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Accessory Discussion / Reviews>Vintage Colibri lighter - weird butane refill port??
spectrrr 04:51 PM 05-25-2010
While cleaning out the last of my grandfather's things I happened across a a decent looking Colibri lighter. Normal sized, but VERY hefty. Apparently it is an electronic ignition soft flame. It appears to spark and work just fine mechanically, with just one hitch: I can't figure out how to load it with butane!!!!!

Lighter looks very very similar to this one, and is stamped "Colibri 2001 Japan" on the bottom.
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedi...pocket-lighter
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I don't have my camera handy to take a macro photo of the fuel port, but its design seems to be a a deep recessed circular port with a rubber grommet around the outside edge and a solid pin in the center that you push in. It looks like a successful fill nozzle would be big enough to completely fill the opening, making contact with the rubber grommet on the outside edges and sealing the chamber, plus some kind of a pin in the middle of the nozzle to push in the center pin and allow gas to flow around the edges of the center pin and in. There's a decent chance it could be designed to screw in as well.

Does that somewhat incoherent description make any sense to anyone? Sound like anything you played with as a little kid? how the hell do I fill it?????
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md4958 05:00 PM 05-25-2010
Francis, could this be what all those nifty little red attachments that come with a can of Vector are for? The links pics of the bottom are kinda blurry.
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mosesbotbol 05:40 PM 05-25-2010
Originally Posted by md4958:
Francis, could this be what all those nifty little red attachments that come with a can of Vector are for? The links pics of the bottom are kinda blurry.
:-)

One's got to work.
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spectrrr 06:24 PM 05-25-2010
oh yeah, btw, took it by Levitt & Peirce today and the 50yr old woman didn't know, but tried the plastic adapters she had laying around and none worked :-)

(but maybe the Vector can has more of em :-))
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mosesbotbol 07:07 PM 05-25-2010
What didn't work? Did the gas spit back? Lighter could be clogged or faulty. If it got cold when using gas it went in for sure.
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spectrrr 07:58 PM 05-25-2010
nope, lighter is still empty as far as I can tell. None of the attachments looked like they were the right shape to work, so I wasn't surprised when none did.
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Cigary 08:27 PM 05-25-2010
I've gotta believe that an email to Colibri will get you the info you need.
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spectrrr 10:35 PM 05-26-2010
Originally Posted by Cigary:
I've gotta believe that an email to Colibri will get you the info you need.
"Typically it's the white adapter with the widest nozzle you'd use to fill the lighter. Ignore the fit of the outer rubber ring, you'd need to place the adapter on the refill valve and press down. Some spray back will occur when refueling."

Blarg.... time to get a Vector and see if one of those attachments happen to work......

Target got it perchance? No wallyworlds around me....
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md4958 05:41 AM 05-27-2010
Williams Sonoma carries it too Francis, there is a store at Copley
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Cigary 08:44 AM 05-27-2010
Originally Posted by spectrrr:
"Typically it's the white adapter with the widest nozzle you'd use to fill the lighter. Ignore the fit of the outer rubber ring, you'd need to place the adapter on the refill valve and press down. Some spray back will occur when refueling."

Blarg.... time to get a Vector and see if one of those attachments happen to work......

Target got it perchance? No wallyworlds around me....
Wow...blowback was actually something that was considered acceptable? I guess that would be ok if you really love the lighter and it's like an heirloom but blowback in a regular lighter for me just wouldnt be acceptable. Still think a call to the company would be in order to find a better way to refuel. As far as Vector is concerned their nozzle seems to be perfect for every lighter I have with no issues at all and the fuel is second to none.:-)
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spectrrr 10:19 AM 05-27-2010
Originally Posted by md4958:
Williams Sonoma carries it too Francis, there is a store at Copley
ahh, thanks! :-)


Originally Posted by Cigary:
Wow...blowback was actually something that was considered acceptable? I guess that would be ok if you really love the lighter and it's like an heirloom but blowback in a regular lighter for me just wouldnt be acceptable. Still think a call to the company would be in order to find a better way to refuel. As far as Vector is concerned their nozzle seems to be perfect for every lighter I have with no issues at all and the fuel is second to none.:-)
That quote was from Colibri themselves!!
In this particular lighter, blowback would be acceptable. Besides, if I can find a nozel the fits, I'm sure I can rig up a better seal on it :-)
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trent 05:41 PM 01-18-2018
I found this thread moderately helpful today. i got an old colibri cigarette case to use as a business card holder, and it came with a matching lighter.

