Wicks the love / hate relationship :)

[Candlefriends]

I'm getting sooo close, but still going through newbie speed bumps.

 

A few things, I've finally settled on some great 3" straight sided tumblers. I use coconut/soy 83 wax and stick with an 8% fragrance load. 

So I'ved tried several wicks and I've decided the KISS* method. 

 

Given some good recommendations. I'm deciding between ECO and CD cotton wicks. Some of the issues I'm having are:

 

With the ECO 

Sooting and smoking - more towards at the end of the burn (around 20th hour). This may have been due too big of a size 12, 10, 8. Size 8 seemed to be best but, tunneled at beginning 3-9 hour burns (although evened out towards the end).

Nice flame size. Great hot throw. 

 

With the CD

Mushrooms,  flickering, tunneling. I'm at the beginning, of the burn phases  hours 3 -6. Nice Flame size. Sizes I'm using are 10, 12, 14.  The mushrooms were worse during the first burn. Flickering is worse at second burn, slight tunneling still an issue with 10 -12 sizes, flickering and mushroom worse with 14 . Great hot throw.

 

So, I'm wondering if I should drop the fragrance load to 7% if this may help. Since I getting conflicting issues. Any thoughts? Thanks !!!

 

 

 

 

 

[ErronB]

I don't have as much experience with 83 as some people here, but from what I remember I ended up using 2 very small CD wicks (Candlescience carries the small ones) in a 3 inch tumbler because of the unstable flame near the bottom. I know some people think 3 inches is not dual-wick realm but for me that's the starting point for a more controlled burn.

 

And good job sticking to a more sensible fragrance load, every group I see with people using this wax they load it up with 12% and wonder why they can't wick it. It's just bad news at that level with any wax IMO. You might get a good burn at the top but as it get's to the bottom it's going to hell.

 

I always give HTP a shot as they can survive some really long burns before giving them some attention. Eco have never impressed me much apart from a couple of instances in straight soy.

 

[TallTayl]

Your coconut 83 must be drastically different from mine. Eco of any of those sizes in3” wide would be far too overwicked. 
 

Smaller cd, CDN and CSN are more reasonable in my cases. The only time I would even come close to a cd10 is if I loaded the coco up with 10-15% beeswax 😳

 

With even a “small” eco6 in a 3” wide jar, while I had decent “throw” it smelled a lot like burning wax and not beautiful fragrance. I had to be mindful to trim super short before lighting and watch as it burned or the flames would grow quite scary tall. 
 

you should not need a high FO load (Egads 12% seems crazy) in coco83, and with smaller wicks you should smell your lower % load more. 
 

now let’s everyone forget about the word “tunneling” as it is currently used for a shallow melt pool in coconut wax.  Pretty much forget everything you learned about other waxes.  Coconut is its own beast.
 

A “tunnel” will never catch up during a burn no matter how long. Coco and other soft waxes create a shallow pool with a cross section like a wide “U”, or for math folks a parabola.  Very different from a tunnel which is like a drop of completely vertical sides. 
 

the wide “U” will often catch up gradually as the candle burns creating a lovely fresh scent from start to end. don’t fear a shallow melt pool. 

[Candlefriends]

Thank you both ErronB and TallTayl for getting back with me. I'm glad to see that we all agree on the Fragrance load. At max I use 8% and even thinking of going to 7% on some.  ErronB I think double wicking would open more can of worms for me given my experience and stage of candle making. Though it is something I'd like to do down the road. I fully believe that less is more have to remind myself of K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid). I do have a tendency to get really really creative . However, not to point of the recent trend of throwing tons of dried botanicals on the surface of candles (although very pretty). I can just see the indoor bon fire potential with these :/.

 

Anyway, my next round of ECO wicks I think I'll bump down considerably starting with 4, 6, 8 and see what happens. I"m also seeing uneven heat within the jar, as  it looks like the side is hotter in the direction of the wick curling. The wicks themselves seem pretty centered.

 

I've taken a few photos of my candles to see what I'm talking about considering "tunneling" I'm sorry if using the wrong terms as I am new.  So is wax sticking to the sides acceptable then? This does start to disappear as the jar heats in the middle of my burn testing. 12-18 hours. 

 

Again does the mushrooming and flickering be an indicator of wick size or fragrance load?  Any thing to do with capillary action (for healthcare folks :)) Thanks! 

I did photos label to help. P.S. Is it true that CD wicks have a higher tendency to mushroom?

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by Candlefriends

[Candlefriends]

Sorry - about a few screwy sentences. My hubby just got home and I was multi-tasking!

[TallTayl]

A little hang up at the top like that is totally fine. If you don’t have hang up at the top it’s a good bet you will have heat issues and soot stacking later in the candles. 
 

too much wick, too much FO, etc can indeed contribute to carbon heading  at the wick end. likewise the specific FO can cause problems. Some fragrances use powdered aroma chemicals that can clog wicks and inhibit capillary action. 
 

 Those carbon balls are not bad, but I think  you will be happier with the smaller wicks. 
 

there are some  impressive carbon balls on candles in some threads here. We need a gallery for them all. 
 

csn wicks are another nice choice for coconut. 
 

and I like you already for not seeing the appeal in dried flammable stuff on candles. 

[NightLight]

What jars are you using? You might want to go to a lower fill line. Sometimes open jars have a taper that problematic at top due to it being slightly wider, then you think you’re not using the correct wick. for example the medium jars at Aztec, are best only filled 6 ounces to prevent Hangup on side.

