Can't Get My Funnel To Smoke Well

[CarlKillerMiller]

Setup:

KM Amer Hookah
KM stock hose
Small tangiers funnel bowl

I had no problem getting nice, thick, fluffy smoke with a crappy glass bowl that I'd been using before my funnel, but since I've added that funnel, I haven't been able to get any kind of thick smoke. I pack the bowl by shredding the shisha with my fingers, then packing it about 3/4 the way up the bowl. I do a whole lot of holes at the top of the foil, with a big one in the middle over the hole in the bowl. I have the water level about a half inch up from the downstem. Nothing is leaky, but I still don't know what I'm doing wrong. We get mostly thin, wispy smoke. Any ideas?

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pack the bowl higher - to the lip. the phunnel requires the tobacco to be packed high because, unlike other bowls, the hot air isnt being pulled THROUGH the tobacco just NEAR, so it needs to be as close to heat as possible.

whats your coal setup, and what brand 'baccy are you using? if it isnt tangiers, you need a boatload of coals, i tend to use a whole stick of nours for my phunnel.

[CarlKillerMiller]

pack the bowl higher - to the lip. the phunnel requires the tobacco to be packed high because, unlike other bowls, the hot air isnt being pulled THROUGH the tobacco just NEAR, so it needs to be as close to heat as possible.

whats your coal setup, and what brand 'baccy are you using? if it isnt tangiers, you need a boatload of coals, i tend to use a whole stick of nours for my phunnel.

I've tried smoking layalina, hookah-hookah, and al waha. I'm also using three kings coals, two at a time.

[thomas]

I've tried smoking layalina, hookah-hookah, and al waha. I'm also using three kings coals, two at a time.

Same here, first time I used the phunnel I had amazing smoke, but now I cant get it right. I tried using the mod too but that makes the draw hard to use.. my set up is pretty much the same except I use a mya vortex.

[hookah hippie]

More tobacco in the funnel

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how are you using the coals, and how are you punching the holes in the foil?
if your going to use 3k's i would suggest breaking 2 in half, actually, i would use 5 halves of 3k's i think. then place them in a circle around the edge of the bowl. wherever there arent coals over your shisha, its not cooking in a phunnel bowl, and your just getting air from that section, essentially thinning your smoke.

[BallentineChen]

Though I've never smoked a funnel, I would think that you wouldn't want to poker a hole directly over the center funnel. The air will find the path of least resistance, so you will have less heat flowing through the tobacco. This is the whole idea behind creating the funnel mod, to reroute the air through the tobacco.

[thomas]

how are you using the coals, and how are you punching the holes in the foil?
if your going to use 3k's i would suggest breaking 2 in half, actually, i would use 5 halves of 3k's i think. then place them in a circle around the edge of the bowl. wherever there arent coals over your shisha, its not cooking in a phunnel bowl, and your just getting air from that section, essentially thinning your smoke.

I use double layer shiny side down foil and poke the foil the way th FAQ page showed it. Which was two cirlcles.

[Tati]

I ditto Ballentine.
The way I do it is, 2 circles, one on the outer and one inner, but not over the hole. I then use a little piece of foil that I curled up, so that it looks like a little stick and put that into one of the inner hole, kinda connecting it to the center phunnel hole.
Does that make sense?

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how are you using the coals, and how are you punching the holes in the foil?
if your going to use 3k's i would suggest breaking 2 in half, actually, i would use 5 halves of 3k's i think. then place them in a circle around the edge of the bowl. wherever there arent coals over your shisha, its not cooking in a phunnel bowl, and your just getting air from that section, essentially thinning your smoke.

I use double layer shiny side down foil and poke the foil the way th FAQ page showed it. Which was two cirlcles.

 lawl. Thanks, Tom, wanted to know how miller does it though so we can help him >.<

[thomas]

how are you using the coals, and how are you punching the holes in the foil?
if your going to use 3k's i would suggest breaking 2 in half, actually, i would use 5 halves of 3k's i think. then place them in a circle around the edge of the bowl. wherever there arent coals over your shisha, its not cooking in a phunnel bowl, and your just getting air from that section, essentially thinning your smoke.

I use double layer shiny side down foil and poke the foil the way th FAQ page showed it. Which was two cirlcles.

lawl. Thanks, Tom, wanted to know how miller does it though so we can help him >.<

Well, Im having the same problem too, SHEESH!

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oh, well in that case...

your foil pattern is right, well at least, in my opinion, and i'm pretty successful when smoking a phunnel.

[thomas]

oh, well in that case...

your foil pattern is right, well at least, in my opinion, and i'm pretty successful when smoking a phunnel.

I got it to work once having thick and tasty smoke. However, I have had no luck with/without the mod with star buzz and laylina. I keep getting dry thin smoke.

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never used starbuzz.

for layalina, i pack it to the top of the phunnel (no mod). and i mean to the lip. the foil is touching the shisha. two concentric circles, 1 stick of nour coals, broken into 3 or 4.

[chinamon]

i get good smoke out of my phunnel with mod.
i fill the bowl up to the top and even pack it down lightly. single layer foil (shiny side down) with random holes.
two 3king sitting across from each other.

works great every time.

edit: its always with al fakher... one time it was layalina. Edited October 1, 2007 by chinamon

[ahwahoo2006]

I will wait for Sonthert to clarify, but the funnel is designed for Tangiers tobacco. If you are using other brands, you should be using the mod with your funnel. Also, if you are not smoking Tangiers, DO NOT poke a hole right over the middle of the funnel, otherwise you are pulling air straight through.

My funnel setup (works great for me on my QT, but YMMV): one sheet of foil, two rings of holes - one right around the rim of the bowl the other around the mod, 3 halves of 40mm 3Kings

Hope that helps.

[ZenSilk]

I have almost the exact same setup, only i use 3 halves of Golden 33mm coals with non-Tangiers. And 2 halves with Starbuzz. Same hole placement. I try not to set the coals over the second inner-most row of coals though.

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the mod is only for when you dont fill the bowl up all the way. if you fill the phunnel to the brim yu dont need the mod.