The practice of living the life in Christ: fasting, vigil lamps, head-coverings, family life, icon corners, and other forms of Orthopraxy. All Forum Rules apply. No polemics. No heated discussions. No name-calling.
I recently purchased my first vigil lamp to light before my icons. All seemed to go well, I filled the lamp with olive oil, cut some wick and pulled it through the cork float and lit the wick. It seemed to be fine and I left the house...
When I returned, the lamp was out and the glass surrounded was covered in black. The cork float was destroyed and charred. I am not sure what happened...
I thought that maybe I filled it with too much oil. The oil ran all the way up to the metal part of the cork float, near the flame. I read in a blog that that is what I was supposed to do (but it also mentioned an "old believer" cork float). I am assuming that the oil itself caught fire...
How is one supposed to light and set up a vigil lamp? I mean to ask my priest soon but wanted to see if there were any other suggestions. Thank you so much.
When I returned, the lamp was out and the glass surrounded was covered in black. The cork float was destroyed and charred. I am not sure what happened...
Do you mean that the lamp was out of oil, in that the cork float would be at the bottom? When I asked a monk for directions, he told me that before I put any oil into the lamp, put a little bit of water in the lamp so that if the oil burns all the way to the bottom, the water would extinguish the flame.
Also, when you pull the wick through the wick holder, make sure that not too much of the wick is being pulled through. The wick sticking up through the wick holder should only be about the length of an eraser head on a #2 pencil, or maybe just a tiny bit longer. Obviously the wick will be a long piece of string, but when you put it through the wick holder, make sure only about an eraser head's length is showing, which will be the part that you light.
Troparion of St. Philaret of New York
Let us the faithful now come together to praise our father, protector and teacher the pillar of the Orthodox faith and firm defender of piety even the wondrous hierarch Philaret and let us glorify our Saviour Who has granted us his incorrupt relics as a manifest sign of his sanctity.
Is the cork float supposed to be suspended from the sides of the glass? I see what you mean about the wick being a small length ABOVE the cork float, but what about below it? And how much oil should there be underneath?
Is the cork float supposed to be suspended from the sides of the glass? I see what you mean about the wick being a small length ABOVE the cork float, but what about below it? And how much oil should there be underneath?
Do you have a picture of what kind of cork float you have, or do you have the weblink to where you ordered it, so that I can see what kind you have? As the ones I have just float on top of the oil and aren't suspended from the sides. There was one wickholder I had bought that didn't float on the oil but instead suspended on top of the vigil lamp, but I would definitely not recommend this kind of wickholder.
And with my vigil lamp, I put a little bit of water in the bottom of the lamp and then fill the rest of the lamp up with oil. Then I put the cork float on top of the oil. So I don't think there's any sort of limit as to how much oil needs to be underneath.
But if you can show me a picture as to what kind of wick holder you have I think I'll be able to help a little better.
Also it may help to contact the people who you purchased the wickholder from and ask them how to set it up. I was completely new to oil lamps and knew absolutely nothing about them a few months ago until I tried a couple different kinds out. But before I started using them I emailed the people where I bought the supplies from and they were able to tell me exactly how to set it up and use it.
Troparion of St. Philaret of New York
Let us the faithful now come together to praise our father, protector and teacher the pillar of the Orthodox faith and firm defender of piety even the wondrous hierarch Philaret and let us glorify our Saviour Who has granted us his incorrupt relics as a manifest sign of his sanctity.
I think I may have figured it out, but am still not sure. Let's pretend we have the glass; we place a small amount of water into it. On top of that, we pour the oil. The glass is basically now half-full of oil...
I have the wick float. I "float" it on top of the oil. Now, how long must the wick be on the "oil side"? It is maybe 1/2" long ABOVE the oil, but what about beneath. Does there need to be a lot? Should it only be as deep as the oil or should it be so long it "winds" around the bottom of the glass?
I think I may have figured it out, but am still not sure. Let's pretend we have the glass; we place a small amount of water into it. On top of that, we pour the oil. The glass is basically now half-full of oil...
It should actually be more like 3/4ths filled with oil, or maybe even a little bit more. You just want a small amount of water at the bottom so that if the lamp keeps on burning for a long time, it'll eventually extinguish itself.
stephendaniel wrote:
I have the wick float. I "float" it on top of the oil. Now, how long must the wick be on the "oil side"? It is maybe 1/2" long ABOVE the oil, but what about beneath. Does there need to be a lot? Should it only be as deep as the oil or should it be so long it "winds" around the bottom of the glass?
On the oil side, it doesn't matter how long the wick is. The string on the oil side is just extra wick so that when the time is needed to trim the wick, you can pull a little bit of the wick up so that you can trim it and still have about an eraser head's length of wick sticking up to light with the flame. So it doesn't matter how much wick is on the oil side of the lamp.
stephendaniel wrote:
Thank you for your help.
No problem
Troparion of St. Philaret of New York
Let us the faithful now come together to praise our father, protector and teacher the pillar of the Orthodox faith and firm defender of piety even the wondrous hierarch Philaret and let us glorify our Saviour Who has granted us his incorrupt relics as a manifest sign of his sanctity.
I have vigil lamp with diameter of 7 cm and a similar height. How long should the wick be? I intend to use the old believer wickholder and not the floating cork. You can see this model here. Does it require to maintain the oil a a particular level. Do I also need to impregnate the wick with oil before lighting it.
