Vigil lamp keeps burning out

[Vicki]

Typically, it does not, but if the room is very small or your nose is very sensitive, you may wish to add a few drops of scented oil for vigil lamps available from some monasteries (Rose, Spikenard, etc.).

In the Risen Christ,

Vicki

[Schultz]

I finally got a oil vigil lamp for my icon corner and the wick keeps burning out. The first time I used it, the flame was nice and bright but I had to put the flame out and now when I try to relight it, it will burn for about ten minutes, and then the flame will get very small and weak, and then eventually burn out about half an hour after I first light it.

The wicks are the long cotton strands, not the short little pink ones. The wick is held by one of those wire jobbies that hangs on the side of the glass, not a cork float.

Can anyone offer any help on a) what I may be doing wrong and b) what I can do to fix it.

Thanks.

[Orthodox New England]

Here are some tips:

Be sure to use a lighter olive oil. Extra virgin does not burn as well. The older the olive oil, the better. Keep your olive oil bottle open so that it can "age" faster.

It sounds like you have an Old Believer float. Make sure that the cotton wicks are thick enough. Perhaps the wick is falling down, and hence burning out?

Take some of your wicks and soak them in vinegar. Let them dry out completely. Once dry, make sure the wick has a good point and put a little (very little) oil on the wick and light it.

I hope this helps.

Gregory

[Schultz]

Yes, I do have an Old Believer style float.

thank you for your tips. I'll give those a try this weekend.

[OrthodoxyOrDeath]

You also have to have a good wick - I use (and it is just because it works well) a cotton mop head from Home Depot. You also get a lifetime supply of wick for about $10.

The Old believer floats have a large hole for the wick , which allows the oil to be soaked up to the top of the wick freely. Anyway, with Old Believer floats these wicks last 12 to 18 hours.

Interesting side note, I thought I would test the wicks again from Eastern Christian Supply just to compare against mine again. Lo and behold, when I got them they looked exacly like strands from a cotton mop head!

[OrthodoxyOrDeath]

This may sound silly, but wouldn't mop strings be so lacking in body (i.e. limp) that they wouldn't work well?

In fact this is true for the athos style cork floats, but not the old-believer ones.

Also, mop strings are very loosely wound, so come apart easily. (Maybe I've bought only low-quality mops! Laughing )

You actually have to take apart each strand. Each strand of mop has 3 or 4 strands of what would be wick.

[priestmark]

I finally got a oil vigil lamp for my icon corner and the wick keeps burning out. The first time I used it, the flame was nice and bright but I had to put the flame out and now when I try to relight it, it will burn for about ten minutes, and then the flame will get very small and weak, and then eventually burn out about half an hour after I first light it.

Christ is Born!

Wicks do have to be trimmed, but it shouldn't be necessary every ten minutes.

If properly "tuned," the oil burns up much faster than the wick and you can go literally days between wick trimming. But when what you have described happens to me, it is because the end of the wick in the holder is charred. This happens when the wick is "starved" for oil and doesn't get enough oil "wicking" up by capillary action. (It's "running too lean" to extend the carburetor analogy.) Frequently this is because the wick is simply too tight in the holder.

Too loose and it falls out, too tight and it impedes oil movement. Without oil to burn, the cotton burns instead, all the way down to the holder and then it goes out.

Try untwisting the (single, I hope) strand of wick. It may or may not separate completely to form an almost transparent skein of parallel fibers with little or no twist remaining (floss-like).

If so, this will pull up and down smoothly when trimming the wick, or adjusting the flame height, whereas twisted fibers (or more than one strand) that are wedged in too tightly can easily form a little ball that bunches up at the bottom and squeezes the wick. When that happens pull it through and cut it off and start over. You can untwist an already oil-soaked strand, but it is easier to do so when it's dry. Then twist the very end only enough to thread it through the holder. Remove the excess twist after you have threaded the wick, but leave a pointy tip that is easy to light. Unless you have a long and heavy length of wick, the untwisted strand will hold itself in place when you remove the holder to trim the wick.

Adjust the height of the flame so it is steady and unflickering - passionless.

Coarse mop-cotton has long strong fibers which are desirable, but they are typically not as clean, white, fine, nor almost transparent in oil when "unspun." Like everything else related to the Church, offer the best you can find.

Hope ths helps.

pr Mark

http://www.orthodox.net/articles/olive-oil-usage.html