Has anyone done this to one of their lighters?

[cjhalbrooks]

I read this on one of those social Media, it sound kind of off to me and maybe dangerous. What do you think.

"How to refill a torch lighter faster, fuller and with less air: Place your lighter in the freezer for a few minutes, then refill it. Because the lighter is now cold and the butane in the can is so cold, there's more resistance to air creeping in. It takes only a few seconds, and fills the lighter completely, not just partially."

[dijit]

havent tried it in so many words, but I did leave my lighter in the car once last winter and when I went to refill it it did seem to take a better fill. It did after I refilled it swell and split the case. With that in mind I think the air pocket may be a pressure buffer to help keep the tank from rupturing from over filling.

[bobarian]

Social media as a reference? I think we need a chemist or physicist here to confirm. How is the butane in the can any colder than the butane in the lighter? Freezing the lighter doesnt significantly change the physical properties of the air or butane inside.

[AdamJoshua]

When I bought my St. Dupont the salesman told me to take the refill cartridge and hold it in my hand or under my arm for a couple minutes to warm it up before refilling the lighter, or it would take a while to fill.

I have also read where people would put their lighters (after purging the gas) into the freezer for a minute and then fill them. I've never done the freezer trick, seems like freezing the rubber seals inside the lighter and then putting pressure on them filling the lighter wouldn't be great for them. I tend to just heat the cartridge with body temp and let it sit while it fills.

[cobra03]

Ive never heard of that before. I don't have any issue with the way I fill it now and I know it wont ruin my lighter. I cant imagine you can fit enough extra fuel to make it worth the trouble but I could be wrong.

[Havanaaddict]

I have found that if you want to get all the fuel into a St. Dupont ligne I, II or gatsby (and at $8 to $9 bucks a pop) you will need to keep refill in your hand for a few min. and the lighter in the freezer for a min. I have been doing this for 8 or 9 years and it work every time and the lighter is 100%.

This is from the S.T. Dupont website.

For the 1, 2 and GATSBY lines: Drain the reservoir by pushing down the top of the valve (using a pencil). Refilling is achieved through the difference in pressure, so warm the refill in your hand but keep the lighter far away from any heat source (the temperature difference enables you to control the refilling process). Gently screw the refill in fully. The transparent part of the refill enables you to control the refilling process.

I would not go through all this trouble with a reg lighter and a large can of fluid.

[ArgusP2]

There is no discernable difference but what do I know? But I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

[cjhalbrooks]

Okay so from what I gather from y'all it's unneeded. I was thinking its kind of crazy.

[T.G]

There's a little bit of truth in the original statements, but also a lot of what appears to be a misunderstanding of how the science works. Keeping a liquified gas cold will help prevent it from flashing to vapor, and also gases and liquids are more dense at colder temps, but none of this is going to create a situation of "there's more resistance to air creeping in.". If you could keep everything super cold, which might be difficult with the small mass of the lighter, you might get a smigeon more liquid in there by preventing flashing, that is if the can pressure is high enough, because as you cool the can, the pressure there is going to drop. So the reality is that you would actually want to cool the lighter and heat the can.

Honestly, I see it as a whole lot of work for very little return, and Adam brings up a good point about possibly damaging the lighter or it's seals by freezing it.

[cjhalbrooks]

Originally Posted by T.G

. So the reality is that you would actually want to cool the lighter and heat the can.

So microwave the can, freeze the lighter and post on video on YouTube. Ok lol

[MrClean]

Originally Posted by cjhalbrooks

So microwave the can, freeze the lighter and post on video on YouTube. Ok lol

Yes, please do this for our entertainment.

[T.G]

Originally Posted by MrClean

Yes, please do this for our entertainment.

Been done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNWDn9vzHyI

My apologies for the fact that it's narrated by Jimmy "the hamster" Hammond.

[cjhalbrooks]

Well fine it will have to be the oven.

[The Poet]

I do not know if freezing the lighter will fill it faster, but I am fairly certain that tossing it into a fire will empty it faster. By that logic, freezing makes sense.

[Havanaaddict]

Well with the Dupont refills I have refilled them both ways and if done just the reg way I at best only get 3/4 of the refill tube to go in ( and it is a one shot deal) with the lighter in the freezer for a min. and the refilled warmed 100% everytime!!!

[AdamJoshua]

I have a Ligne 2 Art, to be honest I need to find a place to get some work done on it, it's about 18 yrs old now and needs the seals and things replaces, I get about 1/2 a refill tops now and then it doesn't last very long between a very small slow leak somewhere, that and any time I hand it to someone they insist on opening it and looking at it while the gas escapes, also there is the fun fact that sometimes the nozzle doesn't pierce the refill correctly so it's a wasted charge as nothing comes out.

The last refills I got (gold dot) were something like $10 each.

[Havanaaddict]

Adam I have a friend that has lots of Duponts and he has gone too this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Gas-Refill-A...-/280551245333

He has not had any prob. over the last 3 or 4 years of doing this!!!

[AdamJoshua]

I actually just bought one of those the other day when I posted, i had seen them before and was really leery of them, don't know why, just careful with my lighter. That being said I figure since I'm having problems and there's a good chance they will want 100s of bucks to look at it and fix, I thought I would tray one of those machined 'adapters'. Should be here Tuesday, I'll post how it works out.

[Havanaaddict]

Originally Posted by AdamJoshua

I actually just bought one of those the other day when I posted, i had seen them before and was really leery of them, don't know why, just careful with my lighter. That being said I figure since I'm having problems and there's a good chance they will want 100s of bucks to look at it and fix, I thought I would tray one of those machined 'adapters'. Should be here Tuesday, I'll post how it works out.

1st just be carefull not to overfill it that is the norm. thing!!!

2nd Most of the time the repair is to repace the fuel chamber at around $65.00

[AdamJoshua]

Got the adapters, released the fuel in the lighter, gave it the "5 one second" pumps. Seems to work fine.

The only problem with the repair, again I have had this lighter for a long time and paid an assload of money for it, the only place I have seen to do repairs is to send it back to them, I believe they have a place in Montreal if memory serves correctly. Thanks for the price estimate though, I have visions of 100s to fix it, depending on what it really needs, seems the valve was more the problem, not puncturing the refill cartridges correctly (this fine little piece of brass seems to have solved that issue).

Now I'll just see how long it holds a charge, I seriously love this lighter and rarely ever use it because of the cartridges (getting them) and lack of 100% fills I was getting.