Z-plus zippo insert issues...

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physiognomy

From a land down under...
I bought one of these recently as I've always liked my zippo, but hate the smell of lighter fluid & wouldn't put it near any cigar... First one wouldn't light & I was kindly sent another (& a few cutters for my trouble) from a great BOTL on ebay. I have also had problems with the replacement lighting consistently until I switched over to Lava fuel (from zippo butane - no prob's in my colibri) & it works great when not placed into the zippo case. The only way I have found to make it work consistantly is to put a few pieces of match in the bottom of the case... I'm guessing the extra clearance allows some air to get in??? I guess the main thing is that it works now. Anyone have a similar issue/problem with these lighters?
 
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Holy crap, I have the exact same problem and just figured it was some freak of nature because it makes absolutely no sense. I have to pull the insert like .25 inches up and then click. I'm using zippo butane (ya, I know) but I don't see how this could be the cause.
 
That is odd. I am a Zippo user and have considered using the butane insert for quite some time now. Hopefully your question is answered and some light is shone on the situation so we can learn a little bit more about it.
 
T_Money said:
... I have to pull the insert like .25 inches up and then click. I'm using zippo butane (ya, I know) but I don't see how this could be the cause.
Click to expand...

Glad I'm not alone here... It definitely lights much better now (every click) with the 5x refined fuel, but I'm wondering if 1/2 of my issues were because the insert sat down too low in the case? Anyway, break off a few pieces of match & throw them in the case under the insert & you'll be good to go... :ss
 
physiognomy said:
Glad I'm not alone here... It definitely lights much better now (every click) with the 5x refined fuel, but I'm wondering if 1/2 of my issues were because the insert sat down too low in the case? Anyway, break off a few pieces of match & throw them in the case under the insert & you'll be good to go... :ss
Click to expand...

Well, that made it work while it sat in the case, but now the lid won't close, LOL!
 
That is really odd, I have a Z+ as my primary lighter and it doesn't have this problem, not even once. It is in a zippo case that is very tight, and pushed flush against the bottom. I've always used vector quintplus fuel in it, and I don't think it's hesitated to light even one time.

Air or clearance for air wouldn't have anything to do with it, because it is a closed system. No air is drawn in whatsoever, only fuel is expelled via the nozzle while burning.

The only thing I can think of is that something is protruding from the bottom, like perhaps the flame adjuster, or the collar around the fill nozzle, or something else ? I will experiment with mine and see what I can find....... I'm not sure why butane would cause this symptom but stranger things have happened......
 
I have the Z-Plus insert but haven't had the lighting problem you experienced. I fill it with Dunhill butane. The problem I did have was that my zippo case was slightly large than the insert itself, so I wrapped the insert with a folded up post-it note and it now fits snugly.
 
It sounds like every zippo case/z-plus insert isn't exactly the same... T_Money, sorry the matches didn't work... mine shuts fine, so maybe try something smaller? Sonic, I didn't think there should be an issue related to air flow, but placing my finger over the base of the insert has no effect on lighting. I think it might have something to do with the gap below the lighting button?
 
Eureka, I just fixed mine. It doesn't work when the flame adjustment is much past the half way mark towards smaller. however, when I moved it to the half way mark or towards the big flame, IT WORKED!!!
 
I've been using my Z-Plus insert for a good while now as my everyday lighter , never a problem other than running out of fuel . I also use Vector Quintuplus Butane .
 
Hmmmm - That is very odd. I have had my insert for over two years now I guess - lights every time. I use only Colibri or Vector fuel.

So I have been sitting here trying to get it not to light. I have pushed, pulled, squeezed every which way, twisted, removed, dropped (onto my desk), and every other thing I could think of - no luck - still keeps lighting.

Very odd - wish I had an answer for it.


Ron
 
I got mine not too long ago from Heartfelt. Worked fine for about a week and now it only lights when I double click it quickly. I'm using Lucerne triple filtered fuel. I guess I'll have to try and track down some better butane before I give up on this. Elevating the insert didn't make any difference.
Damn I wish it would light on the first click. Pain in the butt right now. :mad:
 
I found mine took a little bit of a break-in, and after that it worked pretty well. Changed to better fuel and it really works well, though I do have to double click it, I do not find that very annoying, now I do it without thinking.

There are a lot of fake zippo's out there, some marked as zippo and some not, so there is a wide variation in sizes. I have found my genuine zippos to be very consistent in size, my insert fits one make last year and one made in 1944, but maybe I have just been lucky.
 
update, my insert just went through the washing machine and still works, even lit on the first click, maybe now the element is clean. Cannot recommend that as a cleaning technique though.
 
I have had 2 (TSA got one a while back) and have never had any trouble using cheap butane or lighting on the first attempt.

scottie
 
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