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Originally posted by Carys:
Wicks draw up the fuel, but it's the fuel that burns. With wax candles, as the tip of the wick gets too far from the melted wax, it burns down, whereas if you keep an oil filled candle filled up, the wick won't burn away. You can see this with tea lights, if you feed in more was, the candle will carry on burning, but if you blow one out not long before it burns out, let the wax set and then try and delight it, the wick will runaway before it can melt enough wax to get going properly. Tipping in a drop of molten wax can solve this if you don't drown the wick.

Carys (who has possibly experimented with candles more than is good for her)

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I knew it was something to do with that, and I suspect the company says it lasts "1,000 burns" just because they can't legally promise it'll last basically forever. I'm pretty sure we've been using the same wicks at least the 7-1/2 years I've worked here, and they don't seem to be getting any shorter.

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I reserve the right to change my mind.

My article on the Virgin of Vladimir

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Originally posted by Gramps49:
We use oil candles. They have been around since before the time of Jesus (remember the women who did not have enough oil to go into a wedding celebration).

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Wow, your church has the foolish virgins' oil lamps? I guess that's not as much a thing to brag about as if they were the wise virgins' oil lamps.

Seriously, though, I agree that the oil candles are pretty darn safe. Obviously sensible precautions are called for.

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I reserve the right to change my mind.

My article on the Virgin of Vladimir

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Originally posted by Carys:
let the wax set and then try and delight it,

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This has certainly delighted me

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Ό δε ανεξέταστος βίος ου βιωτος ανθρώπω.

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Originally posted by Enoch:
Incidentally, do oil lamps disguised as candles run on olive oil or some sort of petroleum based lamp oil? What is Kerry's Liquid Church Candle Fuel made of?

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Originally posted by Arch Anglo Catholic:
One other thing to bear in mind if I might be so bold, is draughts! Ancient, Anglican churches are bedevilled with gaps through which wind blows, often leading to one candle guttering or burning much faster than another and suddenly burning down or causing wax runs.

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Originally posted by Zach82:
Then there's the kiddies that can't resist playing with the melted wax in the middle of the service.

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Originally posted by Arch Anglo Catholic:
One other thing to bear in mind if I might be so bold, is draughts! Ancient, Anglican churches are bedevilled with gaps through which wind blows, often leading to one candle guttering or burning much faster than another and suddenly burning down or causing wax runs.

Oil candles, in my experience, prevent this problem.

That's my twopennyworth anyway!

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Originally posted by Oblatus:
We've got all wax candles and no oil-filled ones.

One problem with wax candles has been solved: before we had air-conditioning, when the weather was very hot there were times when the altar candles would get so soft they would bend sideways like candy canes, probably because of the weight of the brass followers. Thanks to benefactress "St. Geraldine," we've now got meat-locker, see-your-breath coolness in summertime.

A different problem is the one that happens on windy Lenten Fridays during Stations of the Cross. Several of the stations are near drafty stained-glass windows, and the drafts, even if not strong enough to blow the acolytes' candles out completely, will often splatter wax all over the acolytes' surplices (and sometimes hands).

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Originally posted by churchgeek:
You can get glass shields - I don't know what they're called, but they're just cylinders open on both ends that protect the candle from breezes. Similar to a "chimney" on an oil lantern. Not knowing what they're called seems to be stymieing my attempts to google them. We don't use them where I work, but I know a church that does - they also process outside (around the block at Corpus Christi), so that might be why they have them in the first place.

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Originally posted by John Holding:
We'vwe recently been advised to change from oil to beeswax. It's the impact on the environment, because of the chemicals that the oil candles send zooming into the air. Our "green" advisor asked us to look at the chemical make up of the fuel for the oil candles, and when we did we turned green (ha, ha) to think of what we were pouring into the atmosphere -- admittedly in small quantities as we're only talking two candles.

John

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Originally posted by Arch Anglo Catholic:
One other thing to bear in mind if I might be so bold, is draughts! Ancient, Anglican churches are bedevilled with gaps through which wind blows, often leading to one candle guttering or burning much faster than another and suddenly burning down or causing wax runs.

Oil candles, in my experience, prevent this problem.

That's my twopennyworth anyway!

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Originally posted by fletcher christian:
If your acolytes are spilling wax on their robes I would stick with that and learn to cope with the annoyance. If you switch to lamp oil candles, you'll be sending them to A&E to scrape hardened, burnt nylon out of their epidermis.

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Originally posted by Basilica:
If you do use oil candles, you must instantly ban all wax tapers from your church premises. If a drop of wax falls on the breathing hole at the top of the candle, the candle won't work, and they are a nightmare to clean.

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Originally posted by leo:

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Originally posted by Basilica:
If you do use oil candles, you must instantly ban all wax tapers from your church premises. If a drop of wax falls on the breathing hole at the top of the candle, the candle won't work, and they are a nightmare to clean.

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BUT they (torches held by acolytes) have to be lit from the paschal candle during the Easter Vigil. THEN used to pass on to individual wax candles.

We have managed this for some 4 years, since we started using them. But is there an elegant solution?

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Originally posted by Hairy Biker:
I'm fed up with cleaning wax off the acolyte candle sticks every week. I've seen these oil lamps that look like candles in other churches. Are they any good? How much oil do they use? Are they as good as they would seem, or do they have a whole new set of problems you don't have with wax candles?

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Originally posted by Basilica:

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Originally posted by leo:

quote:

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Originally posted by Basilica:
If you do use oil candles, you must instantly ban all wax tapers from your church premises. If a drop of wax falls on the breathing hole at the top of the candle, the candle won't work, and they are a nightmare to clean.

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BUT they (torches held by acolytes) have to be lit from the paschal candle during the Easter Vigil. THEN used to pass on to individual wax candles.

We have managed this for some 4 years, since we started using them. But is there an elegant solution?

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Is there any reason why the acolytes' candles should be lit immediately from the paschal candle? Why not use a taper?

Though if you have the candle only half-full, you can tilt it enough to get the wick into the flame without spilling oil everywhere.

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