Ash Through Hose?

[Big Boss]

Do you feel it in the back of your throat or is it "in your mouth"? I don't know about ash making its way through the whole hookah and into your mouth, but I know that cleaning your hoses/blowing through them might help the situation.

[ahzwald]

not back of throat this is an acctual mouth full of gritty nasties

[DVS]

It's residuals inside the hose, blow it out really well before you smoke, and afterwards.

[Tati]

what kind of hose are you using?
it could be buildup from the hose itself...it would be very very hard for ashes to come all the way down the stem, through the water, and up through your hose.

are you cleaning your hose? there are some good hose cleaning guides here in the forum...

[ahzwald]

thanks for the help all, not really sure what kind of hose it is, its what came with the hookah. i will try blowing it out better

[jaker29902]

if you want to go through the effort get some pipe cleaners and link em together and then feed that through your hose, helps to clear out debris and such

[Big Boss]

thanks for the help all, not really sure what kind of hose it is, its what came with the hookah. i will try blowing it out better

If you have an air compressor, you should use that. Works perfectly for clearing hoses.

[Hannibal]

Easy fix:

Buy a nammor hose .

[Allia22]

Easy fix:

Buy a nammor hose .

Now now, these could develop a bunch of problems like the Mya 'washables.' It's just too soon to say. Besides, I'm too broke to get an everlasting hose, even if it is only $16

[jaker29902]

b. sell a kidney

[VDDZ]

It is possible to suck ash all the way through the damn thing and experience confirmed this today when I looked at the tip of my hose and found ash. However, it is more likely that it is hose debris that can be cleaned out by thrashing the hose about and blowing it out. If it is for sure ash, then I'm sorry cause that sux, but you may be able to reduce the problem with a diffuser or adding some more water, but more water will cause a tougher draw.

[Scoop]

theres no way to get ash in the hose. i use a clear plastic hose, ive never once had ash anywhere in it (at least 3 years of using these hoses and no ash). nor residue. that shit is part of the hose rusting off and going into your mouth

[PerznPerversion]

theres no way to get ash in the hose. i use a clear plastic hose, ive never once had ash anywhere in it (at least 3 years of using these hoses and no ash). nor residue. that shit is part of the hose rusting off and going into your mouth

r u sure? cuz its happened to me on my 2nd use of a new hose

[SafeSearchOff]

the circumstances of ash getting in ones hose are most unlikely, though i guess possible in the slightest bit. most likely just gunk in your hose.

[RossH]

Is the feeling like you are inhaling little particles of ash? Because if so, that happened to me and I found out that the inside of my hose(which came with me hookah) was rusted over. That could be what your problem is.

[SafeSearchOff]

its a really gritty, dark substance, dries up your tongue realy fast. its not ash, its shit in your hose if you dont blow it out pre-session.

[Scheetz]

I find using a Phunnel can have ash drop into the water then in the hose. But most of the black crap you get is residue build up. I wash my Mya hoses out every time before use. My old non washables have now had clear vinyl tubing for replacements.

Just smack the hose against a post of some kind. Then run some water through it till its clear and has not gunk coming out.

[oggie505#2]

If you have an air compressor, you should use that. Works perfectly for clearing hoses.

or goto best buy and get some of the air duster, that should work

[SmokeMojo]

Ash can get in your hose very simply:

Ash falls down through your stem into the water and over your smoke session builds up. This would be pretty hard to see with the naked eye. You smoke, the water splashes into the hose a few times.. Hose dries out, you don't wash it before the next smoke and the particles of ash are now left dried and resting in the hose. You take some hits and loosen up the ash, and then all of the sudden you have a mouth full of gritty bland tasting ash. Voila.

Also, there are small particles of burning organic material in every breath you inhale. Tobacco packages claim that there is 0.00% tar in their tobacco, but that is before it is burned. Once burned the particles that accumulate and cause lungs to 'blacken' are what most people would call tar. So these particles which often buildup, sometimes appear as residue, other times lay in the hose until washed. Once they dry out in the hose they can have an ash taste and feel much like ash in the mouth.

Couple thoughts.

My advice, just make sure your hoses have been cleaned before each use.

[SafeSearchOff]

smoke, your theory seems pretty improbable to me. on my egyptian there is at least 6 inches of air between the bubbles and the hole that goes the the hose connector. the hole is small in diameter and runs for about 1 and 1/2 to 2 inches before my hose. if it even splashes just on the base, or on the hole to the hose conecctor, which would be incredible getting 6" bubbles... i wash it out every day.

mainly that gunk is like scheetz said, residue buildup.

