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Bowl Rising


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New to hookah pipes, just got a mya qt, have smoked several bowls within last few days and smokes great. Today after about an hour or so the bowl starts to rise off stem of pipe and will not stay in place. Have tried pushing it back down but keeps rising back up, what is wrong?
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[quote name='Stuie' date='25 December 2009 - 03:24 PM' timestamp='1261772679' post='441706']
Grommet is to thick for your bowl or your pressing it down way to far.
[/quote]It did not do this the first few days, just noticed it today after smoking for about an hour or so the bowl had risen up and was leaning to one side. I probably am pressing it down to far. Thanks for the help.
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[quote name='Zinite' date='25 December 2009 - 02:54 PM' timestamp='1261774463' post='441715']
Sand the grommet with a really rough piece of sand paper. That will make it a little bit more coarse so it doesn't slip.
[/quote]

This.
It works a lot better.

Plus, you don't have to spend the buck for a new one.. Hha
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[quote name='delSol_si' date='25 December 2009 - 02:09 PM' timestamp='1261775392' post='441717']
this same thing happens to me with the mini glass phunnel, once i take it off the first time, won't go back on. Haven't figured out a solution yet
[/quote]


wet paper towl/tissue
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[quote name='Jacob Shock' date='25 December 2009 - 04:51 PM' timestamp='1261777886' post='441725']
[quote name='delSol_si' date='25 December 2009 - 02:09 PM' timestamp='1261775392' post='441717']
this same thing happens to me with the mini glass phunnel, once i take it off the first time, won't go back on. Haven't figured out a solution yet
[/quote]


wet paper towl/tissue
[/quote]

That works great. You can also take a strip from a t-shirt and wet that and wrap it around the top. That works really good with glass Phunnels
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There are several things that cause a bowl to roll or walk.

1. The hole on the bottom of the bowl is not round, it is irregular or oval shaped. This allows juice to drip down and collect under the gasket, and forms a slip-layer, glycerine acts like a lubricant, so the gasket loses its friction as glycerine works its way in the gaps and the bowl slips off.

2. The hole of the bowl is too small in relation to the size of the gasket. You could use a smaller gasket or buy a new bowl. If you have as small a gasket as possible, then you need to switch to electrical tape (not advised) or a towel (also not advised). The gasket may also have too large an interior diameter, so juice may slip between the metal taper of the hookah and the gasket, making a grip even harder.

3. The friction face of the bowl taper is improperly made, so there isn't a lot of material in contact with the metal pipe taper. This a bowl design issue. It can't be fixed. A bowl should have a wide face in the taper area, not a short ledge or lip. Molded bowls will almost universally have a narrow ledge or lip since they are easier to cast than a well-ground friction face.

4. The bowl is not vertically straight, it has a bias. This is just sloppy workmanship and is usually only found in box-pressed or handmade bowls that weren't thrown on a wheel.

As a washer (A metal disk with a hole in the middle) gets hotter, the hole gets smaller. The diameter of the outer disk also expands. In a like sense, as the parts heat up, the holes get smaller, the outer surfaces expand. If the face of the bowl taper is too narrow (design problem), as it heats up, it will try to slide to a higher point on the taper, which will be narrower with less friction holding it in place (the amount of friction is proportional to the surface area of the interface). This is why a well-designed bowl will have a large taper face, so the bowl can expand and contract and still have a wide area holding it in place.

Generally, the bowl is not round. One side of the bowl is gripping better (or not the entire bowl) and it slips off. There is a slight upward movement tendency from the slant of the taper. If the bowl is not reasonably straight, there may be a tendency for the bowl to "wobble" to the smaller side due to inertia, torque and differences in the center of mass of the sides of the bowl. There is also a slight updraft from the jar, but it may be slight, and there may be "recoil" as the pressure equilibrates when you stop drawing through the hose. The recoil can come from a narrow downtube in the pipe or too shallow a venturi or throttle in the body of the bowl. You suck down, you stop, the air flow pushes slightly, so you have a very slight up and fair down motion. All of these situations cause a "walk" or "roll" like you were gently rocking the bowl back and forth or up and down. Either one of which will overcome the friction with the addition of a lubricant.

Once you reach a point where the bowl won't stay on, there is juice on the gasket, probably between the gasket and the taper, too, so there is no friction to hold it on. If you dry the juice off the gasket (inside and out), off the taper and from the lip of the bowl, it will usually allow the bowl to be reseated temporarily.

