Wicking 4” container with 4627.

[jgcurtis1961]

I am in the process of wicking Lonestars Libby 3 wick hexagon jar. I am using 4627 Comfort Blend and Peaks Bayberry at 9% fragrance oil. I tried triple wicking with LX 8’s, 10’s, & 12’s with no luck. The LX 8’s  and 10’s weren’t big enough and the 12’s got too hot and smoked. I also tried triple wicking with HTP 62’s & 73’s with no luck. I got a lot of smoking and weak flames. I tried 3 44-24-18z wicks and they burned good but the melt pool was too large and the candle was too hot in the bottom of the container but there was no smoking. 2 60-44-18z zinc wicks are to hot and do smoke some.  I have some 44-20-18z wicks on order and some 51-36-18z wicks on order to test but didn’t have them on hand.

I decided to do some more testing with double  wicking and this is my results after the 5th burn with 2 51/32/18z wicks .  There is no sooting or smoke and the jar isn’t too hot. The wicks are mushrooming. After the 5th burn there is still some hangup. It isn’t a lot and will catch up in the bottom half of the jar. The hot throw and cold throw are amazing. Am I over analyzing and being too picky? I don’t like the mushrooming and I am wondering if it is acceptable this far into the burns to have this hangup? At least I know the jar isn’t going to be to hot in the bottom. I’d love some other candlemakers input. So far I am having the best luck with the zinc wicks. 

Edited November 26, 2022 by jgcurtis1961
Misspelled a word

[Belinda]

I"m defiantly not very experienced at candle making (yet) but so far zincs are my favorite. I don't use your wax though but have used them in 6006. 4630 and 4786. I haven't done extensive testing of wicks and wax but the testing that I have done I prefer zincs. I think that's partly because they are stiff and seem to be easier to place in the jar.

[bfroberts]

I usually use 2 36z wicks in my 4" containers w/similar waxes. They work well with most of my FO's. For a couple of super heavy scents, I need double 44-20z's. IME, larger zinc wicks will consume the wax too fast, create some honking mushrooms, and get a little wild near the bottom of the jar.  
You can play around with the placement of the wicks to get a more symmetrical melt pool, but you do need that early hangup or it will be over-wicked at the bottom

Edited November 26, 2022 by bfroberts

[jgcurtis1961]

Thank-you both for your replies. I have 44/24’s & 44/32’s I can try. I am also waiting for some 44/20’s to arrive and 51/36’s. This is what it is looking like at the end of the jar. This is about 45 minutes into the 4 hour burn. There isn’t a bunch of soot and it isn’t getting scorching hot(or it wasn’t at the end of the last burn) I do think I’m gonna try wicking down 1 wick size to see what happens. Mainly because during this test I burned for 4 hours and trimmed the wicks to 1/4” with every burn and I know other people burning this may not do the candle care like the should. I’ll also test with longer burns & not trimming wicks to see what happens.

Edited November 29, 2022 by jgcurtis1961
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