Mya Qt Clouds

[fze]

Just got my Mya QT; Im filling water up to about 1/2" from where it curves in, 2 CH QL coals, Nakhla DA, stock hose, and double foil.
but its not making very big clouds, j/w if I missed something or if I can expect better results?

[Tom1]

Buying a new hose and bowl will be your best bets. Phunnel bowl and a Narbish/Razan/Nammor hose. Also, lose the double foil.

[Stuie]

Think you need a touch more water. Odds are it's a packing issue or a leak issue somewhere.

New Bowl and Hose will help but check for leaks and pack a bit looser next time first.

[ih303]

[quote name='Stuie' timestamp='1291307043' post='490087']
Think you need a touch more water. [/quote]

In my experience, filling the water up any higher than a half-inch from the curve won't do anything put stiffen the pull and get water in the hose. That's about where we fill our QT's to at the lounge and don't have any problems.

Double foil is going to reduce the heat getting to the tobaccy thus reducing the amount of smoke you'll get so stick to single foil. Try this for packing:

1. Break up your DA to where it's all loose.
2. Fill your bowl to just above the rim but don't pack it down.
3. Put on your ONE piece of foil and get it tight like drum.
4. Use the skewer on your tongs to poke three rings of holes - make sure you poke all the way to the bottom of the bowl.
5. Smack your bowl against your palm rotating the bowl after each smack to pull the tobacco away from the bottom of the bowl.
6. Test your bowl by first blowing through bottom then breathing in. If it's a stiff pull, take a little tobacco out, recover, and retest.
7. Throw on two FULLY LIT, FRESH QL's and start puffing.


I usually don't poke holes this big but this will allow more heat and more airflow in your bowl. Also, QL's don't burn as hot as Nats but should still be enough for a Mya bowl. Definately look into replacing your bowl. Those stock Mya's are quite possibly some of the worst bowls in existance.

Still, give my method a try and get back with the results.

[Stuie]

I just say that because i fill mine about 1/4 of an inch from the top of the crown with no problems at all. Less water always felt wrong but it's just preference. It was a suggestion not what i thought the cause of the problem was.

[fze]

@Tom - I got an extra bowl, a Vortex from John, is that comparable to a phunnel?
@Stuie - Not sure how to check for leaks, but Im jus setting it up with the grommets and silicone, then adding some wet paper towel to where the bowl connects
Checked some Mya QT threads on here and theres a lot of variation on how much to fill up. Does more water = bigger clouds?
@ih - Step1; Should I be cutting up the tobacco until it becomes like sort of ground beef-like size? Ill try all your steps next time, thanks

[ih303]

[quote name='Stuie' timestamp='1291324909' post='490109']
I just say that because i fill mine about 1/4 of an inch from the top of the crown with no problems at all. Less water always felt wrong but it's just preference. It was a suggestion not what i thought the cause of the problem was.
[/quote]

Absolutely, man. Of course when someone such as yourself suggests an alternate way of filling QT's I start to get curious as to if it there's something more to it.

And just to be sure, what exactly do you mean by crown?

[quote name='fze' timestamp='1291369129' post='490180']
@ih - Step1; Should I be cutting up the tobacco until it becomes like sort of ground beef-like size? Ill try all your steps next time, thanks
[/quote]

No. In fact, given the circumstances, you're better off with Nakhla considering it's larger and dryer resulting in less clogs. Just remember that NK can take a bit more heat than most other brands so don't be afraid to use an extra coal if you're not getting the clouds you're after. Trust me, it will let you know when you've got it too hot.

RE: your vortex, while some people love those bowls, I'm not one of those people. Sure it's better than an OEM Mya bowl, but if I were you I'd still try to get my hands on a small Tangiers phunnel. Shit, if you're gonna stick with DA, even a standard Egyptian clay bowl would be a good option.

[LIQUIDGSR]

I fill mine just before it starts to curve in. Pack a Phunnel bowl just before the top with a slight gap and and use a wall pin to poke 3-4 rings depending on the size of the phunnel bowl. Oh yeah and make sure the foil is on TIGHT. Then add 3 fully lit cocos or two CH nats sittin on the outside and rotating every 20-30 min and use my narbish. Cloads are pretty good.

[Tom1]

[quote name='fze' timestamp='1291369129' post='490180']
@Tom - I got an extra bowl, a Vortex from John, is that comparable to a phunnel?

[/quote]

I've never tried one because most (almost all) reviews I've read have been "It's not bad, but phunnels are better". I'm sure the vortex will be fine for the time being though. If you post a picture of a packed bowl without foil it will be much easier for us to see where you are going wrong with the packing.

