Ideal Temperature of Melt Pool

[CandleCouture]

Anyone ever done any sort of test to this end? I know that the hotter the melt pool, the better the throw, however, you don't want it to be so hot that it gets too deep, too fast, and so hot that it start burning excess FO's, however, I'm wondering if people have taken their thermometers and dipped them in their melt pool next to the wick to get a temperature reading, and what they have discovered.

[shafferbuns]

I really hope some of the more experienced chandlers will answer this post. I did read that your melt pool should be below 175 degrees. I've checked a few times and had them anywhere from 125 to about 140. Think i'll test the melt pools of different wicks and see how it all turns out, compare melt pool temps to hot throw to melt pool size, etc. Interesting huh?

[CandleCouture]

I wonder why it should be that low? The best throw in the world, it seems to me, is when youa re pouring the candle and you generally pour it at 175-180, so, I wonder why the melt pool should actually be THAT much lower than that?

[Georgia]

I've asked before. Didn't get a lot of input, but I seem to average around 155*

http://www.candletech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7137&highlight=hot

[topofmurrayhill]

I wonder why it should be that low? The best throw in the world, it seems to me, is when youa re pouring the candle and you generally pour it at 175-180, so, I wonder why the melt pool should actually be THAT much lower than that?

A high pool temperature is a safety concern, especially since it means the candle is really overwicked so there are probably other problems too. With a properly sized wick and a melt pool that isn't too deep, the temperature will be limited because energy goes into turning the wax from solid to liquid (monitor the temp while melting paraffin and you'll see it levels off while the wax is melting and then rises quickly).

You don't need excessively high temperatures for scent to disperse from the wax. Various kinds of wickless candles and melts don't have to be that hot to throw. Most candles will throw especially well after you blow them out and before the wax cools down. The big scent killer is the wick, presumably because it skims FO off the surface of the wax and incinerates it before it can evaporate.

Optimizing scent throw is kind of a black science. You can use a different kind of wick or a larger one or a smaller one and the throw can improve for no clear reason. The variables just work out better somehow. Between the wax, fragrance oil, wick, wick coating and candle type, I imagine it's a pretty complex set of variables.