Jar Cracked in Levine Warmer!

[Jane42]

One of my customers just called me and told me that she had given a couple of her friends the cachepot warmers that she had bought from me.

Her friend put a Yankee jar candle in it and it shattered and spewed wax all over her kitchen counter!

After looking at another Yankee jar in the store, my friend told me that the Yankee candle does not say it can be used in a warmer AND it says something about following the directions on how to burn it due to the fact that the glass may break if not burned correctly.

We have really pushed the warmers and the wickless jars for years and have a lot of faithful customers. Should I put some kind of warning on the warmers stating not to put a Yankee candle in it? I don't like the way that sounds....maybe to only use our wickless candles??

I was going to be speaking with the manager of the book store in the college I work in about carrying the warmers, since they were having problems with students having candles in the dorms - but now, I am nervous about that....

Edited January 22, 2010 by Jane42

[leisa2003]

One of my customers just called me and told me that she had given a couple of her friends the cachepot warmers that she had bought from me.

Her friend put a Yankee jar candle in it and it shattered and spewed wax all over her kitchen counter!

After looking at another Yankee jar in the store, my friend told me that the Yankee candle does not say it can be used in a warmer AND it says something about following the directions on how to burn it due to the fact that the glass may break if not burned correctly.

We have really pushed the warmers and the wickless jars for years and have a lot of faithful customers. Should I put some kind of warning on the warmers stating not to put a Yankee candle in it? I don't like the way that sounds....maybe to only use our wickless candles??

I am not sure about listing the name yankee candle on anything from you,..it might get in the wrong hands. I'm not sure if their is recourse for such a thing,..but to be safe,..I wouldn't put their name on anything.

But, you could put that you are not responsable for any breakage of other candles. I put a warning on my warmers, it simply states that I am not responsible for any damages/breakages or other candles not made by me. And also that I am not responsible of any damages caused by a warmer, due to the fact, that I do not manufacture the warmers.

Every little warning helps!!!

Edited January 22, 2010 by leisa2003

[Meridith]

Was it a wicked candle? Candle warmers are not to be used with wicked candles. The wick tab can get hot and cause the jar to crack. I always tell my customers to NEVER use a wicked candle, regardless of the manufacturer, on a candle plate. Candle plates are only for wickless candles.

[islandgirl]

Definitely push your wickless candles to compliment the warmers you sell.

You can put a label on your warmers saying:

Buy my melts and wickless candles because they work perfect with our warmers and the scent throw is amazing!!!

Also.. Tell the customer to call Yankme..

Your warmer did what is was supposed do...

It's not your fault, don't sweat it!!

Blame the candlemaker - Yankme!!!:lipsrseal

It's not your fault the jar cracked and spewed wax..:rolleyes2

Edited January 22, 2010 by islandgirl

[HeavenScentU]

I hope you get that resolved....You might contact your insurance and ask them what safety precautions you can take to handle this matter. Especially if someone comes after you for damages.

[Stella1952]

Me? I don't like to use glass containers on direct heat underneath, period, and this is why. :undecided For the kind that heat from above, no problemo; but not underneath... I like tins for that type.

[Blest2BAmerican]

I would call Levine's to see what they have to say.

[Jane42]

Thanks for the advice, friends

Stella - I understand you using only tins - less to worry about - but if you sell the warmers, you really don't have any control over what they put in it.

We have used our jars in these warmers for years with no problem, but I realize that we wouldn't know if a case of jars was dropped, then sold to us with tiny fractures that wouldn't be detected by us.

I do want to check out a Yankee warning, though. Don't you find it hard to believe that they would state right on their warning that if the candle is not burned appropriately, it could crack. Maybe we all should have that warning - not that I believe it would progect me from everything! :rolleyes2

[Jane42]

Was it a wicked candle? Candle warmers are not to be used with wicked candles. The wick tab can get hot and cause the jar to crack. I always tell my customers to NEVER use a wicked candle, regardless of the manufacturer, on a candle plate. Candle plates are only for wickless candles.

