Dottle

[jonesing]

Not sure if it's the weather change or if I'm doing something different. But I seem to be getting a lot of dottle lately. Just about every bowl lights and burns great until about 1/3 or 1/2 in. Then it starts to go out often and becomes relight city. When I dump the bowl there's a good 1/3 or 1/2 bowl of dottle and some of it is uncharred but damp.
I've tried drying blends way down to nearly brittle, different packing methods (air pocket, gravity fill, fold and stuff, Frank etc) Pretty much same result with all.
Any tried and true methods to mitigate this?

 

[python]

Try tamping less during the smoke so that it doesn't compact the tobacco so much.
When you need to relight, try relighting without tamping first. Only tamp if it won't relight and then only tamp very lightly just to crush the ash.
See if doing this helps it out any.

 

[jonesing]

Cool Phil. Glad it's not just me. I thought maybe I had a gypsy curse or soemthing.
I'll give that a whirl Bob.
Realted question.
How much if at all do you "aerate", stick the long poker thingy in there to try to get air moving? I've had limited and spotty success with this. Despite failure after failure I still can't help myself. It just seems like diggin it around stirring it up HAS to help. But really I find it just slightly prolongs the agony.

 

[dudleydipstick]

Try tamping less during the smoke so that it doesn't compact the tobacco so much.

Sounds about right. I've noticed smokers on Youtube that seem to tamp too heavily and too often. It seems no coincidence that they keep relighting every 60 seconds.
The easier the tamping, the better. The old advice about using the weight of the tamper is spot on. Just let the tool do the work for you!

 

[dudleydipstick]

How much if at all do you "aerate", stick the long poker thingy in there to try to get air moving?

Never. If I aerate, it's from the opposite end with a pipe cleaner. Sometimes that's just the thing that's needed to clear up any obstruction.
Caveat: Check the end of the pipe cleaner first to make sure that a fluffy piece won't be left behind in the shank.

 

[pstlpkr]

Careful tamping may solve the issue Jonesing. You might try a twisting motion when you tamp, as well.

But, the problem (for me) can be attributed to inattentive packing.

I find that I will get "lazy" when it comes to packing (more than I care to admit).

The result is a bowl that won't burn all the way down, even with thoughtful smoking.

 

[cortezattic]

Lawrence, what you say about improper packing (for a given cut/moisture, etc.)

is spot-on. If a pipe smoker has any problem, from bite to gurgle to

poor burning, and even excessive dottle, the first thing to suspect is

improper packing. (There are other things than can go wrong, of course, but the

packing technique is often the culprit.)