Laura C Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 (edited) 12 hours ago, angelcandles said: No drafts but I had done a goofy thing which I think may have messed with my test results. I tested many wicks at once, but since I don’t have much wax at this time, I poured each jar only about 1/4 of the way full. I think that the sooting may have happened because of the flame struggling for oxygen deeper in the jar. Still, I feel like even when a candle gets down to the last inch or so, there should still be no sooting, right? I can’t decide if I should trust these results or not. Yes, as people have mentioned it's tricky to try to start out with wick testing by only using a less than full candle. Make yourself some full candles, you can also make them wickless and insert different wick sizes on the fly. Know how to do that? Make full candles without wicks. Once they harden take a metal or wooden skewer and poke a hole in the center all the way to the bottom. Cut the wick tab off the wick and insert it in the candle. Warning, be sure to keep track of which end of the wick had the tab because you don't want to insert the wick upside down, it won't burn properly. Due to the way they are made some wicks are "directional" and some are "non-directional" and they are not always labeled so I just always assume they are directional and insert them properly. Directional means that they were designed to efficiently allow the wax mix to flow in only one direction. Wick info https://wicksunlimited.com/wicks/ Or per TallTayl you can do this and replace a wick that has a tab attached. https://www.craftserver.com/topic/114191-how-to-do-a-wickectomy-to-replace-a-wick-assembly/?tab=comments#comment-1081828 About achieving a full melt pool. I didn't get it at first either and I know it seems odd to not want a FMP on the 1st, 2nd or even 3rd burn but this is the deal. If your candle container gets hot enough to reach a FMP on the first burn then imagine how hot it will get once the candle melts down to the middle or bottom of the container. You are trying to plan ahead and avoid an overly hot and dangerous candle. Make sense? And do yourself a favor and avoid wasted time and materials by watching these two candle wicking videos, they should be very helpful for you. How to choose a candle wick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esnBcoafKNQ Candle Testing. Test Safely and Accurately, from 1st burn to end of life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niZ9Ic5Be2w Edited July 22, 2019 by Laura C 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelcandles Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 9 hours ago, bfroberts said: If you are testing jars that were only 1/4 full, that will produce a totally different result than a full jar. A lot changes throughout the life of the candle as it burns down into the jar. Generally, in a full jar, a FMP on the first burn is not ideal. Speaking from experience with that wax and that jar, if you wick it to get a FMP on the first burn in a full jar, it will be a scorching, sooty torch once it burns further down. At only 1/4 full, I would expect a FMP by the end of the initial burn. HTP 41 is going to be too small. What, in your opinion, should I look for on a first burn if not a FMP? HTP 41 was too small, tunneling happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelcandles Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 6 hours ago, Laura C said: Yes, as people have mentioned it's tricky to try to start out with wick testing by only using a less than full candle. Make yourself some full candles, you can also make them wickless and insert different wick sizes on the fly. Know how to do that? Make full candles without wicks. Once they harden take a metal or wooden skewer and poke a hole in the center all the way to the bottom. Cut the wick tab off the wick and insert it in the candle. Warning, be sure to keep track of which end of the wick had the tab because you don't want to insert the wick upside down, it won't burn properly. Due to the way they are made some wicks are "directional" and some are "non-directional" and they are not always labeled so I just always assume they are directional and insert them properly. Directional means that they were designed to efficiently allow the wax mix to flow in only one direction. Wick info https://wicksunlimited.com/wicks/ Or per TallTayl you can do this and replace a wick that has a tab attached. https://www.craftserver.com/topic/114191-how-to-do-a-wickectomy-to-replace-a-wick-assembly/?tab=comments#comment-1081828 About achieving a full melt pool. I didn't get it at first either and I know it seems odd to not want a FMP on the 1st, 2nd or even 3rd burn but this is the deal. If your candle container gets hot enough to reach a FMP on the first burn then imagine how hot it will get once the candle melts down to the middle or bottom of the container. You are trying to plan ahead and avoid an overly hot and dangerous candle. Make sense? And do yourself a favor and avoid wasted time and materials by watching these two candle wicking videos, they should be very helpful for you. How to choose a candle wick https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=esnBcoafKNQ Candle Testing. Test Safely and Accurately, from 1st burn to end of life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niZ9Ic5Be2w Thank you for all the info. I’m a little confused. If not a FMP, what should I look for on a first burn in your opinion? I tried burning this candle with the HTP 41 again and sure enough it is beginning to tunnel. I think this wick is just too small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelcandles Posted July 22, 2019 Author Share Posted July 22, 2019 6 hours ago, Laura C said: In my opinion this candle looks great at this point and sounds like it's doing good from what you said. See how it looks after 4 hrs. And I like to do at least 6 burn cycles with a wick before I give up on it unless it's just blatantly a loser. How did it turn out? Burned it for 3.5 hours, no FMP but a nice wide burn nonetheless. Lit it up again and it’s beginning to tunnel. Guess I do need to wick up after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted July 22, 2019 Share Posted July 22, 2019 18 minutes ago, angelcandles said: Burned it for 3.5 hours, no FMP but a nice wide burn nonetheless. Lit it up again and it’s beginning to tunnel. Guess I do need to wick up after all. A picture will help. Sometimes tunneling is not tunneling. Here’s a cheapie Aldi candle that some would say “tunneled” the entire burn. Nothing could be further from the truth. It left a fair bit of hang up the entire 150 or so hours it burned perfectly. The melt pool at its widest was maybe 1.5-2” across and 1-2 millimeters deep. The hang up nearly all cleared by the last power burn. At the point of this pic I power burned it at least 3 more times. The walls of scented wax gently wept into the small melt pool throwing scent far and pure. Once we get over fear of a little hang up candles get a lot less frustrating. McCall’s candles rarely, if ever get to full melt pool and people buy them by the multiples loving them for what they are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura C Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 42 minutes ago, angelcandles said: Burned it for 3.5 hours, no FMP but a nice wide burn nonetheless. Lit it up again and it’s beginning to tunnel. Guess I do need to wick up after all. Sorry, I'm not sure, I'd have to see it and know how it was performing during the burn. That's why it's important to watch some good videos and know what you need to look for or look over some of the candle testing info posted on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura C Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 48 minutes ago, angelcandles said: Thank you for all the info. I’m a little confused. If not a FMP, what should I look for on a first burn in your opinion? I tried burning this candle with the HTP 41 again and sure enough it is beginning to tunnel. I think this wick is just too small. As a quick answer, top things to look for on a first burn are flame too tall (trim the wick), smoking or sooting, extreme mushrooming, wick drowning, good - great hot throw and candle looks nice and pleasant. As for the resulting melt pool, I wouldn't rule out a wick that left a wax ring around the candle that was anywhere between an inch to a half inch nor would I consider that tunneling yet at that point. After 2-3 more burns that wax ring may disappear or be very thin. And by the time the candle melts halfway down or finishes then hopefully the jar won't be too hot or covered in thick black soot. It's all a juggling act; wick size, jar heat, scent throw, etc. and your own preference for performance. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightLight Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Try lx 16 - 18. Make three candles test those wicks in each. Ask me how I know. You are burning paraffin. You need to have a shortish wick.. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelcandles Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 1 hour ago, TallTayl said: A picture will help. Sometimes tunneling is not tunneling. Here’s a cheapie Aldi candle that some would say “tunneled” the entire burn. Nothing could be further from the truth. It left a fair bit of hang up the entire 150 or so hours it burned perfectly. The melt pool at its widest was maybe 1.5-2” across and 1-2 millimeters deep. The hang up nearly all cleared by the last power burn. At the point of this pic I power burned it at least 3 more times. The walls of scented wax gently wept into the small melt pool throwing scent far and pure. Once we get over fear of a little hang up candles get a lot less frustrating. McCall’s candles rarely, if ever get to full melt pool and people buy them by the multiples loving them for what they are. I have to say the hang up is so not aesthetically pleasing to me. Here’s some photos of my candle, it’s been burned about 5 hours by now. The hang up on the sides is about 1/4 inch tall. There is also sooting at this point (mild, but there). How can a wick be too small to give an FMP yet still big enough to soot? 