Spoonybard

I mix 464 and a AccuPar #22 which, according to the manufacturer, is very similar to J223. I mix at 50/50, and use zincs in 10oz apoth. jars with pretty nice results! HT/CT is great at 6% FO load, and since the 464 has a lower MP than the 415, it's a little easier to single-wick. I get shrooms, but ZERO sooting, even on powerburns. Just gotta be religious about the wick trimming. I tried CDs and HTPs, but both gave me terrible soot, so I went back to zincs and haven't looked back! HTH, Ryan

Thanks much for the feedback! With regards to blowing out, trimming, and relighting, my only concern is that the general customer wouldn't have the presence of mind to do that. Has that been an issue with any of your customers?

Thanks Jen & Chris!! So just to clarify, you are trimming your wicks specifically between powerburns? On controlled test burns I always trim the wick between burns but it's my understanding that between power burns one doesn't trim the wick.

I was wondering if those of you who conduct powerburn tests with zinc wicks in your container candles could share some of your results with regards to the amount of mushrooming, and condition of the wick? Since zincs don't self-trim, I've found that I have HORRID mushrooming after 12 hours and the wick is like 3/4" long. Have any of you had similar results and if so, when you go to relight the candle, do you pick off the huge shrooms and/or trim the wick back down from such a tall length? TIA! Ryan

See, I find that if I don't trim my wicks between power burns (approx. 12 hours), they would get FAR too long and the flame FAR too high. Like last night when I went to go relight one, the length of the exposed wick was like 3/4 of an inch, and the top of the wick had the hugest shrooms I ever saw. So I picked off the shrooms, and lit it... and sure enough, the flame was almost 2 inches tall! So I immediately blew it out and trimmed the wick. Should I have done something different?

Check it out... http://swans-candle-supplies.com/store/ I don't know what this means for Accu-Blend or this soon-to-be vacant store which is directly next door to Accu-Blend. Hopefully something new may come of this... Just what us on the west coast need.... fewer candle suppliers!

Karen, have you tried making any tarts using strictly 464? From what I've read from many wise folks on this forum, it seems that if your tarts throw well on the tart warmer and you're still following the same production processes when it comes to adding the FO, colorant, stirring, etc., then the wicks often are the poor HT culprits when you pour into containers. When I was pouring straight 464, I had pretty good success with HT using ECOs: 12 and 14 to be exact, in 3.5" wide 8 oz containers. I was adding warmed FO (1oz per pound) and colorant to my wax at about 185 degrees. I stirred continuously until the temp was about 170 and poured. HTH, Ryan

Rebecca, I totally thought that not too long ago too -- I was wicking 8oz wide-mouth Kerr mason jars, which have a raised bottom. I was affixing a pre-tabbed wick assembly with a 6mm neck height right on the top of that raised bottom, and couldn't for the life of me figure out why I'd have about a whole INCH of wax leftover at the end! So I moved away from those jars with raised bottoms and am using wick tabs that have a 3 or 6 mm neck height, and it seems to leave just the right amount of wax leftover to be safe. If one wanted to reuse my jar they could simply pop it into a warm oven for about 5 minutes and pour the small amount of wax out into the trash, remove the wick assembly, and wipe clean while the jar is warm still. Ryan

What do those of you who use zinc wicks do regarding the mushrooms and the lack of self-trimming feature? I accidentally left one of my test burns going too long (6 hrs) and when I blew it out, it was a TORCH but I noticed that the amount of exposed became significant... so I can't see how a zinc wick could pass a rigourous powerburn such as > 12 hours without the flame being like 6" high! Attached are some pics of a 12 hour burn: Is this normal? Any thoughts?

For a power burn, would I pick off the shrooms and relight? What about not trimming the wick... since it's a zinc and doesn't self-trim?

After LOTS of testing on and off for the past several months, I finally think I've hit the jackpot with my container/wax/wick combo. I've successfully burnt a handful of candles all the way down and am pleased with the results. Now, here's the question: How much of an issue is it when a candle develops large mushrooms during a powerburn? I have one going right now which, at the end of 4 hours (how long my test burns are) looked fine. Now, it's been 8 hours and I've got some serious shroom action -- HT is still great, MP is not too deep, jar temp is fine, and there is no soot. Should I be concerned with the shrooms? Furhtermore, when I do eventually blow it out and relight it, will the shrooms eventually fall off? FYI... I'm using zinc wicks so I already know I'm behind the black ball when it comes to mushrooming anyway... but they are the only wick that seem to produce the least amount of soot, stay cool, while allowing me to single-wick my 3.75" diameter jar. I'm using a 50/50 parasoy blend. TIA!! Ryan

Thanks much!!!

I apologize in advance for not having an answer to your question, but who carries these on the west coast? I only seem to be able to find 11oz jars.

A couple of weeks ago in my testing I decided to try out both the Kerr wide-mouth 8oz jar (kinda squat-looking) and the wide-mouth 16oz jar. Since the flats are shrinkwrapped, one thing that I totally didn't notice until I burned one of my testers all the way down was the sheer amount of leftover wax in the container. It appears that the bottoms of these particular jars are convex, which makes the sustainer base stand up higher than the rest of the bottom of the jar... So when you combine that with a 6mm neck height on the base, I was left with a little over 3/4" of wax when the wick burned itself out!!! My first thought was.... WHAT A RIP-OFF!! :shocked2:When I went to check out the Ball jars, they appear to have the same convex bottoms! So I guess my question is two-fold: Are there any mason jars (other than the square-masons -- i can't find those in California) that don't exhibit this convex bottom? And, for those of you who are using these jars, do customers ever complain about the amount of leftover wax? TIA!!!

Thanks much, Stella and Top!! I've done a couple more test burns and oddly, the shrooms seem to be going away! Go figure... I'm just kinda wondering in people's experience if they've ever come across a wax that just seems to 'shroom, no matter the FO, dye, wick, and container combo. I've been testing this wax with a couple of FOs and dyes in a different jar with 2 or 3 different wicks a piece and it just seems that all I get is shrooming and soot... NOT using zincs either, and I always use 1oz pp for FO. I'm reluctant to give up on the wax as I can get it locally.