What Causes A Shisha To Stop "working"?

[the_cool]

Hey guys.

Just the topic name really, why do shisha stop performing as well over time? My no name shisha is just pitiful now, the smoke is ok i guess but the flavour isnt as nice. Im using a long peice of tubing as a pipe which has always worked well, and i scrub all the black stuff from the bowl after smoking. I keep it all clean, scrub the stem with a brush but I cant get a good flavour. At the moment im smoking AF double apple and its just not the same anymore. Coals im using are the log coals (the packet is called Abu Alabed, but i think on this site iv seen the exact same pack called Nour). Maybe its just the flavour, as from experience, AF double apple taste best on a shisha only used for that flavour so it could be that.

Im gonna buy a new one, but thought its worth asking.

Happy smoking!

Peace

[km3p4rc]

is your hose washable? this could make a difference in the taste, cause it doesnt retain flavor

[Apets22]

Im not 100% sure what youre asking. But...the shisha could have dried out.

And youre smoking out of what? Is it a homemade hookah?

[the_cool]

Yeh the hose is washable, its just tubing from a hardware store, the kind used for fishtanks. Maybe thats what it is, since double apple tastes best once its been smoked a few times in the same hookah.

Sorry if i wasnt clear, the hookah just doesnt smoke as well as it used to. Doesn't taste as good. the shisha hasn't dried out, its fresh AF, nice and juicy, and have smoke it out of another hookah and tastes fantastic.

The hookah is standard one, not homemade. It just a run of the mill hookah! Nothing particularly special.

I guess what im asking is if hookah's do loose their potential over time, sort of like wear and tear.

[jezter6]

I don't see anything possible in a hookah that would cause it to just up and lose flavor.

Breaking down and not having a good seal - maybe, but I think the only thing that possibly could change the flavor is that it is not clean, or possibly something nasty either got in the stem, or maybe the stem is rotting in some fashion leaching nasties into the smoke.

Have you used the hose on a known-good hookah and had good flavor? that would eliminate the hose being the big nasty.

[Apets22]

Ohhhhhh, shisha is the tobacco, a hookah is a hookah.

But rusted stem maybe? Heat manegment, too much water, packed to tightly, those would be my guesses.

[mdl]

How often do you clean your hookah?
Shisha contains chemical flavors which get stuck to the inside of your hookah and build up over time. Some flavors are stronger than others and when strong flavors build up they will generally mask weaker flavors.

My suggestion is to give your hookah a good clean. Use some alcohol, lemon juice, and a good brush. Also give your hookah bowl a good cleaning.

[the_cool]

Actually thats got me a bit confused apets22! Im sure iv herd the tobacco being referenced on here as shisha. Am i right in saying that?

On topic, i do give my shisha good clean out every so often, but not with lemon juice so ill try that out. I used fairy liquid just today and still had the same problem. I've noticed the difference after finishing a kilo of watermelon AF, i get reminded of that flavour as in the way it smoked (not what it tasted like though).

The hookah is fully sealed, the flavour is always packed lightly, water is only a half an inch above the stem. As for heat management, when i put two log coals on (a bit smaller than 2/3 of your finger), near the sides of the bowl i get a very throaty taste with not much smoke. Putting a little extra peice near the middle gives me better smoke, but more of the throaty-ness. Edited September 18, 2008 by the_cool

[Apets22]

Shisha = Tobacco
Hoookah = Pipe

And you have got me stumped. I would try smoking it out of a different hose, so you can isolate that component. And then if thats not it, Id try smoking that shisha out of a different hookah and isolate that component.

Or...You can use this reason to justify buying a new hookah

EDIT: And Im suspecting that the stem is corroding or rusted. Edited September 18, 2008 by Apets22

[the_cool]

I did try another pipe but it was a new pipe (not a very good one either) and all i got was new pipe taste. The bottom of the stem has gone dark and patchy so yeah it could be corrosion. The tobacco DEFINATLY works out of a different hookah (i think im just gonna call tobacco, tobacco! i nearly called the hookah shisha !!)

Oh I'm definatly gonna get a new hookah this topic was just out of curiosity!

[EternalSoil]

sound like you need to really clean out your hookah... i smoke out of mine daily and it has gotten to the point where i cannot get old flavors out due to the way it's made, the inside part of the stem is not a solid pipe, its bumpy and stuff on the inside.

also, i'm nor sure what you mean by the pot? is it the part that you put the tobacco in? if so, this is usually called the bowl, and sometimes called the head.

good luck!

[erufiku]

I wouldn't clean the stem with fairy (that's the dishwashing fluid, right?). Just as someone else already suggested, lemon juice, alcohol, vinegar, and hot water are your best friends. Along with a good brush, that is. Personally I use white vinegar cause it costs next to nothing and wasting alcohol is a mortal sin in my books
Also noticed that the tubing hoses are hard to get residues of flavour out of...

[JillyIsJustKidding]

This is what I do:

I use the stem brush to clean out the stem (obviously) and I make a mixture of baking soda, lemon juice, and water. I pour down the mixture down the stem while the stem brush is inside and I just scrub grime out a few times and I repeat this and I wash it out and then I do a rinse cleaning with the brush again with only water to take out the grime that I didn't with the mixture.


I also get the stem brush to clean the hose port and I pour the mixture down the purging valve (which i clean with a Q-Tip)

I then use whatever I have left for the vase and scrub that too, only that I add dishwashing soap as well.

CHECK YOUR VASE for grime! If you have parts of the vase that are unreachable...Make another batch of the mixture and leave it overnight in the vase.

Hope this helps! Edited September 18, 2008 by JillyIsJustKidding

[the_cool]

I'll have to try that method out to clean the hookah. I think the reason the shisha isn't peforming has got to be due to the pipe and maybe the corrosion. Ill have to look out for the two to make sure it doesnt happen again. Thanks for the responses guys