Immerse yourself in the comprehensive exploration of percolator bongs. Whether you're a seasoned enthusiast or a rookie, we're dedicated to simplifying the complexities for you. In this detailed guide, we'll dissect every aspect you need to comprehend about percolator bongs, leaving no stone unturned. So, take a seat, unwind, and allow us to guide you in making an informed purchasing decision. Our mission is to educate and equip you with knowledge.

What Is A Percolator Bong

When it comes to the world of water pipes, the percolator bong is a neat little innovation. What sets it apart is a feature called a percolator. Nestled within the main shaft of the bong, this extra portion adds an important secondary level of smoke filtration. So, as you take a drag, the smoke journeys through the water in the percolator bong, breaking down into tiny particles.

The essence of a percolator bong is its all-important process that gently chills the smoke while also cleansing it from any undesirable toxins. This results in a smoother, kinder smoke that's far easy on your lungs. One of the bonuses of having a percolator in your bong is its knack for stirring the water, creating bubbles that boost the surface area and substantially elevate the cooling impact on the smoke.

What Does A Percolator Do In A Bong

In the serene world of percolator bongs, a percolator steps in as a sort of bonus watering space. Its job? To filter and chill the smoke. Picture a tiny gadget, crafted from glass, metal, or silicone, tasked with guiding the smoke through several stages of purification and dispersion. This added stage of filtering and cooling results in a more gentle, chilled hit, offering an experience that's a cut above your typical water pipe.

Imagine the smoke from your cannabis gracefully being ushered through water, leading to that soothing, rhythmic bubbling noise. This clever little procedure is all about tidying up the smoke, getting rid of any nasties and toxins, so you end up with a cleaner, more delightful puff. Now, compare this with your regular bong without a percolator - there's quite a difference. The percolator ramps up the water pipe's filtration and cooling power, making each draw smoother and more forgiving to your throat.

How To Fill A Bong With A Percolator

Getting a percolator bong ready with water can be quite the tranquil activity when you know just what to do. 

First off, station your water pipe on a stable platform to help prevent any unplanned toppling. Then start to introduce water into your bong. If your bong comes equipped with several percolators, remember to focus on each chamber in turn. Start with the lower percolators, making certain they've been properly filled, before you set about tending to the primary water chamber.

How much water you ought to use in your bong is influenced by elements like the slit quantity in the downstem and the percolator's specific type. Let's think about various percolator styles, like the honeycomb or base-connected percs - their unique designs are made to improve filtration, meaning each will need a unique water level. Keep in mind too, if your bong is equipped with an ice pinch, as this ice melts it will naturally increase the water level.

Finding the right water level for your bong is a matter of personal taste and relies on the particular kind of percolator bong you own. Feel free to play around with varying water quantities to locate the best zone for the most pleasurable experience. However, it's integral to remember to keep the water level beneath the peak of the inner tube for perc chambers - this ensures your bong performs at its best.

How To Clean A Percolator Bong

Tackling the cleaning of a percolator bong could appear intimidating because of its complex structure and tiny, challenging spots. Yet, when you're armed with the appropriate gear and knowledge, it becomes a breeze to get your percolator bong sparkling. Let's stroll through the process together:

1. Initiate the Bong Clean-Up

To kick start the process, you need to remove the water from your percolator bong. A simple way to do this is by gently inverting it over a sink.

2. Remove Parts From Percolator Bong

Start by gently removing any parts that come off, like the bowl and downstem. It's just a simple step that paves the way for a comprehensive cleaning of your entire bong, done at your own easy pace.

3. Get Your Cleaning Solutions Ready

Mix up a laid-back concoction of isopropyl alcohol and a pinch of coarse salt. The alcohol is your secret weapon, smoothly dissolving any tough resin and grimy spots. For those stubborn patches, the salt acts as our friendly scrubber, gently erasing every last bit. Or, you can use a pre-made solution such as Formula 420.

4. Fill The Percolator Bong

First, gently pour your preferred cleaning solution into the bong. Make sure that it makes its way down to the percolators. Alternatively, you can pour the solution directly into the top of the bong - just remember to cover the joint with your hand or a bong cleaning plug.

