geekrunner Posted March 2, 2008 Share Posted March 2, 2008 Holy cow, things change when you're away for awhile!I need a show of hands (and you know who you are) for those who have tried to wick the 16 0z and 24 oz Melting Pot jar from the Jar Store, and have had no luck. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?Many of us who tried to wick that beautiful jar were tearing our hair out in clumps. The jar is way too wide to single wick, even using paraffin blends. But when we tried to double wick, we experienced a bad case of wick drowning about halfway down the jar. We attributed it to the shape of the jar, possible creating odd airflow characteristics. I tried many different types of wicks, and no matter that I overwicked them to the point of one inch deep MPs in one hour, the wicks still drowned. Literally I've had people testing these that had to pour out molten wax just to get some wick back to finish burning.Anyway, let's see that show of hands, then I will impart my solution! your geek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightning Bug Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Welcome back, Geek. Have missed your input. Beth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racolvin Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 hmmm ... 4" diameter, 5.25" height ... doesn't say the diameter of the actual openingIf I were to try it with my usual wax (GW464), I'd start with double wicking LX-20's and work from there.Do I win? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geekrunner Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 hmmm ... 4" diameter, 5.25" height ... doesn't say the diameter of the actual openingIf I were to try it with my usual wax (GW464), I'd start with double wicking LX-20's and work from there.Do I win? You're close! The openings are 3" in diameter. Double wicking in the conventional sense didn't work out for me, as in 1/2 inch spacing. Either I overwicked and got too much MP too soon, or got great MP and drowning wicks when halfway down the jar, even when using a 415/402/USA blend and 2 x LX14 through 18.Stay tuned for the solution! geek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SEP Posted March 3, 2008 Share Posted March 3, 2008 Those Melting Pot jars are the prettiest jars I have seen in a long time. So I ordered the 8 oz, and like to have gone nuts with them. It is the weird air currents that made them act so strange, I think. After months of trying different types of wicks I just gave up on them and actually threw the cases I had left in the garbage. I know some of you will think I'm nuts throwing jars away, but I wouldn't have sold those things to my worst enemy. I will never use those again. I have never had that much trouble wicking a jar to never get it figured out. I usually get any jar wicked with testing, but not those things. The flame was either too small, too large or it smoked like a tar kiln when it got half way down in the jar.Sandi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geekrunner Posted March 3, 2008 Author Share Posted March 3, 2008 OK, I've teased y'all long enough. SEP, I feel your pain. I went through alot of wax and FO testing them before giving up on them a year and a half ago, but I held onto the jars thinking I'd use them as decorative containers for Christmas gifts. But I wound up making bathroom candles out of about 100 6 oz hex jars I had bought real cheap the previous year, by someone getting out of the candle biz. My solution? I double wicked using 2 x 44-28-18 zinc but trimmed the tabs so that I could space the wicks at 1/8 to 1/16 inch instead of the standard 1/2 inch, the narrowest setting on my EZ Wick Setting tool. At 1/8 inch, the wicks are still separated enough to be considered double wicked, but they're close enough to mimic the effect of a broad narrow flame. What I was trying to avoid was a big fat flamethrower type wick. This can be tweaked, if needed, by using 44-24-18 or 44-32-18.I succesfully wicked a 24 oz melting pot jar with Peak's Home for the Holidays at 7% load, with 2 x 44-28-18z using my proprietary GF blend, and burned it 4 hours each time, along with a 12 hr marathon burn, and got good flame action all the way down to 1 inch of remaining wax.How this will work for different soy wax brands or parasoys, or even paraffin blends is for you guys to try. I myself tried this in J50 (yes, I still have some left) and had issues with soot, and have not yet tried it in my KY Parasoy. But for those like me who really like the jar, and bought five cases of them I think I have the solution, and felt moved to share this with my fellow candletech board members.Lately I've been pretty obsessed with mountain bike riding, racing, and trail conservation work, and haven't been on the board for awhile. I'll still be racing, but also have been sufficiently motivated to push my candlemaking to the next step. I'm finally going officially into business, develop my business plan, get insured, set up a modest website, and approach a local race director I know about providing candles for giveaways at our local mountain bike and trail running events in exchange for the advertising sponsorship. I have a litle more than two years in of testing experience, and 30+ FOs tested and working in two sizes of jars.Anyway, I hope this wicking info helps out anyone who really loves that jar, but gave up on wicking it.your geek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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