We all know and love our wholesale glass water pipes and besides the normal perks that they offer to a basic smoking experience, they also offer percs or percolators. What are these things? Surely not a plug-in appliance used for brewing coffee. No, these glass accents within the water pipe shake, shimmy, and swirl your water to filter it of select toxins, cool and moisturize your hit, and sometimes create some pretty neat smoke and water effects. Let’s take a look at the different types of percolators and how they slosh your smoke.

Honeycomb

Aside from the percolation you might receive from a diffused downstem, honeycomb percolators are some of the most desired (and some of the most common) found in bulk glass water pipes. While all percolators contribute to the bubbling appearance of the water, honeycomb percs take it to the extreme, due in part to the number of openings in the percolator. It is common for more than one to appear in the same water pipe and equally as common to find it in combination with another percolator such a dome perc or tree perc.

Tree

Speaking of trees, if a wholesale water pipe is looking to branch out, then there are plenty of arms to carry the hit out. Comprised mostly of a dome and diffused downstems, tree percolators, also known as pillar percs, are often colored to match other accents on the water pipe like a ring around the mouthpiece or the bowl (what can we say, they like to coordinate). While it increases the damage rate, the more arms there are, the better the filtration, the smoother the hit, and the more attractive they are to customers.

Showerhead

There’s no better way to clean and smooth out a hit than with a showerhead percolator – one of the first types of percs after the tree perc. Also known as a UFO or tire perc, these clever creations pull the smoke through the main stem and into a primary chamber for maximum filtration and minimal drag. The more slits in the showerhead, the more diffusion and the more evenly distributed the water will be. They are nifty alternatives to tree percolators and are less prone to breakage as they are comprised of fewer pieces.

Matrix

The cooler name for a showerhead perc with almost the same functionality but a more varied design catalog, matrix percolators are essentially two or more showerhead percolators stacked upon one another. The top rows have less resistance to the water, while the bottom rows have higher resistance, meaning smoke has a more difficult time passing through the bottom. While they may not improve functionality, they are more aesthetically appealing to customers and give the impression of improved usage.

While these are just several of the most common percolators that water pipes may possess, there are so many more that can be used in any nearly any combination including but not limited to sprinkler percs, swiss percs, faberge egg percs, dome percs, inline percs, and barrel percs. Explore the world of percolators within our vast selection of bulk water pipes for resale here. 

(Pictured: WP1788)