Butane Lighter: Refilling it?

[godfather]

Happy Labor Day Week Everyone!

I recently purchased a Firebird lighter and need to get a butane refill canister for it. Is there anything special type I need? Anything that I should stay AWAY from? Can I get this just about anywhere? Did a search on this forum for this topic and didn't turn up anything.

Thanks for any advice on this...

[bigpoppapuff]

colibri,prometheus,or lava......

make sure you bleed the lighter prior to filling it each time.....

[Neuromancer]

colibri,prometheus,or lava......

make sure you bleed the lighter prior to filling it each time.....

Why?

[bigpoppapuff]

why to the choices of butane??.....because they're by far the best to use...

why bleed before filling??....to get the air out,so you can fill it with butane....you don't want air in the refill cylinder....


and blowing crap off the lighting area help too.....

[joshua]

Some people say to use the tripple (or greater times) refined fuel, but I just use the cheap ronson crap I got from the drug store. If I invested in one of those fancy shmancy lighters I might use the more expensive stuff.

[bigpoppapuff]

ronson is crap...the others don't cost much more and are much better for your lighter...cheapie or expensive...

[godfather]

Thanks to all that responded. My cigar shop sold me "Vector Butane Filtered 5+" times. I'm pretty surprised how cheap it was. He sold it to me for $4.00 (11 ounces)! Looking online, I didn't see it any cheaper than $6.00.

LINK: http://www.vectorkgm.com/catalog/tem...=stove/gas.cfm

(It's the top one)

I'm surprised the cigar shop I live in has such good prices, they're the only one that has managed to stay in business :). Despite the fact that they may have a monopoly in a 30 mile radius, looks like the guy was smart enough to consider people like me who compared online prices :). Kudos to that shop, definitely have respect for it and will start trusting it now.

[cigar no baka]

Sounds like you got a good quality butane. Just make sure you bleed the tank between refills, or air might clog it up.

[bigpoppapuff]

vector also is very good...but don't forget to bleed the lighter EVERY time you fill it....

[godfather]

cigar no baka & bigpoppapuff,

Helpful advice....I will definitely do so. Thanks!!

[bigpoppapuff]

you do know how to properly bleed it,don't you??...

[tx_tuff]

How do you bleed it?

[Neuromancer]

you do know how to properly bleed it,don't you??...

Of course I do...you slash it's little wrists with a razor blade...

[godfather]

you do know how to properly bleed it,don't you??...

Yes, I read up on it a little more last night:

"Always bleed your butane tank before refueling. Bleeding your butane tank releases all the air that has been trapped in the tank and any unused butane that hasn't been used.

Again, some common sense really works here. Butane is a gas and cannot be transferred into your lighter from the butane canister without some form of propellant. The cheapest propellant is compressed air. Eventually, if you don't bleed the air out of the lighter's fuel tank, then that air will displace the amount of butane fuel the lighter can hold. Consequently, your lighter won't light or will "sputter" and the less it will light. Remember, air doesn't necessarily ignite by itself. The proper mix of butane and air works perfectly every time.

Here is how to bleed your butane tank on your lighter. Turn your lighter upside down, and using a small screwdriver or some other small metal device (never use a ball point pen because the ink will blow out all over the place), depress the refill valve on your lighter. Let all the air and butane escape.

Use some common sense here. Always bleed your butane lighter tank away from any flames and people and please do not smoke when you are doing this. You could catch something on fire.
If your butane lighter has a flame adjustment valve, turn the valve to its lowest level. Sometimes lighters have a "memory" and if you do not turn the lighter adjustment valve down when refueling, the lighter might "remember" that this is the lowest setting. Your adjustment valve may not work properly and the flame may be too low for you."

[godfather]

The guy at the cigar shop I go to mentioned this as well. Here's why to stay away from cheap butane:

For the extra $0.50, that's all it cost me to upgrade to the good stuff.

[Quote from article]:

"Just like with the gasoline for your car, some butane fuels are cleaner than others. Choose a butane fuel that has been recommended for jet torch or flameless lighters. The brands I recommend are Colibri Butane, Prometheus Butane or Dunhill butane. They seem to be the cleanest and work better than others. Additionally, I recommend that you never use Ronson Brand butane or most of the other brands most often found at a drugstore. Your local tobacconist or premium lighter retailer should have premium butanes in stock.

What's the difference in butanes? Well, the difference is the amount of oil present in the butane. The higher the oil content in the butane, the quicker your lighter will gum up.
Just a little bit of common sense prevails here. If you put oil in your butane lighter, the oil will eventually clog up the butane release valve. Your lighter will not light properly if the butane valve is stopped up with oil or any other foreign matter. (The butane release valve, as I call it, is the place where the butane comes out to be ignited and cause a flame)."

[SpecialEdition]

Thanks for the info Godfather , I was unaware of all that. I recently bought a butane torch style lighter and have yet to fill it and was wondering how I was suppose to do so the correct way and now I know.


Thanks again.

[thepyrofish]

Not to threadjack, but there's a few Alberta members 'round here. Where you from Special?

[King of Vagabonds]

Thanks for the info, godfather et al. This bleeding issue is all news to me!

[stjohnroe]

News to me as well and could explain some problems I have had in the past.

[Seagar]

Hows the fire bird working out for you so far? I currently hate my and am looking for something new, just wondering if your is holding up?