DIY electric hookah

Projects General Guidance
1

Ok I am kind of a hookah fanatic, and have been considering doing some sort of arduino project for a while.

There are a few electric hookah coals on the market now, the problem (as how I understand it) is that hookah coals do not stay at the same temperature, they heat up as air is drawn from around them, wheras electric coals stay at the same temperature regardless of whether you are inhaling or if the hookah is sitting.

So what I was considering was using a quick heat soldering iron like this http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WEL8200PK-120-Volt-Universal-Soldering/dp/B00002N7S0/ref=pd_bxgy_hi_text_y that has a switch to heat up the iron, and twisting the tip to make more of a coil. Then using some sort of vacuum sensor (maybe an automotive manifold air pressure sensor) near to where the hose meets the hookah to determine when a person is inhaling. Then using the arduino to determine when there is vacuum is present and then switching the iron to quickly heat the shisha (hookah tobacco).

There are a few issues I can see with this actual operation, including if the heating element will heat quickly enough, but with some quick search engine research, I found that the iron should get to around 900 degrees (f) and hookah coals usually are at about 550 degrees each, and I usually use two or three coals. So in theory the heat range should be fine.

I am hoping to hear some advice/suggestions pertaining to this, maybe a different heating source, different vacuum sensors, etc.

I also have zero experience with the arduino, but do have some programming knowledge with labview (and I plan to use labview to do the programming). So go easy on me if there is something I am missing entirely.

Thanks!

2

I've never used a hookah but I would have guessed that the coals are literally burning i.e. red hot. A normal soldering gun won't get anywhere near hot enough for that. Electric fire heating elements and toasters etc do, so perhaps you would be better off getting a suitable length of the resistive wire used for those, make up a former to stop the coils from shorting out, and calculate/measure the voltage and current needed to power it. Since this would have much less thermal mass than a soldering iron top, it would heat up much quicker (fractions of a second rather than seconds).

Once it's working you might want to think about whether you just want an on/off control, or an analog control that gets hotter the more air flow there is.

3

I think you'll find that if you only heat on the pressure change by the time it's got hot enough you'll be done.