Renew that old Zippo

ET2SN · 02-02-22, 06:13 PM

I kind of tripped over this at Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My old conventional Zippo served me well, natural brass with my initials stamped on the top cover. The problems were that even a Zippo can wear out and conventional lighters tend to work weird in Iowa (they either become a blow torch or just give up in a 40-50 MPH "slight breeze") so I switched over to a nicer butane lighter and stuck Old Faithful on the shelf.

What a cool flipping idea! This is a butane lighter which fits inside the outer cover of a traditional Zippo.

(also available as a dual jet lighter)

Sean C · 02-02-22, 10:05 PM

Many moons ago I worked in a store that sold refillable butane lighters. They can be a bit tricky to maintain. I'm not sure if there's a propellant mixed in with the butane in the refill canisters, but sometimes it seemed to help if any gas left in the lighter is vented before refilling.

Careful adjustment of the flow of butane is also recommended. I have an old butane lighter that I had to partially disassemble in order to increase the maximum flow.

Honestly, I'd rather just use the original innards. But then, Zippos tend to work just fine every time here in south-eastern Virginia. YMMV.

If anyone needs any advice on how to keep a butane lighter working, I'm here for you!

ET2SN · 02-03-22, 12:28 AM

This is one of those times when Stoichiometry and Thermodynamics pays off in a household setting. Trust me, I'm not a whacko and this stuff really works.

The one thing that tends to kick people's butts with butane lighters is that they work great until you have to refill them. Then, a perfectly good lighter tends to get thrown away or that refill only lasts for 1/10th as long as when it was new and people get frustrated.

The secret to getting a good refill is what I call "Delta T". Basically, with all things being equal, you need to maximize one of the properties of gas flow (in this case, Butane which has some goofy properties). Without being in a lab environment, this can be the frustrating part.

Without all the science mumbo-jumbo, here's how to refill a lighter to like-new or better levels:

Start with a good can of Butane gas. Avoid the cheap stuff. Cans of Butane usually come in 2.5 to 10 oz. (80 to 290 ml) sizes. The main danger with Butane is that it sheds thermal energy like the plague when it goes from a high pressure environment (in the can) to a low pressure environment (regular air pressure). What all of that means is that if you can see liquid Butane outside of a container, AVOID GETTING IT ON YOUR SKIN. In normal air pressure, liquid Butane will be super cold (like -50 degrees), cold enough to "burn" you.

You'll also need to purge your lighter before you can refill it. This doesn't make sense at first, but you want the pressure in your lighter's "tank" to be the same as normal air pressure. You can find tools to purge a lighter online, or find some thin metal tubing (check the tip of your Butane refill can to get an idea of what kind of tubing you'll need). Carefully purge your lighter, make sure any Butane doesn't touch you.

Now comes the "Delta T" part. People tend to figure out that the higher the pressure in the refill can, the better the refill. This is only half right. What we're going to do is use different temperatures to maximize the refill.

So, instead of heating the can of Butane (dangerous), chuck your purged lighter in your freezer for 1 to 2 hours.

Believe me, this works so well that you'll wind up with more fuel than you would get in a new lighter. Once your lighter is really cold, grab your can of Butane and hold onto it for a couple of minutes. This will transfer a little body heat into the can, not much but you don't need much with Butane.
Now, pull your lighter out of the freezer, make sure its upside down with the refill port on top, and start the fill from the refill can. I usually do a "ten count" at first, then pop the refill can off for a couple of seconds, then pop it back on for another "ten count" before I call it good. Now all you have to do is let your lighter warm back up to room temperature. Its a good idea at this point to adjust the flame setting to its lowest value.

Even with the adjustment at its lowest setting, your lighter is going to HISS a bit for the first 3-5 lights.

If you're skeptical, that's cool. Let me prove it to you.

As a bonus, I can bet you a dollar to a donut that Chazlie can't help but smile when he reads this.

