Natural Coal Help Needed

[Jennamagashi]

I've been smoking hookah for a few years now and I have finally made the switch! Even at the Moroccan restaurant I worked in, we always used Ql's exclusively. Now I've seen the light and tried out some Kanara coconut natural coals. I love them but I don't think I understand how to use them.
With Ql's, I used one coal at a time and rotated the placement on my standard bowl that came with my hookah. With the naturals, that doesn't seem very effective so we put two on at once but then once the coals go out we can't light anymore for this bowl because it burns the shisha and I have to repack the bowl.
We've tried these coals with Al Fahker and Pharoh brands, I pack my bowls so that the foil just barely doesn't touch the shisha... Should I get a phunnel bowl? I just want my bowl to last atleast two hours instead of an hour and fifteen minutes.

Thanks for all your help!

[Pavo21]

well what size bowl are you using? what type of bowl is it?  and yes coconut coals have much more heat then QL coals. so you might need to cut them in half or edge them more on the bowl. 

 

Also i prefer Japanese coals over coconut because they light well and can piggy back the coals. 

 

Also pictures will always be your best friend, because it gives us a MUCH better understanding on whats happening ;)

[mustang67n]

1. be sure your'e lighting the coals all the way through. Glowing orange everywhere, no black areas

 

2. on the second set of coals, try setting them in the tray for a few moments before placing them on the bowl, this will let the coals cool down a bit from being on the stove to prevent them from burning the tobacco. This should let you get a second round of coals on your bowls and get to that 2+hour mark :D

 

hope this helps.

[RingsMaster]

sounds like your using too much heat, my suggestion is to cut the coals in half and use 2 or 3 of the halves on the bowl. i have found this works well for me with bowls that do not have a large diameter but are fairly deep.

[Jennamagashi]

Thanks a lot guys!  Cutting them in half helped with my bowl and I was kinda thinking they weren't all that great... But then I decided to get a bigger bowl to play around with a week ago.  Now I'm using a pretty big vortex bowl and I'll never go back to Ql's.  Changing from Ql's to natural coals is like relearning everything I thought I knew about heat management, bowl packing, and smoking hookah in general.  I'm so glad I gave these a try!

[RingsMaster]

well im glad you got it under control, and that the forum can help