volume of air.Yeah, but your example, when worked out, indicates that 4cm bubbles have twice the surface area than 2cm bubbles which wasn't supporting what you were asserting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BallentineChen Posted September 23, 2007 Author Share Posted September 23, 2007 QUOTE (anathema @ Sep 23 2007, 01:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE (BallentineChen @ Sep 21 2007, 09:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>No offense taken, I meant to say that there would be more surface area for the same volume of air.Yeah, but your example, when worked out, indicates that 4cm bubbles have twice the surface area than 2cm bubbles which wasn't supporting what you were asserting.Yes, I concede you're right. I forgot to point out that one 4cm bubble does not equal two 2cm bubbles, volume wise. It's more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guyt Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 There might be a problem that the air stone is not built to handle such massive amounts of air under such high pressures. I think it is designed for air to sort of pass through gently not be pulled through aggressively Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerrysalem Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 Jesus Mary and Joseph you engineers! Has anyone actually TRIED this yet and seen if in reality it works well or not?! I don't really care what the techincal details are just so long as it works nicely.I have a HEBA and it works fine, but there is always room for improvement.By the way...I am just curious as to why these Heba diffusers are about $1.50 here in the Czech Republic, but ten dollars in the states? We are not that much more cheap on anything, especially exotic items, and we have the accursed 19% VAT on top of that. Someone is making a fortune on these. I bet they go for peanuts wholesale... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ralleac Posted January 21, 2008 Share Posted January 21, 2008 I have a heba filter on my Syrian, and the difference hasn't been noticeable. It is quieter, but other than that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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