How to make a jet torch lighter work perfectly? This will be rather wordy but perhaps my long-term experiences with these can help others frustrated by the unit as I initially was.
Initially (~4y ago) when I first tried these jet lighters (as did a friend), we were both very frustrated as they seemed to work well for a short spell (a few weeks) then sort of died. More clicks, fewer lights progressively, etc. Over time however, we learned that these units just need to be ‘understood’ and little quirks (if unnoticed) cause them to progressively fail.
We tried the ‘high end’ butanes, the ultra mega 5,000x virgin filtered GLacier butane blah blah blah, no improvement. But here’s what we learned that has made all the difference…
As noted by some — the butane tank is relatively small so refills are needed perhaps a bit more often than other torches, remember there are 3 jets too. Well, if you look closely at the ‘fill port’ on the bottom, you’ll notice it is also a flame intensity/output control with a standard screwdriver type ‘slot’ for turning to adjust…noting the + and — symbols to show which way to turn the port-adjuster screw.
Now, probably 80% of you are like ‘yah tell me something I didn’t know!’ right? Well here’s the thing… just by virtue of ‘filling’ the tank with a butane canister tip, that ‘activity’ alone causes ever so slightly the adjustment screw to turn a bit — so over time with each refill the adjustment was getting turned DOWN so eventually click click click SPUTTER pop pop fizz ‘Nuthin. Because the adjustment is unwittingly being reduced to non-functionality bit by bit with each refill ERGO, make sure you re-adjust the fill port screw every so often BACK UP to a working amount (may only be half a turn makes all the difference.
Second, when refilling, we learned that sort of pushing the canister tip in-out whilst also moving the lighter level, vertical, upside down, sideways etc bleeds a lot of the air out allowing for a greater fill….BUT BEWARE…
Doing so has two effects:
1) It further causes the intensity screw to ‘reduce’ fractions at a time, so again, mind the set screw and adjust it to backup a titch. AND
2) doing so gives a greater fill but also causes the unit/fuel to be VERY COLD. The lighter often won't light for a while unless/until you warm it back up (put it in the pocket for 5 mins, hold it in your hand, etc. The butane doesn’t like to light when very cold. So if you’ve just filled the unit, there’s a good chance it’s COLD and click click click ‘Nuthin. Just warm it up and away she goes.
Finally, every so often takes one of those PC compressed air cans and blast out the jet/spark area that tends to gather pocket lin\ lt, etc. preventing a spark and thus ignition. A good blast with your own mouth often helps almost as well. Keep it clean/lint-free.
SO, in summary…
-repeated filling causes death by fractions, the adjuster screw sloooooow (and imperceptibly!!) reducing each time you insert the canister tip. Keep it adjusted up accordingly after every few fills.
-tip the lighter left right up down this way that way whilst inserting the canister tip over and over as if ‘pumping’ the lighter while refilling, it will fill MUCH better, BUT
– will be COLD (needs to warm back up to light well) and will cause the screw to reduce even more — so keep it adjusted up, as above.
– keep the jet/spark area clean.
We now have no problems whatsoever going on 3+ years with a few of these lighters each. Not a speck of problems. Easy peasy we just needed to learn the nuances that make a good lighter seem like a bad one that dies. If you try the above, I bet almost everyone will realize the same issues. Anyway good luck.
