Brand New Pipe. Cracks/Voids in Chamber Wall. What Would You Do?

[balkisobrains]

I bought this pipe brand-new in Nov '15, and when I got it, it was not the same pipe from the pictures that I had reviewed before purchasing. I know this because the pipe in the ad had a pre-carbed bowl with no issues. This one has a virgin bowl, except for the putty at the top of one of the cracks/voids in the bowl wall. I contacted the guy right away and he said it is under two-year factory warranty and he would help if there were any issues. I don't know exactly what that means, but he said he could help somehow. He probably would have taken it back at that time if I had asked him to, but I forgot about doing anything about it. He's in Italy (international shipping = pita) and I was probably doubting the guys complete honesty at that point, so those probably had something to do with my decision to set it aside for a while. I still have the box and everything that came in it, and my receipt.
Now I want to do something about it. I either want to try and repair it, or possibly ask Brebbia USA distributions' opinion on if doing anything with the pipe myself would void the warranty, and if I should just send it to wherever I am supposed to send it to, under warranty. My only problem with sending it in is that I think that I like the pipe otherwise, and would be worried that any replacement would have something about it that I don't like. Or they would just slap some pipe mud in there and I could save everyone the trouble in that case. On the other hand, a split bowl that I can't get covered because I tried to fix it would probably be worse, so I think I'm going to contact them and send some pics before I do anything. I'll probably ask "If I send this in under warranty, would they say that this is OK? Would they try to repair it? Would they replace it? If they replace it, do you think it would be the same model and same options?"
Is there anything else I should ask about? Do you guys think if those voids are filled with pipe mud/appropriate filler, that those cracks will continue to develop anyway? There is some putty at the top of one, presumably from the factory. There is a fissure extending up from the other void to the top of the bowl, which has me a little worried. The voids are also quite deep. I used a thin sewing needle as a depth gauge, and they are at least half-way through the bowl wall, before the needle became too wide to test any deeper.
Pipe in question:



It takes a 9mm filter, but I run a 6mm...


...so I can still pass a cleaner. =)


Cracks/voids. =O


:puffpipe:

 

[pruss]

If it's under warranty I would faff around, I'd have it replaced.
Could you coat the bowl with something inert that would fill the voids? Probably... he says with limited confidence. Would that dix mean you wouldn't burn out? I wouldn't bet on it.
-- Pat

 

[pitchfork]

I can't offer any advice about what to "do," but those fissures wouldn't worry me. I'd just smoke the pipe.

 

[aldecaker]

If you like that particular pipe, I guess I'd just smoke it and hope for the best. I have a feeling that once those are caked in, it won't be a problem. If you weren't so sold on that particular pipe, I'd say send it back ASAP.

 

[voorhees]

Send it back. I just would be worried about failure.

 

[pagan]

Return that pipe and make sure the company knows how dissatisfied you are, something like that should never have made it to the box, piss poor QC

 

[mso489]

I don't know what you paid for this pipe. Brebbia pipes from U.S. retailers have always seemed a little pricey for what they are to me, so I assume you paid well for it. It's not necessarily that the voids in the picture would burn out the pipe, though it seems they might. Rather, they are an indication that other flaws may exist in this briar that you can't see, and further that the makers are not alert and attentive to their product and are sending it off without inspecting it, and without inspecting the materials as they begin to make the pipes. For those reasons I'd send it back for a replacement, not repairs. You must not have smoked the pipe, or if you have, you'd be lucky to get even repairs. These are conspicuous holes. I know you really like this pipe, but all the more disappointment if it burns up. I think you'll be happier making a decision and getting things put right. Or if you decide otherwise, patch up the bowl and smoke on, and accept the gamble. If you take it on yourself, that's okay too. But I'd send it back.

 

[thomasw]

Send it back for a replacement.

 

[jpmcwjr]

If the voids shown in the last photo are what you're worried about, I'd just fill it with pipe mud and smoke away.
Sorry, the mixed returns may not be helping much!

 

[ericusrex]

Bought November 2015 and you're just now considering returning it?!?! Did I read that correctly?

 

[mayfair70]

I would throw mud in there, wait a couple days, then smoke away. But then, I am impulsive and a DIY-er. From all the situations I've seen on this forum which resemble yours, it is not the defects you see that usually get you, it's the ones you don't see. Fill the voids and if there are no other cavities, the pipe will outlive you. Fill, smoke, enjoy.

 

[stvalentine]

I would be most surely too lazy to return it and just coat it with my coating mixture.

 

[cally454]

My take is if you like the pipe then fill and smoke. If they coated the bowl you'd never know the cracks existed. That being said those walls are pretty thin and they rusticated the bejeous out of the bowl. As a truly novice pipemaker it's been my experience that if the bowl drilling reveals pits the block isn't the best quality. Not real familiar with that line but it seems they went after it to get past existing exterior cracks and possibly could connect with the ones you showed over time ymmv

 

[cossackjack]

Return it if possible.

I would not take a chance that those fissures, filled or unfilled, would expand, elongate, and/or deepen after the repeated heating & cooling from smoking the pipe.

 

[sablebrush52]

I'd return the pipe if possible. If that's going to become a Mongolian cluster fuck, I would fill the voids with a silicate based pipe mud, which should offer more protection, then smoke slowly until you have a protective layer of cake.

 

[balkisobrains]

Thanks everyone, I have sent the Brebbia distributors an email to see what they say, but I have been interested to hear everybodys opinions on what to do, or how a repair might go, since the most that they might want to do is just fill it themselves anyway, or tell me to fill it on my own and still honor the rest of the warranty. The bowl actually looks a little worse in person, I'm sorry to say, and I see a couple other areas in the chamber wall that look a little shaky, with little shallow pin-hole clusters of voids. This makes me feel like a replacement would be ideal, but I will wait to see what the distributors say. The MPB Brebbias are supposed to be a little better than some of their others, so I don't know what happened with this one. A closer inspection of the dealer (after the fact) told me that he sells a lot of new Brebbias, but that they are mostly un-stamped, or stamped pipes with some sort of flaw, or I guess he might offer a nice one, and switch it on you. This one looked a little too good to be true, which ended up to be true, since he did not send me what was in the photos.

 

[aldecaker]

Ah, the Mongolians. Often overlooked in the world of clusterfuckery. Nice to see them get a well-deserved mention now and again.

 

[balkisobrains]

sablebrush52
I'd return the pipe if possible. If that's going to become a Mongolian cluster fuck, I would fill the voids with a silicate based pipe mud, which should offer more protection, then smoke slowly until you have a protective layer of cake.

I'm sure I could fill the voids, and maybe file down their edges before-hand to help minimize the chance of burn-out. I'm actually a little more worried about the whole bowl expanding, or cake expanding, and splitting above where the voids are. Plus like I said, I see some more little areas of concern in the chamber, now that I am really looking at it. Hopefully I will have some options. I wonder if the Mongolians smoked pipe tobacco. Something else to Google... ::

 

[drwatson]

Yep! Send it back if you can. If not coat with pipe mud and smoke away. But those should have never made it past QC.

 

[ophiuchus]

Damn. Too bad; that's a nice looking pipe on the outside.
It's very difficult to be confident of any assessment without holding the pipe and looking at it under a good light, but those alternating reddish and light, lightning-like patterns below the crack (some of it contiguous with the cracking) lead me to suspect deeper flaws in the wood and the pipe is a good candidate for eventual burnout after a some careless smoking. Like I said, this is only a guess, and some pipe mud or wood-ash mud, careful smoking and a little cake formation may save this specimen.
Or just return the damn thing. Like everyone's already said. :wink: