Wax melters are devices used in the packaging and

candle A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candl ...

-making industries to melt wax. The type of tank used to melt

candle wax A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candles ...

is quite different from adhesives, solder, and tar. For example, tanks used for

adhesives Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

may need to be heated up to whilst an organic soy wax will be ruined at over and should never be heated above . A delicate soy wax used to make

candles A candle is an ignitable candle wick, wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a Aroma compound, fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. ...

would be destroyed and burned if not heated in an even manner at lower temperatures than

solder Solder (; NA: ) is a fusible metal alloy used to create a permanent bond between metal workpieces. Solder is melted in order to wet the parts of the joint, where it adheres to and connects the pieces after cooling. Metals or alloys suitable ...

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscosity, viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic matter, organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. ...

. Also, since

soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used ...

s and

s are scented and coloured, tanks designed for melting these substances need to be specially polished to ensure there is no contamination between different scented/coloured candles or soap. For this reason, there are melting tanks that are specially coated for candle wax melting.

Types

Wax melters, such as melting tanks, are generally classified as either 'direct heating' or 'water jacket heating'. A third type is known as the convection melter. A water jacket melter is generally preferred if more than 40 litres or so are to be poured. A melter should be polished and have a coating to prevent cross contamination if heavily scented or coloured substances are to be used.

Direct heat

Direct heat melters are generally made from

aluminium Aluminium (aluminum in AmE, American and CanE, Canadian English) is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately o ...

and can heat up to over . The uses vary from wax to

. These melters have the heating element placed in contact with the aluminium, which is directly against the substance to be melted, hence the name 'direct melter'. Since these melters apply heat directly, they generally cannot be larger than 20-40 litres.

Water jacket

Water Jacket Melters function more like a large, commercial

double boiler A bain-marie (; also known as a water bath or double boiler), a type of heated bath, is a piece of equipment used in science, industry, and cooking to heat materials gently or to keep materials warm over a period of time. A bain-marie is also ...

in that they keep substances evenly heated but generally heat up to only , since that is the boiling point of water. They can be made of aluminium, but are generally made of stainless steel. Unlike direct heat melters, water jacket melters can be almost unlimited in size, with 580 litres being common and up to the larger ~3800 litre melters and more.

Convection

There is another type of melter which uses convection heating similar to an

oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been use ...

but these are generally more expensive than normal heaters, even though they are very inefficient and take a long time to heat simply because they rely on air to heat. Since wax is

flammable A combustible material is something that can burn (i.e., ''combust'') in air. A combustible material is flammable if it ignites easily at ambient temperatures. In other words, a combustible material ignites with some effort and a flammable mat ...

, another concern with using convection melters is that the flash point of wax will be triggered and there will be an

explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Supersonic explosions created by high explosives are kno ...

. Convection melters are dangerous when heating flammable substances and should not be used.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wax Melters Candles

Types

Direct heat

Water jacket

Convection

See also

References