[SmokeMojo]

Try filling your base up a little more Safesearch.. if you do over a smoke session you can build up water, or have to blow out the hose a couple times. Everyone fills their base differently, remember this. I fill mine up quite a ways above the bottom of the stem because I like a healthy pull, water bubbles into my hoses on occassion and along with any ash particles that may have fallen through or particles from the smoke that may have been 'filtered' into the water. You're also pulling water vapor through your hose as well.. So it doesn't necessarily have to bubble to get water in there.


If you don't believe me about particles in the water.. Take a VERY fine filter.. Maybe even a good papertowel, pour the water from your stem through it when emptying, and see what you find. It's not a ton, but if you don't wash your hose consistantly, over a period of time the buildup could cause ashy/buildup type susbstance in the hose.

Particles in the smoke is just a given man.. Anytime you burn a plant you're going to have carbonaceous materials, and all kinds of little particles come into your lungs with the smoke. Where do you think the residue comes from? What do you think the residue is made from? Smoke is composed of materials burned and unburned, ash, soot, water droplets. Particulate smoke is pretty much what you get from hookah smoke, since you're burning a plant. You're also getting any smoke that the coals may be letting off each time you pull, which is going to add a lot of chemicals and especially ash into the smoke. I've done a lot of research on the composition of smoke just out of personal curiousity. If I have to get REALLY detailed I could, but it might not make much sense without understanding the basis of it.

Edit: Just to add a little clarification.. If this helps you understand what I'm trying to say.. Smoke is NOT a gas. It is a mixture of solids, liquids and gas.

Maybe we should make a new thread? Composition of smoke and residue?

[Scoop]

again, years of using plastic hoses, no ash. if youre getting ash, youre dropping your hose into ash, and sucking in.

seriously...if youre getting it, something is going terrible wrong. the theory about the ash in the water is illogical. ash will sink to the bottom, not float on top anyway.

[Scoop]

since you're burning a plant.

talk to tangiers...he is convinced youre completely wrong. you only vaporize the glycerin and flavorings... burning the plant would be cigarette style, the tobacco would disappear (well, ash over) as its burned away, but it doesn't when you smoke hookah does it? Edited July 20, 2007 by Scoop

[SmokeMojo]

It turns black, which is the presence of carbon. Carbon is a product of combustion.
No it wouldn't necessarily disappear.

If you're getting smoke, you're burning something, there are vapors sure.. But in order to get "SMOKE" there are particulates present. Particulates including unburned organic material (which is what particulate smoke is mostly made of), burned materal, ash, soot and chemicals released in the chemical reaction of burning. When you add heat to anything at a certain extent, it burns. Just because you don't see "flames" does not mean it isn't burning and releasing gases/particles/smoke. In that matter, you also don't need to see SMOKE for something to burn. Toast burns in a toaster but the only effect you see is the carbon buildup on the toast (the brown/gold/black toastedness) and it doesn't disappear.

Sorry, I have much respect for Eric, and he is a VERY knowledgable person. I agree with a lot that he says, but I think you need to let him speak for himself. I have read over his posts before and there is some agreeance between mine and his.

No offense to Eric at all when I say this, and I know we all look to him for answers.. Including myself. You must realize though that he isn't the ONLY person who has done research. There are OTHER people that are knowledgeable here too man, and I think if you reread some of his posts you may want to reword what you said.

Also, if you're burning glycerin and flavorings, what do you think happens to it? It vaporizes yes, vapor is part of smoke. The flavorings are generally molasses or honey. Have you ever burned molasses or honey on a spoon and watched it? It turns black, it smokes, it BURNS. Honey is partially made of plant matter (pollen) and so is molasses (sugar). What is a tobacco leaf? Plant matter.

Bottom line is, you're burning something. That something releases smoke, that smoke contains particulates including ash. Therefore there is a possibility that ash will be present in the hose if you do not wash it. Whether it shows up after one smoke, or several.. If it's there, it's there.

I admit the water splashing theory may be far fetched, and maybe not true, that was simply an opinion, and I noticed I didn't get as much residue when my water was lower. So that was a hunch, your points are well taken on that.

Please though, realize if there is smoke, it contains ash and other particles which can and generally do deposit themselves in the hose and in your lungs.

We need to start a new thread now.

[Ehagen8008]

i have the same thing happen to me....its not ash....like at the end of a session its completely fine and then when i come to get it for the next session...i get that crap...i normally swish some water through it and then swing it around (like a lasso or something) to get the water out and most of the time that helps...make sure your blow the smoke out of your hose at the end of the session...i dont know what else would cause that except for rust...and my hoses are pretty new so im sure its not rust...just make sure you take the hose off and blow the smoke out of it before you put it away...