I talked to John who works for the company Zophar Mills Inc, and they make different types of wax for potting coils and make specialty products for the electronics industry. The company has been around since 1846 and have made various wax potting compounds listed below. It is important to find what type wax you need for your specific application. If you can’t find a specific item needed, they have developed over 4,000 products in their laboratory. Here is a chart of some older waxes that can be used for various coil and transformer applications.

Impregnation Waxes
Type Melting Point (°F) Specific Gravity Color
1340 180 0.906 Pale Yellow
1393 170 0.912 Pale Yellow
1436 185 0.917 Light Lemon
1440 160 0.918 Light Yellow
1463 150 0.903 Pale Yellow
1539 190 0.917 Lemon
1546 192 0.942 Light Lemon
1549 185 0.904 Light Lemon
1592 185 0.904 Light Lemon
1563 234 0 1. 028 Tan
F-530 160 0.906 White
C-760 265 0.940 Pale Yellow
F-590 265 0 NA Pale Lemon
F-596 275 0 NA Light Yellow
C-770 265 0.942 Pale Yellow
F-924 172 0.906 Yellow
C-22 143 0.920 Lemon
C-994 250 0 NA Yellow
Q-589 265 0 NA Light Tan
Q-448 275 0 NA Tan
C-50 260 0.942 Pale Lemon
Z-71 270 0 NA Light Yellow
Z-81 188 0 NA Light Yellow
Paraffin Waxes
Type Melting Point (°F) Specific Gravity Color
P-18 133 0 NA NA
P5-8 143 0 NA NA
P19-4 158 0 NA NA
I do not use paraffin waxes that you can buy commercially in supermarkets as they often have a shiny glaze that looks bad when potting guitar or bass pickups. Note: working with wax and heating elements can be very dangerous. Proper procedures must be done with eye protection and ventilation.