Thread: Anyone handy with vintage lighters?

Howdy, wondering if anyone can give me a hand.

I have a repro trench lighter which looks like this:


When I received it, I stupidly gave it a flick before it had fluid in it. And of course, the wick singed down to a little stub.

Now, sometimes it lights, and usually it doesn't.

So I tried to simply pull up the wick. No cigar. That sucker is stuck in there TIGHT. I tried to put a pin down the hole along side it and pull it up, but it simply bent my pin in half. That's how tight it is. The hole which holds the wick itself isn't tight. Rather it seems to be stuck from the inside.

So I figured I'd try from the other end, just take out the filling and replace the wick entirely is need be.

This is a little difficult, since the hole to get at the filling is less than 1cm wide. But I gave it a shot.

A little bit of the filling came out, and then, it too was completely jammed. It was packed tight and full as hell, and I got maybe 1/4th of it out. After that, it was just stuck. I pulled as hard as I am humanly capable, and it wouldn't budge. What the hell.

Does anyone know what on earth I can do about this? I can't figure out why the hell my lighter is so jammed up from both ends.

As far as I know, there is no way to open the main barrel to make it easier to get at. The slider that raising and lowers the cap comes off, but from there it's pretty much just a single piece of brass.

Help?

Thanks guys!

Please don't flame me if it doesn't work, but have you tried a coarse thread screw? twisting one up into the packing and pulling with a pair of pliers might get the stuff loose enough to free the wick.

quite some time back i had one just like it. the wick cover is fragile /it broke and was lost and the rascal always leaked in my pocket

*sigh* This is the annoying thing about traveling. I'm plenty handy with tools, but I don't HAVE any tools, as I don't have a lot of room in my suitcase. I've basically got a double-sided screw driver, some mending stuff, and that's it. Argh.

Well, I'll see if I can hunt something down. Because it was such an awesome lighter... when it worked.

maybe you dont need pliers. But you can find a screw somewhere nearby. thread it in and try to pick the packing loose. If the wick is not totally gone ...with a needle you could thread a few loops of Dental floss(its strong)through the wick to give you something to pull on

Originally Posted by kevint

Please don't flame me if it doesn't work

She can't flame you if it doesn't work, cause she has no lighter.

That is a bummer, vintage lighters can be finicky and have unusual parts in them. I have a bunch that are just paperweights till I can figure them out.

I've got the same type lighter and pulled it apart as far as I could (slider off) to see if it would help. On mine, the wick is able to be pulled up fairly easily so I assume it is originally fed in from the bottom.

The base (with the threaded hole for the plug with attached ring) is a separate part but I haven't been able to remove it with what I have at hand (leatherman and a bit of bent wire) without wreaking the thread.

If you are willing to risk it, have another go at pulling the padding out - I used a bent wire and then needle nosed pliers and it all came out as one long strip. I haven't used this lighter in years though - same problem as kevint, it leaked - and I won't be particualarly heart broken if it doesn't work properly when I put it back together again so try at own risk. You should probably then be able to push the wick up from below with, say, a straightened coat hanger or similar thick wire, else try pushing the wick all the way in from the top and re-inserting it again from the top (with maybe a thin thread wrapped tight around the end to help pull it in from below).

Failing that - maybe try a long thin pin or needle (something like a carpet needle) and poke it in from the bottom, through the padding - it might push out enough of the wick that you can get hold of it from the top.

Probably the wick is just so bend that it wont fit out of the hole from the upper end.

If you are not MacGyver or if you have no tools then you need to find someone who has at least needle nose or electric pliers or such. Narrow enough to fit into filling chamber.

Without pliers i probably would take a nail, bend about 5mm from the sharp end of the nail about 90+ angle and then just tried to dig the fillings out (hey this doesn't work either - you need some tools to bend the nail as well).