found a repair guy, a GENIUS

[sbieg]

Hello all,

I don't know if this is the right place for this, but here goes. If I did something wrong I am very sorry...

I recently was given my grandparents old lighter. My grandmother bought it as a gift for Granddad a very long time ago. It is a Dupont, a smaller silver plated one with one hole in the bottom. It did not work --this is why my relative was willing to give it to me, but that is another story!!!!

It is way too old to even think about asking Dupont to take a look at it, plus they would probably charge me more than the price for a new one to fix such an old one. So I went looking. I found this obscure eBay seller, selling adapters for using a normal butane refill tank with Dupont lighters. I took a shot in the dark, eMailed him for an address (in Germany, no less!!!) and sent it off.

Within a few days he sent me an eMail back, in poorly written English, telling me he had received the lighter, fixed it, and would send it back as soon as I paid him -- the grand sum of about $40. I got the lighter back in perfect working order. I filled it and let it sit for a week -- still worked fine, with plenty of gas in it. I now carry it for my everyday lighter -- a very classy, heavy, solid feeling lighter which is fun to use and let others use. It starts a lot of conversations!!!

I am very happy with this repair guy. I sent him off an old Dunhill last week with a stuck flint (I was in a jam and used the wrong size flint -- now the lighter is jammed!!!!). He got it and is repairing it as I write this. I have not been told the cost of this repair, but will post the details when I get it back.

Here is his eMail if you have a broken lighter:

info@GasAdapter.de

His name is Christoph, and he is VERY fast with the turn around time on repairs. He does not waste time. If you have a good lighter worth spending a few bucks on to get working, this is the guy to use.

I do not make any money from his work. I’ve never met him, or even spoke with him on a phone. I’m posting this for the people reading this forum, not the repair guy. This guy can save your old lighter. It’s a lot of fun using a lighter my grandfather used, a gift from my grandmother…..

[55Kingpin]

I know how you feel. I've got two old Zippos that my great-grandfather used to smoke his pipe with.

One is a brushed stainless model not much different than the current offerings, but the other one is very old and I haven't seen another one like it. It has some red felt looking material inside of it for the wick and the body is tapered from top to bottom and the lid/cap doesn't flip all the way open like the newer Zippos......