Wick Testing

[Bambi]

Hello, I'm currently doing a baseline test (no fragrance) of 80%/20 % Coconut83 and Ecosoya PB. I have posted a pic at the 2hr mark. I couldn't load my video for the 3hr mark so I did screen shots :). I think my biggest issue is trying to figure out how to measure the melt pool and what is it that I'm actually supposed to be looking for. Thank you for any advice you are willing to give me.

[ScentedPleasurez]

Well I looked at what kind of container I would be using and the size. Some of your melt pools are larger than others so I would easily mark them off my list if the container isn't that big.

 

I'm getting ready to start testing wood wicks. "Oh the joy of testing wicks" in my sarcastic voice😅😂😂

[Bambi]

Thanks, yeah the two largest melt pools came from the ribbon wick and wood wick. Here's a pic after the 4th hour of burning where you can see the depth a little more. I'll do round 2 of testing tomorrow.

[Bambi]

[Kerven]

The ECO's look good. Rate of consumption looks a little high - not unusual for that wick series when used in coconut wax - compared to the others. The ECO 6 is bright! I've had the most luck with ECO in coconut waxes, although I haven't had much luck with getting them to work well in straight coconut wax or blends with smaller percentages of soy. I usually have to add upwards of 50% soy or additives, unfortunately.

What did you think of them after the first burn?

The CDN 4 looks like it performed well, somewhere between the ECO 4 and 6. I'm curious to see what it does on the second burn.

[ScentedPleasurez]

The cd6 appears larger to me. Maybe the angle of the pic. 

What kind of container are u planning on using? Will u be adding due? If u add dye it will sometimes make u have to wick up as well as certain fo.

The eco has a better looking flame and melt pool to me.

 

I use lx wicks but I do not use coconut wax yet......

[TallTayl]

Things to look for:

do any discolor the wax? This is a sign the wick is too hot for the blend.

any with soot stacking during the burn, especially when first lighting?

any carbon deposits?

how deep are the pools of molten wax? They do not need to be deep at all. 

do any get bigger and bigger and bigger flames as they continue to burn? Coconut is prone to getting hotter, pushing more fuel as it burns. 

 

depending on the container I plan to use, I shoot for somewhere about 1/2” narrower than my vessel to account for heat build up in the vessel. The deeper the vessel, the smaller the diameter of the pool I’m looking for. 

 

For instance for a 3” wide 2” deep tin, I’d look for a melt pool 1/2” narrower in the pan at least.

 

for coconut soy blends in a glass jar, I don’t shoot for a full melt pool at all.  When coconut gets to a full melt pool it’s just too hot. That’s when you get soot all over the jar.

 

by the way, pillar blend in coconut will shrink away from your jars and rattle around. The salsa jar I made the other day rattles loudly, lol. 

 

I have had a lot of good luck with eco, making sure to wick down down down from what you’re used to. The mid point of the jar is critical. The further it goes beyond the middle the more prone to terrible sooting. 

[Bambi]

14 minutes ago, Kerven said:

The ECO's look good. Rate of consumption looks a little high - not unusual for that wick series when used in coconut wax - compared to the others. The ECO 6 is bright! I've had the most luck with ECO in coconut waxes, although I haven't had much luck with getting them to work well in straight coconut wax or blends with smaller percentages of soy. I usually have to add upwards of 50% soy or additives, unfortunately.

What did you think of them after the first burn?

The CDN 4 looks like it performed well, somewhere between the ECO 4 and 6. I'm curious to see what it does on the second burn.

Thanks Kerven, I thought the ECO 4 and CDN 4 burned pretty much the same throughout. With coconut wax isnt the melt pool supposed to go down, then out? If I had to rank them I would say 1.ECO4 2. ECO6 3. CDN4 4.Woodwick 

[Bambi]

11 minutes ago, ScentedPleasurez said:

The cd6 appears larger to me. Maybe the angle of the pic. 

