Is this possible or am i confused?

I am back to trying the 464 again. I use 1.25 or 1.3oz per lb, 8oz round jelly jar. Most of all my scents i use a cd-12. This works okay, until I get past the half way mark, then the melt pool gets deeper than 1/2". When I use a cd-10, the melt pool is better but the hot throw SEEMS weaker. Is that possible or am I dreaming? Can you get a wick too small(heat wise) even if the meltpool is perfect or am i just not getting it?

I saw where someone was using the same everything as me with a cd-8! wow I must be doing something wrong? or can it be the oils I am using? but I use oils from a wide variety of places and the cd-12 seems to have the best scent throw with most of them...?

I've hear so much about the cdn's I am ready to try them.....where is the best place I can get them within reason of me(north Ga)?

I would think a 10 is ok but an 8 would be ok too (depending on the fo). I would hand that baby over to someone else and let them tell you about the strength of the candle. You may have candle nose. HTH.

Steve

I tried some more testing early this morning. The home sweet home with a cd-10 and a pumpkin spice with a cd-12. After 4 hours the melt pool in the pumpkin spice was less than 1/2" and the scent throw was good. The cd-10 had drowned out in the home sweet home. I am relighting it to see if it will stay lit this time. I had previously tested this scent with a cd-12 and the throw was great, but the melt pool was a full 1/2" before the jar was half way thru.

They always burn hotter towards the bottom, so I thought this wick is gonna be to big. Gosh I cant imagine using a cd-8. im not even sure if I own one, i"ll go look

The thing i don't understand about wicks, is if one is too large it will "burn off" some of the scent?

if one is too small, there is not enough heat to "release" scent?

Are these sayings true?

I generally look for a wick that gives me a melt pool not over 1/2" (sometimes they do towards the bottom if you leave them burning all day, anyway).

I would love to leave one wicked where it never gets over 1/4" melt pool (that candle would have the best burn time) but some of my scents just dont smell as good when I have them wicked that way. And I don't understand why... it should be perfect.....

The thing i don't understand about wicks, is if one is too large it will "burn off" some of the scent?

if one is too small, there is not enough heat to "release" scent?

Are these sayings true?

I think I have noticed both those things to be true at times.

Wax and fragrance are going up the wick together all the time. When a candle has been burning for a while, you usually get the best scent throw for a brief time right after blowing it out. And sometimes you can get great throw from a wickless candle and hardly anything when it's wicked.

It's probably safe to say that most of the fragrance in a wicked candle ends up burning off. A larger wick can sometimes decrease your scent throw, plus it provides less fragrance over the life of the candle simply because the burn time is less. A wick can be too small for optimal scent throw also, but occasionally it's surprising how much fragrance a small flame can throw.

It's hard to know exactly how it'll work out because there are other factors like the container and the wax and what FO you're using. I think the bottom line usually ends up being to find the wick that burns the candle the best. If you can get a nice burn for a reasonable session time, use up the wax and not generate soot, that's what you aim for. The scent throw is what it is. You can always try using more FO if it doesn't seem to be enough.

I think we get too focused on that perfect clean burn with no hang ups on the sides. I have found that underwicking provides a much better throw and that eventually the candle catches up about mid burn. Even if there is some residual wax left on the sides; who cares? The candle lasts longer, throws better and doesn't get too hot. I have never had a customer who came back and said my candle didn't burn up every drop of wax. Look at Yankee or any of the other commercial candles and tell me how perfect their melt pools are (aren't) and I think you will relax about melt pools. HTH.

Steve

Well said Steve. Maybe we can call it FMP obsession. You have to be able to read a newspaper through the melt pool in the first few burns or it's considered underwicked.

Since the burns tend to get so much hotter towards the bottom, you don't usually need that much firepower to use up the wax. What I call a clean burn isn't no wax left, but rather no black left.

You have to choose a good minimum burn time for testing too. If you burn a candle for less than 3 hours as your standard test, you're likely to overwick it. I can't think of any candle I'd test at less than 3 hours.

I'm with you guys. I'm sick of all the melt pool rules. I want my wick to have a nice height, not drown and give off a nice scent. I usually test my wicks with four hour burns because I think that's more realistic as to what people actually do in their own homes, except for the power burners. I also like to do a run through at odd intervals after I get it wicked correctly. I want to see what it does if its extinguished after a half hour, then burned the next day for six hours, then an hour... I know that when I just burn a candle for my pleasure, that's how it works out for me. You light a candle and then remember you have to run to the store so you extinguish it. Then you light a candle for an hour to get rid of a yucky smell. Another day you might burn it for a few hours because you're having company. Personally, I don't care if it has some wax left as long as it didn't tunnel straight down.

