Questions about tray icon new

[Kevin Anthony <kevin s anthony gmail com>]

i'm writing an application called rchip, Âi switched from
status_icon_set_from_file to status_icon_new_from_icon_name.

old code:
tray_icon = gtk_status_icon_new();
gtk_status_icon_set_from_file (tray_icon,PREFIX "/share/rchip.png");
new code
tray_icon = gtk_status_icon_new_from_icon_name ("rchip");

the old code produces a status icon like all other status icons, if
fits in on my bar.
The new code produces an icon that is double wide, with the image centered.

i'm guessing the stock size for icons are 24x24 which is what the old
code produces, the new code produces 48x24 image, with 12pix of blank
space on either side.
I looked over my png files, and none of them have extra space on the
left and right.

it's very odd behavior. Âwhat is causing it?

-- 
Thanks
Kevin Anthony