Setup Help

[aethiolas]

Ok, I have ready every faq, instruction guide, tutorial and watched every video I can seem to find and I'm getting very frustrated. I've only been smoking for another a month now on my own pipe but I've been going to a local shop for about 6 months now. The shop only uses one 30mm (what I believe to be a quicklite) coal, double layer foil on a standard mya bowl and they NEVER move the coal while its burning and yet they have HUGE smoke. Yet, my setup @ home SUCKS. I've been trying every method I can think of. Single foil, double foil, less holes, more holes, less tobacco, more tobacco and I can't seem to come close to getting it right. Unfortunately I can't eliminate my choice of tobacco as the problem b/c they local shop won't tell me what they serve. I've only tried 3 brands of shisha so far, Al-waha, soex and some random brand sold at my local tobacco store called Rosetta. Al-waha is the one I've tried the most. The soex smoked up the best but I wouldn't say great. Here's what I'm currently using, I've also added pictures for detail.

18in Random Cheapo Double hose Hookah w/ auto seal system.(Does the hookah REALLY make a difference b/c if this is the reason, I'll EASILY pick up a Mya qt b/c if I had known aobut these, I wouldn't have bought this one).
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Water w/ ice about 1/2 above the end of the stem

The tobacco I'm laying loosely and leaving about 1/3 inch before the rim of the bowl.(No picture here, sorry I forgot.)

I'm using Golden Coals, 30mm. I've tried using 1 and I've tried using 1 and 1/2.
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The hole pattern is using a thumbtack and about 8 around the edges and 8 in the center area.

The tobacco is Al-waha vanilla(b/c I love the flavor).

And I'm using a cobra hose(not that it matters).

I'm not getting big smoke @ all and I'm burning the shisha. I've tried moving the coals around regularly and it doesn't seem to be helping much. Any help would def be appreciated as I am quickly becomoing discouraged to the point of giving up on this.
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[rbyers]

Try no ice. Then, try using a premium shisha like fumari or starbuzz or something else that's really good.

Also, how are you doing your heat management?

[ZenSilk]

Rosetta is pretty hard to manage unless you've been smoking for a while. it takes alot of heat to get it started and then you have to take some heat off, and the flavors are pretty candyish.

Try al-waha after nine if it's sold in your store. It's a good flavor and easy to manage.

It looks like you need more tobacco too. Spread it out in the bowl so the surface area of the bowl is covered. But your right, don't pack it down, it rextricts airflow. Your setup seems perfect for al-waha, other than the neeed of a little more tobacco. Not more tobacco as in so it piles over the rim, but right under the rim inside the whole mouth of the bowl. Maybe try using less coal, only i don't think clouds will be as large.

[MechAnt]

Rosetta is a pretty darn good brand. Lucky you have it locally.

Anyway, try loading the bowl up a little bit more and see how that fares.

[garykainz]

if you're not getting much smoke, is your auto seal working right? set everything up but leave the bowl off, put your hand over the top of the stem and try to pull on the hose. if you can pull, something isn't sealing.

that'd be a first think to check for smokelessness

[ahwahoo2006]

Second what Gary said - check everything for leaks, hose included.

[CLASH]

yes I agree with everybody here. you need more mahsell in your bowl also spread it out so its even and defentily check for leaks. I would try using less coals too Edited October 11, 2007 by CLASH

[mrmonk7663]

All Hookahs are not created equal...yes the hookah really does make a difference :-) I have one hookah that the shaft is larger than my other hookahs. This slows down the velocity of the smoke and requires a much harder inhalation. This hookah produces much less smoke because of this. My mya blows all my hookah's out of the water, bar none. Also, the hose used can make a huge difference on how much smoke, as can the shisha and the packing of the shisha, and finally, heat management can make your session change from night to day :-)

Salam,

Michael

[hookah hippie]

put more tobacco in and poke holes with a toothpick

[Scheetz]

Ok, lets see here.

Water level, should be 1.5-2 inches of the stem submerged. Try it without ice for now, start messing with that later on.

Tobacco: Pack more in the bowl. Try taking a large amount and dropping it in the bowl. While it is loose it should peak above the bowl top. Then take your thumb and press it down so that it is packed evenly from edge to edge. Make sure the tobacco is below the top of the bowl. Try and keep it from touching the foil.

Foil Punching: Make more holes, 2 rings is fine, but add more than 8 holes to the group. I have also taken a 4 pronged fork and made a cross with it on the foil. Start from the edge and go to the other. Then cross that from edge to edge. +

Coals: Try using 2 coals. But stack them on top of each other. So you have 1 coal touching the foil with the other on top of it. With smaller coals I normally do this with Layalina (and other wet brands) Later on I take the top coal off but it helps in starting the smoke process.

[aethiolas]

Thanks for all the replies, i REALLY appreciate the help. Let me reply to a few. As for leaks I'm positive I'm good there, I have tried the stopping thing and it does suck on my hand so I know I'm getting a good pull. I'm just not getting a lot of smoke still. As for Rosetta I had never heard of this brand before and still haven't run across in on this board but there is a shop here that sells nothing but this stuff so it would be great if it turned out to be a good brand! As for the packing of the tobacco I shall try this tommorow when I light up a boal. I'll also try punching more holes with a toothpick instead of the thumbtack. I will wait on using two coals b/c if it works then I won't know what fixed it! I'll have an update tommorow, thanks guys!

[aethiolas]

YOU GUYS ROCK! So I packed the bowl more full, used a toothpick and punched about 16 holes and smoked up some Al-awaha vanilla and I am smoking thicker than EVER! Thats great, now I don't have to spend any money on a qt and can spend it instead on trying some starbuzz since everyone talks it up! Edited October 12, 2007 by aethiolas

[MechAnt]

Its great to hear that its smoking great. Just stick with us and your smoking experience will only get better. Rosetta is a great brand, I personally love it, so stick with it for now until you can afford that starbuzz!