When it comes to the vast world of smoking accessories, bongs take away the prize with their ancient roots, variety in types, material & design, and even their popularity. Every stoner, no matter how much they love their joints and blunts, has walked down the path of bong hits and loved it. There is just something beautiful about the blend of vapour, herbs, and water that appeals to the high'er mind.

These water pipes quickly rose to fame in the ancient period, and with modern minds and needs, we have as many types as there are thoughts. If you're a novice toker looking to venture into the world of bongs or are just looking to understand the different types, this guide will tell you all about percolator bongs.
If you're wondering how to use a percolator bong and its advantages, get ready because we are taking you on a swirling ride!

What is a Percolator Bong?

Before we move the usage and explain how to use a percolator bong, let's start from the basics. Percs or percolator is a very random word thrown around if you're an experienced smoker. Let me simplify it for you.

To put it simply, Percolator is any water pipe that allows the smoke to cool down before it reaches the mouthpiece, and eventually the lungs. It is the name of a type of bong as well as the cooling and filtration feature found in bongs or water pipes. This is achieved by making the smoke pass through the water, thereby cooling it.

To completely understand how to use a percolator bong, we will have to look at the role water plays in our favourite smoking accessories.

Water is present in many paraphernalia with the objective that when smoke passes through it, it will filter and cool it down. That's the bubbling sound you hear when you're inhaling.

The filtration works on the mechanism that water helps to strain out the contaminants before passing it on. This makes the vapour cleaner than before. This allows the user to take huge hits without feeling the harshness or the hotness of the smoke. Pretty impressive, if you ask me.

If you've never smoked a bong with perc, you'd feel the difference in the first drag, with a smoother hit.
Before we move on to how to use a percolator bong, let's see how it works.

| Also Read: What is a Bong - Types & How to Use it? |

How does a Percolator Bong work?

If you don’t know how to use a percolator bong but know how to use a bong, the former would be same. You pack your bowl with your favourite strain of flower and use a hemp wick/lighter to blaze it up. As the herb reacts with the heat, the vapour travels through the downstem into the water. From there on, it is pulled through the tube to the mouthpiece where you can take a few dank hits.

This is how a normal bong works, but someone mentioned percolator bong, they are talking about a bong with a percolator feature attached. If we talk about bong with percolator vs. without, the difference is very clear, and most bong-hitters can confirm this. I am sure by now you know that a percolator is needed for a smoother hit.

This is how a percolator works; it helps to break the flow of water which in turns cools down the smoke as it travels through the water chamber. It is a second water chamber that helps to diffuse the smoke, enabling a larger surface area for the smoke to interact with the water and cool down further. It also breaks down the bubbles, making them smaller due to the pressure in the perc.
The result? A smooth cooled down bong hit.

How to use a Percolator Bong?

Using a percolator bong is not very different from using a usual bong. The idea is the same, use water to filter out contaminants, and enjoy a better filtered and cool smoke.

The first step of using a percolator bong is to fill it up with water. The ideal way is to add water to the bottom chamber until all of the slits in the downstem are barely covered with water. If your bong is equipped with a carb hole, keep the water well below the opening so no water can spill out.

With percolator bongs, you must add enough water to submerge all the percs, ensuring that all openings are well above the water level. Once done, check to see if you're experiencing any splashback or any water touching your lips when you're inhaling. If you experience this, try to make some adjustments to your water level and light it up again.

The water part of the bong is the only one that would need some time to get used to, but apart from that, it is a simple process. Fill up your bowl with weed, and light it up. Once the herb is nice and hot, the vapour starts forming. Allow it to pass through the water and then inhale it for a pure, smooth, and cool hit.

| Also Read: Chongz Bongs - Here's Our List of 10 Best Chongz Bongs |

Types of Percolator

You're well acquainted with how to use a percolator bong and its functionality, let's look at the various types of percolator that you can get in the bong market.

1. Disc Percolator

Disc Percolator

Disc Percolator makes use of small holes to produce lots of bubbles, each one of which diffuses the smoke. It might need a little extra pull for the filtration to occur accurately.

2. Barrel Percolator

Barrel Percolator

The Barrel Percolator is attached to the downstem and is usually positioned straight or sideway within the water pipe. It features many holes, which diffuses the smoke further and makes it perfect for those looking for extra filtration and love the cool vapour.

3. Showerhead Percolator

Showerhead Percolator

Honeycomb is one of the prettiest percolators out there. They feature a flat disc with studded holes packed together to resemble a honeycomb pattern. Hence, the name. They are placed in line and parallel to the base of the bong, allowing the bubbles to have a direct cooling path. You can find one with multiple discs, that can help you enhance the overall smoke of this beauty.

4. Honeycomb Percolator

 Honeycomb Percolator

Honeycomb is one of the prettiest percolators out there. They feature a flat disc with studded holes packed together to resemble a honeycomb pattern. Hence, the name. They are placed in line and parallel to the base of the bong, allowing the bubbles to have a direct cooling path. You can find one with multiple discs, that can help you enhance the overall smoke of this beauty.

5. Matrix Percolator

Matrix Percolator Bongs have become extremely popular with their unique style and design. It blends the two most loved designs - that of the disc percs with slashes and the barrel perc with its holes. The matrix percolators are cylindrical in shape and can be found in multiple variations.

6. Diffused Downstem Percolator

Diffused Downstem falls in line with more basic designs, and is great for novice tokers beginning to experiment. You can also add them to your regular for the added smoking experience. 

It features slits at the base and extends from the bowl, giving it a look of a vertical pipe.

