What Can Be Used In A Zippo?

[Jelly]

GT Mike's post got me to thinkin'...

What all can be used as fuel in a Zippo lighter?
What's the best thing to use?

[ January 18, 2005, 02:51 AM: Message edited by: Jelly ]

 

[Quest]

Naphtha, aka "Coleman fuel".

 

[Jelly]

Is Coleman fuel the only "unconventional" thing you can use?

What about gasoline?
Diesel?
Kerosene?
Lamp oil?
etc, etc, etc...

 

[Jelly]

Naphtha is basically just low octane gasoline, correct?

So why couldn't you just use gasoline in a lighter? Would it be too resistant to ignite or burn properly?

Why is gasoline considered highly dangerous and flammable in comparison to naphtha?

 

[XS650]

"Lighter fuel" is a lot less volatile than gasoline and usually a lot less smelly too.

One brand of lighter fuel

Heavier fuels like kerosene or diesel wouldn't burn as cleanly and would be harder to light.

 

[Jelly]

quote:

---

Originally posted by XS650:
"Lighter fuel" is a lot less volatile than gasoline and usually a lot less smelly too.

---

Could you elaborate on this a bit?

If lighter fuel is naphtha, and so is gasoline, wouldn't the one with the vastly lower octane rating (the lighter fuel) be less volatile?

 

[Jelly]

quote:

---

Originally posted by XS650:
Heavier fuels like kerosene or diesel wouldn't burn as cleanly and would be harder to light.

---

This is something I've wondered about with kerosene heaters as well...

If you used something like Diesel Kleen +Cetane Boost in a kerosene heater running #2, would it clean it up a bit?

It would be incredibly impractical to use anything other than "lighter fuel" in a Zippo as a permanent fuel...would be neat to experiment though a little.

 

[kevm14]

Pyro alert!!

 

[Bio-T]

Moved to General

 

[MAJA]

I would not want to be holding gas in my hand and throw a spark in it!! Better to leave this to the experts.

 

[Gary Allan]

I think kero and perhaps jet fuel would work in a zippo ..lamp oil. They should burn well with a "base" (wick).

Gas would be asking for trouble. The vapors would flash ...or so I would reason.

Jelly ...howbow you doing some R&D for the rest of us here? Start out with kero ...maybe try a few drippings from the nozzles from the local airport for some higher octane prop fuel? Then move on to the kero like jet fuel?


Let us know how they work

 

[medic]

I doubt kerosene, jet fuel or diesel fuel would work in a Zippo. They would burn, but the problem would be getting the fuel to ignite from the small spark of the flint.

I know that hair spray will work, but it is almost impossible to get the lighter back apart once hair spray has been used. This also leads me to believe that some different types of alcohol would work.

Most charcoal starter fluids are a mixture of about 80% naphtha and 20% kerosene. This may work, but the kerosene may raise the flash point enough to keep the fliud from igniting in a Zippo.

Interesting facts:

The majority of Zippo lighter fluid is exported to other countries.

At any one time, Zippo can have up to 20,000 gallons of unpackaged naptha at there fuel plant. There is usually over 10,000 gallons of packaged lighter fluid in their warehouse waiting to be shipped.

[ January 18, 2005, 01:05 PM: Message edited by: medic ]