Martin Logan panels and candle smoke

[Lyonsno]

Hello,

I've recently acquired a pair of reQuests, which I am loving. My girlfriend and I live in a small apartment, so there is only one room for leisure activities, and this is where the speakers are. I've heard that cigarette smoke is very bad for the panels, but most people seem to specifically mention the tar buildup. We like to light scented candles once every week or two, and they have to be in the same room as the speakers. Do you think the smoke from the candles would damage the panels over time, even if I vacuum them regularly? I'm hoping that since there is no tar in the candles and they produce very little visible smoke that things would be ok.

Thanks!

 

[twich54]

IMO, yes. There is no smoke that is good for the mylar and scented candles are oiler than others.

 

[sleepysurf]

Interesting question! My wife often has a scented candle burning in our kitchen, adjacent to our family/listening room, so this piqued my curiosity.

I happen to have an electronic air quality detector (https://www.amazon.com/IGERESS-Dete...ution-Recording/dp/B07B7KLMVW?ref_=ast_bbp_dp), so I conducted an experiment. I measured Particulate Matter in uM (PM1.0, PM2.5, and PM10) and Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) in four locations...

1) Baseline in an enclosed room at opposite end of house



2) Adjacent to burning candle



3) 10 feet from burning candle



4) At ML panel (~20 ft from candle).



Interestingly, there were no measurable TVOC, even adjacent to the candle. The PM measurements were slightly elevated, but fell off proportionally to the distance from the candle. I presume the fall-off is exponential vs. linear, but didn't take enough measurements to plot!

Bottom line... at least for this particular (Yankee) candle composition, and airflow in the room (A/C off while measured) , there was minimal spread of smoke/particulates beyond 10+ feet from the candle., and it reached a baseline level by 20 feet. I suppose you can just use your "nasal sniffer" in lieu of an actual air quality meter, to judge the risk. If you can't smell much of the candle scent at your speaker location, you're probably not getting much particle deposition there.

Of note, after conducting this experiment, I did ask my wife to please keep the lit candle on the opposite side of our kitchen, just to minimize the potential risk.

Will be interesting to see if anybody from ML chimes in on this!

P.S. I swear I didn't buy this meter to measure droplet spread for social distancing!

I hope everybody and your families are safe.

 

[twich54]

great reply Alan ! you and yours stay safe as well !

 

[Lyonsno]

Wow thank you so much Alan, that was an amazing response! For comparison, do you have any ballpark idea of what 10 ft away from a cigarette would measure like? If my speakers are usually hanging out in 003 and that's not hurting them at all, then 005 seems like it wouldn't be too bad either.

 

[sleepysurf]

Sorry, no idea how cigarette smoke would measure, since it would be a different chemical composition. Do you or your girlfriend smoke?

FYI, I previously had Summits for ~10 yrs, and my wife burned candles 3-4 times/week during that time. I measured my Summits with XTZ Room Analyzer prior to selling them, and the panels were still functioning close to their baseline (vacuumed ~ every 3 months).

 

[timm]

IMO, yes. There is no smoke that is good for the mylar and scented candles are oiler than others.

I agree with Dave. You have the dispersion plus the electrostatic charge that attracts it.

 

[sleepysurf]

Here's a (somewhat old) scientific study from EPA about candle emissions... https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi/P100GWD5.PDF?Dockey=P100GWD5.PDF

It appears that most particles are generated when the flame is extinguished, or when using multiple wick candles. Beeswax candles have lower emissions. I've also read, elsewhere, that soy based candles are better than paraffin (as used in Yankee candles).

For those particularly interested, you can find many more candle emission scientific papers by searching Google Scholar.

Based on this, I've asked my wife to buy only soy based candles, and to extinguish the flame thoroughly to eliminate smoldering.