How To Get A Thick Smoke?

[dizzymizzy]

Heya, I got a new MYA QT and haven't been been able to get a thick smoke using one coal. I have been able to get this thick smoking using two coals at the same time, but that seems a little excessive since I've had many thick-smoke experiences at hookah cafes using only one coal. For me, one coal will usually just burn the top layer of tobacco without really penetrating the bulk of the tobacco below.

Does anyone have similar problems with their QT? I am led to believe that this is not a problem with my QT, but with how I'm setting it up. Too many holes? Not enough holes in the foil? More tobacco in the bowl? Etc. Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,
dizz

[Apoc Genesis]

Heya, I got a new MYA QT and haven't been been able to get a thick smoke using one coal. I have been able to get this thick smoking using two coals at the same time, but that seems a little excessive since I've had many thick-smoke experiences at hookah cafes using only one coal. For me, one coal will usually just burn the top layer of tobacco without really penetrating the bulk of the tobacco below.

Does anyone have similar problems with their QT? I am led to believe that this is not a problem with my QT, but with how I'm setting it up. Too many holes? Not enough holes in the foil? More tobacco in the bowl? Etc. Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,
dizz

If you arent getting good smoke it means that there isnt enough heat in the bowl. If you're looking to use one coal then it's probably how you're packing the bowl. If you;re packing it in too deep there wont be enough oxygen when you pull in and so your smoke will be thinner.

After you're finished packing the bowl, blow into it once or twice to make sure you have good airflow.

[OC4111]

Use a windcover.

[Johnny_D]

Use a windcover.

Agreed.

A Windcover, either indoors or out, is an excellent way to regulate your Temperate. I use one on the early part of the bowl to get the bowl nice and hot and then towards later to get the bowl hot when the coals are dying.

Either way, use of a windcover is very good sense.

JD

[dizzymizzy]

cool, thanks. I will try this later.

[jezter6]

I'm going to try this today, as I go through lots of extra full or partial coals trying to extend the bowl as the first coal dies.

[OC4111]

like JD was saying a windcover will extend the life of your coals. When i use a windcover a set of coco naras can last almost an hour and a half.

[Codename067]

You know whats kinda frustrating at times?

Everyone says "I get thick smoke". Nothing wrong with that at all. The problem with that is that I don't know whats your definition of "thick" is. Everyone looks at that differently. When I say "thick" smoke, one quick look at my avatar and you know what I mean. But I don't know what other people mean when they speak of thick smoke [unless they have a pic of smoke in their avatar]. How thick is your smoke? What can I compare it too?

Not saying anything here, its just that I always have a hard time trying to figuring out other people's definition of thick smoke...and trying to imagine it in my head.

According to what you said, you have been able to get thick smoke off one coal [with no wind cover i assume]..how thick can that REALLY be? I cant imagine one coal producing a lot of smoke .

Well anyway, regarding your problem, are you using the 'stock' QT bowl? cause those Mya bowls...yeah you need to change em asap. Also, you need to learn how to manage your heat. I personally dont use a wind cover. Once in a while I slap it on when smoking outdoors. But hey, give it a shot, might work for you.

[1Love]

are you using the 'stock' QT bowl? cause those Mya bowls...yeah you need to change em asap. Also, you need to learn how to manage your heat. I personally dont use a wind cover. Once in a while I slap it on when smoking outdoors. But hey, give it a shot, might work for you.

you beat me to it Codename!

but yeah man all my damn friends smoke out of these "QT" Mya, thats why i bring my own hookah to the party. They all use those stock Mya bowls they came with. The hookah isnt that bad, but those Mya bowls are khara (arabic for sh!t).

get a better bowl and some natural coal. make sure heat is getting through the bowl easy. if it aint, your head is gona burn.

and one more thing, i hope your not using the hose that came with that thing. if so, get a thicker gauge hose. you should be good to go then. Edited July 3, 2008 by 1Love

[Gift3d]

Adding ice or cold water to the base helps condense your smoke making it thicker, although minimally. Your main problem is most likely heat management.

[Stuie]

get a better bowl and some natural coal. make sure heat is getting through the bowl easy. if it aint, your head is gona burn.

and one more thing, i hope your not using the hose that came with that thing. if so, get a thicker gauge hose. you should be good to go then.

+1 on the coal and bowl.

But i can get serious smoke from a stock mya if i got 3-4 cocos on top.

I sometimes switch hoses causes those nammors and razans are tricky to keep in mya ports.

[1Love]

+1 on the coal and bowl.

But i can get serious smoke from a stock mya if i got 3-4 cocos on top.

