New Pipe Smoker With A Question? Ask an Old Fart

[Mister Moo]

Old farts are failing with this stem juncture at every juncture. Here's my shot.

I had one pipe - a good pipe at that - with an internal distortion inside the pipestem airway. Mostly it blocked a pipecleaner yet I could blow air through it. Sometimes I could work a pipecleaner through it (or past it) by bending the end of the pipecleaner a few degrees and twisting it, pushing and probing, until it found the passage and passed; other times a pipecleaner would get blocked, pop through and then drag on the way out leaving a wad of cotton caught in the airway. Then one day after dozens of tries the irregularity broke loose (I never saw what it was), a wad of cotton blew out and all was well.

Conclusion is same as above whatever the problem is - call the seller and ask what's the deal and/or send it back if that's possible. There is no good reason for an airway to prevent passage of a pipecleaner unless it has an internal filter (and, presumably, a way to remove it).

[Zoomschwortz]

Originally Posted by Mister Moo

Old farts are failing with this stem juncture at every juncture. Here's my shot.

I had one pipe - a good pipe at that - with an internal distortion inside the pipestem airway. Mostly it blocked a pipecleaner yet I could blow air through it. Sometimes I could work a pipecleaner through it (or past it) by bending the end of the pipecleaner a few degrees and twisting it, pushing and probing, until it found the passage and passed; other times a pipecleaner would get blocked, pop through and then drag on the way out leaving a wad of cotton caught in the airway. Then one day after dozens of tries the irregularity broke loose (I never saw what it was), a wad of cotton blew out and all was well.

Conclusion is same as above whatever the problem is - call the seller and ask what's the deal and/or send it back if that's possible. There is no good reason for an airway to prevent passage of a pipecleaner unless it has an internal filter (and, presumably, a way to remove it).

Thankyou for your help.

I tried to probe it with a Czeck tool last night and couldn't get it past or through the blockage.

I will be near the store this weekend, so I will stop in and see what they say.

There is a seam in the area of the blockage and I noticed that one side is black and the other side is very dark gray. If by chance it is supposed to come apart, I would rather have the shop fix or break it or remove the blockage because I have little doubt that one day it will become completely blocked so I better get this thing figured out soon.

Thanks again.
Ken

[Commander Quan]

You could try hand turning a drill bit to get the plastic or whatever is in there out.

[Zoomschwortz]

Originally Posted by Commander Quan

You could try hand turning a drill bit to get the plastic or whatever is in there out.

I was thinking about that, but wanted to hold off until I knew for sure if it was a filter or not and the more I think about it, this will be a good test to see how the B&M handles this problem.

They get premium prices for their products and I'd like to see if their service is the same, besides, if I break my wifes new and very first pipe, she won't be very happy with me.

Thanks
Ken

[Mister Moo]

Originally Posted by Zoomschwortz

...There is a seam in the area of the blockage and I noticed that one side is black and the other side is very dark gray... Ken

New thought. The maker fused two vulcanite (or lucite) sections together for the long stem; it finished with a visible join on the outside and has a major burr inside.

Same conclusion.