Take care of your lighter

[bigbaddad]

could be the position of the wick.Try moving it one way or another and see if that help.Jeff aka bigbaddad

[freddythefox]

ive tried moving the wick about into different positions jeff,i may have to pull a new length of wick through and go again

[bigbaddad]

Carbon build up can also cause it not to light correctly.depending on how much you use your lighter will dictate how often the wick should be pulled up.I had one lighter that used to build up much faster then other'sI do not know if it was the quality of the wick or if I was just smoking way to much then.Jeff

[freddythefox]

the zippo is brand new,only been struck a few times.

[bigbaddad]

This might sound stupid but , is it a copper lighter?The lighter that did it to me was a copper and another person I gave a copper to also had trouble with his.One other thing it could be is just a case of slight over filling.That causes vapor lock and will keep it from lighting.I know people that have been using Zippos for 30+ years and they still over fill and have a lighter that will not light every time til the fluid has been used up a bit.I never give more then 3-4 lite squirts when I fill.It might need to be filled a little more often but this way it is never over filled.Jeff

[freddythefox]

not a copper lighter jeff,never heard of overfilling.always been taught to top up at every opportunity.will try that one out.

[freddythefox]

is it a big job to replace a cam spring,just bought a zippo from ebay.from the photo it looks as though it may need replacing.

[arthurdent]

Not that big a job really however, one needs to find a replacement spring and a new eylet. I've seen some 3/32" pop rivets that may do the trick and have thought to try fashioning new springs from some scrap spring steel used for strapping. Still a work in progress though...

Perhaps our resident mechanic Spanish Flea has some thoughts?

[freddythefox]

would like to have a go at doing it myself.would need to get hold of spare parts,not sure about making my own spring,might give that one a miss.dint like posting lighters I'm still missing one i bought off ebay 4 weeks ago.apparently its stuck at customs.

[freddythefox]

now winter is here im going to go through all my lighters.found one today where cam spring has gone a couple need new hinge pins,plus i might give them all a damn good clean up,may need some advice/parts flea.you available??

[Spanish Flea]

I'm still here, Parts, you need parts, shoot me a pm of what ya need.

But for the Cam Spring Rivit. I make my own. It's kinda tough to explain without pictures... but i'll try.

I have one punch, and two center punches to do the job.
I have brass tubing, and at one end i use the smaller center punch to flare out the end, then i use the second center punch to flare it out a bit more. I cut the tube to length, and then put the Cam Spring in with rivit. now i repet the process but on the other end of the tube. It does the job nicely. I'll try to post pix on my '43 repair thread.

Spanish Flea

[freddythefox]

nicely flea im going to go through them all and see what i need ,might get myself a sonic cleaner too.cheers for the help.

[arthurdent]

think I'll mosey on down to the local hobby shop and get me some brass tubing...thanks flea!

[freddythefox]

i know where you are coming from with the rivet flea,thinks me can manage that one.cheers

[bigbaddad]

I just replaced m old sonic cleaner with a new one I got at Wal-Mart.It was only $20 and a full sized Zippo will fit in the cleaning tank and rinsing tank.It is made by Connoisseurs and it is called the La Sonic Supreme.Comes with a fill of cleaner that worked very nicely on a few of my old steel inserts and worked just as well on all my other Zippos also.Boy it sure worked better then my old one.BBD