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I saw this information on a candle supplier's website and thought I would pass it on:

"NOTE: THE ASTM has declared that 175º is the Maximum temperature that the Container can be when the melt pool has been achieved on your candles. Any thing above this can be a hazard. Please check your candles to comply with these standards."

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I'd like to know to. I've searched the ASTM's site and can find no such reference.
Just search on candles. You'd have to pay to see the document though.

BTW, the ASTM is just a standards organization. It doesn't mean anything legally unless a government entity decides to use their standards to make law.

Their standards are often adopted by industry too. Look at a spec sheet for candle wax. They list melt point, hardness, viscosity and any number of things. There's a method for measuring each one of those and you'll see that they list the specific ASTM standard method that was used. If everyone does it the same way then you can compare.

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Oh I know about ASTM....I worked in manuf. for years, lol. I was just curious as to the origins of this...TC (to me) tries to make it sound like this is now a 'regulated' issue and that the candle police will be out to enforce the standard for those in noncompliance :laugh2:

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Oh I know about ASTM....I worked in manuf. for years, lol. I was just curious as to the origins of this...TC (to me) tries to make it sound like this is now a 'regulated' issue and that the candle police will be out to enforce the standard for those in noncompliance :laugh2:
I have this vague recollection of hearing about some legislation in connection with this standard. Just not sure about it, but that's the question I guess - whether states or the feds are doing anything with it.
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For what it's worth...maybe two cents? LOL...If you got a melt pool to reach 175, your whole candle would be melted as I see it. I've tried to measure mine and when I blow out the wick and take the MP temp, I have a hard time getting to 140. Anyone else ever try and take the temp? Just wondering as someone on another forum said it takes about 150 in soy to get a real good throw. So far, I've never gotton that high. Beth

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For what it's worth...maybe two cents? LOL...If you got a melt pool to reach 175, your whole candle would be melted as I see it. I've tried to measure mine and when I blow out the wick and take the MP temp, I have a hard time getting to 140. Anyone else ever try and take the temp? Just wondering as someone on another forum said it takes about 150 in soy to get a real good throw. So far, I've never gotton that high. Beth

The standard is for the temperature of the container, not the melt pool.

In all my searching back in August I could find no regulations on the safety of candles. All I could find was a regulation that the net weight of the candle must be on the label.

As far as I know the ASTM standards are voluntary.

There was however a petition filed by the NASTM in 2004, it has yet to be acted on.

In case anyone is interested:

The petition can be found here:

http://www.cpsc.gov/library/foia/foia04/petition/peti.html

The blank pages are ASTM standards, ASTM would not give the CPSC permission to publish them as part of the document.

Testimony at the hearing by the representative for the NCA can be found here:

http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/testimony.cfm?id=1267&wit_id=3680

Status can be found here:

http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr06/semi.html

ASTM standards must be purchased, the fire safety standard is $29.00, warning label standard is $29.00 and the testing method standard for emissions from burning candles is $34.00.

I don't know if the jar temperature is part of the fire safety standard or not. If I can't pick up a container with my bare hands if is not good enough for me. I did see something mentioned in the petition that a flame should be no more that 3 inches high. I will not burn or make a candle with a flame that high. I have thrown away many purchased candles that burned with flames like that. Maybe my personal standards are too high?

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Deciding what is acceptable for a container temp is pretty subjective. For example.....hot water running through a copper pipe at about 140 degrees is too hot to keep your hand on for more than a couple seconds. DO you limit your container temp to 140? That's pretty darn low.

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I use 16 oz and 10 oz apothecary jars, glass is a very poor conductor of heat. I get full melt pools and good scent throw, the jars get hot as they burn down but not too hot to pick up. And like I said that is my personal standard. I am sure that tins would get too hot to pick up which is why I choose not to use them.

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Okay, I was testing one of those very shallow heart shaped glass containers with 2 wicks and it heated up pretty good (more than I would like). Even so, I was able to carry it to another spot. Although -- everyone knows that candles/containers should never be touched or moved while burning, I still wanted to test it out. I did try wicking down one size but it seemed like the container was even hotter. :shocked2:

After 4 hours, the temp of the container was 115 and the melt pool was 157. I let it burn until it extinguished on its own. Hot throw was very good.

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Funny I just saw this thread, and I had one of my new customers provide feedback on the jar temp of a recent purchase. She said she was fearful of getting burned when touching it, not necssarily her but if her kids touched it. Jar here is a 32 oz Empire square snap lid from Connie's Candles. I theorized that it was because I had double wicked and set the wicks too far apart, thus overheating the glass by the flames. I tested it with the wicks set at 1.5" apart in the 4.25" jar with 3.5" opening.

Now I'm testing soy and J50 in the jar , using zinc cored in the J50 and spacing at 3/4" instead of 1.5", moving the flames inward. After one 2.5 hour burn, I could hold the neck of the jar with both hands and it was hot, but not unbearable and not hot enough to burn. I'll then light one with 1.5" spacing and see how hot that one is.

Very interesting subject indeed.

geek

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I think you're on to something Geek! Your theory makes total sense.

I've noticed that when a wick bends.... that part of the glass container is usually much hotter than any other area. I measured my wicks and they are one and one-half inches apart. I was able to wick down a couple of sizes without compromising the melt pool and throw, but the container is still hot. I'll try moving the wicks closer together and see what happens.

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I just finished a burn on the previous jars with 1.5" wick spacing and they got really HOT! Tried soy with 2 x HTP126 at 3/4" and it was reall hot also! After another burn test with J50 and 3/4" spacing it still is running much cooler and 3/8" MP after four hours.

Soy jar is MC with 3% BW, 4% load of MillCreek Clothesline Fresh, one J50 is 4% Clothesline Fresh and 2 x 51z, and the other J50 is 4% Peak's Clean Cotton and 2 x 51z. Definitely will wick down to 2 x HTP1212 and see what happens.

geek

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