NickS Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 I hope it's OK if I document my progress here. Your advice and willingness to share your knowledge is invaluable. Hopefully this turns into a successful case study. There are a lot of photos. Something I've learned both from reading posts here and a previous career troubleshooting computers is to be very methodical in testing. Only change one variable at a time. So I've started pouring candles with no FO and no dye to get a baseline wick for this jar and wax. I took the suggested wick from CS and poured a candle using that size plus one and two sizes up and down from there. This is paraffin, so these have cured for 48 hours. Wax: IGI 4627 Wick(s): LX18, LX20, LX22, LX24, LX26 Jar: 8 oz. apothecary from CS, 4" diameter, 2 3/4" tall at rim, 2" tall at shoulder Note: After this first burn, I got to looking at my wicks and thinking I may not have trimmed them short enough. I got out the tape measure and they were closer to 1/2" than 1/4", and I'm pretty sure this contributed to some of the issues I saw. I decided to continue onto a second burn after trimming wicks shorter and they are burning way better right now, but I'm not sure how much the problem on the first burn will affect the second and subsequent burns. Should I have just started over? LX18, LX20, and LX22 were burned for about 3 hours. LX24 and LX26 were extinguished within 5-10 minutes because they were burning with very high flames and black smoke. I decided to turn them off and save the wax. This is one of the candles before burning. Although this wax is messy, I really like how it looks. Just after lighting. To be continued in my next post... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 15, 2017 Author Share Posted July 15, 2017 The following photos are after 1 hour. LX18 - flame is flickering a bit, about 3/4" high. Slight bit of smoke occasionally. MP about 1 3/4" LX20 - flame flickering a bit more, flame is 3/4"+ and just at the top rim of the jar. intermittent smoke. MP about 2" LX22 - lots of flicker, noticeable black smoke, flame 1"+ and above top rim of jar, MP about 2 1/2" All exhibit about the same amount of mushrooming. I think the large flames, smoke, mushrooming, and flicker are at least partly from my wick trimming mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 15, 2017 Author Share Posted July 15, 2017 Hour 2. All mushrooms have increased in size. LX20 and LX22 showing soot on rim of jar. LX18 - flame about the same, MP about 2" LX20 - flame has calmed to about 1/2 - 3/4", MP about 2 1/2" LX22 - flame has calmed but still a bit high, MP approaching 3" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 15, 2017 Author Share Posted July 15, 2017 Hour 3. All wicks deformed and mushroomed. All flames settled into the 1/2 - 3/4" range. Melt pools are just about the same diameter. I was getting tired so finished the first burn test here. Should I have continued to four hours? Should I have started over after realizing I trimmed the wicks too long? I also want to test HTP wicks but CS doesn't sell sample packs of them, so I need to find one elsewhere. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debratant Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 This is great Nick. I have always used 4627 and HTP. I have quite a bit of HTP wicks in various sizes. I am happy to mail you out at least 5 of each size you might need to test. No charge. Let me know what you need and pm me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted July 15, 2017 Share Posted July 15, 2017 I absolutely adore that you were doing this here. Thank you so much! That's what I'm hoping to get to in the future and you were saving me a ton of time! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 15, 2017 Author Share Posted July 15, 2017 5 hours ago, debratant said: This is great Nick. I have always used 4627 and HTP. I have quite a bit of HTP wicks in various sizes. I am happy to mail you out at least 5 of each size you might need to test. No charge. Let me know what you need and pm me Wow, I really appreciate this generous offer! I already went and ordered a sample pack of HTP, and while I was at it also got a sample pack of CD and Premier so I have them around to play with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 15, 2017 Author Share Posted July 15, 2017 Same candles, second burn, burned them for 4 hours this time. I made sure the wicks were trimmed to 1/4", I used the tape measure to verify since I'm apparently not that good at eyeballing. Throughout the four hours, all flames were much more stable, little flicker, and holding steady around 1/2 inch high. This is right after lighting for the second time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 15, 2017 Author Share Posted July 15, 2017 Second burn, one hour. Not much to note that's not in the photos. LX18 - MP 1 1/2" LX20 - MP 1 1/2" LX22 - MP 1 3/4" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 Second burn, two hours. LX18 and LX20 - a mushroom about the size of a peppercorn has formed. MP has advanced a little to 1 3/4", but looks like it might be starting to melt down rather than out. This is called tunneling, right? LX22 - Now burning best. No mushroom, but wick is bent to the side a little. I've read this is by design. MP has advanced to 2 1/4" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 Second burn, three hours. All flames are still nice and steady around 1/2" high. Mushrooming remains the same. LX18 - MP 1 3/4", still appears to be getting deeper faster than wider LX20 - MP 2", starting to show signs of also getting deeper faster than wider. LX22 - MP 2 1/4", MP hasn't advanced much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 Second burn, four hours. Little change, all appear about the same as at 3 