Having a hard time getting good smoke

[Whukes]

I'm having a really hard time getting thick, white clouds of smoke to come up when I'm smokng.  I'm using Golden AF Esk Apple and Quick-Lite Jap coals.  Here are some pics of my setup:[img]http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/~whughes3/DSC00097.JPG[/img][img]http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/~whughes3/DSC00100.JPG[/img][img]http://www.georgiasouthern.edu/~whughes3/DSC00099.JPG[/img]Any suggestions on setup hole poking or anything else?

[yashman19]

Just some things I'll put out there:

Try getting your foil tight across the bowl. In your pictures, the foil
is all wrinkled and sort of a mess. I don't think this one fact alone
will improve your session vastly, but having a nice, tight foil across
the bowl makes managing your coals a bit easier.

Also, instead of having just a few large holes, try using a push-pin and poking 20-30 evenly spaced out small holes.

Your water level looks fine though. Is your hookah air-tight? If not,
air can be getting in to your hookah from small cracks throughout your
hookah. To check for air-tightness, cover the top of the stem where the
bowl goes so no air can enter, then pull through the hose. You
shouldn't be able to suck any air in. If you can suck air in, there is
a leak somewhere. Try finding the leak and patching it up.

Try a few of these things and see if anything helps. If not, let us know.

[Whukes]

Thanks for the suggestions ill try the foil thing on the next one I pack.  Also the hookah is definately air-tight.

[yashman19]

Just curious. Is this your first hookah? Do you have much experience
handling one? If not, just remember to ash your coals roughly every
5-10 minutes. And when you do, make sure you keep rotating them around
the bowl so you get an even burn.

And normally when your having an issue with lack of smoke, it normally
has to do with the way you packed your bowl, foil, or holes. Especially
now that you said your hookah is air-tight. So its gotta be a problem
with the top half of your hookah

Narrowing the problem down baby!

[Whukes]

It is my first hookah but i've been smoking for around 4 months with it.  For some reason I just can't get the golden af to make thick white smoke.  I'm pretty good with coal managment and keep em moving around the bowl.  As far as packing I loosely pack the shisha into the bowl without pressing down too hard.

[[LB]]

for your foil make sure the shiny side down! and your coals shouldnt be on top of each other they should make a circle across the entire bowl i guess. nice hookah though

[iheartvarg1]

also, it looks like you're putting the shiny side of the foil up. try putting the foil shiny-side-down. like yash said, try using a pushpin for the holes. what brand coals are those? if youre gonna use jap bricks, use the abu hiatham ones. the easy-lite brand are just sulfur-coated fakes from what ive heard. try using 3 japs well spaced-out, or some naturals. everything else looks fine enjoy your smoking. by the way, when i use jap bricks, i usually use 3. give it a shot

[mushrat]

just out of curiosity..what do you usually smoke. it may be that the af requires more heat than you are used to having to use. different ma'asells do require different heat levels.

[Whukes]

I usually smoke hookah-hookah.  I did the foil thing right and got much better results  

[mushrat]

ok...If i remember, HH took less heat than af so you might try that as well..who knows how good it can get?

[zzzzzT]

 I use Japanese coals, looks like the same brand. I have found that AF Golden
does take a little extra heat sometimes because it is so wet.My method
is I sprinkle the tobacco into the bowl and pack it down lightly. I like my
tobacco a little tight not too loosely packed. I then suck on the bottom of the
bowl and check how it draws.I put the foil shiny side down and make one
large hole in the center with a knife. Then I make about 8 to 10 smallish holes
on the edge circling the bowl. I think the amount of coals you use really
varies. To get more concentrated heat move the coals next to each other or add a
third coal and take off or move coals to the edge if things get to
hot.Also how are you lighting your coals. I get my Japanese coals red on
both sides with a propane torch and then blow on them before putting the coal on
the bowl. The coals put out lots of heat when they are all fired up.

 

 

 

 

[jmexx]

Well, many people already said it. Shiny side down and calm down with the holes. Reason why the holes need to be small is that if they're that big a lot of the ashes when taking a haul falls into the holes and on your tobacco. This stops your tobacco from burning properly and makes your smoke harsh/nasty. A lot of it will come with practice and trying out different ways to set up the hookah.Good luck!Jon

[dizzing]

that reminds me of my first hookah. stolen by those accursed misinformed police with their draconian drug laws and (to borrow a phrase from jon stewart) "fourth-amendmentless fridays"

[Sonthert]

I'm looking at your pics, nothing seems obviously wrong, I personally put shiny side down, but I'm not sure that it matters. Here's a few extemporaneous thoughts:1. Humidity effects, has the humidity or the overall temperature dropped considerably over the past week or so? Expose your tobacco to the air you will be smoking it in for several hours before smoking.2. Check your hose and how its plugged in to the hookah. Take the hose off, plug one end with your thumb and suck through the other end (of the hose, silly). It should be "tight" there should be no loss of pressure, if there is, your hose is jacked and needs repairing or replacing.3. Reattach the hose (using the appropriate hose gasket between the hose and the hookah). With no water in the jar and no head on the top, plugging the top (where the bowl goes) with the palm of your hand, suck through the hose, it again should be almost completely tight, with very little pressure loss. 4. Attach the bowl, again using the appropriate gasket, to the top of the hookah without any tobacco or foil in it. Put your palm over the top of the bowl and suck through the hose. Still there should be little pressure loss. 5. Your tobacco could be defective6. Make sure all of your gasketed joints are tight. 7. Make sure as you pack your bowls, there is plenty of tobacco touching the sides of the bowl. Its better to leave a center hole rather than a side gap.Thats all that comes to the top of my head. Try it and let us all know.

[jmexx]

Always with the humidity, eh tang . The hose point is a very good find, though. It takes a real accute smoker to notice a hole in the hose without that test and that affects the whole smoking session.Check for holes, werd.Jon

[Whukes]

Thanks for all the suggestions im smoking like a champ now!

[Sonthert]

What was it?

[Whukes]

Was the way i was doing the foil and coal managment.  I started using a pin to poke the holes and used 3 coals instead of 2.

[jmexx]

3? Ouf... I want to try chinese coals but if it takes 3 coals... Meh.Jon

[Whukes]

Well I start with 2 then about half way through I add the third one to keep the smoke nice and thick.

[Ogrt48]

Three? wow.. My hookah has the same bowl and is a 22inch.. I get just fine smoke using only 2.. I can even just use 1 at a time then switch to a new one after 45 minutes and it works fine if you move it around the top every 10 minutes or so.. I'm using Al Amir shisha though, maybe thats why.Anyways, I've only had mine less than two weeks now.. You'll get better using less coals and getting more flavorsmoke as you use it. I sure did. =) Btw, I've found the perfect thing for making perfect sized holes, a tongue ring.. *removes from tongue, pokes holes in foil, screws back into tongue* Gets me weird looks but it works great.