Wicking Frustration

[Melly]

Can someone who uses this jar or similar please tell me what they use as a starting point when wicking it.

http://www.jarstore.com/product.asp?itemid=4&catid=32

I have been working on this for over a week, and tried about 10 different wick combos, both double and single wicks. Either I am not getting a full melt pool after nearly 2 hours of burning, or when i double wick, I am getting a full pool within 20 minutes and the pool gets so hot you cant even smell the FO in the candle anymore after its burnt out. Normally I would never ask for help on wicking, but im pulling my hair out here. I am using IGI 4786, 8% FO in the jar I have been testing on, Have Zinc, Cotton and HTP wicks on hand in various sizes.

What should I be looking for in a melt pool, how long does it normally take the top of your candle to completly liquify?

Any help would be appreciated.

[scents for me]

I use 2 CD 10's

[7Angela7]

Rule of thumb is that it should burn about an inch per hour. Apothecary jars have a 4" diameter, so should take almost 4 hours to completely burn to the edge. Softer waxes may burn more quickly, but 4786 isn't one of those waxes. You mentioned you weren't getting a full MP in 2 hours, well you probably wouldn't. I would continue to burn it - by 4 hours you should, or be very close to having a full MP. Single wicking never worked for me with these jars either, I think it's better to double wick these. I don't use any of the wicks you mentioned, so wouldn't be able to give you a good starting point.

[Holly]

Hi,

How deep does your meltpool get in let's say 2 hours?

I have used similiar jars too. In any of the larger mouthed/bodied jars I have always ended up having to double wick. I have used the 4786 before too and found that usually the 44-32's zincs (double) would work with most fragrance oils and sometimes the 44-28's zincs. Depending on the width of the jar -- some mouths can take 51-32's zincs and it also depends on the fragrance oils. Some real heavy oils will take two 51-32's in the real wide mouthed jars. I found that I used smaller zinc wicks more often with the 4786 than I did with some other paraffin blends. Double wicking will always give you a much faster melt pool than the single wicking. I actually like this unless it is way to deep to quick. I like a happy medium. A lot of the paraffin/blends burned too fast for double wicking in my jars. The 4786 was not too bad -- burn rate. I currently use a paraffin wax (other than my soy) that has a slow burn rate and is great for double wicking.

Also, if your meltpool is getting too deep too quick (too hot) with double wicking, I would stick with the zincs since they are cooler burning than the Cotton and I believe also cooder burning than the HTP.

Wicking can be a pain in the neck! Hang in there, you will get it.

HTH

~Holly

[Melly]

This one has been burning now for 3 hours with a 62-52-18z in it, the melt pool has reached the edge on one side, and there is about a half inch lip on the other side, ( it is centered properly, no cieling fans or breezes on it) At its deepest point beside the wick the melt pool is about 1/2 an inch deep. Im not even testing scent throw on this candle as ive tortured this poor thing to death trying to find the right wicking. I might try a cotton or an HTP that is a similar size in it, as they burn hotter.

I think my supplier might be missing alot of wick sizes, she only carries 4 sizes, the smallest being 36-24-24z. The only ones she has for small containers are HTP 41s and 52s.

[Holly]

Hi Melly,

That sounds pretty good. As long as the flame is not a torch and there is no smoke than that is good for a 4 inch wide container. In another hour maybe that half inch on the side will be gone. I am not sure if your jar is 4 inches wide though. The melt pool depth sounds good too. Is your flame a nice height without smoke? If so, that is great. Yes, if you are going to single wick, a cotton wick may be better since they are suppose to burn hotter. Keep us posted.

[Melly]

Hi Holly,

Thank you for your help, the jar is 4 inches wide.

Slight correction, the melt pool is acutally 1/4 inch deep.

The lip is slowly fading, however it will not be gone within the next 20 minutes, when the 4 hour burn test is complete, I'll let it go an hour or two longer and see what happens. The flame seems to natuarly dance in one direction, explaining the lip i turned the container, so i know it is not a breeze in the room effecting it.Maybe this is one of those things that will work itself out on the third or fourth burn? There is no smoke or soot, which is good. The flame is a really nice size. I am going to try the HTP, as the cotton one does not seem to come in this size on my suppliers site, sigh. She only has up to 60-44-18c. I might give that one a shot and see how it goes. i really dont want to have to order wicks in from the states or another candian supplier as this one is fairly local.

[candleessence]

Have you tried a second burn on this last test yet? Sounds to me like the hang up will probably catch up on the 2nd or 3rd burn-my 4" diam apoths always do. Actually I will wick down if it does a full mp on the 1st burn b/c usually the burn pool gets to deep. I wouldn't change wicks just yet, give it a few more burns. HTH

[Melly]

I snuffed it at the 4 hour mark. Will try a few more burns, how long am I supposed to wait between burns?

[Holly]

You are welcome. A lot of times a little bit of hang up will catch up.

Since it is a small amount of wax liquid, I don't usually wait 24 hours. I wait until it appears and feels firm. Some here may wait 24 hours. Since you are trying to see if the "one" wick does the job, you might want to wait until tomorrow morning. I never noticed it making a difference in my testing of two wicks by not waiting until the next day. It sounds like you are making progress.

[Melly]

yup, its looking like this wick should do fairly well for me, I am pouring another container to test it in, as this poor container has been through so much, I want to make sure it is a fair test. It has been overwicked beyond the point of having any scent left, put in the oven to even out several times after I had some tunneling, had over 10 wicks poked into it during my testing phase, and it was a bad colour trial and a scent i don't care for to boot. Will try a burn on sunday and let you guys know how it does. If i ever have a FO that needs to be wicked up, guess it will have to be an HTP wick.