If your an egg head who enjoys a good math problem, we're exploiting the equation

PV=nRT

by keeping the values of V , n, and R constant so we can manipulate the values of P (pressure) and T (temperature).

See? That Thermodynamics class finally paid off!

Jimbuna · 02-03-22, 07:29 AM

First I've seen of these, very cool.

Back in the days prior to 2010 when I was a smoker, I always had a Zippo.

Commander Wallace · 02-03-22, 10:51 AM

This is a cool video of a restoration of a Vietnam era zippo lighter owned by someone within the Army Airborne unit.

Jeff-Groves · 02-03-22, 11:36 AM

If you send Zippo your lighter they replace the inside part.
I've sent several back for repair over the years.
Still have the Zippo I Jumped into Egypt with back in the 80's!
That was sent to Zippo 3 times since.

ET2SN · 02-03-22, 12:33 PM

Zippo never thought about Iowa.

I tried adjusting the wick high and low, no joy.

It just works better out here with a gas/pressure type lighter.
What we consider a breezy day, the rest of you would consider it as storm damage.

And that's the pisser, Old Faithful stuck with me for my five year sea tour. It saw the Philippines in summer and South Korea in the winter with no problems. Then, I moved out to the prairie..

Anyway, the new rig should be here next week. I'll let you all know how it works out.

Platapus · 02-03-22, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET2SN

This is one of those times when Stoichiometry and Thermodynamics pays off in a household setting. Trust me, I'm not a whacko and this stuff really works.

....

See? That Thermodynamics class finally paid off!

My brain stem is hurted.

Skybird · 02-03-22, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ET2SN

This is one of those times when Stoichiometry and Thermodynamics pays off in a household setting. Trust me, I'm not a whacko and this stuff really works.

The one thing that tends to kick people's butts with butane lighters is that they work great until you have to refill them. Then, a perfectly good lighter tends to get thrown away or that refill only lasts for 1/10th as long as when it was new and people get frustrated.

The secret to getting a good refill is what I call "Delta T". Basically, with all things being equal, you need to maximize one of the properties of gas flow (in this case, Butane which has some goofy properties). Without being in a lab environment, this can be the frustrating part.

Without all the science mumbo-jumbo, here's how to refill a lighter to like-new or better levels:

Start with a good can of Butane gas. Avoid the cheap stuff. Cans of Butane usually come in 2.5 to 10 oz. (80 to 290 ml) sizes. The main danger with Butane is that it sheds thermal energy like the plague when it goes from a high pressure environment (in the can) to a low pressure environment (regular air pressure). What all of that means is that if you can see liquid Butane outside of a container, AVOID GETTING IT ON YOUR SKIN. In normal air pressure, liquid Butane will be super cold (like -50 degrees), cold enough to "burn" you.

You'll also need to purge your lighter before you can refill it. This doesn't make sense at first, but you want the pressure in your lighter's "tank" to be the same as normal air pressure. You can find tools to purge a lighter online, or find some thin metal tubing (check the tip of your Butane refill can to get an idea of what kind of tubing you'll need). Carefully purge your lighter, make sure any Butane doesn't touch you.

Now comes the "Delta T" part. People tend to figure out that the higher the pressure in the refill can, the better the refill. This is only half right. What we're going to do is use different temperatures to maximize the refill.

So, instead of heating the can of Butane (dangerous), chuck your purged lighter in your freezer for 1 to 2 hours.

Believe me, this works so well that you'll wind up with more fuel than you would get in a new lighter. Once your lighter is really cold, grab your can of Butane and hold onto it for a couple of minutes. This will transfer a little body heat into the can, not much but you don't need much with Butane.
Now, pull your lighter out of the freezer, make sure its upside down with the refill port on top, and start the fill from the refill can. I usually do a "ten count" at first, then pop the refill can off for a couple of seconds, then pop it back on for another "ten count" before I call it good. Now all you have to do is let your lighter warm back up to room temperature. Its a good idea at this point to adjust the flame setting to its lowest value.