[quote name='ih303' timestamp='1291382655' post='490187']
[quote name='Stuie' timestamp='1291324909' post='490109']
I just say that because i fill mine about 1/4 of an inch from the top of the crown with no problems at all. Less water always felt wrong but it's just preference. It was a suggestion not what i thought the cause of the problem was.
[/quote]

Absolutely, man. Of course when someone such as yourself suggests an alternate way of filling QT's I start to get curious as to if it there's something more to it.

[/quote]



I've always had problems with getting water in the hose of my own QT which I got a few years ago. But my friends never seems to have this problem (bought more recently) even though they are the exact same.

[fze]

@ih - Yea I heard about the hype of phunnels, I dont think there was on on HJ at the time. Looking for a site with Narbish/Nammor and phunnels and that doesnt fuck you over if youre in Canada lol.
@LIQ - Thx for sharing that

[fze]

No prob, Ill put up pics of entire setup next go.

[fze]

Lmfao, I was looking at one of the holes on my vortex and it looked small, so I took the poker and jammed it in there and tried to grind it bigger
this cracked the entire cone thing off but I left it there since i dont think it moves around that much anyway and continued.
Guess I will have to get a phunnel anyway lol.

The outer rings were done with a toothpick, then i realized it looked way too big than some videos i saw today
so I broke it off into a small splinter and did the rest

Popped on the NuHose this time, which feels alot lighter to pull than the stock QT hose
Also sealed off the port with some food plastic screens, added wet paper towel grommet for bowl and hose openings cuz Im paranoid of leaking.
[IMG]http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af340/dvskei/5d4a9b12.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af340/dvskei/7b346d24.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af340/dvskei/1b5c50e5.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af340/dvskei/4d265580.jpg[/IMG]

it went a little better this time for clouds, the flavour feels kinda off from the DA I have at lounges; kinda bitter and dry tasting but hits hard
Seriously need a better lighter too, Im just using some cheap 2 dollar candle lighter shit from the supermarket.
Thoughts?

[Epoch]

Your coal and tobacco are probably just different brands than you're used to having at the lounge.

I usually use three coals on my Vortex bowl. Have fun!

[joytron]

Dont worry about the hole size, in fact most people here use a toothpick.
Dont worry aobut water level as long as it is submerged and not coming into the hose.

To test for leaks take the bowl off, plug the hole where the bowl goes and inhale.
Your coal placement seems kind of weird.
More tobacco!
Most importantly, no more v-necks. you dont even want to know what happened to the last hipster from the forum.

[mustang67n]

on my QT with a phunnel or vortex bowl I normally use 3 CN coals.. I don't remember how the CH QLs burn compared to CNs, but try 3 coals.. nakhla can take a bit of heat and especially with a phunnel/vortex the flavor should last a while.

3 whole CNs spaced evenly around the outer edge usually lasts me a good hour of big heavy clouds with massive amounts of flavor in my QT.. and I use the stock Mya hose with it.

[jorlyfish]

[quote name='joytron' timestamp='1291516708' post='490324']
Most importantly, no more v-necks. you dont even want to know what happened to the last hipster from the forum.
[/quote]
[img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/lol.gif[/img]


Oh, and agreed on the toothpick thing. I used to use a thumbtack, thinking lots of very tiny holes were better than a more reasonable number of not-as-tiny holes -- I don't notice a difference.

I haven't used a vortex in quite some time, but reading around somewhere on here, people were making the point to pack it a little looser near the center so that the air can get through to the holes at the bottom more easily.

What's with the two coals right next to each other?

[Amn_sinclair]

Just like jorlyfish said you have to make sure that you aren't packing the tobacco to tight around the center of the bowl because then the holes in the tower of your vortex will get plugged up.

Nak usually takes at least 2 1/2 coals or 3 sometimes so I would try putting another coal on there for sure.

Something else with the foil. IMO if your using heavy duty foil single layer it if its not heavy duty then I would double layer. That is just my opinion though.

[fze]

3 coals placed in triangle then? And are you guys using 3 coals each session or more?

@More tobacco!
When I take the foil off theres quite a bit of tobacco stuck to it, is that a problem/should I be packing tighter?

[jorlyfish]

Number of coals depends on what brand I'm smoking, but for Nakhla, which can take (and needs) quite a lot of heat, I use two whole coals on a small bowl (the one that came with my MYA), on opposite sides of the bowl... times two rounds. So when you ask if we're using 3 coals or more... I guess more total, but not 3+ at a time. Of course, the number of coals you're using depends on the size of your bowl...



