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EasterJoy
Guest
Is there any trick to keeping the taper inside a candle lighter from sticking to the inside of the end of the barrel?
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Apollos
Guest
Corn starch
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EasterJoy
Guest
How do you apply it, and how often does it need to be re-applied?
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Apollos
Guest
If you’re talking about a brass tube/bell extingusher thingy on a sitck, with a tube through which you push a waxed string, then just take a three-fingered pinchful of cornstarch and swipe it up and down the waxed string before you load it into the tube part.
You’re an altar-girl, aren’t you.
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diggerdomer
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tee_eff_em
Guest
Huh. 
I was always well served by the training to snuff the taper, then immediately extend it again.
tee
I was always well served by the training to snuff the taper, then immediately extend it again.
tee
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Chatter163
Guest
As another member pointed out, this happens only when servers leave the taper inside the barrel when finished with it. It is imperative that when one slides the taper in, that one immediately pushes it out again. This prevents the wax from melting inside and the taper from sticking. This should be part of any basic serving instruction.
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TheMc
Guest
Huh.
I was always well served by the training to snuff the taper, then immediately extend it again.
tee
Yes. Do this. It works every time.
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EasterJoy
Guest
No, but I have a candle lighter (this is what the supply houses call these thingys) from the parish that was all mucked up with wax inside and sticking all the time, and I wondered if I needed to do anything to set it right besides getting the accumulation of wax out of the insides.
By the way, what is the crack about being an altar-girl supposed to mean, anyway? I’m hoping that you don’t think the tag “EasterJoy” overly cute for a grown woman. (I joined the forum during Easter week, so it seemed apropos at the time.) At any rate, I’m well over 40, so suffice it to say that I did not have the formative experience of having the care and feeding of one of these gadgets when I was in grade school. Not that it would matter, as neither our parish priest nor any of the other men my age or older knew the cornstarch trick!
As an aside with regards to the comment, though: I’m not advocating that males and females should be regarded as ritual equivalents with regards to ordination, but I should still point out that the USCCB has asked that laypeople (whether men, women, boys, or girls) who are permitted to carry out the liturgical functions of the instituted acolyte be called “servers”, not “altar boys”. In our parish, at least, what the archbishop says, that is what we do. The pastor is going to wind up a monsignor, if he is not careful.
(nccbuscc.org/liturgy/current/servers.shtml).
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Apollos
Guest
I realized my misunderstanding this morning - you’re talking about back-melt from the heat of the flame warming the tube and then hardening again, seizing everything up But soaking the tube in hot-hot water will get the gunk out from inside.
The crack was a bit of sexist cliquishness … you listen to Dr Laura too, don’t you?By the way, what is the crack about being an altar-girl supposed to mean, anyway? I’m hoping that you don’t think the tag “EasterJoy” overly cute for a grown woman. (I joined the forum during Easter week, so it seemed apropos at the time.) At any rate, I’m well over 40, so suffice it to say that I did not have the formative experience of having the care and feeding of one of these gadgets when I was in grade school. Not that it would matter, as neither our parish priest nor any of the other men my age or older knew the cornstarch trick!
We call them female altar boysAs an aside with regards to the comment, though: I’m not advocating that males and females should be regarded as ritual equivalents with regards to ordination, but I should still point out that the USCCB has asked that laypeople (whether men, women, boys, or girls) who are permitted to carry out the liturgical functions of the instituted acolyte be called “servers”, not “altar boys”. In our parish, at least, what the archbishop says, that is what we do. The pastor is going to wind up a monsignor, if he is not careful.
(nccbuscc.org/liturgy/current/servers.shtml).
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EasterJoy
Guest
We instructed the servers to do that, but it stuck, anyway, and really glued up badly. The candle lighters had been abandoned some time back because of sticking problems, with the solution that the candles themselves were brought back to the sacristy, lit, and then taken back out. The candle holders were recently replaced with a different kind and this was no longer workable. The server trainer, new to the parish but not new to training servers, said the candle lighters were never a problem in her old parish, even though they never made any big deal about how to use them, just gave the servers the basic instructions.
After inspecting one of the candle lighters at our current parish, we were thinking that there was so much wax inside that the end of the brass barrel got sticky as soon as it was the least bit hot, that just cleaning them out might solve everything. Still, we had no idea if there was any other maintanence issues we needed to know about, and had no desire to repeat the tedium of cleaning them out again. We certainly don’t want to buy new ones, though, if the real problem was operator error! No one in the Altar Society seemed to know what caused this problem or what regular maintenance was required.
Probably the sacristan at the trainer’s old parish was very careful about keeping the candle lighters clean. He probably knew the cornstarch trick, too, who knows. We’ll try getting a bit more aggressive about getting every bit of old wax out of the insides, use the cornstarch treatment on the tapers, and see if that does the trick.
Thanks, everyone!
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EasterJoy
Guest
As long as they laugh, too, that is the main thing, so be very sure that all of the “female altar boys” take the joke in the spirit is it intended. I don’t get to listen to Dr. Laura much, but I’ve been around the block with my sisters in the Church enough times to know that there is no aggression so relentless as passive-aggression. If you have to have enemies, you don’t want any of them to be one of us, trust me on that. Elephants have nothing on us. For that matter, any fellow Christian who is ninety-nine percent gentle, be it a male or a female, should not make you complacent about giving offense! (I’m sure the monks can tell stories!I realized my misunderstanding this morning - you’re talking about back-melt from the heat of the flame warming the tube and then hardening again, seizing everything up But soaking the tube in hot-hot water will get the gunk out from inside.
The crack was a bit of sexist cliquishness … you listen to Dr Laura too, don’t you?
We call them female altar boys
)I’ll give the lighters a good heating when I’ve got them mostly clear, to get the last film of wax out. Thanks!
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Apollos
Guest
How did we survive 2000 years?
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EasterJoy
Guest
By humbling asking people who know what they’re doing instead of re-inventing the wheel 2000 times, I guess!
It really was a pain to get all of that wax out of the barrel of that thing. Really. I do not want to make that a regular part of my other Altar Society duties.
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