😣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 Still too early to really tell. Keep burning. The temps will continue to rise as it continues down the jar. Currents will begin to whip up. Everything changes radically. Soot is caused by incomplete combustion. If the wick material and chemical treatment is not suitable for the fuel you will get soot even if the wick seems initially small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelcandles Posted July 23, 2019 Author Share Posted July 23, 2019 1 hour ago, TallTayl said: Still too early to really tell. Keep burning. The temps will continue to rise as it continues down the jar. Currents will begin to whip up. Everything changes radically. Soot is caused by incomplete combustion. If the wick material and chemical treatment is not suitable for the fuel you will get soot even if the wick seems initially small. Unfortunately I veto’d this HTP 41, the soot was just a “no” for me. I wouldn’t accept it from a store bought candle. I’m trying an LX 16 next. I am waiting on some more wax in the mail and from there will do some major testing of every possible wick. I’m sure I’ll have something new to post then! Lol. Thank you for your guidance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 22 hours ago, angelcandles said: Unfortunately I veto’d this HTP 41, the soot was just a “no” for me. I wouldn’t accept it from a store bought candle. I’m trying an LX 16 next. I am waiting on some more wax in the mail and from there will do some major testing of every possible wick. I’m sure I’ll have something new to post then! Lol. Thank you for your guidance. I had decent luck with paper core wick in 4630 tins. Personally i dislike zinc, so other cored wicks were worth testing in my case. Ypu may want to try cd, cdn or possibly csn also. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NightLight Posted July 23, 2019 Share Posted July 23, 2019 CDs burn pretty well also in this wax. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustinryan2010 Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 On 7/21/2019 at 3:54 PM, Laura C said: @angelcandles you should check out this post and watch this guy's wick testing video. And be sure to look at the links he has posted on the YouTube page. Overall he makes a lot of sense and makes some good points. I'm just not sure why he isn't concerned with all the build up of thick, black soot on the jars. He doesn't address that and it drives me nuts, for me that's a fail. I technically understand why he says his Winning Test candle passes but it sure looks bad and had tunneled, I didn't like the aesthetics of it at all. It certainly is a juggling act. I should ask him some questions, maybe he would respond. Search on here for other wick testing posts, you should find some more good ones. I actually saw your comment on his video. He did not seem pleased at all by your inquiry 😂 That winning candle looked terrible! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pughaus Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 On 7/21/2019 at 9:14 AM, angelcandles said: I plan on testing my first burn (once I find the right wick) for 4 hours (a power burn) 4 hours is really just a standard (for me, minimum) test burn time, it's not a power burn. My power burns are 7+ hours, sometimes 9-12 hours. If you want to see some complete wick tests showing all the stages of melted wax from start to finish, this video is super helpful: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallTayl Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 A powerburn is much, much longer than 4 hours. To me, the powerburn replicates the condition where someone “forgets” the candle is lit, so it burns 12+ hours. Ideally, a top to bottom burn would prove a candle is well made. I don’t know a single person who times the burn of a candle (aside from a maker who is doing fabulous testing). I know countless people who buy candles then fall asleep or leave the room for many hours while burning them. As someone who has fallen asleep while an over wicked candle was burning, this is a serious test. The candle caught fire, the jar exploded sending glass across the room and nearly set the house on fire. I left the charred wood on the table to remind me of how serious testing is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pughaus Posted February 20, 2020 Share Posted February 20, 2020 @TallTaylmy coworker, a single Mom with 4 daughters in the house, recently confessed to me that she lit one of my candles in the evening in her downstairs guest bathroom when she had company. Then forgot all about it, went to bed and didn't realize it was still burning until the NEXT MORNING when she got home after driving her youngest to school. I'm sure this kind of scenario is not all that unusual. All I can say is thank god I learned how to wick candles from this forum and not from some youtuber. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura C Posted February 21, 2020 Share Posted February 21, 2020 On 2/20/2020 at 10:26 AM, pughaus said: If you want to see some complete wick tests showing all the stages of melted wax from start to finish, this video is super helpful: Yes, I've watched that video too and learned a lot from it, they discuss and show you some good stuff. It is a long video but worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.