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How Does a Hookah Work? The hookah is setup in the configuration shown to the right. The vase is filled with water to submerge the down stem. The bowl is then covered with a perforated foil sheet or metal screen. The hot coals are placed on top of the foil sheet or metal screen, which causes the tobacco in the bowl to heat up and smoke. Sucking through the hose draws more heat on the tobacco and helps accelerate the heat transfer. By sucking on the hose, the smoke is drawn down through the down stem and underwater. The smoke then rises up above the water in the vase and into the hose port opening. The hose port opening connects directly to the hose port and does not connect to any part of the main stem or down stem. The smoke continues its path through the hose port and hose until it reaches the smoker's mouth. The release valve is not a necessary component for the hookah to function. However, it is useful. It is used for clearing out stagnate smoke. By blowing into the hose, smoke is pushed back into the vase and through the release valve port opening up to the release valve. The air pushing up through the release valve causes a metal ball bearing to rise up, which allows the smoke to be released. The ball bearing is in the check valve to keep the hookah air tight when smoke is being inhaled.
Operation The jar at the bottom of the hookah is filled with water sufficient to submerge a few centimeters of the body tube, which is sealed tightly to it. Deeper water will only increase the inhalation force needed to use it. Tobacco is placed inside the bowl at the top of the hookah and then a foil or charcoal [ or metal] screen with a burning charcoal is placed on top. Some cultures cover the bowl with perforated tin foil or a metal screen to separate the coal and the tobacco, which minimizes inhalation of coal ash with the smoke. This may also reduce the temperature the tobacco is exposed to, in order to prevent burning the tobacco directly. When one inhales through the hose, air is pulled through the charcoal and into the bowl holding the tobacco. The hot air, heated by the charcoal vaporizes (not burns) the tobacco, thus producing smoke, [ Hmmm ... So Hookas where around before they invented vaporizers for marijuana smokers ] which is passed down through the body tube that extends into the water in the jar. It bubbles up through the water, losing heat, and fills the top part of the jar, to which the hose is attached. When a smoker inhales from the hose, smoke passes into the lungs, and the change in pressure in the jar pulls more air through the charcoal, continuing the process. If the hookah has been lit and smoked but has not been inhaled for an extended period, the smoke inside the water jar may be regarded as "stale" and undesirable. Stale smoke may be exhausted through the purge valve, if present. This one-way valve is opened by the positive pressure created from gently blowing into the hose. It will not function on a multiple-hose hookah unless all other hoses are plugged. Sometimes one-way valves are put in the hose sockets to avoid the need to manually plug hoses.
The jar at the bottom of the hookah is filled with water sufficient to submerge a few centimeters of the body tube, which is sealed tightly to it. Deeper water will only increase the inhalation force needed to use it. Tobacco is placed inside the bowl at the top of the hookah and a burning charcoal is placed on top of the tobacco. Some cultures cover the bowl with perforated tin foil or a metal screen [ or glass separator] to separate the coal and the tobacco, which minimizes inhalation of coal ash with the smoke. This may also reduce the temperature the tobacco is exposed to, in order to prevent burning the tobacco directly. When one inhales via the hose, air is pulled through the charcoal and into the bowl holding the tobacco. The hot air, heated by the charcoal evaporates (not burns) the tobacco, thus producing smoke, which is passed down through the body tube that extends into the water in the jar. It bubbles up through the water, losing heat, and fills the top part of the jar, to which the hose is attached. When a smoker inhales from the hose, smoke passes into the lungs, and the change in pressure in the jar pulls more air through the charcoal, continuing the process. |