Help with a Zippo

[bassbug]

I stumbled on a Zippo at my local convenience store and the owner said it was leftover stock from the previous owner. I could have it for $10. I bough it immediately.
Its an authentic Zippo with a manufacture code of A 07. I assume that's August of 2007.
I got it home, filled it and was immediately disappointed. I get a nice strong spark but it takes 5, 6 or more tries before it lights.
Its fuelled up, the wick is about halfway up the chimney and I'm getting a strong spark.
Do these things require some sort of break in? Do I need to let the fuel soak in for a day before it will get reliable?
I thought Zippos were supposed to be so reliable and light every time.

 

[stickframer]

'A' means it was made in January of that year.
A= Jan, B=Feb, etc. Mine has an I. 9th letter in the alphabet=9th month, so it was made in September.
I think it will work fine once the wick darkens a bit from use. I guess there is a bit of a break in period.
Maybe the fluid needs to soak into the wick a little too.
Edit: Are you using good quality fluid?

 

[fishfly]

My wicks go a little higher than half way, but I doubt that is the problem. Try blowing on the chimney before lighting. Especially after a recent fluid filling, the fumes seem to build up a bit, preventing ignition. This clears them out.

 

[bassbug]

@stickframer..I"m using Ronsonol fluid in the yellow plastic bottle, so I think that's OK.
@fishfly...I think you nailed it. If I either leave the top open for a few seconds or blow on the chimney, it fires up immediately.
What would I do without you guys? Problem solved in minutes.
Damn, I love this place

 

[didimauw]

Glad you figured out your problem, but that's strange. It's never happened to me before, nor have I ever heard that before!

 

[jpmcwjr]

I thought Zippos could run on cooking oil! Yes, I'd give it a week or so.

 

[bassbug]

Maybe I just overfilled it?

 

[stickframer]

Right on. I'm glad it's working.

 

[didimauw]

No usually over filling it ends with fluid on your hands, and a big burst of flame on your first light.

 

[mso489]

How many shots of lighter fluid for starters? About two or three?

 

[bassbug]

I saturated it without having it actually drip. Too much?

 

[ophiuchus]

I saturated it without having it actually drip. Too much?

It doesn't hurt to fill 'er up real good the first time, but from now on just squirt enough in to dampen the wadding inside. "Overfilling" results in a lot of standby evaporation and a waste of fuel.

 

[anthonyrosenthal74]

It's called vapor lock. Sounds weird but it's true. There's actually a correct way to light a Zippo. Most come with an instruction manual that tells you to move the Zippo in an upward motion while striking the flint. The reason being is it forces air down into the top of the Zippo and "bursts" a bubble of air that is preventing the lighter from lighting. It should have come with an instruction manual such as this. It shows you the lighting technique...

Doing this, it should light every time.

 

[bassbug]

Thanks for all the help guys.
Now that I have the Zippo behaving, I tried it out.Its different than a Bic
Once I got the hang of it though, I like it. i was a little concerned about all the people who say they can taste the lighter fluid but I honestly could not taste anything bad.
Now I know I'll be able to light my pipe in the park and while fishing...even in a breeze.

 

[oldmansmoking]

Yes I find when filling I have to blow on the wick before it lights, are you using zippo flints?