7. Swiss Percolator

The percolator is designed with holes inside the bong's body, looking like Swiss Cheese. The air moved around the holes in the body, lessening the drag and cooling down the smoke. Another variation of the Swiss Percolator is the Donut Percolator. Instead of featuring multiple holes, it has just one hole placed in the base of the bong.  

8. Inline Percolator

The Inline Percolator works on the mechanism that features a horizontal tube with slashes along the walls. This allows the smoke to move around and have a larger travel area allowing it to be more smooth and cleaner. The best part is you can pair it with other types that can be added above them. 

9. Tree Percolator

 

 

The design is similar to the name with vertical tubes or columns. This is the reason it is also known as pillar percs. The functioning of the tree percolator is similar to all the others; allowing the smoke more space to move around to filter and cool down. The larger the number of glass columns, the more is the filtration. 

This is in no way an extensive list of the types of percolators. There are many more including Circ Percolator, UFO Percolator, Inline Percolator, Ratchet Percolator, Coil Percolator, Fritted Disc Percolator, Turbine Percolator, Matrix Stereo Percolator. 

| Also Read: Old-School Bong - How to Make A Water Bottle Bong? |

How to Clean a Percolator Bong? 

Whichever percolator you go with, keeping that rad piece of glass pristine and clean is essential. You will probably drop quite the change, if you haven’t already, on a perfect percolator. So, you’d likely want it to look just as dope, even after your very first session. This is why cleaning it is crucial, and more than preserving it’s aesthetics, a deep clean will also help the perc product purest flavours every time you smoke. Here’s how to clean a percolator bong: -

If you use cleaning solutions or pipe cleaners (for e.g., Formula 420), getting it to reach every part of the percolator will be tricky. The best thing to do is to fill up the bottom of your perc’s water pipe with a cleaning solution. Then, shake the pipe vigorously, use your hand to cover the top, and flip the perc upside-down. Again, shake it as much as you can until the liquid has come up to the top - all of it. Now, remove your hand and let it drain. Lastly, rinse all the parts thoroughly before using. 

[ Also Read: How to Clean a Bong: The Ultimate Guide ]

How to Make a Percolator Bong? 

After understanding how to use a percolator bong, this next step would appeal to your creative side. As a DIY stoner, we know just how exhilarating it gets when you make a badass creation and get stoned from it. That’s why we’ve included this brief guide that shows you how to make a percolator bong in the easiest way possible! Take a look: -

  • To make your percolator, first take any pharmaceutical pill bottle (those cliche orange ones). See that the bottle’s mouth fits well over a cap which isn’t too big. Anything like a Bacardi cap should work fine; any cap that fits inside your pill bottle should work with this DIY perc.
  • About one inch from the bottle’s mouth, starting poking tiny holes in a line, all around it. 
  • Now, take a plastic pen (any common one), remove the ink until you have its empty shell. 
  • Burn a hole in your cap and insert the pen shell through. Here, the shell must poke through the cap, right inside the pill bottle. Make sure that a small portion of the pen shaft still sticks out of the cap’s opposite end, since this will go inside the makeshift bottle you have (as your bong). 

That’s it! Once your percolator is ready, simply fit it over your bottle (the bong). We recommend using a super glue (the stronger the better), to attach the bottles for the percolator to work perfectly.

[ Also Read: How to Make a Homemade Pipe in 10 Different Ways? ]

Pros and Cons of Percolator Bong

There are always two sides to a coin, so we thought of showing you both of them so you can make an informed purchase.

Percolator Pros

  • Vaporizers are considered to be the safest way to smoke your precious herbs but those who are an ardent fan of bongs cannot make the transition easier. Percolators offer a "healthier" way to smoke as it reduces the impurities and toxins. The larger surface area over which the smoke disperses allows capturing the harmful cytotoxins that attack the immune cells.
  • Percolators offer an enhanced smoking experience since they create a cooler vapour that does not hit your throat harshly. In fact, cooler smoke will induce less coughing and much smoother experience.
  • The cooler and more condensed smoke will allow you toke faster rips. This means you can increase the number of hits you can take, and get baked. But hey, always smoke responsibly!

Percolator Cons

  • It is possible that with too many percolators, it can become difficult to inhale the smoke, making it harder to rip with normal lung capacity. You might wanna delay your plans to buy a triple perc bong unless you're an experienced toker.
  • If you're not very keen on the maintenance, know before buying that most percolator bong designs are difficult to clean and you would need a good amount of cleaning accessories to go about the process.
  • Percolator bongs are not considered to be very travel-friendly. So if you're looking for a partner during your travels, you might want to go for more discreet and compact ones.

  • I hope this blog answers your question about “What do percolator bongs do?” and “How to use a percolator bong?”. Now that you're aware of how to use a percolator bong and its many different types, you can make an informed decision and purchase. 

    The key to a great bong hit is diffusion, which is why percolators are so popular. If you're looking for the best percolator bongs, find them all on Olivastu!

    For doubts/questions, feel free to comment below. 

FAQs

1. Does a percolator filter smoke?

Ans: Yes! This is one of the main reasons why percolators are awesome. Simply put, when you fire up your bong and the smoke travels through it, the percolator filters it out and cools it down for you to inhale. 

2. Which bong percs are the best?

Ans: Numerous options are available for you to try. You can check out the METIER 16-inch single bulb perc, QS Collection’s  glass percolator, Al Aziz’s 10-inch 30mm straight single perc, etc. If you’re feeling funky, try out OUTONTRIP’s UFO percolator. 

3. Do percolators give a stronger hit?

Ans: Not really. Percolators don’t offer a stronger sensation than any other regular bong.