Butane lighter Failures

rcerex

Hi, I'm starting to get a collection of nice lighters that no longer function and wonder if it's something I'm doing wrong or I keep buying the ones that slipped Q/C.

I have ones from Xicar(4), Prometheus, Porsche,Colibri, etc. They all seem to last about 6 months and then fail to light, I get the spark and can hear the gas escaping but no go. I don't abuse the lighters as they are stored in a drawer until I need them. Frequency of use is from 1-2 weeks, and I recharge holding the lighter upside down and use Colibri or Xicar Butane.

Any insights would be appreciated as I currently have half a dozen of non functioning lighters, the local store doesn't have any answers. although they happily offered to sell me a new one. Please help as I'm getting ready to switch to Bic disposables,lol.

CharlieHeis

My first can of butane was less than quality, so that was my first thought. But as I kept reading your post I saw you have good butane. Do you purge your lighter before you fill it? Also, wait a while after filling to use the lighter. This may not be helpful, but it covers the mistakes I was making. Do a search on youtube also.

PAtoNH

The Xikar lighters have lifetime warranties so those could be replaced. Have you experimented with adjusting the flame height? I have a lighter that blows itself out when set too high. I agree with Charlie that purging the lighter is important.

New Boots

Yup, you MUST purge the lighter, before every refill. You are going to end up with most of your gas tank filled with air. That could easily be what you hear escaping. Flip upside down, purge until there is no more hiss, then fill slowly. Give it about 30min for the fuel to come to the proper temp, then try to light.

IF the Xikar still don't work, send 'em back. OR, send 'em to me so I can send 'em back.

Gray4lines

As others have said... Purge before every refill. Could be flame height/butane flow... Too high or too low.

Some lighters you can remove the fly wheel and adjust the flow valve so that when the fly wheel is replaced you have a better range of flow. This is a fix for example when you have the wheel all the way "open" and still not enough butane is coming out.

Also, do you see a spark when the igniter clicks. You can sometimes push the wire end down a little to create a bigger arc of electricity on the igniter.

Lee.mcglynn

Just too add the small airway can get clogged easily so blow compressed air into the nozzle too free it back up. Most companies have a foam surrounding under neath where the gas comes out of that will attrack lint and dirt fast and easily so the compressed air should clear the debri

rcerex

Thanks for the tips. I got two working by holding them upside down and letting it purge for about a minute and I turned down the flame control too. I have three that I can hear leaking from the fill valve after I refill with butane, so these will have to get repaired. One of these is my old Prometheus that I really like; it has a two stage flame: one has a high flow and the other is like an old Zippo .

One last question, are there any good repair shops I can send the Colibris' and the Prometheus?

Cigary

Good suggestions from everybody....purging is necessary for sure because the air trapped inside the chamber will cause the lighter to sputter or not even light. As long as you are getting a spark that means there is fuel inside. Sometimes all you need is a good blast of compressed air to get the lighter to work but your best way of doing things is do them in a correct order. Purge...purge again until you don't hear ANY hissing at all. After you do this turn your lighter upside down and refill it but ensure the nozzle isn't kinked or you'll get a blast of butane and that means you just filled the chamber with a mix of butane and air...that's the problem a lot of us have. A good refill will mean you don't have an overspray and all of the butane goes inside the chamber. I usually will count out 8 seconds while refilling...then I'll stop for 4 seconds and then fill again for 4 more seconds as that will fill the chamber all the way. Butane expands so you want to let the refill stop once and then fill again to ensure a complete refill. Wait for at least a few minutes to get the butane back down to room temps.....then dial your adjustment all the way down and then dial it up about a 1/4...try and light it..if it doesnt light then turn it another 1/4 and light. After you get a flame then you can dial the adjustment to whatever flame height you want. If you ever hear the gas escaping during lighting that means one of two things.....either your adjustment is up all the way allowing too much gas to enter into the lighting stage or your connection tube is loose allowing the gas to escape.

danielzreyes

Ronson .... Walmart .... $4 .... Neeeeeexxxxxxt

allsmokedup

danielzreyes:

Ronson .... Walmart .... $4 .... Neeeeeexxxxxxt

Signed, sealed and delivered. I was coming in here to say this exact thing.

Chemnitz

allsmokedup:

danielzreyes:

Ronson .... Walmart .... $4 .... Neeeeeexxxxxxt

Signed, sealed and delivered. I was coming in here to say this exact thing.

Are these still available? I've looked in several Walmarts now specifically for this lighter. Nada.

Cigary

Each Walmart seems to be different...some stock them and others don't. Here in my area they stock a ton of them but they have gone up in price...from $3 to the price they are now..$6 but it's still a great deal on them. I discovered another Ronson lighter called the "Comet" which is a soft flame like a big only it's rechargeable and I take mine on plane trips....it always gets through. The Comet is something you can find at some places like CVS or Rite Aid and can be Googled and bought as well. The CVS here charges $1 a piece....that's like stealing and they work great.

Chemnitz

New Boots:

Yup, you MUST purge the lighter, before every refill. You are going to end up with most of your gas tank filled with air. That could easily be what you hear escaping. Flip upside down, purge until there is no more hiss, then fill slowly. Give it about 30min for the fuel to come to the proper temp, then try to light.

Wow! Thanks for the purging tip. I just brought back to life an old Colibri lighter that I'd long given up on. Works like new!

Sasquatch

Cigary:

Good suggestions from everybody....purging is necessary for sure because the air trapped inside the chamber will cause the lighter to sputter or not even light. As long as you are getting a spark that means there is fuel inside. Sometimes all you need is a good blast of compressed air to get the lighter to work but your best way of doing things is do them in a correct order. Purge...purge again until you don't hear ANY hissing at all. After you do this turn your lighter upside down and refill it but ensure the nozzle isn't kinked or you'll get a blast of butane and that means you just filled the chamber with a mix of butane and air...that's the problem a lot of us have. A good refill will mean you don't have an overspray and all of the butane goes inside the chamber. I usually will count out 8 seconds while refilling...then I'll stop for 4 seconds and then fill again for 4 more seconds as that will fill the chamber all the way. Butane expands so you want to let the refill stop once and then fill again to ensure a complete refill. Wait for at least a few minutes to get the butane back down to room temps.....then dial your adjustment all the way down and then dial it up about a 1/4...try and light it..if it doesnt light then turn it another 1/4 and light. After you get a flame then you can dial the adjustment to whatever flame height you want. If you ever hear the gas escaping during lighting that means one of two things.....either your adjustment is up all the way allowing too much gas to enter into the lighting stage or your connection tube is loose allowing the gas to escape.

^^^^THIS
purge completely, fill, turn flame adjustment down & move up as needed