Lighter Clinic

[Kilroy6644]

I went downstate to visit my friends for Christmas, and between having a credit card and being in an actual city with stores, I went a little crazy (good thing the card has a $1,000 limit). I made sure to hit the antique shops, and between two of them, I picked up these three lighters.



Left to right: Dunhill Service, Bowers Slide Sleeve, IMCO Triplex Junior.

That IMCO is probably the greatest lighter I've ever seen. It lights every time, and it's so user-friendly. Easier to change the flint than a Zippo, and easier to refill too (also easier to overfill).

The other two, though, I'm having trouble with. The Dunhill is a replacement for one I had and lost the summer of '13. That lighter worked just fine. This lighter just won't light. It will hold a flame if I light it with another lighter, but it very rarely will it light on its own. Maybe, maybe 1 in 20 tries. I have the same problem with the Bowers. That one will light a tiny bit more frequently, but not much. It's a shame too, because it has the most picture perfect flame, and it's just a cool lighter.

So, in short, I have two lighters that don't. All lighters received new flints and fluid. They all spark, but only the IMCO lights. Any thoughts?

 

[Commander Quan]

How do the jets look? You can try cleaning them with a q-tip, and zippo fluid.

 

[Kilroy6644]

These don't have jets. They have wicks, like a Zippo.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Replaced the flints, put in new fresh fluid... the obvious part left is a new wick in them both.

 

[captp]

Try trimming the wick and carefully pulling it up a little

 

[Kilroy6644]

Wonderful.... That's what I was afraid of. That Bowers especially will be a pain, because all of the batting and the new wick will have to go through the fill hole on the bottom, and that's a slim1/4". That won't be fun. I was hoping it would be something easier.

 

[Kilroy6644]

Try trimming the wick and carefully pulling it up a little

Tried that. Made no difference on either one.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Wonderful.... That's what I was afraid of. That Bowers especially will be a pain, because all of the batting and the new wick will have to go through the fill hole on the bottom, and that's a slim1/4". That won't be fun. I was hoping it would be something easier.

Tried that. Made no difference on either one.

Yeah, if trimming didn't work, you are left wit replacing it. If possible, can't hurt to put new batting in while you are at it, just to have it done once and for all while it's all apart.

 

[Kilroy6644]

Yeah, if trimming didn't work, you are left wit replacing it. If possible, can't hurt to put new batting in while you are at it, just to have it done once and for all while it's all apart.

Any special material I should use, or will regular cotton balls work?

 

[Shave_Rat]

Any special material I should use, or will regular cotton balls work?

I thought I recalled seeing specific batting sold for lighters that use zippo style lighter fluid. Pretty sure it wasn't a natural fiber like just cotton, but I could be wrong.

 

[Shave_Rat]

OK, fast googling says you can use cotton, but the original is rayon wadding. If you use cotton, fill it slower than you did previously, and you will probably have to refill it more often.

 

[Deltaboy]

Cool finds and good luck on getting those 2 to light.

 

[Slickside]

Nice lighters. I agree with Shave Rat, you do need to replace the works. Sounds like the wick is not wicking the naphtha up properly. One test would be to put a drop of lighter fluid on the end of the wick and see if the spark from the flint will ignite it. If it lights, then you know where the problem lies. I am guessing you have fresh lighter fluid. Contaminated fluid will not light as easily. The one lighter you have that lights the wick could generate a hotter spark. Just food for thought.

 

[Luke49783]

I've got one of those Dunhill Service lighters somewhere. I used Zippo batting and wick to refresh it, worked just fine. Mine isn't the most reliable in lighting either, but the Zippo stuff did help.

 

[Kilroy6644]

Ok, I rewicked both of them, and… meh. They do light more frequently than before, but not often enough that I'd feel comfortable pulling one out if a pretty girl asked me for a light. I did not change the batting. Nobody has Zippo batting around here, and I thought the wick was the more likely problem.

 

[Shave_Rat]

Did you make sure to "weave" the new wick through and around the batting? So it winds it's way through it? Also, if you just put a drop of fluid directly on the wick, does it light then every time for a few lights? If you didn't weave it around the batting, do that. If you did, and the lighter is more consistent with fluid dripped directly onto the wick, I'd call it a batting issue where it's not properly transferring fluid to the wick sufficiently.

 

[jiminyshiznit]

I've had vintage lighters in the past that didn't light very reliably, and ultimately determined that the flint striker sorta lost its mojo. One was simply worn down, so the file-like ridges were dulled and didn't produce a lot of spark. Another was just kinda funky.. probably with years of some dude's thumb funk! Anyway, I was able to get that one to fire reliably again by cleaning the striker wheel with a wire brush. Not sure it'll help, but it's an easy thing to try.