para-2281-votive-24h
PARA-2281 votive in glass, 24 hours
Six sessions with a CD-8 wick at 5 % load in a 52 mm votive glass. It is the worst-behaved record on this site and it is published for exactly that reason: a soft paraffin in a narrow vessel produces a soot index of 7.8 and a wet-spot rating of 4, and hiding the run would make the rest of the numbers look better than they are.
Hourly record
Soot index above 7 in this stretch: 4 h → 7 h
| Hour | Pool ⌀ mm | Flame mm | Pool vs peak | Flame vs peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 34.0 | 44.0 | ||
| 2 | 44.0 | 47.0 | ||
| 3 | 50.0 | 46.0 | ||
| 4 | 53.0 | 44.0 | ||
| 5 | 54.0 | 42.0 | ||
| 6 | 54.0 | 40.0 |
A CD-8 in a 52 mm votive is oversized by two series steps. The consequence is a flame that draws more fuel than it can burn, a 44 mm pool in a 52 mm glass, and a black film that reached halfway up the wall by hour six.
The lesson is not that PARA-2281 makes a bad candle. It is that soft paraffin needs a proportionally smaller wick, because the melt pool spreads faster than the flame can consume it. A repeat run with a CD-4 in the same glass scored 4.1 on soot, and that follow-up is scheduled.
Vessel section
- Room
- 24.0 °C · 50 %RH
- Fragrance load
- 5.0 %
- Mushrooming
- 4 / 5
- Tunnelling risk
- 3 / 5
- Wet-spot risk
- 4 / 5
- Soot index
- 7.8 / 10
- Throw c/h
- 2 · 2
- Consumption
- 4.05 g/h
Failure modes observed
| Trigger | Threshold | Known failure modes |
|---|---|---|
| BURN-SOOT | wick series → two steps oversized | A carbon film reaching halfway up the glass by hour six. Step down two series sizes and re-run before publishing a throw figure. |
| BURN-WETSPOT | pool temperature → above 65 C | The votive surface goes glassy and the wick sinks. Above 65 C pool temperature this combination should not be run. |
Reading of the record
- P-06 four-hour burn sessionCapped multi-session burn with hourly dimensional readings
- PARA-2281Paraffin wax · 24.0–28.5 °C