Trouble with Lotus Gaucho

[flat4driven]

Based on the positive reviews from some of the guys on this sight, I bought myself a Lotus L11 Gaucho lighter last year. Well, ever since I bought the lighter, I haven't been able to get it to light properly after it ran out of fuel the first time. I refill it and it'll last for a day, maybe two if I'm lucky. I've tried two different kinds of fuel (Lotus and Zippo) and it still will not hold fuel for more than a day or two. Any ideas of what could be wrong?

 

[cortezattic]

I haven't got a clue, but I too had an unfortunate experience with the Lotus 11 Gaucho lighter. In the "Pipe Lighter Pros, Cons" thread I wrote:

Well, the lighter worked just fine, altho it needed pretty frequent recharges. But,

this morning it accidentally dropped from table-top height onto a concrete floor and

it flew into a gazillion pieces. (Well, maybe not exactly a gazillion.) It was a total

Humpty-Dumpty disaster -- just broke apart completely. Not being totally inept

mechanically, I cobbled it back together, but just couldn't get the piezo-electric

clicker to spark.

 

[admin]

Any time I buy an expensive lighter, it always disappoints me.
Now I always use Bics.

 

[kcvet67]

Try purging the lighter. Hold it upside down and press in on the fill valve with something small (I use the pick on a pipe tool). When refilling it DON'T shake the can first, this will mix propellant in with the butane. If this doesn't fix it, you probably have a leaky fill valve which would have to be repaired by the manufacturer.