Help with Wick Testing C3

[charbonyes]

Hello, friends! First time poster here but longtime lurker . Hoping for a little help with wick testing c3. I've read that this is a tough wax to wick and I appear to be one of its latest victims. For background, I used to make candles with 464 several years ago but decided to switch to this wax when I recently picked up the hobby again. So far I have tested CD8, CD10, CD12, HTP104, and Eco 12 with underwhelming results. I've included two pictures below of CD 12 and Eco 12 (it was a very rough pour for sinkholes sadly). These are straight sided 9 oz jars that have a diameter of 2.81 inches. Also, I am not including any FO in this test. Hoping to get the wick down before testing FO. 

 

With all of this in mind, I have a few questions I'm hoping ya'll can help with: 

• Do sinkholes mess up wick testing? Is it better to just test with a brand new candle? 
• Do off-center wicks mess up wick testing? I had a little trouble with placement on a few of the first tests, but have since got the wick setter so I'm wondering if it's worth retesting the ones that were slightly off. 
• How do you all feel about CD? I am not a big fan of the mushrooms they seem prone to developing. 
• I probably have to buy some new wicks so if you all have any advice on ones you think would be good to try, let me know! 

 

Sorry for the novel but thank you all so much for your help. This is a lovely forum and I'm very happy to have found it. 

[CandleRush]

Hi! Someone with more experience than me will chime in.

Your picture is a big help as well as your questions.🌸

[NightLight]

You need to put fragrance in. It makes a difference with the burn, softens up the wax and the wicks you think are duds will work better. The fragrance oil softens up the wax. Candle wax is designed for that addition. Also C3 is a harder wax so you have to wick up.

try with fragrance eco 12 and 14. Do not use a fir, Mint or heavy vanillin fragrance to test as they are harder to wick.

[TallTayl]

I disagree with using FO right out of the gate, UNLESS you only ever use the exact same FO from the same lot every single time.  Nothing messes up testing like FO. Even the same scent from a different lot often gives false reads on wicks. After hundreds of candles that suffered this fate I hold my opinions tightly. 

 

Learning your wax out of the box is the quickest and cheapest way to pinpoint when there’s a problematic lot. Again, this saves a ton of time and $$$$$$$$$$.  Failed unscented tests are just remelted and usedin new candles, so no waste.

 

sinkholes. If you fill them before burning it should be fine.  If you encounter one as the test burns all bets are off.  Extinguish, fill the holes, let cool completely and try again.  Depending on the depth and size of the sink hole, You may need a new wick. (Like if it flared and burned up a portion of the wick too soon. )

 

carbon heading is incomplete burn. Either the wick is too big (which for the C3 I’ve used over the last decade in that size jar this is my gut feeling), or the wrong one entirely.

 

i have had great luck with C3 using CD, cotton core or ECO mostly. All are pretty hot wicks. Don’t necessarily shoot for full melt pool on the first few burns.

[charbonyes]

13 hours ago, TallTayl said:

I disagree with using FO right out of the gate, UNLESS you only ever use the exact same FO from the same lot every single time.  Nothing messes up testing like FO. Even the same scent from a different lot often gives false reads on wicks. After hundreds of candles that suffered this fate I hold my opinions tightly. 

 

Learning your wax out of the box is the quickest and cheapest way to pinpoint when there’s a problematic lot. Again, this saves a ton of time and $$$$$$$$$$.  Failed unscented tests are just remelted and usedin new candles, so no waste.

 

sinkholes. If you fill them before burning it should be fine.  If you encounter one as the test burns all bets are off.  Extinguish, fill the holes, let cool completely and try again.  Depending on the depth and size of the sink hole, You may need a new wick. (Like if it flared and burned up a portion of the wick too soon. )

 

carbon heading is incomplete burn. Either the wick is too big (which for the C3 I’ve used over the last decade in that size jar this is my gut feeling), or the wrong one entirely.

 

i have had great luck with C3 using CD, cotton core or ECO mostly. All are pretty hot wicks. Don’t necessarily shoot for full melt pool on the first few burns.

Thank you for all of this! I do think the sinkholes played a huge part in my last batch. I tried to correct with a heat gun but in retrospect most likely should have done another pour. 

I am pretty new with wick testing so could you explain a bit more what you mean by "don't necessarily shoot for full melt pool on the first few burns"? Since these are almost 3 inch jars in diameter, I was aiming for a full melt pool in that time. But, I can see how that can lead to mushrooming. 

I have ECO 8, 10, and 12 so I think I may retest those to see if i have better luck without sinkholes (assuming I can figure out how to avoid sinkholes  )

 

Thanks again! 

[NightLight]

I think you mean tunneling. That’s when the wax doesn’t burn completely side to side. You have tunneling in second one with eco. Try eco 14. So you have two different opinions on testing wax. Wax is still meant to have fragrance in it. You can do a test with fragrance and one without with same cd and eco wicks and determine yourself.

[NightLight]

A/B testing

A. Control candle no fragrance

B. Control candle fragrance

 

You can do this with additives as well.

A. Control candle no additives

B. Control candle additive plus fragrance.

 

You don’t have to pour an entire candle for testing as it can get expensive when you start testing fragrance.

do a half container worth, or get smaller jars same width. I use four ounce jars for testing and keep them in a box

to see how they cure, and revisit the burn. Everything marked on back candle wax, wick, fo load, pour temp.

[charbonyes]

So first, appreciate everyone's help and feedback here! With it all in mind, I went back to the drawing board and burned a CD8 and CD10 that I had made before I posted this thread (still no fragrance oil in this batch). I honestly thought I needed to hit a full melt pool in the first burn but now it seems like that is not the goal. Still using C3 wax and the diameter is 2.81 cm. 

I have not taken great notes with this burn test so I will redo it but I am cautiously optimistic. The attached pictures are after 4 burn tests (3 hours). There's a bit of cling on the side but I am hoping it melts away. I've been keeping an eye on the temp of the container and so far it has not gotten above 170 which is great (from what I have read here). 

 

Still need to test more and see how it performs with fragrance oil but wanted to share some early results. Looking for any thoughts you all may have! Thanks! 

[TallTayl]

Those are looking nice. By the last 1/3 - 1/4 things REALLY heat up. I have an IR thermometer that is super handy to keep tabs on things.

 

Your wick is nice and clean.

The sides are totally acceptable.

If you wipe a white paper towel around the inside of the rim you will likely begin to see some light sooting soon, but light is all right.  If it starts to turn dark (accumulating) that is a sign of incomplete combustion which can mean too much or too little wick (usually too much).