Hookah wisdom the hard way - longish

[jerryneyk]

I cannot thank everyone enough for their great information which helped me rescue my hookah.

Brief background - I purchased my hookah on a trip to Istanbul.  I
made the mistake of getting the most beautiful huge bowl that I could,
it holds almost two gallons.  I bought a beautiful big hose for it
also. 

When I first got it, all I got was very very acrid smoke and not alot
of that.  I tried everything, but could not get it to work. 
I brought it to a local tea/smoke house here in Prague, and they got it
to work, there was a small hole in it which they fixed.  The put
their tobacco in it, and I had a great smoke.  I bring it home and
used it with my tobacco, and it was wretched.  Similar problem.

So, here are some tips, which may be condensed from what I've got from
the board here.  Let me say also that my cousin has a smaller 24
inch typical Egyptian and his is absolutely perfect, cool smoke, lots
of smoke, and he never changes the water nor cleans his pipe. 

1- The shaft is copper.  I now clean it after every use. 
What I found works well is a big wooden dowel rod that you can get in
Home Depot, and cut off a piece of a sponge, use some dishwashing
liquid, wet the sponge, shove it in the shaft a few times and voila,
clean shaft

2- Ice and lemon juice, nice cool touch. 

3- Due to the acrid smoke, the $40 fancy hose I purchased is now toast
because I can't get the smell out.  I MAY look for a thin plastic
hose that fits inside of the beautiful hose I have and that way get
around the hose problem.  Also, if the plastic hose gets dirty
after awhile, maybe I can get another plastic hose and replace it,
cheaper than buying a new regular hookah hose

4- Tobacco...the tobacco that you get on the streets of Istanbul is
always the same, two apples, nakhla, green box.  I don't know if I
have a bad batch, but that one, as well as the cherry nakla I got there
is AWFUL, I mean really awful.  The tabak that I used that is
decent is a small 50gram box I got of rose, that works fine.  One
thing is that if you get bad tobacco you can ruin a good hose if you
can't get the wretched smell out. 

5 - Just to eliminate the hose issue, I got a length of plastic hose
from an aquarium store and used it in place of the normal hose (I just
taped it on to get it airtight).  BIG difference, it's cheap, it
works, it's not elegant but in case of emergency always good to have
one, for example you have a friend or two over and get a hole in the
hose your evening is not ruined.  Also good if you want to isolate
problems

The hookah is about 85 percent good-I still have some harshness that
maybe comes from the size of the huge bowl, and so I ordered a good
Syrian hookah with a stainless shaft from smoking-hookah.com. 
Hopefully it will do the trick.  So, live and learn.  I will
have two hookahs, but it's good to have a few in case you have a party,
also, they are Great decorations.  My great grandmother came from
Syria, and family rumor has it that she smoked something more powerful
than tobacco in it...  Hey, she was 15 when she got married, and
had six kids, so, I guess everyone needs some relaxation.

Keep up the good hints, when I discover something new I will post it also for our benefit. 

Anyone have the Syrian II from smoking-hooka.com and can comment on
it?  Very much looking forward to a perfect smoke from it.

[Mathazar]

It looks like a fine Hookah 

Welcome to The Hookah Forum 

It's too bad you didn't check here before ordering that hookah, 
because for $18 more you could have gotten a 3 hose Syrian Hookah with
the "Auto-Seal System" from:  www.Hookah-Shisha.com 

The Auto-Seal is great because you can smoke with other people without
having to put your thumb over the mouthpiece to make the hookah
airtight so someone else can take a hit.  Auto-Seal has a small
metal ball in each hose stem which when someone else takes a hit, 
the ball seals the airhole creating an airtight hookah.  Go read
about it.

I reccommend that you get a few extra hoses for those stronger
flavors,  because as you said,  one hose can be ruined very
easily.  You can get "PLETHOR" washable hoses over at: 
www.Hookah-Hookah.com along with some AWESOME tobacco.  The
PLETHOR hoses are $10 each and come in 5 different colors so that you
will know which tobacco to smoke out of which hose.  I've got a 1
hose hookah along with 5 hoses.  The tan hose I use for Hazelnut
and Nut flavors,  the green hose I use for Apple and Grape, 
the blue hose I use for Citrus flavors (Lime, Lemon, Orange,
Pineapple),  the black hose I use for Licorice flavors (Double
Apple),  and the other hose I use for Mint and Menthol
flavors.  Get the idea?  Otherwise you're going to be doing
what you're doing right now, searching for ways to make your ONE hose
adaptable to all flavors.  Trust me,  the investment in extra
hoses is worth it 

If you can cancel that Syrian Hookah,  and go buy a Syrian Hookah
with "Auto-Seal" from Hookah-Shisha.com,  I think you'll be MUCH
happier.  Plus Hookah Shisha gives you alot of free stuff to go
with your new hookah.  The Syrian Glyph is what I bought, 
and it's ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!  I bought the Gold/Copper stem on
the Green Vase and it's REALLY beautiful.  The "Auto-Seal System"
is a REAL blessing if you like to entertain with your hookah.

Anyway,  I'm sure you'll be happy with the Syrian II.  I'm
using a one hose hookah right now,  and it works great. 
Though,  I don't entertain,  so I don't need a 3 hose, 
but if you can get it at some point in time,  I HIGHLY-RECCOMMEND
the Syrian Glyph Hookah,  from Hookah-Shisha.com 

[King Mo]

mya saray shishas are the best i have tried, they are so easy to clean because the unscrew everywhere, and the acrylic base is nice and stable, as well as no risk of the damn thing dropping and breaking. Most surely the best smoking experience
 

[jerryneyk]

Just an update, the hookah is now working very nicely.  I got the Syrian hookah and my philosophy now is to collect and use a few hookahs, just because it's nice to switch off and because heck they look great around my house, which I am decorating Turkish style. 

[ApoC]

I definitely agree with King Mo on that, Mya Saray hookahs are without
a doubt the finest hookahs in the world. Extremely well made with the
finest materials and methods, you can replace or accessorize basically
every part on em, they smoke better than anything out there, and Mya is
always making new designs and looks for their hookahs (not to mention
they offer excellent service and prices).

[img]http://www.acp-products.com/scetch/scaramouche.jpg[/img]
My beautiful Mya, aka "Scaramouche the Crystal King"