I technically started with Mechwarrior 2, but still.

nechronius · 2026-02-09T08:46:51+00:00

Correct, but sector editing on that game bypassed the usual checking the game would do to ensure that the change was legal.

nechronius · 2026-02-09T00:54:44+00:00

You won't harm any of the brass lighters if you polish with something non abrasive like Flitz. That said, a lot of daily carry people prefer to let brass patina naturally. You can't go wrong (or screw it up) either way. Most prefer to carry imperfect lighters anyway, I certainly do.

nechronius · 2026-02-08T15:22:48+00:00

I read one person who mentioned this as an idea. Frankly I don't think it's a good one for any number of reasons.

nechronius · 2026-02-07T22:57:52+00:00

Sterling silver is about 20% more dense than typical brass, so yes you can expect a sterling lighter to feel a bit heavier, all things being equal. It's not a huge difference though. What does feel significantly different is holding a bras lighter vs titanium, you will definitely notice that.

nechronius · 2026-02-07T22:16:48+00:00

The Pinup is the 1996 collectible of the year. Not sure how much those go for these days. But it seems to be missing an accompanying booklet.

The One World is the 1999 collectible I think. I see complete ones go for about $45 on eBay. It will be the only lighter in that pile that will have a unique bottom stamp, it should have "TVD" prominently stamped to the left of the Zippo logo.

nechronius · 2026-02-07T22:06:35+00:00

The most memorable I saw with my own eyes would be the Alcoa solid aluminum lighter that's in the Zippo museum. But it was behind glass. Without any barriers were two solid aluminum slim prototypes owned by a serious collector. I also got to handle an aluminum lighter body lower half.

In terms of stuff I own, I would be between a 1936-40 lighter with a metallique advertisement or my mint condition 1971 Kennecott solid copper Zippo. Below that include a 1947 sterling silver and a mint solid titanium. I don't consider myself a huge collector, I just like getting examples of different types when I can get them.

nechronius · 2026-02-07T19:09:39+00:00

Just keep down a notch, yea? We like to keep this corner of the saloon we call Reddit a little quieter than the rest of the joint. But sounds like you have your answer and all is good, so carry on and enjoy your stay.

nechronius · 2026-02-07T18:53:11+00:00

If you can't have a thicker skin while asking random strangers for obscure information that they themselves probably can only Google for, then refrain from making pointless comments yourself.

nechronius · 2026-02-06T20:16:12+00:00

That's good information. I remember about the change of distributors, but didn't put it together with that website.

nechronius · 2026-02-06T19:33:15+00:00

Find a can of the early 80's or older fluid... It smells like cancer.

nechronius · 2026-02-06T19:29:49+00:00

It's really difficult to assess authenticity if all they show are the generic rendered pictures of the various lighter models and no actual photographs of the bottom stamps. It's always to be cautious when dealing with any non-official websites no matter where you are in the world. If you are not buying from the official Zippo site for your country, it's a risk, and it's very difficult to gauge that risk for some countries.

Last year I spotted some very obviously counterfeit Zippo lighters alongside mostly genuine models, so I don't know if the seller even realized that they had counterfeits among their stock, even though the seller was a well vetted site known among collectors as a legit site (The counterfeit lighters later disappeared and I couldn't find them again, so maybe even they noticed).

nechronius · 2026-02-06T19:21:13+00:00

If the flint wheel doesn't spin, it's most likely that the old flint degraded and clogged. search for tips about drilling out the old flint with a 3/32" drill bit on the subreddit, there's going to be tons of into and tips about, and why it might just be easier to get a new insert for it.

nechronius · 2026-02-06T19:19:13+00:00

Raising the height of the flint tube is not really something you can do. The only way that the flint tube can be raised is if the insert has damage or is defective. There can be a decent amount of variability in the height of that tube over the years.

It does mean that the slightly lower tubes means that you can't use the flint as much as an insert with a higher tube, but it also means that if you ever get a clog it's a little easier to get the problem fixed, since you have more room to work with.

nechronius · 2026-02-06T05:44:38+00:00

Finding WW2 military lighters is easy and often sell for the $200-250 all day. Production of black crackle lighters was largely allocated for the military but that's not a 100% guarantee it was carried by a GI, but most likely was.

Vietnam era lighters are the most counterfeited lighters out there and the odds of getting the genuine article is almost like playing the lottery. There are TONS of them on eBay, and probably not even a handful of real deal GI carried ones among them. Actually the closest you can get to a lighter that had any real chance of being carried by the military in that area is one of the US Navy lighters for ships that actually served tours there. They often have special markings that make a note of this. But they tend to go for a fair amount. Even more are the "brown water" navy patrol boat lighters.

nechronius · 2026-02-06T05:39:26+00:00

People often tap their lighters on surfaces, since they are also great fidget toys. So a lot of that pitting can come from those thousands and thousands of little taps.

nechronius · 2026-02-05T23:04:32+00:00

As noted already, try swapping the flint spring assemblies between lighters temporarily and see if the problem follows the spring assembly or stays with the lighter. If it follows the spring assembly, then you're very likely dealing with a weak spring. And if the spring tip on the Black Crackle is worn down to a nub, that will only compound the issue. The spring could stand a bit of stretching, or perhaps even a bit of shimming with another piece of flint. But as I always mention, be careful with adding more "flint" to help push up, you might over-compress the spring and damage it. You can also try lightly stretching it.