I sometimes switch hoses causes those nammors and razans are tricky to keep in mya ports.

yeah man most def. my mya acrylic can produce some nice clouds, actually that pic in my avatar is from my mya. there nicely made as well. but they lack a thick pipe chamber. when compared to some other hookahs, there just thinner. still great hookahs though.

damn forgot. also if the hookah is not purging correct, this can cause the bowl to burn. youll know when this is happening when you purge it and you see a good amount of smoke rising from the bowl and not coming out from the purge valve. no good! Edited July 3, 2008 by 1Love

[ronald_dooley]

I had problems with my QT at first, too. I think the 14" stem is definitely part of the problem, although everyone else on this board seems to think it doesn't matter. The advantage of the QT is convenience for cleaning (fits under any sink faucet) and transportation (just put it in a bag). Contrary to what some people here claim, it will NEVER hit like a 36" KM... but it can still give you a long, satisfying session... with the right practice and techniques!

It's easy to get a harsh smoke with the QT, in my humble opinion. Good auxiliary components and heat management are very important with the QT. Here are some concrete suggestions from my experience:

1. First of all, as someone else has already suggested, get rid of the Mya ceramic bowl. It gets too hot, too fast for the QT and wastes too much shisha. Get a clay egyptian bowl or a designer bowl (I personally use a tangiers small SuperChief).

2. Use Reynold's HD foil. If you are using any other kind of foil, including Reynold's regular foil, save it for food. Reynold's HD is the only way to go for shisha smoking. It makes heat management much easier. I don't know why, but it does, trust me.

3. Ice in the base is good, and I have even placed the whole QT base in a bucket with rock salt and ice before ... but it won't make a shred of difference if you're burning the shisha at the bowl! Heat management at the bowl is very important with the QT, which has two parts: packing and heat management:

4. Packing: With my superchief, I've found the sweet spot with juicy shisha like Starbuzz and AF is to fluff/drop the shisha lightly into the bowl until it is almost full. Then, inspect it from 360 degrees... fill in any dips or valleys with more shisha. Then, press down lightly and add more shisha until the bowl is full and even, but well BELOW the rim... leave maybe 1/8 of space between the shisha and the rim and make sure that there are no "springy" spots that will pop up later and touch the foil. If you pack it too tight and too close to the rim, it will fluff up when you add heat and touch the foil... and burn. That's when the characteristic "harsh" QT smoke starts. This is a problem with the QT because the QT sucks at managing heat. The QT burns shisha that touches the foil because the short stem means the air pressure is high at the bowl. It's like sucking directly from your mouth to the bowl. If you pull hard with a QT, you get insane heat on your bowl due to the very short draw, which equals burned shisha, especially with the ceramic Mya bowl that comes with the QT. With a big, long stemmed hookah, the air pressure at the bowl is much lower and smoother because of the long draw, and that smoke gets drawn farther down through a metal stem to collect in the base... so you get cooler, smoother, thicker smoke. But you can still get a good smoke with a QT! You just need to be more careful about packing and heat.

5. Heat management: with the QT, it's good to get a slow start with the heat. Ignore the videos of Snoopy and other pros getting thick clouds after 2 pulls on their massive KMs with phunnel bowls. That's not gonna happen for your QT, unless you want burned shisha. Start with a quicklite broken in two pieces at opposite sides of the bowl, or two coco naras or whatever you use. Draw slowly and fully and pause between pulls. If you constantly hit the hookah, the heat rises dramatically in the bowl. Remember: heat management is critical for a QT session. Pause between hits. Rotate the coals around. After five minutes, you should slowly but surely start getting thick smoke. Rotate the coals around every few minutes, even if you are not tasting harsh shisha. If five minutes go by, and the smoke is not getting thicker and flavorful, you need to add shisha or add heat.

Keep practicing, and you can get reasonably thick, flavorful, cool smoke with the QT.

I'm going to get a bigger hookah (one of the sweet KM's with the ice chamber) soon, so that I can really compare in detail.

[roadie]

Heya, I got a new MYA QT and haven't been been able to get a thick smoke using one coal. I have been able to get this thick smoking using two coals at the same time, but that seems a little excessive since I've had many thick-smoke experiences at hookah cafes using only one coal. For me, one coal will usually just burn the top layer of tobacco without really penetrating the bulk of the tobacco below.

Does anyone have similar problems with their QT? I am led to believe that this is not a problem with my QT, but with how I'm setting it up. Too many holes? Not enough holes in the foil? More tobacco in the bowl? Etc. Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,
dizz

I use one coal, unbroken in the middle and never need to move it, spiral hole pattern too. Use just enough shisha to cover the holes, very little goes a long way. I use a bowl/windcover combo, and add a larger windcover on top of that. I can get great smoke for about an hour with this method. I'm in the minority though, most seem to use a full bowl............