Candle Warmer Makes Soy Jars Explode?

[PurpleHippie]

A shallow tin with soft, container wax would be the safest for this kind of warmer (heat from underneath).

The melt point of the wax is 121 and it was an 8 oz tin. Not a high melt point wax and 8oz doesn't seem to be a large amount of wax????

I have seen the warmers that heat from the top but the warmers that heat from the bottom are the ones that are more commonly seen and owned by most people. So I test with these type of warmers.

Thank you Stella for the links. I did see the topics previously discussed, that is how I brought up this one from the search. What I was trying to find out was IF having the lid placed on the container while the wax was still hot may have some how caused the problem. It is "common sense" that a large quanity of wax heated from the bottom might cause problems but I was specifically trying to find out if the lid on the hot wax could have caused a problem. I have made wickless for years and never once had this happen.

As for the law suit case...I would hope there would be other factors involved. If not then it would appear to me that one could have total lack of regard for ANY warning/instruction label and have grounds for a law suit. I hope there is more to the story.

[Stella1952]

She placed the lid back on the container BEFORE the wax cooled, lid went back on as soon as she turned off the warmer. The next time she turned the warmer on the wax on top popped and exploded shooting the top portion of wax out of the container and hot wax spilled on the warmer and shot out on the walls! My guess here but wouldn't you think that since she placed the lid back on the container BEFORE the wax cooled this trapped in air that may have led to the exploding wax with the next use?

I do not think placing the top before the wax cooled would have caused the wax to spurt on a subsequent melt... If the 8 oz. tin is one of the deep ones and not one of the wider, shallower ones, I think that is part of the problem. The woman's warmer may not melt at the same temperature as the one you use to test. If she was warming the candle in a cool or cold room, that also could have contributed. The more wax the container contains, and the smaller the amount of surface area, the greater the likelihood of this happening.

An easy way to avoid this would be to pierce the top wax (with BIG holes) all the way to the bottom of the container in several places to release pressure as the melted wax expands.

Better yet is to melt small tarts in the tin and not have so much wax in the container in the first place. A couple of small 1/2 oz. tarts should be plenty to fragrance a reasonable area.

[PurpleHippie]

She has the same warmer that I do but maybe there is a difference in the temperature. There is no way that I can possibly know what temperature each and every warmer a customer might use heats. Infact, most of them tell me that they prefer to use the huge apothecary candles on their warmers. I have to constantly explain why the big jumbo candles aren't necessary for the warmers. I agree about the tarts but for some reason people in my area prefer wickless candles instead of the tarts. It took forever to even get them to try those. At first they only wanted wicked candles.

So do those of you that make wickless instruct your customers to poke holes each time they use the wickless candles? It's difficult enough to get people to trim wicks for regular candles. I just don't see anyone taking the time to poke holes in their wickless.

[Stella1952]

There is no way that I can possibly know what temperature each and every warmer a customer might use heats.

Exactly. I don't sell melter jars of any size or description. I see too much potential for problems there. Others feel differently. Just because customers might want them doesn't mean that I want the potential liabilities and problems from the product.

I do sell 1/2 oz. tarts and recommend never using more than two in a melter. If that doesn't please folks, there are other sources from which they can get larger melter jars. More business for people who do sell them!