I Have a 7.5 cm Diameter Jar and 200 g Fill Weight — Should I Choose My Wick Based on Jar Diameter or Candle Weight?

The split rule, in one table

The question mixes two measurements that do different jobs in a purchase. The diameter is a surface: it decides how much wax has to melt across, so it decides which wicks are worth buying. The fill weight is a quantity: it decides how many grams each test candle eats and how many hours it burns. Keep them apart and the order writes itself.

The weight moves the wax and oil by exactly 33.3%, but the burn by 45%. That gap is the useful part: the ~1 cm left at the stop is the same 39 g of wax in both candles (same width, rule-of-thumb density), so the extra 50 g is all burnable. The heavier candle is not just a bigger version of the light one; it is the light one with an extra 1.29 cm on top that must also pass.

Diameter: which wicks go in the order

Pool area is π × r² on the inside diameter: geometry, not a burn prediction. A 7.5 cm inside diameter gives 44.18 cm², 14.8% more than 7.0 cm (38.48 cm²) and 12.1% less than 8.0 cm (50.27 cm²). In the 7 cm post our judgement puts the centre at C1–C2; in the 8 cm hub, at C2–Cotton Braided. At 7.5 cm we put it at C2, with C1 as the documented fail below and Cotton Braided, whose page describes it for candles "exceeding 8 cm", as the fail above. All three tabbed rungs, three candles each: judgement, not a verdict.

Either way you buy the same three packs, which is the point of a three-rung range: an uncertain reading shifts where you expect the answer, not what you order. It still matters for the calendar: a very rough rule of thumb of about one hour per 2.5 cm of width puts a full first pool at about 3.0 hours, so plan sessions of at least three hours. Measuring inside versus outside is the external versus internal diameter post.

Weight: the ladder bill at 150 g and 200 g

Load is a percentage of total candle weight, CSI's convention: 150 g at 8% is 12 g of oil + 138 g of wax; 200 g at 8% is 16 g + 184 g. British Rose's listing states "candles (up to 10% soy, up to 6% paraffin)"; CSI 464's page "Fragrance Load Up to 10%". 8% is inside both, and 8.70% of wax weight is inside 10% on either reading of the wax ceiling.

Look at where the extra money goes: every rupee of the ₹389.80 is oil and wax; not one is wick. The re-pour reserve is the trap in a weight change. Bottles that cover a 150 g re-pour do not cover a 200 g one: 100 g + 50 g of British Rose leaves 6 g after nine 200 g candles, not the 48 g a re-pour needs, and two 1 kg bags leave 344 g of wax, not 552 g. If you size the 200 g order from a 150 g habit, the first split result costs you a second delivery.

Weight: burn hours and test days

Fill weight sets how long the approval takes, because a wick is approved only when all three candles of the leading rung have burned to the end (about 1 cm left is common practice) without failing. The sessions below use a worked-example burn rate of 6 g an hour; measure your own grams per hour on burn 1 by weighing before and after, as in the full-life calendar post, and redo the arithmetic.

Two more burn days for the same nine wicks: that is the whole wick-related cost of the heavier candle, and it is paid in time, not rupees. It matters when there is a date: Christmas is 25 December 2026, 85 days from 1 October 2026, ample for either fill if you start now; a 200 g ladder poured late in the season has less slack for a re-pour. Do not shorten sessions to save days. A two-hour burn on a 7.5 cm candle can hide a tunnel that a three- or four-hour customer burn would reveal. How far down a test candle has to go before it counts is the acceptance-depth post.

Selling 150 g and 200 g in the same jar

Many makers pour two weights in one jar: a 150 g "standard" and a 200 g "large", or a lower fill for a lid that sits deeper. Diameter is the same, so the rungs are the same; the question is how many extra wicks the second weight costs. Approve on the heavier fill first: its full life passes through the whole zone the 150 g candle burns in. Then run a short confirmation of the winner at 150 g, three candles, because the lighter candle starts lower in the jar with more glass above its pool, which tends to change early burns (a tendency, not a rule).

So the C2 10-pack covers everything up to a second fill weight and a re-pour. The 20-pack becomes the right buy only at the last line, and even then it is the same ₹9.44 per wick, the same price as two 10-packs. The 150 g confirmation adds 36 g of oil and 414 g of wax, which the 200 g ladder's re-pour reserve (56 g of oil, 844 g of wax) already covers if no re-pour was needed. A jar change at the same weight is a different problem: the same-capacity new-jar post; a heavy glass base at 200 g is the heavy-base full-life post.

Scaling to production: wicks by count, wax and oil by weight

Wicks to buy = candles × wicks per candle × (1 + allowance), the formula from the hub; the fill weight is not in it. Oil and wax = candles × grams per candle, which is all fill weight. With a worked-example 160 candles a month and a 5% allowance, here is the same month at both weights.

The wick line is word for word the same; the oil and wax lines are a third bigger. Per candle, the wick (₹9.44) is a smaller share of the heavier candle, so a heavier candle never makes a cheaper wick worth hunting for. The 10-day lead time is your figure: CSI dispatches from Pune and publishes no lead times or stock depth; confirm dispatch on WhatsApp before a big run.

What to buy for a 7.5 cm, 200 g ladder

Five items for a 7.5 cm ladder at 200 g, chosen on page statements, price and stock on 1 October 2026; nothing is ranked on burn results, because CSI publishes none. Oil candle counts are shown at 12 g (150 g) and 16 g (200 g) per candle.

Skip for this ladder: Performance Wooden Wicks (₹590.00 for 10): one listing, no widths, a separate cotton-versus-wood test. Steel Wick Holder (₹250.00 for 5): only if a double-wick arm becomes necessary, which a 7.5 cm single-rung ladder does not plan for. Eco Candle Wicks Loose (₹413.00 for 5 m): untabbed, its page targets "2 inch diameters", below this jar.

Frequently asked questions