Coincidentally, thats why I make the best bowls, if I do say so, myself. Good friction face, radially round, and vertically straight. Prevents biases that cause the bowl to walk off or roll. They may not be all perfect, but compare them to the competition.

Also, thats why I have always thought that the old Syrian design hookahs with the male "Syrian" bowls (as opposed to our modern Female "Egyptian" bowls) were better...gravity holds the bowls in place and prevents walking or rolling.
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Take your bowl off and wipe down the inside that goes on the stem, the take the grommet off and wipe it clean too. It will probable stop rising up after that. The only time I notice my bowl rising up has been lately, and its due to super wet tobacco that drips down and covers the grommet.
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[quote name='Jacob Shock' date='25 December 2009 - 01:51 PM' timestamp='1261777886' post='441725']
[quote name='delSol_si' date='25 December 2009 - 02:09 PM' timestamp='1261775392' post='441717']
this same thing happens to me with the mini glass phunnel, once i take it off the first time, won't go back on. Haven't figured out a solution yet
[/quote]


wet paper towl/tissue
[/quote]

That's what I always use with my galss phunnel, works great.
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[quote name='delSol_si' date='25 December 2009 - 04:09 PM' timestamp='1261775392' post='441717']
this same thing happens to me with the mini glass phunnel, once i take it off the first time, won't go back on. Haven't figured out a solution yet
[/quote]

I found this to be a serious problem with glass bowls, because the glass is so slippery on that rubber. But if you want to take a piece of sand paper and just rub the inside bottom of that bowl, a little rough ring around it makes it stay on the grommet a lot better. If you dont want to do that, the better option is if you have a dremel tool, use a diamond bit and grind a nice little ring around the inside there. It'll stay on so much better. But if you dont have one and really want that done, just pay for shipping both ways and i'll do it for ya for free!!
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[quote name='poncho' date='26 December 2009 - 08:35 AM' timestamp='1261838107' post='441835']
[quote name='delSol_si' date='25 December 2009 - 04:09 PM' timestamp='1261775392' post='441717']
this same thing happens to me with the mini glass phunnel, once i take it off the first time, won't go back on. Haven't figured out a solution yet
[/quote]

I found this to be a serious problem with glass bowls, because the glass is so slippery on that rubber. But if you want to take a piece of sand paper and just rub the inside bottom of that bowl, a little rough ring around it makes it stay on the grommet a lot better. If you dont want to do that, the better option is if you have a dremel tool, use a diamond bit and grind a nice little ring around the inside there. It'll stay on so much better. But if you dont have one and really want that done, just pay for shipping both ways and i'll do it for ya for free!!
[/quote]

Thanks! i dunno, its a MNH glass phunnel....so if i break it, i can't get another. thanks for the offer on doing it for free, ill let you know if i decide to go that route. do you still make glass bowls?
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[quote name='delSol_si' date='27 December 2009 - 02:57 AM' timestamp='1261900643' post='441955']
[quote name='poncho' date='26 December 2009 - 08:35 AM' timestamp='1261838107' post='441835']
[quote name='delSol_si' date='25 December 2009 - 04:09 PM' timestamp='1261775392' post='441717']
this same thing happens to me with the mini glass phunnel, once i take it off the first time, won't go back on. Haven't figured out a solution yet
[/quote]

I found this to be a serious problem with glass bowls, because the glass is so slippery on that rubber. But if you want to take a piece of sand paper and just rub the inside bottom of that bowl, a little rough ring around it makes it stay on the grommet a lot better. If you dont want to do that, the better option is if you have a dremel tool, use a diamond bit and grind a nice little ring around the inside there. It'll stay on so much better. But if you dont have one and really want that done, just pay for shipping both ways and i'll do it for ya for free!!
[/quote]

Thanks! i dunno, its a MNH glass phunnel....so if i break it, i can't get another. thanks for the offer on doing it for free, ill let you know if i decide to go that route. do you still make glass bowls?
[/quote]


yea, i'm going to be making a bunch of new ones after winter break is over, i'm traveling all around now, but when i get back
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  • 2 weeks later...
this happens to me sometimes with my hookah and the grommet fits perfectly. Especially making another bowl it starts to rise. So what I do is take off the grommet and just washi it. Maybe even clean the top part of the stem. Also, maybe inside the bowl (works for me). Dry the grommet and top part and stem and it should stay down. This works for me
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