Zippos That Won't Light

[ascarypotato]

My wife's gave up last night too. Must be something going around. Turned out just to need a new flint (cannibalised from a pack of cheapie disposables) Phew....
It was fun watching her trying to light her cigar from my pipe zippo. "Turn it sideways!" "Eh?" "Sideways!!"

 

[smokertruck]

" I have just picked up two pipe inserts ( one regular and one of the new Thunderbird butanes ) " - from above
what are these pipe inserts ?

also is that also a thunderbird lighter or insert usable on zippos.
no zippos here in toronto but saw some thunderbird lighters maybe for pipes not sure - which model thunderbird is best for pipe if i dont find zippos here -

4 noggins sells zippos but need to find out if they have fuel in them - may not pass thru border or not ok to mail via post office if any fuel in them - was going onto a plane & passenger had to give up his lighter because it had remnants of fuel even though he had emptied it - security smelled the lighter & it was not allowed.

 

[yaddy306]

Fourth most populous city in North America, but no zippos?

Smokertruck, you're not looking very hard.

 

[smokertruck]

no pipe zippos - even the 2 pipe tobacco stores i buy at dont have them even a hookah store with pipes & tobacco - none - there is one cigar store with thunderbird line & high end cigar torch lighters but no pipe lighters by zippo - only regular small undirected flame one. anyways ...

 

[piperl12]

My solution would be to send it back to Zippo, they sent mine back with a new flint, cleaned and polished. All I had to do was add fuel. Hell mine even burned Kerosene when I was in the Army and couldn't get lighter fluid. Though I wouldn't recommend Gasoline lol

 

[yaddy306]

You could always modify a regular zippo yourself.

Use a dremel to make diamond-shaped openings on both sides by connecting the dots.

 

[paul84]

I had the same problem and tried (what I thought was) everything and had resigned myself to sending it in then I decided to change the flint, even though I had just put a new one in two days ago, and when I looked at the bottom I loosened the screw a half turn and tried again. That was definitely an AH-HA moment. I was look at the all the pieces that were responsible for the ignition, fluid, wheel, wick and flint and not the pieces that make those pieces work. The flint screw was too tight causing the sparks not to spray out towards the wick and up.
Hope that helps,

-Paul
lex parsimoniae "law of parsimony" (Ockham's Razor)

 

[mawnansmiff]

In my RYO smoking days I used a Zippo and was never overly happy with the hit and miss nature of it lighting.
My pal asked what fuel and flints was I using and I told him Ronson in both cases. He suggested using both Zippo fuel and flints...never had a problem after that!
Since I took up the pipe I've been using those cheap angled butane lighters because as far as I'm concerned a Zippo is hopeless for pipe lighting. Others say otherwise ::
Regards,
Jay.

 

[cranseiron]

"as far as I'm concerned a Zippo is hopeless". Blasphemer!! JK, Jay :nana:

 

[mawnansmiff]

"...for pipe lighting."
You missed a bit Eric :nana:
Regards,
Jay.

 

[didimauw]

My zippo works perfectly for lighting a pipe. To each his own though.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Sounds like a song, "Zippos That Won't Light, and Guitars That Won't Stay in Tune."

 

[hugodrax]

I never cared for the pipe zippo or the regular zippo for lighting pipes. My favorite is the Nimrod Commander followed by an old Thorens Single Claw. Like every other smoker, I seem to have accumulated a fair few Zippos, but the Commander is just a better design

The Thorens is just a jewel-like mechanism.

 

[jpmcwjr]

Pretty esoteric, those!
Scroll down this link to see some PHOTOS

 

[gmjabsky]

Mine has been 100% reliable for over 15 years. I'll keep an eye out for such problems

 

[hugodrax]

Yeah, they are. We are all freaks in our own way. I like the commander because it's dedicated--no goofy chimney where the flame can go anywhere, especially when you lose the metal chimney cap. I buy them on the ebay, one every few years. Never spent more than ten bucks for a used specimen.
The Thorens is a freak of a lighter, but it came down from my great uncle and it really is foolproof, but I freely admit it's impractical.
Lighters are pretty much personal taste, though. I can only say something about my own experiences and preferences. If I didn't have the other two, I'd be happy with a Zippo, without question.
Of all the issues I've ever had, failure to light was never one of them.

 

[hugodrax]

Duplicate.

 

[rolldog]

If you still need help, Zippo will always fix is for free. Check out this link for more information.
Zippo Lighter Repair