Image

ideally, i think, you would have an adapter with an off-center hole like this.

Image

i do not have one of those, but one of my butane cans had other adapters on the lid, and i was able to make do with this fat one.

Image

i canted it to the side a bit, so that the brass plunger wouldn't plug the hole, and when the lighter body got cold i knew it was working.

incidentally, whilst researching this today, i found out that you can clean a butane burner with zippo fluid and a q-tip. so now my knockoff st dupont works again. it's a great day for fire-making,
[Reply]
icehog3 08:09 AM 01-19-2018
Welcome to the Asylum, Trent! :-)

Be sure to introduce yourself in the new Inmate forum.
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Brian D. 09:21 AM 01-19-2018
Couple weeks ago a young friend told me he'd inherited a rather old butane lighter with an odd size fill port. He had never seen the ring of adaptors until I fetched him one from my vehicle. (Not every brand of butane includes those now, as many of you know.)

Anyhow, a week later I saw him again, and sure enough one of the supplemental nozzles fit perfectly.
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Lowrider 08:31 AM 05-17-2018
Hello! Thanks for the interesting info on Colibri –*I've just inherited one from my great aunt. She died at 92 (still a smoker) and I'd love to get it going again. I've put a pic of it up which I hope you can see. Any clues on what adapter I need for it would be brilliant. I guess any butane gas would be OK. if you can see the pic the ridged screw is where the flint goes, not sure what the red cap is for and I assume the other one is where the gas goes... Anyway, any help very much appreciated:

https://goo.gl/9kgxht
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T.G 09:20 AM 05-17-2018
Originally Posted by Lowrider:
Hello! Thanks for the interesting info on Colibri –*I've just inherited one from my great aunt. She died at 92 (still a smoker) and I'd love to get it going again. I've put a pic of it up which I hope you can see. Any clues on what adapter I need for it would be brilliant. I guess any butane gas would be OK. if you can see the pic the ridged screw is where the flint goes, not sure what the red cap is for and I assume the other one is where the gas goes... Anyway, any help very much appreciated:

Image
Most larger butane cans come with 6 or 8 adapter nozzles molded into the lid, best to pick up a can and just see which one fits best.

The red cap could be storage for spare flints.
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icehog3 09:48 AM 05-17-2018
I would use a quality butane, cheaper ones may give you some issues. I've been using Vector for some time now.
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Lowrider 02:12 PM 05-17-2018
Thanks TG and Icehog2 –*I'll give that a whirl.
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mosesbotbol 08:30 AM 05-21-2018
Originally Posted by icehog3:
I would use a quality butane, cheaper ones may give you some issues. I've been using Vector for some time now.
100% on this. Not a reason in the world to use the cheap stuff...
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fkjjlkjahahahks 07:11 AM 01-15-2019
Hello guys, I'm having similar problems with a vintage colibri, so I thought I could ask here. I can't seem to refill it properly, minimum flame height, I empty it of air, once the hissing stops I put the valves together, but then it leaks no matter the adapter (unfortunately i only have plastic ones provided with a can). It seems to kinda work without an adapter, but it leaks sligthly and there is quite some gas blowback afterwards. I tried it a couple of times and once or twice the flame worked for about 30 seconds before fading out. I gathered from this that it's either dirty plumbing or that the tank isn't filling properly and blowing back most of it. Is it possible there is a gasket or something missing from the valve?
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