Thunderbird Zippo pipe insert annoyance - any member use it without problem?

menuhin · Feb 16, 2015

I'm trying out this Thunderbird (butane) pipe insert for Zippo housing, but after less than a few months of use I have to strike it 5+ or even 10+ times to get a flame. Does any of you have similar experience? And hence a solution? Or did you just toss it away?
I like the style of Zippo but like to get an adjustable flame, didn't know that this particular insert I received is so unreliable.

:roll:

clickklick · Feb 16, 2015

I've had three. All have been tossed in the garbage

menuhin · Feb 16, 2015

Bad news... (I have one unused, may as well sell it instead then)

Such a nice design concept for Zippo users, however coupled with engineering failure. :twisted:

loneredtree · Feb 17, 2015

I am a light user. My insert is still working after 2 years. It looks like it has a date stamp from 2007.
Menuhin: Is your unused insert dated....Hopefully a old date.
Have you tried cleaning the nozzle? Are you draining the tank before refilling?
good Luck

kane · Feb 17, 2015

Never tried the Thunderbird, but the regular Zippo pipe insert works great, very reliable. Let it burn for a few seconds and the gas taste burns off. You can control the flame with proximity.

mcitinner1 · Feb 17, 2015

Wish I had seen this before. I have one coming today. FFF.

plateauguy · Feb 17, 2015

Mine worked for six days, then decided to quit. It's a good idea, but needs to improve, the quality stinks. I've gone back to the original pipe insert.

ssjones · Feb 17, 2015

I have two, I'm a light user (primarily matches). Both of mine worked great AFTER I learned how to properly fill it (purge all the air with a fork tine). Both of mine are four years old, perhaps the took some cost savings measures recently. I prefer the T-bird 100% over the Zippo pipe insert - no funky taste and a softer, adjustable flame.
Another plus is the covered top, which allows the flame to be more easily sucked down into the bowl when lighting. The Zippo is open on both sides, on big-bowled pipes, sometimes the Zippo is a struggle.
I use the Zippo for outside/windy day work, the T-bird is useless in those conditions.

menuhin · Feb 17, 2015

Some good news, esp from loneredtree & ssjones.
It seems to me that I am not too gentle to my lighter.

This current problematic one dated 06 2012 but I started to use it only at the end of December 2014.

I don't know how to properly clean the nozzle except by a Q-tip, but I do bleed / drain the tank empty by some metal tip (e.g. a fork) until I cannot hear sizzling sound any longer after refilling. Sometimes I looked the flame and the flame is fickle by itself with or without noise and sometimes it even vanished without me doing anything to disrupt the flame.

If it can be saved to be reasonably functional, I really want to use it because of the Zippo design and butane.
I have 3 Zippo pipe insert, but because I smoke only once or twice every day or every other day, I was wasting a lot of fuel for the reason fuel vaporizes real quickly in the original pipe insert. I use them when I have to trip to the countryside and will fill them just right before.

plateauguy · Feb 17, 2015

Trail,

That's a great idea! Didn't know that they existed.

menuhin · Feb 17, 2015

How many refill of fuel this canister hold? Looks neat.

plateauguy · Feb 17, 2015

Ordered mine from Amazon, free shipping because my wife can always make the $35 limit. They are cheaper on the bay.

kane · Feb 18, 2015

It's been said that butane is a softer flame than lighter fluid (Thunderbird vs. regular Zippo pipe insert), but I have heard that butane burns hotter than lighter fluid. If that's true, would not lighter fluid make a softer flame than butane, i.e., less likely to char the bowl?

jrtaster · Feb 18, 2015

I've tried the Vector/Thunderbird insert as well as the Zippo Blu butane lighter and IMO neither is as good/reliable as the Zippo with liquid-fuelled pipe lighter insert The Zippo Blu wasn't all that much superior to the Thunderbird and the lid broke in less than 3 months. Zippo repaired (not replaced) it.

The best warranty is the one you never have to use!

fnord · Feb 19, 2015

I've had two Thunderbird inserts. The first one shot craps out of the box and the second one was an epic fail after 48 hours of usage.
I've been filling and refilling lighters for over 40 years.
Really? No thanks.
Fnord

thehappypiper · Feb 19, 2015

A good lighter is one of those things the absence of which feels wrong. I can't remember the last time I saw a nice box of matches. I use to use Swan Vestas, which were very good. These days I use disposable lighters for my pipe and a Zippo for the cigarettes I am ashamed to regularly smoke. Today I bought a Prince petrol lighter; Japanese-made and very different from a Zippo. I have two Zippo pipe inserts and I find them too imprecise to enjoy using. I once stupidly used one of those butane megatorch lighters. They are great for getting the tobacco lit, but I'm afraid I ruined the rim of my beautiful Vauen Firenzi

menuhin · Feb 19, 2015

The beauty of butane lighters is the soft, odorless, and adjustable precise flame. I used the Thunderbird insert successfully yesterday night - with the help of a lit candle to light up the flame. It's engineering failure is in the sparks not being able to effectively reach the gas jetting from the nozzle - it sprinkles some sparks behind and above the nozzle; plus the nozzle mechanism gets clotted easily.

It ran out of gas, and then I switched to a Zippo insert for a change - the flame was huge compared to a flame from the butane lighters and I could only suck in the flame right from below. But it's very robust, getting me a flame every strike.

I use a small flame torch lighter when I want to smoke in a very windy and cold environment - it's the only way to light up my pipe in those situations.
I have heard good words about the Peterson's pipe lighter compared to Old Boy, but I am not yet ready to retire all my Zippos.

johnnyiii · Feb 19, 2015

As a Johnny come lately to this topic I will add the stated importance with all butane lighter makers to use a QUAITY butane. NOT the Ronson or OTC stuff sold at the grocery store and head shops.
I cant quote the name brand recommended as I use a regular zippo, and love it.
To me the key is being able to suck down the flame versus bending the flame to prevent charring, so I have been tempted to check the insert out though.
Try a better butane if you are not now and pass on the results.

desertpipe · Feb 19, 2015

Vector has come out with a 14 times filtered butane, works great, and I am at almost 8000ft above sea level at home. Always empty the gas from the insert completely, before refilling (any butane lighter). I had problems with the new inserts starting about 6 months age, after using several old ones for years with no problems. I gripped to the distributor, who showed me how to lock in the flint properly, and son of a gun, no problems with the new ones since. When changing the flint, press in the screw until the brass flint cup is fully extended, and then screw in the spring. Otherwise, the brass flint cup withdraws into the base when you strike the flint and the flint does not work properly.

menuhin · Feb 19, 2015

@desertpipe

Thanks for the tip, I'll try it out next time when I need to change the flint - which is soon. But the Thunderbird Pipe insert did not perform so totally problem free what it was just out of the box either. My current plan is to use it next to a candle light, which sounds a bit ridiculous but it worked really well.

Thunderbird Zippo pipe insert annoyance - any member use it without problem?

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