Butane sage wisdom?

[The.Sheepdog]

I hear that tripple refined is not all that anymore. It has impurities even when it says it doesnt. My lighters sputter a lot.

I see 5x refined and even 7x and higher these days. Is their any difference in the 5x and 7x or higher really? Which have you decided on and how is it working for your butane lighters?

Any best brands for better than 3x refined? Thanks all.

[Remo]

I am using 5x Vector in my Xikar Element..no problem's

[smokin5]

Vector is very good.
Xicar is a good second choice.

[bobarian]

Never had any issues with 5x. I believe the current brand at CI or Famous is Jetline.

[AdamJoshua]

I use the xikar as well, I think it's 372x or something, don't know never read the can, I just know I've never had a problem with it and a can last a very long time.

[Porch Dweller]

I'll throw another vote towards Xikar. I just recently got a can and have had no problems, regardless of what nx refined it is.

[icehog3]

I was a Vector 5X user for years with no problems, Bill.

I most recently bought 6 cans of Power brand 5X, and that has worked as well as the Vector at a lesser cost.

[The.Sheepdog]

hmmm. Well believe it or not I now have 5 or 6 lighters. Im a collector now I guess. They all started sputtering so I would just order another. It took all that time in all those lighters to remember that I have to refill the lighters ever so often! Real dumb dog! Oh snap.

So thats why I was asking. I got some cheap crap and kludged up one of the lighters pretty good. technology has changed it seems. These newer lighter want the good stuff!

I will order some 5x from this thread and thanks. I was beginning to feel like I could break anything I touched. I broke the seeker head on an Aim 9 sidewinder air to air missile once. Smacked it into a concrete wall! I had to see the Wing Commander on that one.

I will hope the good stuff clears out the sputters!

[dijit]

If you get the Xikar fuel it has a nozzle adapter to drain the lighter. Even though they are sputtering or even wont light at all you will find they still have a little pressure in the tank. Drain them completely and refill, you may have to turn the flame up and down a few times to finish cleaning it out. But if it isnt completely clogged it should clean out pretty well with the better fuel.

[The.Sheepdog]

Yep I will try that. If I am buying fewer lighter then I can buy more sticks!

[Ogre]

Been using Xikar as well. No problems here.

[Wharf Rat]

There's really no definition of what triple or quadruple refined means. It's something the marketing dep't puts on the label. Back in the '90s, during the boom, there used to just be butane. Then, somebody started claiming they were double refined. It's escalated since then.

That said, different brands probably have different purities. So, in the end, it's a matter of experience with both the lighters and the fuel. I second the advice to purge out your tank by holding in refueling port.

[pektel]

I find it's more about HOW you fill it, than the number of times the fuel has been refined.

When my ronson jetlite runs out (quite often. Small reservoir) I flip the lighter upside down and purge until I can't hear the propellant anymore. Then I fill it while it's inverted with whatever can of butane (I've had it for probably 5 years, can't recall the name). I try not to shake up the butane can, give it 3 bursts of about 2 seconds each. Never had a problem.

There are 2 ingredients in a butane can. Fuel and propellant. You want to try to not mix them up too much. You want to fill your lighter with mostly fuel, not mostly propellant. Propellant doesn't keep a lighter lit. The fuel is heavier than the propellant, hence the inverted filling (when inverted, the fuel is closest to the nozzle on the butane can, with the propellant in the perfect place to do its job.)

Is it the proper way? No idea. But it's worked for me for years.

[Wharf Rat]

I must respectfully disagree. A butane tank is a mixture of the fuel in both its liquid and gas state. At room temperature it has a natural pressure of about 25 psi and needs no propellant to be pushed out of the tank.

[pektel]

I'm guessing you mean me?

You could very well be correct. I read it a long time ago, and since changing my filling strategy, I've never had a lighter issue. So I've stuck with the method because it works. I didn't research it, and it's not my field of expertise. I just thought it was logical.

[Wharf Rat]

Turning the can upside down still works! You are pushing the liquid butane in and keeping the gaseous butane on "top."

[pektel]

Mind. Blown.

[The.Sheepdog]

Got my new butane in today. All 5 lighter work now really well. Yaay!

Why 5? I dont know. I have a Black Ops triple flame coming also. No cigars but lots of lighters! LOL

Have to go visit the local tobacco store I guess. I hate holiday shopping!

[shilala]

Originally Posted by pektel

Mind. Blown.

Want more mind blowage?
Butane boils at just under 32 degrees at sea level.
So why doesn't it boil in your lighter? It does. But not until the pressure drops enough to let it. That happens when you light it, releasing pressure.
Put your lighter in the freezer and see how well it works.

[jjirons69]

I must have a dozen lighters (now). The most expensive one is maybe $30 with several Ronsons, Deal Extremes, a Xikar, etc. I have Xikar, Ronson, and Vector fluids. Now comes my dilemma. No what what I try, lighter #1 will only take the Ronson nozzle. It'll fill it to the top, no blowout leaks. Perfect. The other two cans plain or with any of the assorted red tips I've collected over the years will not fill it - at all. All that happens is a sub-arctic liquid drippage and a cloud of frozen gas. No fill. Now lighter #2 will take the Vector and the Ronson can straight up, no red attachments, yet the Vector blows frozen fuel everywhere. Lighter #3 will take all three cans equally. And so on...So now when I have a lighter that needs filling, I know which can goes with which lighter. Sometimes I go against my own proven knowledge and try to see if I can change over - never works. Over the years I seen maybe one or two lighters exhibit a little clog, but they're those cheapo Deal Extreme models and to the landfill they go when they get too bad. I've got some 10+ year old lighters that have been running Ronson exclusively that still work like a champ. The Vector fuel will make a lighter "burn" hotter/higher on a particular setting vs. the Ronson or Xikar and the flame seems to linger after I let go of the trigger, but quality-wise, I personally haven't seen the dreaded clogs folks talk about. Butane is a simple gas, seems a distillation or two would get you some pretty pure product. If not pure butane, as least a low percentage mixture of other flammable gases that shouldn't clog. The Net says contaminate oil is the culprit for clogs, but given the low boiling point of butane vs. these contaminates, it wouldn't take much to separate the two via fractional distillation.

YMMV.