Cheap refillable Gas Lighters

Now for something completely different …

I have the need to connect a larger fuel tank to a cheap refillable Gas Lighter.

The standard type of refill canister would be an adequate size, but the ‘push’ connection is too clumsy, as both lighter and canister have plain tubes with spring-loaded valves.

Before I start over-thinking this … does anyone have a bright idea ?

I need connections to one brass and one plastic tube, with the facility to open both valves, and a small in-line gas tap !

MichaelG.

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Edited By Michael Gilligan on 12/07/2023 17:50:33

Can you not just get a bigger lighter?

Drill and tap a new hole in the base of the other 'compartment' of the lighter which would enable a better fitting to be employed in order to connect it to another canister possessing a more useful outlet fitting

Edited By DiogenesII on 12/07/2023 18:54:19

Michael can you use one of the small gas soldering torches - connections and taps may be easier to acheive.

Robert Butler

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Not really … it’s to make a micro-burner for very small-scale glass working.

It’s the flame that is important, it just seems easier to adapt the tank than to remove and re-house the burner assembly.

MichaelG.

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Good thought, Robert … but this is intended for a shoestring budget and, as explained to Jason, the requisite burner is very small.

MichaelG.

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… I will investigate that possibility

MichaelG.

Before anyone asks …

Yes, I have tested the burner

… and yes, the shape and intensity of the flame is suitable for what we are working.

MichaelG.

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I can't remember the post I did this video for but it is a 1.3mm hypodermic needle on the end of one of the cheap e-bay "camping gas" canister regulators. Just bodged with some tape over the joint for the vid bit would be easy to make a threaded connector that the needle can be pushed onto.

Edited By JasonB on 12/07/2023 19:16:30

That’s fine for what you are doing, Jason

But we are working on a slightly smaller scale and an appropriately scaled Blue-cone flame is desirable.

The capillary tube in my photo is 0.8mm outside diameter.

MichaelG.

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Having now seen your edit … yes, that’s basically what I’m trying to do … but the Lighter-refill canister is very cheap and a suitable capacity, so I hadn’t considered the Camping Gaz option.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 12/07/2023 19:50:29

If you get one of the long-reach disposable lighters they have a tube connecting the burner to the head. It would be easier and safer to connect the small tube to say an old blowtorch or gas camping stove.

Robert.

Experience shows that those lighters tend to overheat and fail after about a minute. They don't explode, the apparatus at the top falls apart.

You can buy mini brazing torches under the guise of cooks' blowtorches at very modest prices. Man can be set to have a very small flame, has piezo lighting and widely adjustable gas/air mix.

Neil

Two questions, Neil

1. What exactly do you mean by ‘those lighters’ ?
2. Did you notice the scale of the work we are trying to do ?

The flame would only be applied for a few seconds to any one piece

…are you saying that failure is terminal ? [edit: yes, I see that you are]

Any Cook’s Torch that I have seen would be enormous in this context

I already have one of these: **LINK**

https://www.campingaz.com/in/p-22886-spotflam.aspx

and even the flame on that that is much too big

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 12/07/2023 20:54:43

I have a couple of pen torches they are about the size of a fountain pen would that be small enough?

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Me too, Bernard … unfortunately not

Subject to it not disintegrating, as Neil has suggested it will, the type of lighter that I have tried is ideal for the job.

Thanks

MichaelG.

Like Neil I had assumed the need for a large volume of fuel was due to you needing to run for extended times which like he says overheats the end and it all starts to melt.

So why the need for a large fuels tor? or are you mounting it in some form of jig and don't want to take it out to refill

Yes 

MichaelG.

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Edit: __ The problem might be considerably simplified if I just concentrate on finding a way to bypass the filling- valve on the lighter … then, any convenient gas source can be connected.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 13/07/2023 07:13:50

Though your flame may be different if you change gas type and pressure

The cheap camping stoves take a cartridge that is somewhat like a lighter refill - this sort:

**LINK**

maybe you could use this refills and butcher the rest of the stove to suit?

Dave

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Sorry Jason … I should have written any convenient, pressure-regulated, source of Butane

I was trying to ‘modularise’ the challenge.

MichaelG.

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Edit: __ or maybe I could build some sort of “filling station” to top-up the liquid butane periodically, and rely upon the lighter’s own pressure regulating system.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 13/07/2023 07:33:50