Hi all, and I want to first say thank you to all of the posters, new and veteran, for all of the information I have gathered here. I am grateful.
I am new to candle making, but while doing wick tests, I had a very strange (to me) thing happen:
I was on the first light after a 10-day cure.
The wax is a 6046/4625 blend.
There is UV inhibitor @ 1/2 tsp per pound.
There is no fragrance oil.
The container is an 8-ounce tin ( 3 1/8" Diameter x 2 1/8" Deep).
This wick is a zinc 51-32-18. It was a step up from the previously tested 44-36-18 that was "almost there."
There was an Eco 8 wick and an HTP 83 in this same batch test.
The ignitor is an electric plasma lighter.
So, when I got the ignitor within an inch of the zinc-wicked candle, a flame shot up like there was a buried gas jet in the wax! I quickly pulled away, and it stopped immediately without lighting the wick. I tried a second time, and the same thing happened. I'm not too bright, so I went in for a third time, and it lit like normal. The other 2 candles in this test batch didn't behave in any unusual way, and this candle has continued to perform well throughout the testing beyond the shocking event.
Is this a common thing that has just never happened to me in decades of using candles?
Is this a common thing in candle-making?
Is this a bad wick that had some kind of foreign material on the wick?
Anyone have similar experiences?
I appreciate any guidance.
--Lorie