Reflinting and Rewicking a Zippo Lighter.

I know it may seem simple to some people but not everyone is confident about how to properly reflint and rewick a Zippo, hell I've had people come in to my shop and ask how to put gas (butane rather than petrol) into one...

Anyway lets continue.

You can also learn a few basic Zippo tricks in my new instructable, Basic Zippo Tricks

Once you're finished with them you can learn more with the second round of tricks.

If you're too lazy to read here's a video: 

Step 1: Tools and Materials

You'll need:

Tools:
- A pair of tweezers or very fine tipped pliers
- A stiff nylon or wire brush
- A small flathead screwdriver
- A simple poking device

Materials:
- A zippos in need of a wick or flint
- A zippo wick, other brands can be too tight in the chimney or too loose
- Lighter fuel, as in petrol
- Flints, some swear by zippo ones, personally swan extra longs do me nicely, don't take them from disposable lighters, especially not Bics.

Step 2: Take Out the Inner Workings

Dead easy, open the top of your lighter, grasp the flameholder and pull the inner piece out.

If it's stiff just pull hard, once it's out that can be addressed.

Step 3: Taking the Flint Out and Replacing It.

On the bottom of the inner lighter you should see a brass flathead screw, this is the bottom of the flint tube, unscrew the screw and take out the screw, there will be a spring attached to it.

Tap the bottom of the lighter inner on your desk or whatever and watch to see if any flint falls out, make sure there isn't any chunks of old flint in the tube.

If the lighter has been out of action for a long time then the flint may have expanded inside the tube, you can tell if this happens by putting a new flint in and screwing the screw on, if you screw it in and it wont screw in any further than a few turns and still wont spark then that's the likely problem.

To fix this you'll need a dremel or other similar hobby drill and a bit just a little smaller than the flint tube diameter, put the bit in to the tube, spin the drill up and slowly go up with small gentle movements, sparks will some spiralling out the bottom of the tube, be gentle and don't damage the flintwheel. Tap the lighter inner on the desk again to make sure all the bits are out and test the flint again.

If you're using the likes of swan extra length flints there's a little trick to getting the screw all the way in and the wheel turning easily, in quarter turn increments after the screw is about 2/3 of the way in turn the screw 1/4 turn and turn the wheel to spark three times, continue until the screw is all the way in, thought some of the length is compromised in this ( a tiny fraction) it means the wheel will spin well and the spark will be very powerful, and will last a good long time.

If you're rewicking aswell leave the flint out for now and leave the screw and spring to one side.

Step 4: Taking Out the Cotton and Cover.

First lift the little felt cover at the bottom, you may need a toothpick or needle to get it lifted up.

Set that to one side, start taking out the packing using tweezers, get it all out.

Pull the old wick down through the chimney.

Step 5: A Perfect Chance for Some Cleaning.

Now is the perfect time to give inside the chimney and casing a clean, an old toothbrush and a little lighter fluid do the job pretty well, avoid cotton buds etc. as the fibers get caught everywhere.

Drop a little lighter fluid on the brush and brush inside the chmney and out, inside the cap and base of the casing. take a small wire brush and brush the wheel, making sure to go all the way round it, this will help with striking.

Also have a quick go over the whole thing and consider any polishing of the casing or visible parts you want to do while the lighter's in bits.

Step 6: Putting the New Wick In.

Take your new wick out and from the top of the lighter push it into the chimney, it will go in a wee bit but you'll need tweezers or fine pliers to pull it through...

Pull the wick right down to where you know it's at a good flame height...

Step 7: Replace the Packing.

This is very easy but should be done properly to make your zippo run properly, if you just throw the stuff in then the fule wont get to the wick that well, the trick to it is actually illustrate on zippo wick packets.

You want to weave the wick side to side while packing over with the cotton, use a poking tool to jam the cotton in tight and don't forget about behind the flint tube.

Step 8: Replace the Felt

Ok finish packing down the cotton and place the felt backing piece back down, use the tool to poke it right down then let it pop up again, repat until it sits level with the case.

Step 9: Fuel 'er Up and Go...

So fill the fuel into the lighter through the little hole, make sure it's well filled...

Now dribble fuel on to the wick, just enough to saturate it, light the lighter and let it run for a few seconds, if the wick starts to black put it out.

This gets a little heat in and also speeds the drawing up action in the wick, shortening the 'sitting time' before you have your zippo back to use.

Step 10: Final Thoughts and Some Stuff About Zippo Lighters.

Well I always liked zippos, they have alot going for them and are pretty timeless, aswell as being classy looking to people but still being an everyman's lighter.

You can legally bring a zippo lighter on a plane, not sure how they feel about it being on you, they didn't mind for me, this is something I really love for day trips over to the likes of england and scotland..

They are cheaper to run than buying disposable lighters, not to mention more reliable, a can of gas lasts me for a very long time, a disposable lighter lasts about two months, a bic is 99p a can of lighter fluid is 99p and you could get a year out of it...

They can be repaired for nothing by sending them back to zippo, I have a friend who does this every tiem it doesn't light in three strikes, I did it when I broke the lid mechanism...

There's an infinite repertoire of tricks for zippos out there.

They're tough and are pretty windproof...

They're zippos...

Thanks for reading this instructable, if anyone ever says why not use a disposable here's a canned argument you are free to use:

Well disposables tend to be pretty crappy, they wet themselves at the first thought of wind, they're actually a waste of money *allude to the gas vs. disposable argument*, they're also very bad for the environment, making plastic waste and wasting energy in manufacturing disposable items... Oh and zippos are damn cool