Why I Hate Peterson System Pipes

[gecko13]

I have two system pipes, a 307, and a 317. The 307 was a rotten pipe until I got it broken in. Never had a pipe make everything I put in it taste bad like that one did. I think most of it was from the dye used to stain the brier bowl. About 20-30 bowls of Carter Hill finally got it over the hump, and its a good smoker now. All three of my Pete's smoke well, and I have them in my weekly rotation. The condensation in them can be exceptionally annoying at times, and on the 307, and 317, I may empty the moisture trap at least once during a smoke. Yes the trap in them is a nasty rotten reservoir of nastiness. The only thing I find that keeps it under control is to take a paper towel, twist it together, and shove it down into the reservoir while turning several times. This seems to get most of the gunk out. After that then run the pipe cleaners in the draft hole and through the shank. This keeps them in service until they get their full cleaning with everclear.
That being said, while they are good pipes and serve me well, I really doubt I would make an extra effort to obtain additional ones.

 

[petes03]

I just got my 313 System today, and I have to say the first smoke was awesome! I didn't find the cleaning to be much trouble at all. Hope it stays that way!

 

[captainsousie]

Roth, you are a wise man. I'm just about to give up on this pipe and that would be the first estate I have given up on. I finally got the well and draft hole done. The stem however is as bad as the well in that it's taking an inordinate amount of time and pipe cleaners to get the area just inside the tenon clean. Then there's the oxidation to deal with. This pipe had better smoke like a million bucks after all this work.

 

[bentmike]

Sound advice from Roth indeed but don't give up on that system captn. You're already this far in so may as well see it to the end and hopefully it will be worth all the effort. My systems have all been amazing pipes but I follow the standard quick swab after each smoke so that keeps worry to the minimum.

 

[captainsousie]

Finally finished the inside of the bloody stem. Now for the outside and that's going rather well so far. Should I make another thread to complain about getting to the bit under the p-lip with the micromesh or should I just complain here? :D Joking aside it's a beautiful looking, if a bit beat up, pipe.

 

[captainsousie]

...getting to the bit under the p-lip

Just had a brainstorm...and it actually worked. A nice trick is to wrap the wet sandpaper around a butter knife and it'll give you a nice flat-edge to get into the corners of a p-lip tip. I must say it looks good and the stem is about as comfy as can be. Pics coming when I get done working through the grits of micro-mesh and getting the carbon off the rim.

 

[bryanf]

I have to agree that straight pipes smoke drier, less gurgling, easier to clean, don't have to take apart to clean, etc...my favorite pipe is a straight billiard.
However, I do love my Peterson 317, and my 308 is pretty good too. The 308 never gurgles and smokes very dry. The 317 gurgles and has to have the stem removed and shaken out at least 3 x's per smoke unless I'm really paying attention, and the bowl is less than .500 inch diameter with the cake. Not a good pipe for driving, but no big deal for me to remove the stem and shake it out. Sometimes it gets annoying, but she smokes so good, I tolerate it.
I keep a napkin in my back pocket whenever I'm out with that pipe, and tear off a tiny piece and roll into a little ball to drop into the moisture trap and that helps a lot with cleaning. Just pick it out and replace every smoke. This is much better than accidently pouring the moisture back into the bowl if I tip my pipe to dump ash or sitting in my pocket, and don't have to clean it immediately after smoking for fear of dripping the moisture back into the bowl.
Hope that helps you out.
For those that will tell me to ream out the cake- Never!

 

[joeahearn]

I am breaking in a newish Peterson 312 System Pipe now. It's tough going. As Gecko13 reports, I can't find any tobacco that doesn't taste like crap in this pipe. After about 10 smokes, I am starting to get something resembling tobacco taste from it. On the other hand, I have some older Petes that smoke great. I bought them all estate and some of them took some time to clean up, but the effort was worthwhile. I have had Petes in my rotation for two decades and have sort of a sentimental attachment to the brand. It is, however, getting harder to see what the payoff is for buying them. I can buy a Savinelli, for example, for the same or less money, and it will smoke great from the first smoke.

 

[petes03]

Well, I've had my System 313 for about a week now and have only good to report! I like it so well that I went ahead and put a 303 System on layaway yesterday! If all goes well, I may try the 31 next. It's the only straight pipe in the System line, it has me very curious.

