Butane Lighter: Refilling it?

[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.