5. Shake The Percolator Bong

Seal any holes using your hands, a bong cleaning plug or cap. Take a firm hold and lightly sway your bong side to side. This soft rocking motion aids the cleaning fluid in its mission to gently dislodge any filth from the percolators.

6. Soak The Percolator Bong

Give your bong a good, long soak. This soaking period lets the solution work its magic, gently loosening and dissolving away the accumulated dirt.

7. Clean Small Bong Parts Seperately

As you're letting your bong enjoy its bath, don't forget those tiny bits and bobs such as cone pieces and downstems. Give them a good dunk in the same cleaning mixture, then bring out your pipe cleaner or small brush to say bye-bye to any stubborn gunk.

8. Rinse The Bong & Let Dry

Once you're done leaving your bong to soak, give it a good rinse under a stream of warm water. You want to keep at it until every last drop of your cleaning solution and any grit that's been loosened is totally rinsed away.

What Are The Different Types Of Bong Percolators?

Diffused Downstem

In the realm of percolators, downstems rule the roost. Imagine this, a tube cozily nestled in the primary water compartment of a bong, ushering in air. It's a neat little setup that enhances the airflow. The mechanics are pretty straightforward. The air meanders through the stem tube and, upon coming into contact with the water, it transforms into a stream of bubbles.

Slit-endowed, hole-punched or mini-percolator-equipped downstems amplify the bubble production, thus boosting the percolation process. The appeal of these stems lies in their manageability - from detaching it from your bong, right to cleaning chores, hassle isn't a part of the equation. And, if by chance it breaks, replacement isn't a big deal.

Tree Percolator

Tree percolators feature a tube that goes up through the middle, which attaches to a number of arms. These arms descend from that attachment point into the water. Air comes from below and is forced up through the central tube and down into the arms of the percolator where it enters the water as bubbles. Tree percolators generally feature 6 - 12 arms, and are typically diffused with at least 2 - 3 slits per arm.

Showerhead Percolator

The showerhead percolator is also referred to in many cases as a UFO percolator or a dome percolator. As the names suggest, this percolator features a tube that comes up through the middle from the chamber below, that is covered by a larger domed tube reaching down to the percolator where air and smoke exits into the water as bubbles.There are many different designs, ranging from four slits to multiple tiers of 50-slit showerheads.

Honeycomb Percolator

As a type of disc percolator, honeycomb percolators pack a lot of punch in terms of percolator power. These percs feature flat discs that have several holes, which usually appear in pairs within a stacked design to create multiple chambers. The bubbles have a direct path through the chambers so you can consistently get a perfect hit without being slowed down. For cooler and more highly filtered smoke, choose more discs that will create additional chambers for the smoke to pass through. Depending on the size of the holes of the perc, water may sit on top, or fall through just to pull water up through the perc when you hit the piece. As long as water flows through it, it doesn’t matter if water is sitting on top of it or below it.

Disc Percolator

The disc percolator is also referred to in many cases as a circle percolator. Disc percolators come in a variety of shapes and combinations. Some might be domed while others are stacked, though many are located at the bottom of a downstem percolator. They are however usually circular perculators that are popular for their percolation power as they produce lots of bubbles, through various tiny holes or slits. Each of which diffuses the smoke. They are typically attached to the bowl’s joint at the bottom of a downstem.

Fritted Disc Percolator

Fritted Disc Percolators have incredible percolation power. There’s simply no other percolator that comes close to what a fritted disc can do. The number of bubbles, and therefore surface area of those bubbles is uncomparable. It also has the durability and stackability advantages that all disc percolators have. The downsides that come with fritted disc percs are that its microscopic holes can be difficult to draw through because they create a lot of drag. Additionally, all those little pores can easily get clogged, meaning you’ll have to clean them more often.

Inline Percolator

Inline percolators are simple, horizontal, slitted tube percolators, similar to downstems. They tend to sit facing into the water. Much like showerhead percs, they are often used in stemless pieces as the first minor percolator which then leads to the first main percolator in the chamber above it.

