If you are having problems with your lighter, if may be due to one of several reasons we list below. Please read carefully. We find that most problems with lighters are due to incorrect bleeding and can be fixed easily. If the lighter is leaking butane or the ignition will not spark, contact us to return.
1. INCORRECT BLEEDING
Bleed your lighter when flame begins to drop and the fuel tank is nearly empty or flame is inconsistent. To bleed, hold the lighter in a vertical, upright position. Depress the filler valve with a small screwdriver, until all fuel is expelled and the hissing stops. Shake lighter, then repeat to ensure it is completely bled. Do not put lighter close to ear when checking glass flow rate, to avoid accidental burn.
2. NON-PREMIUM FUEL
Premium butane is required to ensure optimum performance of your lighter. Lighters require the cleanest butane available at a pressure of 45 psi. Recommended premium butane brands (Colibri, Nibo, Prometheus, any triple refined butane) are packaged in 10-13 oz. cans with a metal fill tip nozzle. Non-premium butane (Clipper, Ronson, Sun) and brands with plastic fill tip nozzles are not recommended as they may cause inconsistent ignition and performance. If you have used a non-premium butane to fill the lighter, bleed the tank and refill.
3. INCORRECT REFILLING
Sometimes air will go into the tank and will make the lighter malfunction. To avoid this, always fill with lighter in upside down position. Put nozzle tip directly on valve opening and press down firmly for 4-5 seconds. Butane spray back may occur with some lighters when tank is full.
If the lighter is not equipped with a butane level window, use the following steps to ensure tank is full:
a. Hold lighter in upside down position.
b. Depress the filler valve with a small screwdriver. If liquid is expelled from the valve, stop immediately; the tank is filled to maximum capacity.
Warm the lighter in your hand for at least 30 seconds. Wait an additional 2 minutes before attempting to ignite the lighter. This allows enough time for excess butane to dissipate and the gas in the lighter to reach room temperature.
4. ALTITUDE
- Butane lighters are subject to altitude problems, they are a function of fuel to air ratios as each type of fuel has mixture parameters that must be present for efficient burning.
- All combustions require the ratio to be adjusted as altitude increases or decreases, as you go higher, the air being less dense contains less oxygen; go lower, air density increases and contains more oxygen.
- You must decrease the butane flow - rotate adjustment clockwise (-) as you go higher in altitude; and increase the butane flow - rotate adjustment counter-clockwise (+) as altitude decreases.
- Experiment with the adjustment at altitude and you will find the lighter works properly.
- If the lighter was fueled at a lower altitude than you are operating it at, an air lock can occur just in front of the valve, a partial release of pressure with the adjustment valve positioned above the tank will equalize the pressure and eliminate the air lock.
5. FLAME ADJUSTMENTS
You must adjust the flame if:
- Your lighter is not operating properly or the flame is too high or low and you’ve followed all the troubleshooting tips.
- You used non-premium butane and have bled the tank, which may require flame adjustment, as non-premium butane needs a different adjustment.
- You are changing altitude greater than 2000’.
On most lighters turn the adjusting screw on the bottom (not the Phillips head screw that holds the case together), by reducing the gas flow to almost nothing (full clockwise) and then opening (counter clockwise) the screw a little at a time until the flame upon ignition burns at a desired level. If the adjustment knob is black plastic and you have moved the valve as far as you can without reaching the level you wish, remove the valve and use a flathead screwdriver to make the adjustment. The black adjustment knob will only move 170 degrees, to obtain further adjustment requires the black knob to be removed and replaced once you attain the desired level with a flathead screwdriver. If you are changing altitude remember the higher the altitude the less butane you require, if you are heading down toward sea level you will need more butane to function properly is a simply a matter maintaining proper air to fuel ratio.
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