Bong Percolators/Percs

What is a bong percolator? In short, a percolator makes the smoking process feel much smoother by cooling down the smoke and providing filtration for the ash. This makes for a bigger, better quality hit and less choking. There are several different types of percolators and each one has a slightly different percolation mechanism. Below are 5 of the most common percolators

DownStems are among the oldest and most basic of percolators. It is simply a tube with slits leading from the bowl and extending into the main water chamber. The smoke enters underwater creating improved cooling while trapping unwanted ash and other by-products of combustion. DownStems are what initially separated water pipes from dry pipes.

PROS: The DownStem is easily removable, cleanable and replaceable.

CONS: The DownStem is the most basic of percolation methods.

Inline Percolators are horizontal tubes with several slits in them immersed in a horizontal chamber filled with water. They are like DownStems only not removable. The more slits there are the more percolation. They often complement other percolators in other chambers.

PROS: Generally have more slits than DownStems and can be decorative.

CONS: Not removable for cleaning like DownStems are.

Showerhead percolators use a tube that connects the main chamber to bring smoke back into larger tube. Then it directs the smoke down and into another percolator with a varying number and orientation of slits. From there, many designs send the smoke to a second type of precolator.

PROS: Less vulnerable to plugging and easier to draw than HoneyCombs.

CONS: Usually used in conjunction with other types of percs. Small ones provide only minimal percolation.

Tree Percolators are fairly simple. Within the bong tube there is a collection of "rods" with slits resembling tree limbs. With a few slits per each "limb" there is plenty of diffusion.

PROS: Provides a high level of percolation with a large number of trees.

CONS: Each tree is attached separately and sometimes delicately. As a result excess shock and bumps can possibly detach the individual trees depending on construction.

HoneyComb percolators look just like they sound. The holes of the HoneyComb perc filters smoke with high efficiency and you can have one, two or three separate HoneyCombs.

PROS: Provides very efficient percolation depending on the number of discs.

CONS: Small particles from incomplete combustion may become lodged in the small holes and difficult to clean out. An ash-catcher complements this design well.