I would never have thought of this!

[Meridith]

My money's on it being a wicked candle. I have heard too often of this happening with wicked candles. Does Yankme even sell wickless? I honestly don't know. Also, some candle warmers will show on their box a wicked candle sitting on the warmer. Very stupid in my opinion. Wick tabs are metal and metal conducts heat.

[bugtussle]

I use my glass wicked candles all the time in my cachepot Levine warmer. No problems. My guess is a defective Yank jar, maybe it had a tiny crack to begin with. I don't think the small wick tab could be that much hotter than the glass and wax. I would say it was a freak accident which could happen at any time, any jar. Carole

[leisa2003]

I use my glass wicked candles all the time in my cachepot Levine warmer. No problems. My guess is a defective Yank jar, maybe it had a tiny crack to begin with. I don't think the small wick tab could be that much hotter than the glass and wax. I would say it was a freak accident which could happen at any time, any jar. Carole

I've used mine as well, with no problems.

[CandleMama6]

I am not sure about listing the name yankee candle on anything from you,..it might get in the wrong hands. I'm not sure if their is recourse for such a thing,..but to be safe,..I wouldn't put their name on anything.

But, you could put that you are not responsable for any breakage of other candles. I put a warning on my warmers, it simply states that I am not responsible for any damages/breakages or other candles not made by me. And also that I am not responsible of any damages caused by a warmer, due to the fact, that I do not manufacture the warmers.

Every little warning helps!!!

I agree that maybe a warning about you not being responsible for another companies candles is a good one. I never really thought about this, but I have not been doing warmers for very long. I also agree that a warning about not being for the operation of the warmer could not hurt.

I have used wicked candles on warmers and not had any problems but it is usually ones that I make so I know the quality of the jar I am using.

I hope you get this worked out. Keep us posted though. Makes me a little more aware of another thing that can go wrong beyond my control.

[safetysue]

Thanks for posting this it's educational for me. If my warmers said anyhting about a wicked or unwicked candle I didn't see it because the directions went in the trash with the packaging materail. I'd bet most people don't read the fine print.

[Meridith]

I would never use or advocate the use of wicked candle on a warmer. To me its not worth taking the chance using a wicked candle. I also educate my customers to not use a wicked candle on a warmer and to only use warmers made for candles. But to each his own.

[sockmonkey]

Candle warmers were out long before wickless candles were being promoted anywhere. Since they are marketed as a way to avoid smoke and soot, one can assume people will be using wicked candles on them.

If they are not supposed to be used with wicked candles, then it is the manufacturer's responsibility to list that on the operating instructions or somewhere on the packaging, if not the unit itself.

It could just be a crazy fluke that the jar broke, or maybe the customer didn't follow directions. Did she leave it on the warmer for 2 days without turning it off, or something goofy like that?

[CareBear]

Me? I don't like to use glass containers on direct heat underneath, period, and this is why. :undecided For the kind that heat from above, no problemo; but not underneath... I like tins for that type.

yep - wax expands when it gets hot. if it's trapped in the bottom of a container it's a potential wax bomb. that's why I do tins for warmers and melts. and I have a top-down warmer I use for glass jars.

[CareBear]

I would never use or advocate the use of wicked candle on a warmer. To me its not worth taking the chance using a wicked candle. I also educate my customers to not use a wicked candle on a warmer and to only use warmers made for candles. But to each his own.

wick or no wick - that shouldn't matter. wax expands as it heats up.

Edited January 23, 2010 by CareBear

[Jane42]

I totally understand that tins would be safer to use in these warmers than glass, but if I sell the warmer and they choose to put a glass candle jar in it, what would my responsibility be for any damage done due to the glass breaking?

When you see these warmers being displayed, they do not have tins in them...they have glass...so you would think that that is what they are designed for.