Even with the adjustment at its lowest setting, your lighter is going to HISS a bit for the first 3-5 lights.

If you're skeptical, that's cool. Let me prove it to you.

As a bonus, I can bet you a dollar to a donut that Chazlie can't help but smile when he reads this.

If your an egg head who enjoys a good math problem, we're exploiting the equation

PV=nRT

by keeping the values of V , n, and R constant so we can manipulate the values of P (pressure) and T (temperature).

See? That Thermodynamics class finally paid off!

- 50°C? Butane sounds like an idea to shock-freeze a tick in your skin so you can pull it out while it is ice and thus cannot spit any of its germs into your blood.

I occasionally got the suual drops of Butane on my skin, it was cold, yes, but I never got ice burns. That is because it also is extremely volatile and contact only is extremely short.

ET2SN · 02-08-22, 05:55 PM

So, the new butane conversion unit showed up in today's mail.

Some quick tips. If you want to shove one of these into your "old faithful" case, make sure to clean out the insides of the case. Mostly you want to get rid of the old flint dust, mung, and random crud.

The first fill of butane wasn't dramatic, just do a quick purge of the tank, chuck it in the freezer for an hour or so, and page up a couple of posts on how to fill these things. After that, I let it warm back up and slipped it into my old case. I wound up making a slight adjustment to the flame height and that was about it.

One quick note- on that first fill expect to have some air in the tank along with the butane. This isn't a big deal, the first couple of lights will be sloppy as the air gets purged out (butane liquid and gas is heavier than air and the pressure in the tank will push the air out, tout sweet).

So, for less than $20 bucks this is a neat way to bring back or update an old lighter. Recommended.

The only real downside is doing the refills. The new insert fits tightly to the case (which is good) but its also plated in thick chrome which makes it as slippery as an eel in a bucket of snot. So, plan on doing your flame adjustments before the insert goes into the case and take it easy on the flame height, you don't want to be refilling this thing every day. As long as I can keep it working for one to two weeks on a charge, I'll be happy.

ET2SN · 03-05-22, 07:28 AM

So, a final update.

I filled it for the first time on Feb 8th and did some minor tweaks to the pressure/flame height along the way. It finally started to sputter a little today (Mar 6th) so I planned to do the first refill. There was more gas in it when I purged it than I expected.

I'm used to refilling my old trusty Ronson Jet Light and this Zippo unit feels like it has a much larger tank. If anything, I think I slightly under-filled it the first time. Plus, I had to purge the air out of the tank and I wasn't used to this lighter yet.

I did the purge/freeze/refill stuff a couple of hours ago but this time I kept the refill can attached for about twice as long as I would on the Ronson. With the flame turned all the way down and the lighter still feeling a little cold, I'm getting a nice flame that won't blow out in the wind.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. The spark unit runs off a tiny battery somewhere inside the case. Its listed as having a lifespan of approx. 10,000 cycles, so figure the case should last for several years before the case needs to be replaced, not bad for a $16 gizmo.

The only downside is going to be your donor/outer case. Make sure you clean it out really well (especially the lower part) prior to doing the conversion. Crud like old flint dust can really bind up the inner and outer case and make them a challenge to separate every time you need to adjust the flame or do a refill. Otherwise, highly recommended.

With a full charge and in normal use, expect a refill to last for one month +. Over-all build quality can be described as "robust" with nothing feeling like its being worn-in or worn out so far.