hours. I'm not sure if any of these will produce a FMP on the third burn. The LX18 and LX20 have about 1/2" of unmelted wax around the edge, and the LX22 has about 1/4" and it is almost exactly even with the jar's shoulder. I poured another LX22, LX24, and LX26 today that I will trim correctly and burn four hours on the first burn. I think I ended testing with the LX24 and LX26 prematurely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoldieMN Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Excellent work! Goldie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debratant Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 So far it looks like the 22 is doing the best at this point. I look forward to the larger wicks to see how they do. The mushrooms are so annoying aren't they? lol I think you will like the HTP wicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 16, 2017 Author Share Posted July 16, 2017 14 minutes ago, debratant said: So far it looks like the 22 is doing the best at this point. I look forward to the larger wicks to see how they do. The mushrooms are so annoying aren't they? lol I think you will like the HTP wicks. Yes, they are annoying. I've tolerated them in every candle I've bought because I thought that's just the way it is. Now after reading tons of posts here I'm realizing how mediocre the quality of the candles I've bought was. This is fun, though. It's a big science project. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marivic Posted July 16, 2017 Share Posted July 16, 2017 Hi Nick! I have been using 4627 for 1 year now. Just like you I started with LX wicks but had to look for other wicks because of mushrooming and sooting. I had almost given up on the wax but tried several wicks with failed tests. I am using right now ribbon wicks by Northwoods Candles. The downside is it only comes in 3 sizes small, medium and large. What I love about the wax is it has an excellent cold and hot throw, but i dont like it being messy. I am now testing the wood wicks and it seems to be good too for this particular wax. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 17, 2017 Author Share Posted July 17, 2017 I did a third burn with these candles. There was little change from the second burn, both the LX18 and LX20 continued to burn down instead of out, and it looks like the LX22 is doing the same. I stopped testing these candles after this burn to save the wax. I'm test burning new ones with LX22, LX24, and LX26. They are burning right now, results coming soon in a new post. For the third burn, I think these photos tell the whole story: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trappeur Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Your testing is beautiful! Great job! I know nothing about that wax but from what I see in the wicks you have been testing I'm thinking you might need to double wick the jar. Another wick choice you could try also I'm thinking. You have a good choice of wicks you are testing with and they are big ones too. I can't imagine you going any bigger in that style wick with what I see with these. I know in that jar that I had to resort to double wicking as the biggest wick I used when I single wicked it at times in light fragrances a cd 20 would work but most of the time the wicks struggled so I wound up going with 2 cd 4's and 5's. Like I said I don't know anything about your wax. Let's see what others have as far as suggestions go. Trappeur 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 Is that a candidate for double wick? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 17, 2017 Author Share Posted July 17, 2017 I'm not sure if I'm ready to try double wicking these jars just yet. I have a couple more types coming to test and as a newbie I'd like to exhaust the single wick possibilities before I go there. Right now, the LX24 in my second batch is burning very nicely after 1.5 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted July 17, 2017 Share Posted July 17, 2017 12 minutes ago, NickS said: I'm not sure if I'm ready to try double wicking these jars just yet. I have a couple more types coming to test and as a newbie I'd like to exhaust the single wick possibilities before I go there. Right now, the LX24 in my second batch is burning very nicely after 1.5 hours. I totally get that. The problem I often get with using bigger wicks to work on the jar is diminished or distorted scent throw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickS Posted July 17, 2017 Author Share Posted July 17, 2017 50 minutes ago, TallTayl said: I totally get that. The problem I often get with using bigger wicks to work on the jar is diminished or distorted scent throw. Damn, something else to worry about, lol. I haven't added any FO's yet, so that will be something I have to remember once I do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
obsessed Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 On 7/18/2017 at 3:08 AM, TallTayl said: I totally get that. The problem I often get with using bigger wicks to work on the jar is diminished or distorted scent throw. Oh how I love all of the info on here!! I learn something new every time. I have been on a local Facebook candle site ( and I know how you all love those!! NOT! LOL) and am shocked at the difference in advice. I always feel on here , that the advice is from highly experienced , knowledgable people. There usually aren't conflicting messages , or recommendations so grossly deviating from manufacturers recommendations , that it makes you wonder just what is going on!! Thankyou again guys for teaching me something a. true b. new and c. useful! LOL PS. and the spelling and grammar soothes my soul heheheheee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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