The longevity of Zippo lighters

Mar 29, 2015 at 11:31 PM Thread Starter Post #1 of 1

Spareribs

Headphoneus Supremus
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It's amazing how these old lighters are constructed. I bought an old 1958 Zippo lighter ( yes there is a date code ) from ebay and it would not work. There was someone's initials engraved on it and probably passed away. There was hardened flint dust stuck inside the flint chamber making it difficult for the lighter to spark. After spending a couple hours trying to scrape away years of built up flint residue with a satey pin and paper clip, I finally dug out the old caked on dust.

I then installed a new flint and new wick and added lighter fluid and voila! It was working! It works flawlessly just like how it would have back in 1958. What a great design this lighter is. It's relatively cheap and can last a lifetime or more.

I don't smoke but I will use it mainly to light up my barbecues and outdoor wood fires. The cool thing about these old Zippos is that it has a story to it. Since there was a lot of hardened flint residue, the former owner probably used it a lot and had it with him all the time. He probably took it everywhere throughout the 1960s and 1970s. He was with it through good times and bad and maybe his wife was familiar with the lighter too.

I don't know how it ended up on eBay but I supposed he passed away but I will now take care of his old trusty Zippo lighter and use it. The lighter lives on and will continue to give fire.
 

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