02-02-22, 06:13 PM	#1
ET2SN Ocean Warrior Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,652 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	Renew that old Zippo I kind of tripped over this at Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 My old conventional Zippo served me well, natural brass with my initials stamped on the top cover. The problems were that even a Zippo can wear out and conventional lighters tend to work weird in Iowa (they either become a blow torch or just give up in a 40-50 MPH "slight breeze") so I switched over to a nicer butane lighter and stuck Old Faithful on the shelf. What a cool flipping idea! This is a butane lighter which fits inside the outer cover of a traditional Zippo. (also available as a dual jet lighter)

02-02-22, 10:05 PM	#2
Sean C Grey Wolf Join Date: Jun 2017 Location: Norfolk, VA Posts: 984 Downloads: 16 Uploads: 2	Many moons ago I worked in a store that sold refillable butane lighters. They can be a bit tricky to maintain. I'm not sure if there's a propellant mixed in with the butane in the refill canisters, but sometimes it seemed to help if any gas left in the lighter is vented before refilling. Careful adjustment of the flow of butane is also recommended. I have an old butane lighter that I had to partially disassemble in order to increase the maximum flow. Honestly, I'd rather just use the original innards. But then, Zippos tend to work just fine every time here in south-eastern Virginia. YMMV. If anyone needs any advice on how to keep a butane lighter working, I'm here for you! __________________ If you have a question about celestial navigation ... ask me! Celestial Navigation Spreadsheet

02-03-22, 07:29 AM	#4
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,539 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	First I've seen of these, very cool. Back in the days prior to 2010 when I was a smoker, I always had a Zippo. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

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02-03-22, 12:28 AM	#3
ET2SN Ocean Warrior Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,652 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	This is one of those times when Stoichiometry and Thermodynamics pays off in a household setting. Trust me, I'm not a whacko and this stuff really works. The one thing that tends to kick people's butts with butane lighters is that they work great until you have to refill them. Then, a perfectly good lighter tends to get thrown away or that refill only lasts for 1/10th as long as when it was new and people get frustrated. The secret to getting a good refill is what I call "Delta T". Basically, with all things being equal, you need to maximize one of the properties of gas flow (in this case, Butane which has some goofy properties). Without being in a lab environment, this can be the frustrating part. Without all the science mumbo-jumbo, here's how to refill a lighter to like-new or better levels: Start with a good can of Butane gas. Avoid the cheap stuff. Cans of Butane usually come in 2.5 to 10 oz. (80 to 290 ml) sizes. The main danger with Butane is that it sheds thermal energy like the plague when it goes from a high pressure environment (in the can) to a low pressure environment (regular air pressure). What all of that means is that if you can see liquid Butane outside of a container, AVOID GETTING IT ON YOUR SKIN. In normal air pressure, liquid Butane will be super cold (like -50 degrees), cold enough to "burn" you. You'll also need to purge your lighter before you can refill it. This doesn't make sense at first, but you want the pressure in your lighter's "tank" to be the same as normal air pressure. You can find tools to purge a lighter online, or find some thin metal tubing (check the tip of your Butane refill can to get an idea of what kind of tubing you'll need). Carefully purge your lighter, make sure any Butane doesn't touch you. Now comes the "Delta T" part. People tend to figure out that the higher the pressure in the refill can, the better the refill. This is only half right. What we're going to do is use different temperatures to maximize the refill. So, instead of heating the can of Butane (dangerous), chuck your purged lighter in your freezer for 1 to 2 hours. Believe me, this works so well that you'll wind up with more fuel than you would get in a new lighter. Once your lighter is really cold, grab your can of Butane and hold onto it for a couple of minutes. This will transfer a little body heat into the can, not much but you don't need much with Butane. Now, pull your lighter out of the freezer, make sure its upside down with the refill port on top, and start the fill from the refill can. I usually do a "ten count" at first, then pop the refill can off for a couple of seconds, then pop it back on for another "ten count" before I call it good. Now all you have to do is let your lighter warm back up to room temperature. Its a good idea at this point to adjust the flame setting to its lowest value. Even with the adjustment at its lowest setting, your lighter is going to HISS a bit for the first 3-5 lights. If you're skeptical, that's cool. Let me prove it to you. As a bonus, I can bet you a dollar to a donut that Chazlie can't help but smile when he reads this. If your an egg head who enjoys a good math problem, we're exploiting the equation PV=nRT by keeping the values of V , n, and R constant so we can manipulate the values of P (pressure) and T (temperature). See? That Thermodynamics class finally paid off!

