HELP!PLEASE Sav 320 issue

[Cajunpiper]

So I have been smoking a pipe for a couple of years now. Last year around February I purchase a new sav 320 KS.
I love the pipe. It looks great, feels great in the hand but recently I have began to develops a problem with smoking it as follows.
whenever I smoke the pipe it just doesn’t taste right. I by no means consider myself to have a fully developed palate, but over the last several months I have begun to be able to pick out different tobaccos in a blend and start to really narrow down the types of blends I prefer. Whenever I smoke the 320 the tobaccos taste off, not bad per se but more like heavier and maybe somewhat muted. I have put the same blends in it and another pipe and smoked them at the same time. It is a night and day difference.
the pipe dose not smoke that much drier or wetter than any other of the pipes in my rotation( I have enough to rotate every 4 days). I have cleaned the pipe, sweetened using salt method, and scraped down what cake has built in it over the last year to start the pipe fresh with little to no change.
I have packed it extra loose/ extra tight with no effect. I have smoked with and without the filter, with and without the adapter still no difference.
I have dedicated it to VaPers to see if tobacco made a difference then switched to nothing but English’s all of this with no change in the off tasting effect. As I stated earlier it dosent taste bad just heavy and muted.
I love the pipe but hate the smoke any one have any suggestions or experience with this. Could it be a drilling issue?
Hate to sound dramatic but I literally have 2 $40!basket pipes I keep at the deer camp that seem to smoke better than this thing.

 

[Blackhorse]

Usually posting an issue in just one section of the website will get you the same level of response as posting the same thing in several places. No problems…just sayin’.

 

[Blackhorse]

So I have been smoking a pipe for a couple of years now. Last year around February I purchase a new sav 320 KS.
I love the pipe. It looks great, feels great in the hand but recently I have began to develops a problem with smoking it as follows.
whenever I smoke the pipe it just doesn’t taste right. I by no means consider myself to have a fully developed palate, but over the last several months I have begun to be able to pick out different tobaccos in a blend and start to really narrow down the types of blends I prefer. Whenever I smoke the 320 the tobaccos taste off, not bad per se but more like heavier and maybe somewhat muted. I have put the same blends in it and another pipe and smoked them at the same time. It is a night and day difference.
the pipe dose not smoke that much drier or wetter than any other of the pipes in my rotation( I have enough to rotate every 4 days). I have cleaned the pipe, sweetened using salt method, and scraped down what cake has built in it over the last year to start the pipe fresh with little to no change.
I have packed it extra loose/ extra tight with no effect. I have smoked with and without the filter, with and without the adapter still no difference.
I have dedicated it to VaPers to see if tobacco made a difference then switched to nothing but English’s all of this with no change in the off tasting effect. As I stated earlier it dosent taste bad just heavy and muted.
I love the pipe but hate the smoke any one have any suggestions or experience with this. Could it be a drilling issue?
Hate to sound dramatic but I literally have 2 $40!basket pipes I keep at the deer camp that seem to smoke better than this thing.

Hmmmm. I also have a couple of basket pipes that smoke as well as my top tier. Both are a Prince. Maybe it’s just the shape. Whatever.

 

[Ranger107]

Odd for a Sav. Maybe try cleaning it with alcohol, everclear or vodka. Just a suggestion.

 

[Zeno Marx]

Maybe do the scrubbing and washing under running water in the sink? You'd have to re-apply wax and buff it. As I've read about dishwashing pipes, some have mentioned it rids pipes of ghosts. It couldn't hurt if it is to the point you don't want to smoke the pipe. Not all wood and fluid dynamics are created equal. It might just be the pipe. Which is also why we can never discount, or underestimate, "lower" brand pipes.

 

[Ranger107]

Absolutely, one of my best pipes is a cheapie Stanwell brushed black pot. Bought from P&C on sale for 30 bucks. Smokes great.

 

[tslots]

New pipes go through a break-in period, with some requiring more smokes than others. I've also found over the years that some pipes are just odd and will only smoke certain blends well.
If you are not having any issues with draw or burn, then you can likely discount construction. As was mentioned earlier, a good cleaning might be worth a try. However, I'd recommend the salt method, as many do with older pipes that have "soured". Put a pipe cleaner down the stem - just poking into the bowl. Pack the bowl with kosher salt and then fill with higher proof alcohol (drinking not rubbing). I prefer bourbon as I already have plenty on hand and I enjoy the imparted flavor for the first couple of bowls. Let sit for a couple of days, then dump out the salt and clean out the bowl and stem with fresh alcohol ensuring no salt crystals remain. Dry out overnight and try again. You might try sticking with one blend for several smokes before moving on to a different one.

 

[Zeno Marx]

I use a cotton swab in the airhole. It plugs it up real nice so you don't get any seepage messing with the finish. When you remove it, you might lose the cotton in the airhole, thus requiring a poking to get it out. I've almost bought a small rubber stopper for this, but then I remind myself, "Keep it simple, stupid."

 

[Jevverrett]

You said you cleaned it thoroughly, and removed the cake from the bowl. Depending how much you smoked the pipe. It may be that the draft hole/ airway needs reaming. I need to do this annually to my more loved pipes. I use drill bits with fingers only, starting very small and working up. Cake can be removed this way, and doesn’t require much force to do so.

On a side note, it reminds me of the time I had a new Peterson spigot that one day developed a terrible taste. I mean awful, and foul beyond understanding. It was the only pipe I had at work that day, so I made do. I ashed it into a coffee cup in my truck, and the dottle stuck to the side of the cup and got sticky. My son had taken and jammed a black French oil crayon into the bottom of the bowl, lol. Pipe was ruined. Couldn’t get that taste out no matter what I tried.

 

[Zeno Marx]

They sell a little tube scrub brush set on ebay for maybe $2. A handful of sizes of brush on a keychain ring. I usually use a bristle pipe cleaner, but a dedicated brush work better.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/185209221574

 

[Jevverrett]

That’s pretty cool. I bet they would work better

 

[eggman]

You said you cleaned it thoroughly, and removed the cake from the bowl. Depending how much you smoked the pipe. It may be that the draft hole/ airway needs reaming. I need to do this annually to my more loved pipes. I use drill bits with fingers only, starting very small and working up. Cake can be removed this way, and doesn’t require much force to do so.

On a side note, it reminds me of the time I had a new Peterson spigot that one day developed a terrible taste. I mean awful, and foul beyond understanding. It was the only pipe I had at work that day, so I made do. I ashed it into a coffee cup in my truck, and the dottle stuck to the side of the cup and got sticky. My son had taken and jammed a black French oil crayon into the bottom of the bowl, lol. Pipe was ruined. Couldn’t get that taste out no matter what I tried.

So the black crayon was nowhere near as good as black cavendish? Who would have thunk it? Hi hi I’ve smoked a lot of stuff in my time but never crayons. On a side note, if you ever want to freak someone out or play like your sick eat some crayons. Kids do it everyday and it doesn’t hurt them. whatever color you eat you will poop. Don’t do black they will think you have blood in your stool.

 

[gravel]

So the black crayon was nowhere near as good as black cavendish? Who would have thunk it? Hi hi I’ve smoked a lot of stuff in my time but never crayons. On a side note, if you ever want to freak someone out or play like your sick eat some crayons. Kids do it everyday and it doesn’t hurt them. whatever color you eat you will poop. Don’t do black they will think you have blood in your stool.

To think some have to pay for the same level of life advice you are giving away for free.