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Throw The Tongs And Coals Away


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I brought up awhile ago about another heating source other than the standard coals. And I think its going to work.

I brought up the possibility of a ceramic heater for reptiles and other animals.
the devise looks like this:


Well I ordered a 250w / 110v one and it arrived today.
I loaded up smiley's $15 wonder and started smoking. Im currently and the tale end of a sickness though so the smoke session didnt last.
But the one I ordered seems to be a little too hot. the shisha tasted like it was getting burned. Im planning on messing with it alot more to get it to work.

I will continue to update you guys with the updated findings when Im able to put in a propper smoke.

Current setup:
Smiley's 15 hookah
Tangiers medium phunnel bowl
After 9 shishsa
250w / 110v ceramic heater

What Im going to try is to change the distance between the heater and shisha. Also grab my girlfriends heaters that are not as hot.

Pictures hopefully coming soon. Oh I can WAIT!!

PS: I ordered the ceramic through http://lllreptile.com/ direct link to ceramics HERE if anyone else want to try it.
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another way of adjusting the heat would be to go down the home depot/lowes/ace/whatever and get a dimmer switch for lighting and put it in the wiring btween the wall socket and the light bulb socket that it looks like that attaches to, thoes work by lowering the current flow to the unit which would be a good way control the heat and be able to adjust it mid smoke...
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QUOTE (rcusick @ Feb 20 2007, 03:18 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
another way of adjusting the heat would be to go down the home depot/lowes/ace/whatever and get a dimmer switch for lighting and put it in the wiring btween the wall socket and the light bulb socket that it looks like that attaches to, thoes work by lowering the current flow to the unit which would be a good way control the heat and be able to adjust it mid smoke...


yeah, as the hardware guy on the forum... I would suggest wiring a dimmer switch in... that would do the trick.
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The dimmer switch might create the perfect electric bowl heater, you would be able to control the amount of heat and if it gets too hot then you can turn the heat down. Good luck, I hope this works out for you, because it could become a great product for the hookah community.
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lol, ^^^ I would never walk into a lounge that used those instead of coals.

But sweet idea. Hope it works out in the end. I dunno if I would use it. Seems like more crap sitting on the table blocking the TV.
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Im going to have to hit Home Depot tonight. Ill update you with what I found. Im still trying to find find a good way to position it above the bowl.

I was using a light clamp and a chair with it having the ceramic piece right above the bowl. I plan on finding a dimmer and a holder thingy ma jig to position it above the bowl.
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That is awesome. I might have to try that myself.

I'm sure that it could be refined into an easy to use and marketable item.

Perhaps it would be possible to integrate a thermometer to auto dim the heater so it stays at the perfect heat automatically.

So many possibilities, this is just to cool.
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QUOTE (benmandude @ Feb 21 2007, 01:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
That is awesome. I might have to try that myself.

I'm sure that it could be refined into an easy to use and marketable item.

Perhaps it would be possible to integrate a thermometer to auto dim the heater so it stays at the perfect heat automatically.

So many possibilities, this is just to cool.


id buy it if it were shaped like giant coal. I dont think i would give up coal smoking for something like this but it seems like a great idea. Could be an alternative when your waiting for a new box of coals to ship. Edited by [LB]
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Hey, hey, hey, don't let this die! What ever happend? Too much heat, not enought? I tryed using a red light and it seemed to just bearly not produce enought heat, plus it was glass and touching the tobacco, not a good idea. But a ceramic light should work! I'm guessing it didn't, as we are all not using one, but what when wrong? Failure is one step toward sucess
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My friend and I were recently pondering this same thing with some kind of light bulb, perhaps a blacklight would work, i beleive they heat up well, but not too much.
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QUOTE (KillZedKill @ Feb 21 2007, 02:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
My friend and I were recently pondering this same thing with some kind of light bulb, perhaps a blacklight would work, i beleive they heat up well, but not too much.


You mean an incandescent "blacklight", I think, not the normal fluorescent kind, which don't get very hot.

This all is really cool, and I'll be excited if anyone gets any of these devices to actually produce a nice smoking session.
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As something of a reptile guy, I have a pet ball python and used to frequent ball-pythons.net which is great if you're getting a reptile of any sort by the way....

you can pick up at the pet store a Rheostat - Zoomed makes the one I have - it's essentially a dimmer switch that lets you control the amount of energy going to the heater and thus the temp. I've got one on my ceramic for my snake along with a thermostat.

If I recall it was like ten bucks.

Creative thinking!
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crap.... you know, i've owned many reptiles (only have my red tail boa at the moment)... and i work at a pet store... we sell TONS of heating supplies for reptiles... and that thought would have never even crossed my mind... and yeah, using a rheostat/dimmer should work nicely... ZOOMED makes pretty decent rheostats...

personally, i would haven't went with a 250watt ceramic heat emitter, i would have maybe went with a 100watt or 150watt instead... assuming you're placing it directly ontop of the bowl, a 100watt might even burn the shisha slightly...

but yeah, it should evenly distribute heat though... i'd definitely keep experimenting... i would try but i'm too lazy... laugh.gif Edited by Oni_Dragon
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To regulate the voltage you could use what we use in chem labs to control the ceramic heater.

It's basically a rheostat/voltage regulator that plugs into the wall, then you plug your electric device into it. Then you turn the dial (1 to 10) to select voltage.
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QUOTE (web250 @ Feb 21 2007, 09:26 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
To regulate the voltage you could use what we use in chem labs to control the ceramic heater.

It's basically a rheostat/voltage regulator that plugs into the wall, then you plug your electric device into it. Then you turn the dial (1 to 10) to select voltage.


Thinking along similar lines, it would be great if someone with a laser thermostat (the ones that are used for bbq'ing) were able to find the tempertature of the coals. Though you would have to measure the tempature a few times and average the data in order to get a pretty standard answer. I would also measure the temp. when you are inhaling because you are causing air to go past the coals and thus heat them more then they would normally. Also thinking, since cermic is used on the outside of the heating element, you could probably replace it with a little handy work, with a "cermic" coal, which as I am imaging, is just in the shape of two coals with space in between them. Can't wait to hear more about how this goes with a dimmer switch.
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Joe touches on something that I think is the biggest problem with electric heating: burning charcoal usually ends up prevailing because of the temperature increase when you inhale. An electric heater like that is constantly projecting heat into the bowl -- even if you were able to adjust it to the perfect shisha cooking temperature, I'm not sure what would keep it from continuing to cook even when you're not smoking. I think for electric heating to be effective, someone needs to find a way of controlling the heat so that it is applied mostly when you inhale.

I'm pretty sure it has to be possible, but from what I've heard, for it to work as well as coals do it's gonna take a bit more than plopping a reptile heater on top of the bowl. One thing is for sure... whoever figures it out should make a lot of money. I'd pay 500+ for an electric hookah, given that it performs as well as coals do at their best.
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