 

[juni]

Cotton with booze on Q-tips seem to be the only way for me to clean the "system". It did take a very long time to break in my two system pipes but then again, Peterson stained everything inside and out on them.

 

[fitzy]

I've had a Peterson system pipe with a p-lip stem for probably 25 years. I've never ever had a problem cleaning it like you guys describe. I use tapered pipe cleaners to pass a cleaner through the stem. I clean my pipe after every 2 or 3 smokes and I have no gunk. Takes no more cleaners than any other pipe.
I do have to say thought that I have NEVER had a gurgle on that pipe with any tobacco. I've had plenty of occasional gurgles on other pipes that I end up running a cleaner through while in the middle of a bowl to clear up.

 

[bryanf]

I bought a new Peterson 3 weeks ago and it tasted like crap for the first 20 or so bowls, progressively getting better. Now, about 100+ bowls later, nice thick cake and tastes great. I smoked at least 5 bowls a day in her every single day without rest, but did (try) to run a pipe cleaner at least every morning. Bottom of bowl is always dry and wait at least half hour between smokes. But...she gurgles. Still prefer my straight billiards.

 

[englishdave]

I have had two Peterson System pipes. One was given away many years ago because it was a terrible smoker. The other, a #302, was the first pipe I ever bought 25 years ago. I have finally retired it, since it was never the best smoker, and my other pipes all smoke much better. I agree, it is definitely more work to keep clean. I have three other non-system Petersons from the Sherlock Holmes collection that all smoke well, but they are mostly straights.
Despite how good looking some of the Peterson System pipes are I would never buy another one. My other pipes smoke better, and are easier to maintain.

 

[4dotsasieni]

I agree with Fitzy - I have 11 Petes, all P-lips, all bents, four of them Systems, and have never had any problems with gurgle, gunk, or cleaning. After each smoke I clean the bowl with both ends of a sheet of paper towel, then run two tapered cleaners (Falcons are the best) through the stem, two thick fluffys through the draft hole, and no problems.
The only problem I've ever had with these pipes is in two of the more recently made System pipes - the stain doesn't seem to be stable, and I've had some show up on the cleaners.

 

[cigrmaster]

I could never understand why anyone would want to smoke a system pipe. If you have good technique, any pipe that is of decent quality will smoke cool and dry. Not being able to pass a pipe cleaner through a pipe would drive me insane. Plus having a well that collects all those nasty juices would in my opinion make the pipe stink something fierce. I say get a regular pipe and dump the system pipe.

 

[petes03]

I just got my second System, a 303, out of layaway Wednesday and I'm just as impressed with it as I was with the 313! Both are Standard Rusticated pipes with P-lips. These are fast becoming my favorites! I went ahead and put a 31 System Standard smooth on layaway. Figured I'd give the straight one a shot.

 

[bryanf]

Never pass a pipe cleaner through my Peterson or any pipe for that matter, while smoking. If I had to carry a pack of pipe cleaners just to smoke my pipe, it would frustrate the hell out of me. I hate carrying a bunch of crap. As for cleaning a system pipe, pulling the stem and dumping the moisture is hard work?

 

[4dotsasieni]

+1 bryanf! One of the huge advantages of a Pete System pipe is that the spigot-mounted stem can safely be removed even when the pipe is hot, and both chamber and stem easily cleaned.

 

[jbbaldwin]

Never pass a pipe cleaner through [...] while smoking.

I disagree. I smoke a great quantity of flakes and like to cube-cut them. Every few bowls, one of those little suckers will get down into the air hole and I'd much rather dislodge it with a pipe-cleaner than by stirring up the entire bowl, which almost ruins the bowl for me. The ability to pass a pipe-cleaner mid-smoke is an absolute necessity for me.

 

[captainsousie]

As for cleaning a system pipe, pulling the stem and dumping the moisture is hard work?

And that's why it takes so long, and so much work, to clean an estate system Pete. After about 1/2 dozen smokes, this pipe is pretty nice. Not sure if it was worth all the grief but it does hang from the mouth ever so easily and smoke pretty cool and gurgle-free. If I were a clencher, this would probably be my favorite pipe.
As for the tobacco-clogged airway issue, it does help that this is a true military mount and can easily be broken down mid-smoke to run a pipe cleaner down the draft-hole. I actually had to do that on the third smoke when a bit of Carter Hall got sucked up and got stuck.