Forums > Social Chat > Flames went out!!!!

Posted: 30th Jan 2011
Well the gods clearly don't want you spinning fire. You'd best take up knitting or playing Magic the Gathering....

No it happens occasionally, both in warm and cold weather. Especially with kerosene. Sometimes the fire doesn't get a chance to 'stick' to the poi. There are threads which explains why but suffice to say that it is a rare but still possible phenomena.

"Are you sure it's safe to drink bleach?"
"Yes, bleach is 90% water, we are 90% water, therefore: we are bleach."
-Nathan Explosion, Metalocalypse

Posted: 30th Jan 2011
Are you spinning directly after lighting them or giving the fire a sec or two to gain some power?

Posted: 30th Jan 2011
This has happened to me many a time. It's happened to me within a minute or 2 or burning as well and it's just like *pff* "Woah wtf?"

The only luck is bad luck.

Shut up before I stall my poi up your ass

Posted: 30th Jan 2011
thank you!!!! we were stuck thinking some crazy ideas lol

Posted: 31st Jan 2011
the fuel has to warm up enough for it to vaporise and reach it's flashpoint, if you start spinning too hard before the heat has a chance to penetrate deeper into the fuel stored in the wick you run the risk of the available fuel vapour igniting&burning (thus spending it's heat energy) too far away from where the poi's head is, ie- the trail of fire. This effect is magnified the faster you spin or if there is a high wind- knock on effect is that the liquid fuel in the wick doesn't reach flashpoint, therefore goodbye fire.
The solution is to give the fire a good opportunity to catch and let the heat built a bit (how long depends on your fuel type). If you watch a lot of professional performers when they are starting their routines they have incorporated a slow segment of movement at the beginning of their performance for this reason.
Another major factor to consider is the temperature of your fuel/equipment, if it's -10 degrees celsius then the fuel has a hell of a lot more heat to gain before reaching flashpoint than if your spinning on a beach in paradise !!!

even chuck norris can't pin you down if your on fire

Posted: 31st Jan 2011
I would agree with liquidtrance. The fuel and the poi need to warm up enough to give a stable flame.
Just to add another possibility, are your wicks gunked up with residue from loads of previous burns? If so then this will affect your burns and you would need to give the wicks a good wash in kero or maybe a solvent cleaner (outside).

'You can only be free when you have nothing to loose'

Posted: 1st Feb 2011
I have another suggestion.
Do you guys fire eat? There is a trick where you have a fire stick and slowly raise the fire stick at the same "rate" as the fire and then pull down quickly. I don't know what this is called, but lots of fire eaters do it.

This can also happen with poi. If you are swinging poi from side to side, sometime the poi can just immediately go out on a downstroke.. This is from this effect.
It doesn't matter how much fuel and how long it's been working...

Posted: 1st Feb 2011
^^ good point night crawler, i find a good soak in meth spirit then a burn takes off the worst of the kero-scum

even chuck norris can't pin you down if your on fire