Deb

Well said Steve. Maybe we can call it FMP obsession. You have to be able to read a newspaper through the melt pool in the first few burns or it's considered underwicked.

Since the burns tend to get so much hotter towards the bottom, you don't usually need that much firepower to use up the wax. What I call a clean burn isn't no wax left, but rather no black left.

You have to choose a good minimum burn time for testing too. If you burn a candle for less than 3 hours as your standard test, you're likely to overwick it. I can't think of any candle I'd test at less than 3 hours.

I never have a full melt pool till right at the bottom and my glass isn't 100% clean (much like a milk residue) but I am happy and so are my customers. The most important things are that it doesn't tunnel and there are thick wax sides, or that the glass gets far too hot and black soot around the sides.

I could not agree more with Circle and the previous remarks about quick "FMP obsession." While I always advise customers to burn containers for a specified period of time (depending on the size container) on the first burn, I know that most will not remember "the rules" for the succeeding burns. Having some hangup through the third test burn does not faze me nor does having some residue (not to be confused with hangup) on the glass at the end. Soy wax is thick, milky stuff that leaves a certain amount of residue. If it bothers me, I wipe it off! Candle kits have cleaning cloths for this very purpose! It's far more important to me to have a candle that throws well in a container that does not become too hot to touch than it is to get FMP on the first burn, diminished HT & a transparently clean container which is too hot to touch! JMO

I always wick according to what smells the best , but I just can't be satisfied with that melt pool. i hope I am not obsessed! According to all of you, I still feel like my candle must be slightly overwicked. It reaches a full melt pool on the second burn and by halfway down the jar the melt pool is 1/2". I'm gonna keep working on getting it down another wick size. There's gotta be a way I can get it down another size and it still smell just as good. I am okay with my candles the way they are , i just want it to be even better! lol.......does it ever end?

okay, was right i dont have any cd-8's, but i did the cd-10's. I poured about six or eight of my scents that are good using a cd-10. i have been burning them at various times and i do not have a full melt pool yet, but thats okay cause i know it gets hotter from the halfway point down. So I'm thinking if the cd-12 was givng me a 1/2" melt pool during the last half of the jar, that the cd-10 is hopefully going to give me 1/4" during the last half of the jar. i would be so happy with this if so...........

HOWEVER back to my original point...............my scent throw is still good, but it is not as good as with the cd-12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CANNOT understand this!!!! I AM PULLING OUT MY HAIR!

Okay one more time.....in your opinion(you all being "experts" compared to me) what should I concentrate on? the scent throw or the burn time? I just feel in my gut its not good enough if that melt pool is 1/2" at ANY point. I use to never think about this, i only cared that my scent throw was good or not. Now i can't get it off my mind that I want to change this.

Burn the CD-10 and CD-12 versions at least 3 hours at a time down to the bottom and compare them. You may figure out the answer on your own.

It's not just about the melt pool depth. See what happens with heat and soot. If the CD-12 darkens the glass and CD-10 doesn't, which would you choose? I'd go for the CD-10 even at the expense of a little scent throw. But see how it works and decide.

If you find that the burn is better with CD-10 but you don't think the scent throw is enough, you could always try to do something about it. Maybe try a little extra FO or try whichever HTP wick is similar to CD-10 and see if it throws better.

One step at a time. For now just finish testing the candles and see what you get. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't make sense to pour testers half full and test the bottom half before the top half, since that often ends up deciding it.

okay, I've kept burning and testing (I think I been alternating 7 or 8 scents).3 and 4 hrs at a time. I actually have one scent that I was thrilled with using the cd-10. Wild Honeysuckle had a perfect melt pool, no soot, no residue and great scent throw. Thats the only one that was "perfect"! All the rest I found something to complain about. The Cinnamon, never would reach a full melt pool and kept drowning out, so I"m gonna stay with the cd-12 on that one. The others are somewhere in the middle, better melt pool, but less scent throw. The chocolate and apple pie did well enough that I an going to officially change them to a cd-10, but the others......... Sigh, i don't know what to choose. I've noticed that when you add more fo(like going from 1.25 to 1.5, the candle seems to burn quicker, the flame seems more hungry. and sometimes it seems to smother the wick to death. So I'm a little uneasy about adding more fo. My friends and family are happy with the cd-12's performance, but that melt pool bugs me!:sad2:Okay, i'm gonna quit talking about this now.................................thanks everyone for the inputs