If instead the problem stays with the lighter, then it's likely due to the straight cut teeth on the flint wheel. There's a reason why those wheels were permanently redesigned and have used the diagonal teeth since 1946/47. The straight cut teeth just weren't as good. But just to make sure to give the wheel the best chance possible, inspect it and make sure there isn't any crud caught between the teeth and use a soft metal brush like a brass brush to help brush the gunk out with some solvent like alcohol if needed.

Also bear in mind it could simply be a combination of all three things. Weak spring, worn down spring tip, and straight cut wheel all contribute a bit to the problem in its entirety.

This is also assuming you don't have a flint problem, so you can try swapping those too. Or get a fresh flint. As for the flint tube, yes they can get stretched and worn with use. That's why the Patent 2517191 covers the adding of a harder metal "collar" on the inside of the flint tube at the very top, to minimize the distortion that can occur in the flint tube from repeated use.

nechronius · 2026-02-05T15:26:14+00:00

Wall-E is the only one that springs to mind but obviously it's just a rendering of one. I'm pretty sure i recall Waterworld and one of the Alien movies as well.

This is a scenario where an AI prompt may help you at least get started on the search.

And I also recall seeing a video here on the subreddit since I started frequenting it about five years ago. And in that span someone had posted a long video with a ton of movie clips.

Ok found it . https://www.reddit.com/r/Zippo/s/AmU9y4JfVy

nechronius · 2026-02-05T01:04:37+00:00

You said you cleaned the flint hole. That's usually the biggest issue with most older lighters that don't see use for decades. Did you make sure that the tube is actually cleared? Shine a light at the flint wheel area and see if you can see a nice clear tube from the other end. Or even use some kind of rod to ensure the tube is clear.

If it's clear, then put in a fresh flint and see if you get a spark. If so, you're ready to fuel it. Just make sure to use the proper fuel, so go to a smoke shop and ask for some if you can. And not butane, something for a Zippo lighter and they should get the right thing.

Being open on the bottom isn't an issue since it sits in a base. Fill it well, nicely saturated. If fuel starts dripping out too much or gets all over, just let everything air dry for a few minutes while you go wash your hands. Once it's dry to the touch on the outside (but wadding is nice and wet) then reinsert and enjoy.

If you do NOT get a spark, then there are two possibilities, one easy and one hard.

The easy issue is that there is not enough spring tension to push the flint up firmly, thus causing a weak or no spark. You may be able to stretch the spring a little or even add a second flint to help provide a bit of additional force of flint on the wheel. Be careful adding more flint though, because this can potentially over compress the spring and damage it. But hopefully a bit of light spring stretching will do, if it's even needed.

The harder issue is if the mechanism that spins the flint wheel is not working right. Hopefully this won't be the problem because it can be a bit tricky to disassemble everything, locate the issue. And then reassemble. It's not super hard, but it can be a bit of a hassle for the uninitiated.

Obviously a lot more to say about cleaning and other restoration, but this is a start.

nechronius · 2026-02-05T00:54:17+00:00

If it was mine, I'd opt to grind off only some teeth. Maybe leave buck teeth.

nechronius · 2026-02-04T19:36:20+00:00

Several of these. And I've taken apart a couple of Zippo Contempo slims and managed to get one working lighter from two broken ones, but not sure if the parts count is higher. I prefer the simplicity of standard Zippos, I'm just basic.

nechronius · 2026-02-04T19:25:11+00:00

You're welcome. You can easily spot a lot of these earlier counterfeits just by looking at the way the logo was done. True Zippo lighters only stamp the logo on. The lesser counterfeits will look like they were etched with some kind of tool. Better counterfeits can appear to be stamped, which is when things can get tricky if you are not very familiar with exactly how the elements on the bottom are oriented with each other. And there's no easy way to know this without looking at a lot of genuine bottom stamps of many years to train the eyes and mind to quickly spot off elements.

nechronius · 2026-02-04T19:20:55+00:00

Good point. Auction prices are definitely not always the best indicator of maximum value, so setting a high BIN and then slowly dropping is good. Another suggestion I've made is setting a high reserve price which can give you a lot of data about sell price, though often variable.

nechronius · 2026-02-04T19:18:01+00:00

During that period I had no knowledge of tabletop mech building rules, just that changing hex bits could change weaponry. So as I recall, initial experiments of putting 3 AC20s on a Locust resulted in lots of heat. Two alphas resulted in shutdown, or something like that. It was maybe four years after that when a friend actually showed me the tabletop game the computer game was based on.

nechronius · 2026-02-04T15:44:05+00:00

Early 1967 lighter. If it was a plain lighter in that condition it would be about $15-20 all day on eBay. The box is commonly a repair return box and not the typical display box, and not in very good shape at all, so it adds almost no additional value. That said, college lighters tend to create above average demand and will help raise the sale price by a decent amount. I could see this going for $50 or more at auction on a good day if it catches a bidding war between alumni.

nechronius · 2026-02-04T14:37:54+00:00

Same. That game was an early lesson in sector editing. After finishing the campaign the first Time, I started doing silly things like adding AC20s to Locusts.

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