Forums > Help! > Separate chains for coloured flames?

Posted: 25th Jan 2004
My understanding is that unless you thoroughly clean the fire head of almost all leftover kero/white gas/nonpolar fuel, it won't burn with color. You could soak it in water and press the water out (which will contain small amounts of leftover kero) a few times and let it dry and try it out, although in the long run if you'll be using kero again, you're better off getting another pair of fire heads.

Posted: 26th Jan 2004
Thanks for that!
I didnt want to ruin my chains, il make some special coloured ones!

Posted: 26th Jan 2004
If you going to make a dedicated set I've got an idea for you. I'm assuming your using boric acid to get your color. Boric acid is polar so it dissolves in water, you can make a supersaturated mixture (add boric acid to boiling water untill it does not dissolve anymore). Dip your dedicated wicks in it let them soak about an hr and take them out. Let them dry and your wicks are impregnated with boric acid. Now you can use any fuel you want and you can get a couple colored burns out of them. Granted depending on what you use, you might not see the green untill the flames go down a little like with white gass or lamp oil/kero. May make for an interesting effect.

Just an idea maybee it will work for someone.

Cody Canon
Controlled Burn, Reno Nevada

Posted: 26th Jan 2004
I have a problem with this method... since white gas/kero isn't polar, what would cause the boric acid to burn? It'd have to be dissolved in to the fuel for it to burn, NOT the kevlar, because the whole point of the kevlar is that it doesn't burn. You'd have boric imbued kevlar, I agree, but that wouldn't make the flames green, I think.

All theory at the moment, so correct me if I'm wrong.

Posted: 27th Jan 2004
I see your perspective let me clairify. If you were to hypothetically hold a chunk of boric acid over a flame, it would change the flame green. The boric acid does not need to be dissolved to burn, just in fire. The kevlar doesn't burn because of it's own properties. I know this works because I used to put copper sulfate (similar to boric acid) in a small container of white gass. It would not dissove, but I would shake it up in to a slurry and pour it on to my wicks. Then for the next 2 or 3 burns I would get green fire untill the copper sulfate had all burned up.

The more I think about it you may not get as much green fire as you would using dissolved boric. But it does work.

Having pre-boric wicks and using denatured alcohol as fuel could save you from mixing the fuel ahead of time. but it's not any less work.

And to clarify when the wicks dry, the chemicals come out of solution and crystalize, they don't "bond" to or become part of the kevlar. You can do the same with sugar or salt and make cristals and rock candy.

Cody Canon
Controlled Burn, Reno Nevada

Posted: 6th Feb 2004
Just a comment, and probably way off, but it would seem that if you're putting a coating over your kevlar they would indeed light up and burn it green like you say. But, a coating over the kev would also limit how much fuel they will actually absorb, since the boric acid isnt going to disolve into the fuel, and its coating all of the kevlar, how is the fuel going to get past the acid to soak in? So you might have green flames, but I think it might be a mighty short burn.

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Posted: 6th Feb 2004
Thanks Cody... as I said, i haven't dabbled in to colored flames, and I doubt I ever will, I was going by my very simple understanding of the concept.

You wouldn't have a problem soaking... the boric acid won't make an impermeable barrier around the wick, there will be more than enough room for the fuel to soak in.