I bought a Peterson straight pipe a few days ago and iv smoked it about three times and already the stem has become discolored is this normal, its gone from black to a light brownish color mainly towards the fishtail end. I also noticed when I first opened the pipe and put it to my mouth it tasted really bad is this normal?
Pipe Stem Discoloration??
- Thread starter scottser32
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Your stem is oxidized, and it can happen even with a new pipe. Does it taste bad? Chewed aspirins would be close to the taste of a badly oxidized pipe. Where did you buy it? I have gotten new pipes before and and had to deoxidize them, but I've got all the stuff necessary to do it. There are lots of posts on here about that. After you clean that off if you maintain the pipe, that won't happen again, but oxidation is one reason I generally prefer a lucite stem.
Thanks for the info I bought the pipe from my local shop "James Fox" here in Dublin. Ill look into de-oxidizing thanks
Generally speaking there are two types of material used for stems: vulcanite and lucite. Lucite is a hard plastic that doesn't discolor, vulcanite stems will discolor from oxidation.
In the states, there is product called Oxiclean . It will remove the oxidation from the stem. If the oxidation is stubborn, polish with some micromesh (ultra-fine sandpaper). Finish up with some obsidian stem oil.
I use the stem oil on my vulcanite stems regularly and it keeps them nice and black.
In the states, there is product called Oxiclean . It will remove the oxidation from the stem. If the oxidation is stubborn, polish with some micromesh (ultra-fine sandpaper). Finish up with some obsidian stem oil.
I use the stem oil on my vulcanite stems regularly and it keeps them nice and black.
Sounds like what happened is that it oxidized in the shop and then was buffed out there to make it presentable for sale. Problem is that the buffing just removes the surface oxidation. As soon as the stem comes in contact with saliva (or often plain old water) it will bring out the underlying oxidation. If it were me, I think I'd take it back the dealer and raise Cain. In the future when you are considering a new pipe, try to look at it the stem in strong sunlight or under an incandescent light. A vulcanite stem can look just fine in some types of light and green in others.
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