What kind of container are u planning on using? Will u be adding due? If u add dye it will sometimes make u have to wick up as well as certain fo.

The eco has a better looking flame and melt pool to me.

 

I use lx wicks but I do not use coconut wax yet......

No, you are correct. CDN6 did create a larger melt pool.

[Bambi]

22 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

Things to look for:

do any discolor the wax? This is a sign the wick is too hot for the blend.

any with soot stacking during the burn, especially when first lighting?

any carbon deposits?

how deep are the pools of molten wax? They do not need to be deep at all. 

do any get bigger and bigger and bigger flames as they continue to burn? Coconut is prone to getting hotter, pushing more fuel as it burns. 

 

depending on the container I plan to use, I shoot for somewhere about 1/2” narrower than my vessel to account for heat build up in the vessel. The deeper the vessel, the smaller the diameter of the pool I’m looking for. 

 

For instance for a 3” wide 2” deep tin, I’d look for a melt pool 1/2” narrower in the pan at least.

 

for coconut soy blends in a glass jar, I don’t shoot for a full melt pool at all.  When coconut gets to a full melt pool it’s just too hot. That’s when you get soot all over the jar.

 

by the way, pillar blend in coconut will shrink away from your jars and rattle around. The salsa jar I made the other day rattles loudly, lol. 

 

I have had a lot of good luck with eco, making sure to wick down down down from what you’re used to. The mid point of the jar is critical. The further it goes beyond the middle the more prone to terrible sooting. 

Thanks TallTayl, this is all great info. I didnt know that about the PB. I have another wax I plan to try and blend with as well. No there was no discoloration the wax, no sooting, no carbon deposit. Actually the ECO 4&6 along with CDN 4&6 all had deeper melt pools than the Ribbonwick and the Wood wick. Is that the goal for it to spread out, then down? The only one whose flame appeared to get bigger was the ribbon wick and it's a small. I've attached some images of the containers I would like to test in.

[TallTayl]

I have been having excellent luck in 16 oz salsa jars. 12 oz are a little easier.  Status jars are pretty reliable without the troublesome little shoulder.

 

shallow tins that are wider than deep are always a total pain. 

 

Anything with a neck or that bellies out is a total pain.

 

those jars in your pic look nice. The deeper the more likely to soot.  Resist the temptation to wick for a typical melt pool. Try to balance the rate of consumption with the melt pool, meaning small, shallow pool with coconut. Coconut cpwax goes from a slush to totally liquid in the blink of an eye. 

[Bambi]

Hi everyone, just doing a follow-up from my original post. I conducted a second test burn and here was my results. These measurements for the MP are as follows:

Burn Test 1: Width / Depth

Cdn 4 - 1 1/2 in & 1/8in

Cdn 6- 2 in & 1/8in

Eco 4- 1 2/4in & 1/8in

Eco 6- 1 2/4in & 1/8in

RW(s)- 2 1/4in & 1/16in

WW(xs)- 2in & 1/16in

 

Burn Test 2: Width / Depth

Cdn 4 - 1 1/2 in & 1/4in

Cdn 6- 2 1/16 in & 1/4in

Eco 4- 1 1/2in & 1/4in

Eco 6- 2in & 1/4in

RW(s)- 2 1/2in & 1/4in

WW(xs)- 2 1/8in & 1/8in

 

I overall like the performance of the CDN 4, and ECO4&6. Because this was blending with pillar bliss I may use for wax melt formula. Thoughts?

 

I plan to test another blend with a different container wax and not wax for melts

[TallTayl]

Those flames all look proportional to the size of the pool.  Weird to note, right? but a flame that matches the candle size is really nice to look at.

 

any carbon?

any sooting? 

[Bambi]

I didnt notice that but you're right they do all look proportional. Only sooting was the Wood Wick along with some discoloration. 

[TallTayl]

2 hours ago, Bambi said:

I didnt notice that but you're right they do all look proportional. Only sooting was the Wood Wick along with some discoloration. 

