These are some internals to a vintage unbranded butane lighter that I’m trying to fix. Here’s my predicament.

When the valve is out of the tank (photo 1), I get air/gas flow through both parts separately with absolutely no issue.
But as soon as I put the two pieces together (photo 2), I get zero flow no matter if the valve stem is pushed or pulled.

Here is how I’ve tested parts. With the valve out, I push butane through the fill valve on the bottom and it shoots out where the valve connects just as it should. I can blow air through the valve stem with my mouth and just to be sure i wasn’t crazy, I ran a tiny thread all the way through it so I could visually see that it wasn’t blocked.

I’m so lost and don’t understand how this is physically possible.

Happy to post more photos or share details anybody needs because I’d really like to get this thing functional.

Edit: I figured it out! The valve assembly is threaded through the tank. The threaded collar to the valve stem secures everything tightly when it’s screwed together. So when I was checking flow through the tank with the valve stem and collar off, gas was leaking around the hole where the outlet pokes through the tank, NOT where it’s supposed to be coming out. I ran small wire through the hole under where the valve sits and will have to get a new sponge wad thingy but after I cleared the hole and understood what I was looking at, it all made sense. Hope that’s understandable.

Can someone please help me find a string for my lighter?

In the mechanism nothing is wrong, but sometimes it seems like it cant click, i have seen that without the bottom metal part it stays well, but the moment i put the screw it doesn't work and messes everything up which is weird because i've used it before and sometimes it clicks and sometimes it doesn't.

Here are a few pics of my handmade vintage lighter repair workstation/bench.

Some of my collection displayed and some that need to be worked on.

Hi folks,

Disassembled this 1960s(?) cigarette case lighter as the flint was stuck in the tube and required drilling out. Got it out but while doing it dropped the flint wheel and it's now in pieces. Does anyone have any experience disassembling such a mechanism? I am not sure in what order the clutch spring and circlips are to go. Any help would be much appreciated!

Hey i just got the lighter at a antiuqe shope. It has a busted wheel and needs a new wick and flint. Is not compatible with zippo parts and I am very new to this. Any help is aprratited! It says BASF on it btw

This is my first time trying to repair a lighter

I know it goes somewhere next to the flint wheel bc it came off when I took that screw out but I’m not sure where/what direction to put it back

I found this lighter in a vintage shop and I took it apart and cleaned it thoroughly. This is my first time with a lighter like this, what kind of flints do I need? What to do I do to replace the wick?

Hey people, I found this old Fisher Diplomat in a store and tried to get it running. Got the old cotton out and put some new in there, got a Zippo wick and some butane and it lights! Problem is, the wick always gets crushed and packed into a ball, making it tough to light. Any advice to make it work better?

Hi everyone, I recently bought this vintage Ibelo Monopol lighter from a seller. It was sold to me as working, but when I got home it only lit about 2 times out of 7 attempts.

I thought the problem might be the flint, so I carefully unscrewed the bottom flint spring screw. When I removed it, a small brass-colored piece came out separately. I believe this is not the flint itself, but the small flint spring plunger/tip that pushes the flint upward.

Can anyone confirm what this broken piece is? Is it the flint spring plunger/tip, or could it actually be an old flint?

Also, based on the markings and mechanism, does this lighter look like an authentic Ibelo Monopol, or could it be a fake/reproduction? Only the top mechanism is magnetic; the body is not.

Any help would be appreciated. I’m attaching photos of the lighter, the bottom marking, the mechanism, and the broken piece.

good day! i recently got this lighter (givenchy 9000) from a thrift store. i took it home and changed the flint, purged and cleared out the tank. but when i tested it, darn thing wont light up. i can hear the "pss" sound it makes when i open the lid and im sure the tank works fine because i took it apart and tested it (refer to the 3rd photo). i even tested it for leaks but oddly enough, there seems to be none; from the joint, or thumb striker part.

one more thing, when i took it apart, i kinda forgot where the u-shaped clip belongs when assembling it (refer to the 2nd picture) so any tips on where it actually belongs will really help.

asking for help regarding these:) because i pretty much went through everything i can find online but nothing pops up. anything helps, thank you! :D

Hello everyone,

Found this vintage lighter (likely 1920s–1950s) during a house clearance in Germany. It has a brown textured leather case and metal body.
On the bottom is a red hallmark: a large A with a small house inside the A, and inside the house something like an hourglass.

Any information on the maker, origin (possibly Austria/Germany?), or age would be great!
Photos attached. Thanks!

Is there a way to find a new striker wheel for this prince superlighter? The teeth have broken off of this one and I can’t seem to source a replacement,

Hello, I have a cool combination lighter and cigarette case made in West Germany. I got the lighter part working fine. However, the spring that holds the arms under tension is broken and I can't seem to locate a replacement spring on the internet.

I did find one website that had the correct spring but they don't sell them anymore apparently. Does anybody know where i can purchase a spring?

Below is the link to the place that no longer sells them but I include it so you can see a better picture of the spring in question.

https://www.kyledesigns.com/new-replacement-hinge-spring-for-arms-in-metal-cases/

Thank you for any help.

Hello Reddit,

​

So, I have this gas lighter lying in my house for a good decade now, I got it from an old friend. Saw it at his place, he said "you can have it, it leaks gas though"

​

I think it's like a DIY or bootleg something something, because of the peculiar art and lack of brand markings.

​

I finally got my hands on fixing it, found out that it in fact does not leak gas, but rather it doesn't light, because the gas-letting mechanism is misplaced.

​

My guess is that it might have been taken apart at some point before, and the iron piece that is supposed to open the gas valve (picture 4) is lower than it should be, and when the button is pressed, it only causes the spark, but does not trigger the gas (picture 5).

​

The bolts that hold the body together are removable, except for the middle one that holds the main trunk, seems to be soldered.

​

So, any idea how I can fix the thing with my hands? Or is it better to just take it to a master?

I found this old lighter at my grandpa's house and i don't know if it works with butane or what. It has a litlle niddle in the back (4rd and 5th picture) but i can't find a way to refill it. Does anyone knows how this kind of lighters work?

Dropped my lighter in the sand a year and a half ago, didn’t realise you could open the inside until today.

When I try to light the lighter there is no clicking sound. Stumped on how I can fix this

The spring mechanism isn’t correct. There a trick to get it back together?

O-rings for the flame valve also have been impossible to get right.

I'm at the point of just wanting to find a place to unload this lighter for parts to someone that needs some of it.

The fill valve is good now but I can't get the flame valve to cooperate with what I have. So any suggestions on a set of lighter repair o-rings would also be appreciated.

Going to try and use some JB weld with a small piece of brass, you can see the flint is just barely held in. Old Flint was all that was there and I noticed some of the brass that was picked away.

Damn shame since the body of this is in great shape.

I got 3 different sets so far and all of them don't seal to the 3 different brands of butane I had to try with. And none of them work for the lighters either.

If the seal was just bad to the tank okay fine, but yeah.

Got them from Amazon after seeing the links posted on various forums.

Not sure if there is a preferred fuel brand and valve adapter set but I'm at my wits end with this.