Can't Seem To Get A Good Burn Happening !

[Kid Khmer]

Hi,
I have just bought my first sheesha pipe . I had a mate bring it back from Kabul, Afghanistan so it seems to be quite good quality. I have only ever smoked sheesha in restaurants before ( Australia / Thailand / Cambodia )where someone who knows what they are doing has prepared it. This has always resulted in a really good smoking experience and most notibly..I know I should be getting nice big full mouthfuls of smoke.

I have now prepared two smokes at home and I am not getting something right as I am not getting the full mouth of smoke and the sheesha can be a little hard to draw. The pipe seems to be airtight, I am covering the stem with 1" of water, I am sprinkling in a level bowl of Dubai Tobacco 2 apple sheesha ( which is the sticky molasses kind ) and I am using red hot sheesha coals over foil with holes in it. Last night I noticed the tobacco was kind of sticking to the underside of the foil.

I have read the FAQ and I seem to be following the methods. Can someone tell me what the usual cause of an incorrect or difficult sheesha might be ?

thanks in advance

Kid Khmer

[SuburbanSmoker]

need Pictures!!!. kind of hard to see if your doing something wrong. and it is perfectly normal for tobacco to be stuck on the bottom of the foil. check your gaskets, check your hose, if you cant figure it out throw some pictures up.

[EternalSoil]

Welcome to the forum!!!!

sounds like you may have too much tobacco in the bowl.

if you have any pics or can find any online that are similar post them up on here.

for some reason, i suspect you may have a bowl meant for smoking traditional tobacco... i dont know why.

a hard draw can mean one or more of several things:
too much water
bowl too tightly packed
something in stem of hookah
something in hose of hookah

try taking the bowl/head off the top and drawing. if it's just as hard its not a packing problem (as far as draw goes)

take the hose off and try blowing through it, if it's difficult, there is something in the hose. I had a friend who got a hookah in Morocco i think it was and the hose was very restricting!

try disassembling the hookah entirely and just doing some resistance checks. i.e. blow through the stem and things like that.

Pics would help a lot too.

also, remember to read the RULES if you haven't already =)

[Kid Khmer]

I should also mention that the sheesha is a 3 hose pipe so I am assuming that I can smoke it with just one hose attached without a problem i.e : The other two holes creating air flow problems ?

[attachment=3270:IMG_0486.JPG]

The Tobacco

[attachment=3271:IMG_0499.JPG]

The Pipe

[attachment=3272:IMG_0500.JPG]

The Coals

[Kid Khmer]

and here you can see me using ONE coal . Maybe I should use more ?

[attachment=3273:IMG_0517.JPG]

[EternalSoil]

you need to PLUG the other hose ports!!

otherwise your just pulling in air through them.

if you dont have any stoppers or anything, wet some paper towel or tissue and shove it in there for now.

[Neil's butt boy.]

brake the coal in 2 and pot them on the edges of the bowl Edited March 20, 2009 by Dreamer_1969

[SuburbanSmoker]

haha ya plug the other hose ports, and use one more coal with both on opposite sides of the bowl hanging off the edge. should be g2g with that.

cheers

[Kid Khmer]

With regards my tobacco level - the first time I prepared it, I actually "tamped" the tobacco down becuase i read somewhere to do this . Not too firmly. Last night , I thought because it was molasses style, I "sprinkled" it in trying to ensure ( some of ) the holes in the foil were exposed. The first smoke seemed to be a bit better than the second in terms of smoke volume entering mouth.

Ok so I need to plug the other "ports" I had actually thought they had ball bearing valves but I could be wrong.

I guess it will be a work in progress to get it all right !

KK

[Stuie]

tamped? .... sounds like someone is a former Barista

You might try a different tobacco Dubai is a rip off of Al Fakher.

[EternalSoil]

i actually looked at the stem a little better and it looks similar to some MYA stems so they may have ball bearing valves.

try just plugging them with your hands first before going through the trouble of trying to stuff paper in there.

you should be able to get good smoke, even with that heat. Maybe try another coal or half of one. and split those in half. try 3 half pieces.

still thinkin about the hard draw though....

[SuburbanSmoker]

if they are auto seal you should see a screw on the hose ports where a metal ball would be.

[Tyler]

I'm going to attempt an ASCII art just for you, don't laugh at my lack of skills lol..

____________________
\ Shisha should /
\_go to top line____/
\ /
\ /
| |
| |
| |
| |
|_________|

that should be the inside of your bowl, make sure the shisha covers the entire bottom and if you look at it eye level, you should have it just BARELY over the top of the rim, just BARELY. Make sure you're not packing it down though, like brown sugar, just put it in, don't sprinkle, don't pack.

As for holes, make sure you poke holes from the bottom through the top to make sure air flow isn't restricted.

Also, make sure the stem is roughly 3/4 an inch submerged in the water, maybe slightly less.

And just like everyone said, make sure you plug the other holes with a wet paper towel or something, or get some rubber stoppers.

