What is Hot Burning Wick?

[BusyBee]

How do we determine some wick burns hotter than others?  Is there way to measure this?  Or is it determined by just observation?

[Marisa11]

Yes I am interested as well. We all know that Zinc burns the coolest. Has anyone ever used a J or K Type thermocouple to measure?  Is there something else that can be used?

 

 

[Kerven]

I go by melt pool formation and melt pool temperature. Also, whether or not complete combustion is occurring.

[BusyBee]

I have been measuring melt pool temperature which would be one of the ways to checking for conduction.  J type thermocouple would work to measure flame temperature and convection.  How about radiation which is the heat that we feel.  Could there be any method to measure this?

[TallTayl]

A “hot” wick seems to be used when the flame is big/throws proportionally more heat relative to the consumption. it makes a big melt pool which May or may not be thrown into the air while heating the container walls. These wicks can be useful with thick, high melt point waxes like heavy soy blends, and fragrances that clog other wicks. ECO comes to mind, followed by RRD and cotton core and square braid. 
 

These are prone to flames that grow during power burns and present more soot when not balanced. The temptation to wick hot needs to be tempered with easier to melt waxes like coconut blends and soft paraffins like 4627. 
 

Melt pools, IMO, are a LIMIT,  not a goal. When reversing the traditional big, deep, hot melt-pool thought,  the path to great performing, safe candle is quicker. 

[Onyx-uk]

A difficult question to answer with limited knowledge, but a wick that i deemed a tad to hot in the middle of summer now takes much longer to achieve a full melt pool as the ambient temps are a bit lower as the seasons changes if that makes sense.

[BusyBee]

It is true that some wick will create bigger flame and form deeper melt pool.  There is no denying this kind of wick is not a hot burning wick.  However, I am observing below which brought me to this question in my post.

 

Same wick is working different in different waxes.

1. Melt pool size & depth stays relatively the same.  But, melt pool temperatures are little different wax to another wax.  I see difference of 5F melt pool temperature with same wick in different waxes. 

2. Container temperature stays almost same.  

3. However, there were big differences in air currents.  Some wax will produce moderate air current with moderate air temperature.  Some wax will produce little bit stronger air current with little bit hotter air.  And some will produce really strong air current with very hot air.

 

I might have thought certain wick was very hot, if I were to only test that wick in wax that will produce strong air current with really hot air even though it could be one of the coolest wick.  This is the reason why I was asking for way to measure hot burning wick.

 

And there is another consideration that we have to think about.  Some wax will burn hotter than other waxes.  I have to say candle making is an art!  Could there be any scientific formula solution?

[TallTayl]

Have you tried to aim your IR thermo right into the flame? I have seen enough differences right there to give me reasons to think about what is going on. 

 

The color of the flame is an indicators also. More blue = hotter flame, etc.

[BusyBee]

4 hours ago, TallTayl said:

Have you tried to aim your IR thermo right into the flame? I have seen enough differences right there to give me reasons to think about what is going on. 

 

The color of the flame is an indicators also. More blue = hotter flame, etc.

No.  If my knowledge is correct, then IR thermo only can measure up to 790F where the flame would be anywhere in between 800 to 1400F.  So, I have been using only digital meat thermo until now.  I will be getting J Type thermocouple thanks to one of our member here & I will be getting IR thermo too.  We will see.