No problem with the shisha sticking to the foil when you take it off - I forget what Nak's base is and am too lazy to go look, but honey, glycerin and molasses are the 3 things used for shisha bases. This is what's burning as you smoke (not trying to open up a can of worms here -- there are other threads to argue about this on) and the heat is (obviously) highest right on the foil where the coals are sitting.... what I'm trying to say is, things just get sticky in there where it's the hottest; don't worry about it. The shisha should be touching the foil.

[Amn_sinclair]

alright I'm going to pack a bowl of nak right now in my vortex and smoke my qt with 3 ch coals i dont have the qls but i have the nats so we'll see what i can come up with. I'll take some pics too

[Amn_sinclair]

[img]http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab208/amn_sinclair/hookah/IMG_0009.jpg[/img]
nak strawberry packed fairly tight, after packing i blow on the bottom of the bowl to clear the holes in the vortex tower and make sure they aren't plugged
[img]http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab208/amn_sinclair/hookah/IMG_0010.jpg[/img]
used the poker on tongs to make hole pattern and double foiled on regular foil
[img]http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab208/amn_sinclair/hookah/IMG_0011.jpg[/img]
finger is at the water level
[img]http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab208/amn_sinclair/hookah/IMG_0012.jpg[/img]
3 ch natural coals
[img]http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab208/amn_sinclair/hookah/IMG_0015.jpg[/img]
[img]http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab208/amn_sinclair/hookah/IMG_0014.jpg[/img]
first couple of drags on original qt hose.... pretty good clouds and the flavor is good.

[Universal Magnetic]

first i would ditch using 2 layers of foil, not necessary, especially with nakhla. i would also use CH 2 QL's and a windcover or 3 QL's.

[ih303]

[quote name='joytron' timestamp='1291516708' post='490324']
Dont worry about the hole size, in fact most people here use a toothpick.
[/quote]

IDK, man. I've done some experimenting with different hole sizes and found there are noticable differences.

Some friends of mine from Saudi Arabia swear on using a poker roughly the same size as the one that comes on Mya tongs to poke fewer, larger holes than what I do. So one day a friend of mine and I packed two identical bowls of DA - one with few, large holes, and one with many, corncob skewer holes - and proceeded to smoke both bowls side-by-side with three Coco-naras. What we noticed was the one with larger holes heated up faster but required more tending to avoid harshness. On the other hand, the one with smaller holes took a little longer to heat up, but produced identical clouds and had just as easy of a pull but never got harsh even with minimal tending. Needless to say I'm sticking with my method.

I agree though, toothpicks make great pokers. I personally think a corncob skewer is a much better choice, though. It makes about the same size holes but has a handle and pokes two at a time!

[joytron]

[quote name='ih303' timestamp='1291668741' post='490508']
[quote name='joytron' timestamp='1291516708' post='490324']
Dont worry about the hole size, in fact most people here use a toothpick.
[/quote]

IDK, man. I've done some experimenting with different hole sizes and found there are noticable differences.

Some friends of mine from Saudi Arabia swear on using a poker roughly the same size as the one that comes on Mya tongs to poke fewer, larger holes than what I do. So one day a friend of mine and I packed two identical bowls of DA - one with few, large holes, and one with many, corncob skewer holes - and proceeded to smoke both bowls side-by-side with three Coco-naras. What we noticed was the one with larger holes heated up faster but required more tending to avoid harshness. On the other hand, the one with smaller holes took a little longer to heat up, but produced identical clouds and had just as easy of a pull but never got harsh even with minimal tending. Needless to say I'm sticking with my method.

I agree though, toothpicks make great pokers. I personally think a corncob skewer is a much better choice, though. It makes about the same size holes but has a handle and pokes two at a time!
[/quote]

No I totally agree that the size of the holes are going to play a difference, I have messed around with that as well and actually like lots of fairly large holes. The corncob skewer thing is cool but I would lose it too often. My main point is that he should not worry about that at the time being, since I think there were more obvious issues with his set-up. I feel the same way about the water level, focus more on packing and heat management, and when you get that down you can go experimenting with the other variables.

[ih303]

[quote name='joytron' timestamp='1291676243' post='490520']
No I totally agree that the size of the holes are going to play a difference, I have messed around with that as well and actually like lots of fairly large holes. The corncob skewer thing is cool but I would lose it too often. My main point is that he should not worry about that at the time being, since I think there were more obvious issues with his set-up. I feel the same way about the water level, focus more on packing and heat management, and when you get that down you can go experimenting with the other variables.
[/quote]

Gotcha. I agree completely.