Nice looking hookah by the way.

[Tyler]

I'm going to attempt an ASCII art just for you, don't laugh at my lack of skills lol..

____________________
\ Shisha should /
\_go to top line____/
\ /
\ /
| |
| |
| |
| |
|_________|

that should be the inside of your bowl, make sure the shisha covers the entire bottom and if you look at it eye level, you should have it just BARELY over the top of the rim, just BARELY. Make sure you're not packing it down though, like brown sugar, just put it in, don't sprinkle, don't pack.

As for holes, make sure you poke holes from the bottom through the top to make sure air flow isn't restricted.

Also, make sure the stem is roughly 3/4 an inch submerged in the water, maybe slightly less.

And just like everyone said, make sure you plug the other holes with a wet paper towel or something, or get some rubber stoppers.

Nice looking hookah by the way.

Apparently I can't use spaces for ascii pics -.-

[Kid Khmer]

I really appreciate the help guys. thanks.

I did put my finger over the open ports prior to smoke number 2 to see if it changed the rate of airflow and from memory it didn't make any difference but I will have another look tonight and report back about the valve situation. I think SS is right - if there were valves, the stems would surely be screw on to ensure the bearing was then activated. maybe I was dreaming.

By the sounds of things I need to work on heat and tobacco "load".

I think the water level is fine. I have previous experience with..er...ahem...water pipes so I know how they work

FSU thanks for the asci.

Never a barista...i just think tamping is the best description !

KK

[EternalSoil]

Apparently I can't use spaces for ascii pics -.-

I think you have to use code (in the brackets)
Like this (bored, and not good at it...)

CODE

   looks like this but man is it hard to manipulate where you want stuff to go!!! tried... waste of time...

or mspaint is your friend =)

[EternalSoil]

I really appreciate the help guys. thanks.

I did put my finger over the open ports prior to smoke number 2 to see if it changed the rate of airflow and from memory it didn't make any difference but I will have another look tonight and report back about the valve situation. I think SS is right - if there were valves, the stems would surely be screw on to ensure the bearing was then activated. maybe I was dreaming.

By the sounds of things I need to work on heat and tobacco "load".

I think the water level is fine. EDITED OUT

FSU thanks for the asci.

Never a barista...i just think tamping is the best description !

KK

The screws he was referring to were actual screws on the hose ports themselves.

Looks kinda like this:


The screw keeps the ball bearing from coming out but doesnt allow air in when you pull through the other ports.
They essentially work just like purge valves, but you can put a hose in them.

Also, you should omit that sentence that does not comply with the RULES, it implies....

[ryno]

My roommates just got a hookah similar looking to that and we took out the auto seal ports (pretty much just took out the bbs) and it smoked 10 times better. I think they mess with airflow too much

[EternalSoil]

Well, looks like i get to triple post because of the fucking edit time limit....

You may have to really watch the terms you use in here.

I'm not trying to be an ass or anything, just trying to keep you around.

We are really strict about anything that may associate hookah, and mainly this forum with anything illegal.

Just keep it clean, stay, learn, contribute, have fun, and try not to spend all your money on hookah shit... most of us do =/

[SuburbanSmoker]

well if he does have auto seal then you should def take out the bb from the port your smoking from. should help a load. and eternal that was a G picture.

[EternalSoil]

well if he does have auto seal then you should def take out the bb from the port your smoking from. should help a load. and eternal that was a G picture.

haha, thanks...

I do take my time on them, that's why they are rare!

you can find them floating around here from over the years...

[ilikemyusername]

tamped? .... sounds like someone is a former Barista

i am a former barista, but tamped is truly a much better word than "packed".

[EternalSoil]

yeah i use the word tamped on here.

its faster to type "tamped" than "lightly pressed down"

[Kid Khmer]

Ok here are some shots I took that might make things a bit clearer about the set-up of my sheesha. The ports DO have little ball bearings that sit loosely in the stem. The cone-shaped hose connector screws down onto these and has a little bar across its neck that then depresses the bearing but this is not removeable .

[attachment=3285:SHEESHA__26_.JPG]

The Bearing that comes out of the port

[attachment=3288:SHEESHA__24_.JPG]

Here you can see the cross piece in the hose connector.

[attachment=3286:SHEESHA__22_.JPG]

I was not sure if this washer actually goes on top of the downpipe thread as it was loose in the kit but it seems to hold the ash tray in place.


I tested the sheesha by taking of the porcelain bowl and blowing down through the top of the long stem. There was no air escaping from the pipe anywhere. I then tried blowing back through each port with ball bearing in = impossible. I then tried blowing back through each port withOUT ball bearing in = just possible. I then removed ball bearing and connected ONE hose = it drew alot easier.

Did not prepare another bowl as I wanted your comments first.

thanks again

kid
Edited March 23, 2009 by Kid Khmer

[EternalSoil]

There's your problem!

you should have a piece that goes on there that has a grommet that makes an airtight seal with the bowl!