Try 6 per cent fragrance.

I have not tried this wax but I would wick more for the middle and bottom other wise it’s going to be a hot mess!

[Candlefriends]

Hi TallTayl, Thanks again, I wasn't sure about the wick carbon balls and hang ups.  It makes better sense now ...  as the cause of my previous soot/ smoking issues.  Suggesting other wick alternatives is a big help. I love trial and error as it's the best way to learn. This forum is invaluable - thank you for maintaining it!

 

Hi NightLight, My jars are straight sided. I've seen the tapered jars and wondered about sizing correctly. So, thank you for the heads up and technique tips on jars with variances :).

 

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by Candlefriends

[NightLight]

This is tapered. There is enough flare on top to cause wicking issues, where you get hang up at top of candle.

[Candlefriends]

Thank you Night Light for the good example!  My jars are straight sided.  - the other photos may have made them appear slightly tapered.

Edited February 9, 2020 by Candlefriends

[NightLight]

Just checking. The Hangup you are getting is very slight IMHO and as you burn should burn off down the jar. If you wick strictly for top the bottom gets super toasty.

[Candlefriends]

 Thank you so much. I really appreciate you trying to prevent any frustrations and costly problems.  Initially, I actually had some tapered jars and switched to a different kind. Your opinion helps with burn quality. One of my projects is to go out a buy bunch of different candle brands and really observe their different burns. Hope you have a great weekend - snowing like crazy here!

[BusyBee]

I think you are sooo close, too!  Did you say you did not have soot issue CD?  If that is correct, then CD 10 looks close to perfection.  Just little hang up which should catch up.  *If not, there are other wild method to correct that problem.

 

You might want to check out these articles from Wedo(manufacturer of ECO & owner of CD wick company Heinz Jansen TB).  You might get little more better understanding of your situation.  Your CD10 was the one that curled, and maybe CD8 might gives you little better curl on wick.  Sometimes, smaller wick can give you larger melt pool.  I don't know why this is possible, but just maybe "smaller wick curls more and gives wider(which means bigger) flame to cover more area" is my only wild guess.

https://www.wedowick.de/en/all-about-wicks/

https://www.wedowick.de/en/temperature-distribution/

https://www.wedowick.de/en/wick-positions/

 

Good luck to you!

*Many brand name candles aren't as good as they expected to be.  We just didn't notice it until we started making candles.

[Candlefriends]

Hi BusyBee,

 

Thank you so much for the links. Very helpful! I did have a little smoking when the candle flames were disturbed.  No real sooting so far. The they do flicker a little bit as well. I'm hoping that these issues will become less with minor adjustments to wick size and fragrance levels. Thanks again

[Achanel83]

Hi Candlefriends,

 

Can you tell me where you purchased your white straight tumbler.  I have looked everywhere online for them and I am completely stumped. Thank you and happy candle making 🤗

[Candlefriends]

Hi Achanel83, They can be found at Candle Science. Also, as far as finding jars if these don't work out,  I just googled a lot, ordered samples and called suppliers.  I found searching under the images tab was a good way to find what I needed. This is how I found these. I hope they work out for you as I think they're pretty nice and Candle Science is very helpful. They also have a good suppliers list in this forum. :).  P.S. Candle Science does not offer samples on these jars, but you can return them if you don't like them. 

Edited February 12, 2020 by Candlefriends

[Achanel83]

Hi Candlefriends! Thank you for the great resources!

[Laura C]

On 2/11/2020 at 1:21 PM, Achanel83 said:

Hi Candlefriends,

 

Can you tell me where you purchased your white straight tumbler.  I have looked everywhere online for them and I am completely stumped. Thank you and happy candle making 🤗

 

Check these out too. https://calcandlesupply.com/containers/ and https://www.candlesandsupplies.net/Candle-Making/Straight-Sided-Tumblers

[md88]

@Candlefriends, is my candle also facing a "hang-up" problem? Photo attached.

 

Would you call it too bad? The photo is after 2 burns (first burn 2.5 hours, second burn 2.5 hours).

 

If its indeed bad, how to resolve it? I do not have any other wick type available at my place so can there be another remedy?

 

Thanks!!

[TallTayl]

I would not call that hang up at all.  The depth of melt in the second pic could end up being too much A little further in the candle. Only continuing to burn this candle will answer that for sure.
 

beneath the dark, clear melt, can you see the layer of light? All of that is teetering on turning clear (meaning deeper and deeper melt pool).
 

before deciding on your final wick, do make sure to complete longer “power burns”.

 

also to be sure the candle will do its job in various people’s homes,  make

- 1 to burn by the book (trimming wick before lighting, burning for 2-3 hours)

-1 to burn randomly with no wick trims

-1 to power burn

[Candlefriends]

No, not at all. I'm still new to candle making myself. If anything here that I notice is that you have an edge to edge melt pool.  I would watch the heat of your container as it tapers towards the bottom. It may get pretty hot in later burns.

 

In the very beginning I did a lot of testing and went through tons of different types of wicks. Now that I've settled on a few different wick types, (yes a few - depending on fragrance type used). I always have a few "tester" candles burning and abuse the crap out of them. I mean I trim, don't trim, burn for 30 min., burn them for 4+ hours, put them outside in drafts, etc. I try to simulate what people will do them once they leave my hands. I still have a lot to learn - it's never ending :). I hope this helps and things go smoothly for you. Wishing you much success!