Matrix Percolator

Matrix percolators basically function as a stack of showerhead percolators. Matrix percs are usually cylindral in shape and have both vertical and horizontal slits that result in ultimate smoke diffusion. The slits on a matrix perc can vary in direction, size, and number. They work by drawing the smoke through the many slits creating a huge amount of smaller bubbles that then travel through the water to cool it down. The visual aesthetic of matrix percolators also generally makes them desirable.

Stereo Matrix Percolator

This variation of a matrix percolator simply includes a second matrix percolator stacked on top of the first to create a second chamber. These can be directly stacked or separated by a downstem or glass disc. Again, the additional layer provides additional filtering and cooling time for the smoke to travel through.

Coil Percolator

Also referred to as a spiral percolator, coil percs are simply a coiled tube with a hole at either end. Not only do they provide an aesthetically pleasing display, they also offer a longer length of tubing. As the tube is coiled, you can fit a longer length of tubing into a smaller, vertical space. This forces the smoke to travel a longer path, increasing the cooling effect of the percolator. If your bong has other percolators and you want to add something different to your smoking setup with a coil percolator ash catcher. There are also glycerin coil percolators. While both diffuse smoke well, the glycerin coil can provide a cooler hit by freezing it.

Barrel Percolator

Barrel percolators have a straight, cylindrical design with gridded slots that make them look like a barrel. These slots allow for ultimate diffusion. While usually upright, the barrels are occasionally turned sideways in rigs and bongs that connect the perc directly to the downstem.

Sprinkler Percolator

Sprinkler Percolators work like upside-down Tree Percs. Multiple arms extend upwards and outwards from a base. Each arm has a hole at the end. Like Tree Percs, air comes into it and is forced through the central tube and down into the arms of the percolator where it enters the water as bubbles. Again, these percs generally feature 6-12 arms, and are typically diffused with at least 2-3 slits per arm.

Swiss Percolator

The design of the swiss perc is unmistakable. This percolator is made with are flat sections of glass with large holes like swiss cheese. Forcing the air to move around the holes in the body, the drag on the pull is lessened while the style of the glass breaks down and cools the smoke.

Faberge Egg Percolator

The faberge egg percolators are very similar to swiss percs which are flat sections of glass with large holes like swiss cheese. They don’t do anything on their own, however do serve a functional purpose. They rely on being coupled with another percolator to work. When the bubbles rise up out of the main percolator, the indentations on the glass split up the bubbles, thereby increasing their surface area and thereby the filtration of the smoke. Swiss percs work the exact same way. Besides filtration, they are definitely meant to be decorative. It’s hard to compare to their style and elegance while also maintaining a functional purpose. This makes them an appealing option to anyone who places a real value on the aesthetics of their glass smoking collection.

Ratchet Percolator

Similar to honeycomb percs, ratchet percolators feature a more intricate design of discs, but instead of having holes scattered across the entire disc, the holes are deliberately placed along the perimeter of the discs. This leaves space at the center for a downstem to pass through the filter, making it an ideal design for small water pipes like bubblers and dab rigs.

Turbine Percolator

Turbine percolators are another great type of disc percolator. A single disc with angled slits allows water to pass through and create a whirlpool within the next chamber. As the water moves through it, it also works to cool and diffuse smoke. As they are one solid piece, this makes them incredibly durable. The percolation power is similar to honeycomb percolators, however with larger and fewer holes, they provide a bit less percolation power. If you pull through them at the right speed you get beautiful cyclone effect. This effect throws the water up along the edges of the piece rather than up through the middle, making turbine percolators function as effective splash guards.

Cross Percolator

Cross percolators take a downstem filtration system and combine it with a series of cross-shaped tubes branching off the center. They divert the smoke and water sideways and away from the center of the bong to encourage airflow and avoid splashback.

Donut Percolator

Another aptly named percolator, donut percolators are similar to the swiss percs but instead only have one hole. This singular hole pushes water and smoke around it, creating diffusion and acts as a splash guard. By pulling the smoke through the space around the hole this allows it to cool before it is inhaled.

Crystal Ball Percolator

A combination of a turbine and a UFO perc, the ball percolator is basically a dome with slits running around the outside in a pattern. A crystal ball perc can be found at the end of a downstem or leading into another chamber.

Tags: Bongs