02-03-22, 10:51 AM	#5
Commander Wallace Navy Seal Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Under the sea in an Octupus garden in the shade Posts: 5,295 Downloads: 366 Uploads: 0	This is a cool video of a restoration of a Vietnam era zippo lighter owned by someone within the Army Airborne unit.

02-03-22, 11:36 AM	#6
Jeff-Groves GLOBAL MODDING TERRORIST Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 5,650 Downloads: 137 Uploads: 0	If you send Zippo your lighter they replace the inside part. I've sent several back for repair over the years. Still have the Zippo I Jumped into Egypt with back in the 80's! That was sent to Zippo 3 times since.

02-03-22, 12:33 PM	#7
ET2SN Ocean Warrior Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,652 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	Zippo never thought about Iowa. I tried adjusting the wick high and low, no joy. It just works better out here with a gas/pressure type lighter. What we consider a breezy day, the rest of you would consider it as storm damage. And that's the pisser, Old Faithful stuck with me for my five year sea tour. It saw the Philippines in summer and South Korea in the winter with no problems. Then, I moved out to the prairie.. Anyway, the new rig should be here next week. I'll let you all know how it works out.

02-08-22, 05:55 PM	#10
ET2SN Ocean Warrior Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,652 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	So, the new butane conversion unit showed up in today's mail. Some quick tips. If you want to shove one of these into your "old faithful" case, make sure to clean out the insides of the case. Mostly you want to get rid of the old flint dust, mung, and random crud. The first fill of butane wasn't dramatic, just do a quick purge of the tank, chuck it in the freezer for an hour or so, and page up a couple of posts on how to fill these things. After that, I let it warm back up and slipped it into my old case. I wound up making a slight adjustment to the flame height and that was about it. One quick note- on that first fill expect to have some air in the tank along with the butane. This isn't a big deal, the first couple of lights will be sloppy as the air gets purged out (butane liquid and gas is heavier than air and the pressure in the tank will push the air out, tout sweet). So, for less than $20 bucks this is a neat way to bring back or update an old lighter. Recommended. The only real downside is doing the refills. The new insert fits tightly to the case (which is good) but its also plated in thick chrome which makes it as slippery as an eel in a bucket of snot. So, plan on doing your flame adjustments before the insert goes into the case and take it easy on the flame height, you don't want to be refilling this thing every day. As long as I can keep it working for one to two weeks on a charge, I'll be happy.

03-05-22, 07:28 AM	#11
ET2SN Ocean Warrior Join Date: Oct 2017 Posts: 2,652 Downloads: 60 Uploads: 0	So, a final update. I filled it for the first time on Feb 8th and did some minor tweaks to the pressure/flame height along the way. It finally started to sputter a little today (Mar 6th) so I planned to do the first refill. There was more gas in it when I purged it than I expected. I'm used to refilling my old trusty Ronson Jet Light and this Zippo unit feels like it has a much larger tank. If anything, I think I slightly under-filled it the first time. Plus, I had to purge the air out of the tank and I wasn't used to this lighter yet. I did the purge/freeze/refill stuff a couple of hours ago but this time I kept the refill can attached for about twice as long as I would on the Ronson. With the flame turned all the way down and the lighter still feeling a little cold, I'm getting a nice flame that won't blow out in the wind. Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. The spark unit runs off a tiny battery somewhere inside the case. Its listed as having a lifespan of approx. 10,000 cycles, so figure the case should last for several years before the case needs to be replaced, not bad for a $16 gizmo. The only downside is going to be your donor/outer case. Make sure you clean it out really well (especially the lower part) prior to doing the conversion. Crud like old flint dust can really bind up the inner and outer case and make them a challenge to separate every time you need to adjust the flame or do a refill. Otherwise, highly recommended. With a full charge and in normal use, expect a refill to last for one month +. Over-all build quality can be described as "robust" with nothing feeling like its being worn-in or worn out so far.