Even if I did not think I was responsible, if I were sued, I would still have to hire an attorney...that is the part that scares me.....

[Jane42]

I use my glass wicked candles all the time in my cachepot Levine warmer. No problems. My guess is a defective Yank jar, maybe it had a tiny crack to begin with. I don't think the small wick tab could be that much hotter than the glass and wax. I would say it was a freak accident which could happen at any time, any jar. Carole

We have done the same, Carole, without any problems at all. When my wicked candles have burned down to nothing, I pop the jar in the warmer to clean it out. If it was going to crack due to the wick tabs conducting heat, I would think that it would have happened to me at least once - but it hasn't.

[Jane42]

We have decided to put a label on all the warmers we sell indicating that only wickless candles should be used with them. Since I don't know of any local sources that sell wickless, hopefully they will only use our wickless candles, which we have not had any problems with.

[CareBear]

We have decided to put a label on all the warmers we sell indicating that only wickless candles should be used with them. Since I don't know of any local sources that sell wickless, hopefully they will only use our wickless candles, which we have not had any problems with.

I cannot imagine this would help.

[sockmonkey]

I wouldn't put a warning label on them. For one thing, you're getting second hand information about the situation, not from the person that it actually happened to.

For another, you quite simply don't have all of the details. It may not have had anything to do with the jar at all, but it could have been due to faulty circuitry in the warmer causing it to overheat. You don't know how many hours the device had been left on. You don't know how much wax was in the jar at the time it exploded. There could be numerous reasons why it happened.

The only thing likely to happen by adding the warning label is that it will kill the sales of your warmers. Unless you can guarantee that your wickless candles will never explode you could be setting yourself up for a lawsuit by recommending that only wickless candles be used. By using that label you are implying that your jars are safe, and since you don't know if the problem lies with the warmer or the jar, if another "explosion" occurs, you're likely to go down along with the manufacturer of either the warmer or the jar if a lawsuit takes place.

As a retailer of the warmer you won't be as culpable as the manufacturer, but when you add the warning label that takes things to a different level--at least according to my insurance agent!

I know it's scary to hear news that a candle exploded using a warmer that you sold a customer, but I think this was nothing more than an isolated incident. Over the years I've melted many, many Yankee jars on warmer plates, in crocks, and with lamps, keeping turned on often for 8 or more hours a day and I can tell you that I never had one explode on me or develop a crack.

The label on Yankee's jar instructs the owner to "only burn in suitable holder, or on plate or other fire and heat resistant surface. Do not place on or near other heat sources. Discontinue use when 1/2" of wax remains, as glass may shatter."

Levine's own website shows a photo of a wicked candle in the warmer and it refers to specific candle jar sizes, so I don't think there's any doubt that they expect people to use wicked candles in them.

Maybe I overlooked it, but did you contact Levine about it to see what their thoughts are, or if they have had any other reports of similar situations? That's how recalls can get started. If they are not aware of a problem they will continue to sell them to customers like you, who unknowingly sell them to the public.

It's just my opinion, but I really think you're overly worried about it based on the information presented here.

[Jane42]

Good point about making myself liable if I put a warning label on it. I had forgotten that Levine's actually shows a wicked candle in the warmer. I know many feel that these should not be used with glass, especially a wicked glass candle, but that is how they are advertised and I would hope that they have done testing to ensure that THEY are selling a safe product!

I think you are right about me being over-worried about it - I didn't manufacturer either the warmer nor the candle that shattered, so I am going to put this behind me as far as my liability. I did sell it, and I do feel that if someone wants to sue, they will sue and I will have to defend myself, which will cost money, (of which, we haven't made...lol), but that is the nature of this business. I have insurance, so hopefully my worries should be limited. :rolleyes2

I have not contacted Levine's yet - I need to find out what warmer it was. When I do, I will contact them and let them know and see what their response is.

Will update when I have heard from them.