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The Ultimate Guide to Zippo Lighter Repair and Care



If you are unable to send the lighter insert with your lighter case, a lighter insert is not automatically installed. Please specify this on the repair form and a brand new inside unit will be installed.


IMPORTANT NOTICE, PLEASE READ: Royal Mail has adopted regulations which classify used lighters as dangerous goods. As a result of this classification any used lighters that are sent via Royal Mail services could be returned or destroyed. We would strongly recommend that all lighters that are returned for repair should be sent via a courier company.




how to fix a zippo lighter



So you prepared to pull and trim the wick on your Zippo only to have the last bit of wick come through the hole and out of the lighter. Following is a description of the steps that you will probably have to perform many times throughout the lifetime of your Zippo.


This Zippo lighter features a design by Chuck Riley. It imagines a Zippo sign done in Riley's 66 mid century style! The iconic Zippo Flame adorns the top of the sign beckoning all to use the distinctively styled lighters.


Please note that due to government regulations, Zippo is unable to return your original inside unit to you. Should you wish to keep your original inside unit, please remove it prior to sending your lighter to us. Please note that a new inside unit will be inserted into your repaired Zippo Lighter.


We don't make that promise lightly. We know that behind every Zippo product sent for repair is an owner depending on our promise to get it back in working order. Whether a lighter is five years, 25 years, or 50 years old, it will serve as a dependable source of flame for years to come. We guarantee it.


Here's how it works, you can return anything besides used: coils, vaporizers, and vaporizer heating elements. Everything else we sell, from lighters, to batteries, to chargers, we've got you 100% of the way during our standard 60-day return period.


First, you must ensure you are away from any flame since lighter fluid is highly flammable. Then remove the inside unit from its case and turn it upside down. Lift the corner of the felt pad on the bottom of the insert to reveal the packing material in the fuel chamber. Slowly fill the lighter and saturate this packing material with lighter fluid. Stop filling the lighter when the fuel reaches the top of the packing material. Do not overfill. Once finished, insert the unit back into the case and be sure to wipe off all excess fluid from both the lighter and your hands before igniting the lighter.


Zippo has been around since the early 1930's and has produced an unthinkable amount of lighters. From the traditional and collectible designs to modern and edgy, Zippo has had a model for just about everything. With such a wide range of styles and finishes to choose from there is sure to be a Zippo to match any style.


Zippo Manufacturing Company is the maker of the world famous windproof lighter with the Lifetime Guarantee. Zippo windproof lighters enjoy a widespread and enviable reputation as valuable collectibles. Every Zippo lighter is made in the USA.


A Zippo lighter is a reusable metal lighter produced by Zippo Manufacturing Company of Bradford, Pennsylvania, United States.[1] Thousands of different styles and designs have been made in the nine decades since their introduction, including military versions for specific regiments. Zippo lighters have been sold around the world and have been described as "a legendary and distinct symbol of America."[2][3] In 2012, the company produced the 500-millionth unit.[4][5] Since the company's inception, Zippo lighters have been primarily manufactured in the United States, although the company ran an operation from 1949 until 2002 in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada.[6]


American inventor George G. Blaisdell founded Zippo Manufacturing Company in 1932 and produced the first Zippo lighter in early 1933, being inspired by an Austrian cigarette lighter of similar design made by IMCO.[7] It got its name because Blaisdell liked the sound of the word "zipper," and "zippo" sounded more modern.[8] On March 3, 1936, the U.S. Patent Office granted a patent for the Zippo lighter.[9]


After World War II, the Zippo lighter became increasingly used in advertising by companies large and small through the 1960s.[14] Much of the early Zippo lighter advertising are works of art painted by hand, and as technology has evolved, so has the design and finish of the Zippo lighter. The basic mechanism of the Zippo lighter has remained unchanged, but they developed into a popular fashion accessory, with a huge variety of artistic designs produced.[15]


In 2002, Zippo expanded its product line to include a variety of utility-style multi-purpose lighters, known as Zippo MPLs. This was followed in 2005 with the Outdoor Utility Lighter, known as the OUL. These lighters are fueled with butane. In August 2007, Zippo released a new butane lighter called the Zippo BLU. It discontinued the line January 1, 2016.[16]


A museum called "Zippo/Case visitors center" is located in Bradford, Pennsylvania, at 1932 Zippo Drive. This 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) building contains rare and custom made Zippo lighters, and also sells the entire Zippo line. The museum was featured on the NPR program Weekend Edition on Sunday, January 25, 2009. The museum also contains an enormous collection of Case knives. Since the Zippo company's 60th anniversary in 1992, annual editions have been produced for Zippo collectors.