I never cared for that burned wax look with wood. I gave up on them. Too inconsistent.

depending on your container you have several good contenders! All of that test wax can be remelted and used up with no waste 🤗 talk about cheap testing. 

 

Eta, will you be burning one more time?

[Bambi]

No, because this mix included that pillar bliss which you noted shrinks, I decided to not test a third time.  I remelted, added some fragrance and made wax melts.

 

I did pour 2 new blends of Coco83 and soy wax.  I will plan to test those at least 3 times with the CDN and ECO wicks.  I'm also introducing CW20-30 & Premier 745.  I'm glad I have something to go on to help guide me for the future testing.  I've been at this for almost a year (off and on) and I'm ready to start making some good quality candles.

 

Yes, most definitely the most efficient and effective way of testing.  Thanks for all your support and advice. 🙂

[pughaus]

@Bambi if you have any smaller htps- like 72s-73s you may want to add them into your coco/soy testing too. 

[Bambi]

Thanks Pughaus, I do believe I have some at home.  I will check today.  If so I may switch out my ecos for the 72 and 73. 

[pughaus]

I haven't had luck with ecos in my coco blends even with up to 50% soy in the blend.  HTPS are one of my faves in cocosoy; I find they self trim nicely in it (I don't trim at all in my testing) and IMO the throw is much better than I get with ecos.  There's very little difference between a 72 and 73 though, so maybe pick one of those and keep an eco in the test so you can see for yourself.  

 

Of course, this being candle making, your results may differ wildly from mine   

[Arch Rock]

Nice work Bambi.

[Bambi]

Pughaus, I only found HTP 73 so thanks for letting me know there's really no diff between the two. I'll keep in an eco for comparison purposes. I have one blend with 20% additional soy and one blend with 40% additional soy. I'll commence testing around Thursday doing a initial pan test for both.

 

Thanks Arch Rock, I finally feel like my head is slowly coming out of the dark hole of testing😂. I truly appreciate this group and all the support.

[birdcharm]

I don't seem to understand the testing in trays method for some reason.  I mean, you can see how a wick burns and the size of the melt pool, but isn't that just about it?  You can't tell how it's going to perform in any given glassware or other container, so to me, tray testing might give you a basic idea, but then you'd still have to container test anyway.   For instance, some wicks  might seem to be too small for some containers and don't form a full melt pool right away, but catch up later in the life of the candle -- you can only know this through testing the wick in the container itself.  The walls of the container have much to do with the way the wick performs, imo, so I think that's why I don't understand the purpose of tray testing beyond finding out some basics, which you'd find out anyway through a real test in a container.

 

 

[TallTayl]

It’s a super fast way to do a lot of initial testing. How many containers have you poured, cured, lit and had to chunk out and redo? It’s a ton more work until you get an idea of what wick(s) May work best to start with.  Truly, it takes one pour and you’re most of the way to knowing which wick series and sizes to start containers with in such a short period of time.

[Bambi]

Birdcharm, I agree with TallTayl, I've tried testing both ways and for me, in my mind process of elimination just works better for me.  All those factors you listed do play a part in the overall testing but if I can eliminate testing 6 wicks in 6 containers and narrow it down to testing maybe 2 then in my opinion, that's  more efficient use of my time, especially since I work full time as well.  

[Forrest]

10 hours ago, birdcharm said:

I don't seem to understand the testing in trays method for some reason.

 

 

I'm going to do one to help me fit my wicks into a progression in my wax. For example, I need something bigger than a CD10 but smaller than a CD12 for my 11oz tureens. So I hope to end up with a list of smallest to largest wicks. Now you may say that it won't be accurate in real world situations because the results will depend on the container I'm trying to wick, which is true; however, it will be a starting point, which is more than I have now. Plus it may be of some help to all the nice 6006 users on the board that have helped me so much.