In March 2011, due to significant decrease of sales from 18 million lighters a year in the mid-1990s to about 12 million lighters a year recently, combined with increasing pressure on people not to smoke, Zippo Manufacturing Co. tried offering a wider variety of products using the Zippo name, such as watches, leisure clothing and eau de cologne. This strategy is similar to the success Victorinox Swiss Army Brands Inc. has had selling watches, luggage, clothing, and fragrance.[19]


On June 5, 2012, the company manufactured its 500,000,000th lighter and celebrated its 80th anniversary. In 2018, Zippo announced the sound trademark of its windproof lighter, making the Zippo lighter's click officially one of the most recognised sounds in the world.[20][21]


A consequence of the windproofing is that it is hard to extinguish a Zippo by blowing out the flame. However, if the flame is blown from the top down, it will be easily extinguished. The proper way to extinguish the lighter is to close the top half, which starves the flame of oxygen, but unlike other lighters, this does not cut off the fuel supply. One of the recognizable features of Zippo is the fact that it burns with a wick. Opening the top lid produces an easily recognizable "clink" sound for which Zippo lighters are known, and a different but similarly recognizable "clunk" when the lighter is closed. This noise is produced by the spring-loaded toggling cam, a little lever that keeps the lid closed or opened securely.


Unlike disposable lighters, newly purchased Zippo lighters do not contain fuel. Instructions for safely fueling the Zippo are included in its packaging. Zippo also offers for sale a name brand lighter fluid.


All Zippo windproof lighters carry an unlimited lifetime guarantee, promoted using the trademarked phrase "It works or we fix it for free." The corporate web site boasts: "in almost 75 years, no one has ever spent a cent on the mechanical repair of a Zippo lighter regardless of the lighter's age or condition."[10]


In mid-1955, Zippo started year coding its lighters by the use of dots. From 1966 until 1973, the year code was denoted by combinations of vertical lines. From 1974 until 1981 the coding comprised combinations of forward slashes. In 1979, the company inadvertently introduced an error into fabrication, with some lighters reading / on the left and // on the right instead of // on the left and / on the right, but corrected the problem within the year. From 1982 until June 1986 the coding was by backslash.


Inside the case are the works of the lighter. The insert contains the spring-toggle lever that keeps the top closed, the wick, windscreen chimney, flintwheel, and flint, all of which are mounted on an open-bottom metal box that is slightly smaller than the bottom of the outer case, and into which it slips snugly.


The hollow part of the interior box encloses five rayon balls (similar to cotton balls) which are in contact with the wick. The bottom of this is covered by a piece of felt approximately 1/4 of an inch thick. Printed on the bottom of the felt (in modern Zippos, not on older models prior to late 1992) are the words, "LIFT TO FILL," to indicate one must lift the felt away from the "cotton" in order to refuel it. The fuel, light petroleum distillate or synthetic isoparaffinic hydrocarbon (commonly referred to as lighter fluid or naphtha), is poured into the rayon balls (sometimes called the "cotton," or the "batting"), which absorbs it. It also contains a tube that holds a short, cylindrical flint. The tube has an interior spring and exterior cap-screw that keeps the flint in constant contact with the exterior flint-wheel. Spinning this rough-surfaced wheel against flint results in a spark that ignites the fluid in the wick.


Zippo released the Zippo BLU in 2007 (although there are many 2005 pre-release models). These are butane torch lighters, which Zippo has gone to great lengths to make sure are still "identifiable as a Zippo". Specifically, the lid and cam were "tuned" so that the lighter still makes the distinctive "Zippo click", and also it is one of the few butane torch lighters to use a flint and striker wheel.[31] The company also marketed the BLU2, which features a squarer frame and eliminates the fuel gauge on the side of the original Zippo BLU.[citation needed] 2ff7e9595c


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