Evil's Refillable Micro Bic.....

[evil510]

Hey there, gang. Here's another little addition I did for one of my Altoids tin projects. At first I tried a peanut lighter and then a split pea lighter. I just didn't get along with either of them well for one reason or another. I kept defaulting to the good old reliable mini bic, however, it would only fit in an Altoids tin in one direction. Another drawback was that the mini bic was not refillable. This project solves both of those issues. Having done the math. It should ignite enough times to light two fires, every day for a month and then some, which is more than enough for my needs. I actually made an even smaller version by moving the valve off center allowing the main body to be even shorter, but, it wasn't practical nor easy to ignite with one hand.....

~ evil ~


Original bottom salvaged from mini bic. Refill valve transplanted from another lighter.....



Bottom view close-up of new valve installed.....



Main body cut down to size. Central support modified to make clearance for valve. I chose the white color so that I could visually see how much fuel remains by holding it up to a light source.....



All bonded together.....



Completed project. Comparison shot next to a quarter.....

[captain spaulding]

That's very cool. Great idea also.  Have you been testing it out?

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Another great mod! Nice one mate

[Sparky415]

Neat job there Evil one 

[enki_ck]

I'm a BIG fan of the Mini BIC and that's an excellent mod.

What did you use to bond the two halves?

[Gareth]

Awww, it's so cute!



Seriously; that's a very neat job.

[Mr. Whippy]

Love that!

Does that refill with just lighter fluid?  If so, how does one do it?  That looks like a butane valve? 

[evil510]

That's very cool. Great idea also.  Have you been testing it out?

Thank you, captain spaulding. Yes, for quite a while actually. I actually made this late last year. Just getting around to sharing it now. I use it regularly to burn paracord projects, sometimes I would use it on heat shrink tubing when I didn't want to bring out other equipment.....

Another great mod! Nice one mate

Thank you, Mike.....

Neat job there Evil one 

Thank you, sparky.....

I'm a BIG fan of the Mini BIC and that's an excellent mod.

What did you use to bond the two halves?

Thank you, enki. The mini bics have proven to be very reliable to me over the years.....

Believe it or not, bonding was the most difficult part of this project. At first, I tried a majority of all of the different store bought cyanoacrylates. Even went as far as going to specialty RC shops for "plastic only" adhesives. As it turns out, they are made of polyacetal plastic. Not much of anything wanted to stick very well to it. Under pressure most all adhesives that I tried, leaked eventually. I ended up taking a leap of faith on a glue called PowerBond 806, which claimed to adhere to this plastic. I ordered it from the internet and it took a while to get here. It was worth it since it has held up to this very day without issue. I prepped mating surfaces by scuffing them up as well.....

Awww, it's so cute! Seriously; that's a very neat job.

Thank you, Gareth. A girlfriend of mine teased me and said the same thing, lol.....

Love that!

Does that refill with just lighter fluid?  If so, how does one do it?  That looks like a butane valve? 

Thank you, Mr. Whippy. Yes, uses standard butane to refill. Whole big can of it can be had from the dollar store, lol. Turn it upside down, press refill can nozzle down into valve, that's it. A few seconds of refill for a months worth of fire, sounds good to me.....

[enki_ck]

I'm a BIG fan of the Mini BIC and that's an excellent mod.

What did you use to bond the two halves?

Thank you, enki. The mini bics have proven to be very reliable to me over the years.....

Believe it or not, bonding was the most difficult part of this project. At first, I tried a majority of all of the different store bought cyanoacrylates. Even went as far as going to specialty RC shops for "plastic only" adhesives. As it turns out, they are made of polyacetal plastic. Not much of anything wanted to stick very well to it. Under pressure most all adhesives that I tried, leaked eventually. I ended up taking a leap of faith on a glue called PowerBond 806, which claimed to adhere to this plastic. I ordered it from the internet and it took a while to get here. It was worth it since it has held up to this very day without issue. I prepped mating surfaces by scuffing them up as well.....

Well I thought that might be an issue as the gas in the lighter is under much pressure and leakage is a real concern. The main thing I like about the Mini BICs is that they hold their gas when not in use for years, something that cheapo lighters fail at every time.

Did you use this PowerBond 806 on the valve as well? It looks like a lot of it, or epoxied.

[Whoey]

surely there's a market for those... 

[Syph007]

Nice!  The mini bic is hard to beat for size and function.  Even when the fuel is out in a survival situation you can make a pile of flint dust and ignite that with the sparker to get a few more fires out of it.   

[NKlamerus]

Looks awesome! I might have to order some of the 806 mentioned.

Do you still carry this in an altoids can?

[WWW]

Beautiful mod, the peanut variety of lighter never appealed to me because of the evaporation problem. I use a Clipper, as it is easy to refill both Flint and fuel.

I've been thinking about doing something similar. Never dared though, because I couldn't get the underside of the lighter without breaking it. If you don't mind shedding some light, I would really appreciate it.

Thanks for sharing!!!

[pfrsantos]

Love that!

Does that refill with just lighter fluid?  If so, how does one do it?  That looks like a butane valve? 

Thank you, Mr. Whippy. Yes, uses standard butane to refill. Whole big can of it can be had from the dollar store, lol. Turn it upside down, press refill can nozzle down into valve, that's it. A few seconds of refill for a months worth of fire, sounds good to me.....

Nice work!

Do you have an idea of how many uses it's good for, before and after the mod?

[lister]

This is great!   

I wonder if  a brass tube could be added from one of those cheap peanut lighters to make the flin replacable? of course it would have to be glued in at both ends, which woul be a bit harder to do...

[PTRSAK]

I'm a BIG fan of the Mini BIC and that's an excellent mod.

What did you use to bond the two halves?

Thank you, enki. The mini bics have proven to be very reliable to me over the years.....

Believe it or not, bonding was the most difficult part of this project. At first, I tried a majority of all of the different store bought cyanoacrylates. Even went as far as going to specialty RC shops for "plastic only" adhesives. As it turns out, they are made of polyacetal plastic. Not much of anything wanted to stick very well to it. Under pressure most all adhesives that I tried, leaked eventually. I ended up taking a leap of faith on a glue called PowerBond 806, which claimed to adhere to this plastic. I ordered it from the internet and it took a while to get here. It was worth it since it has held up to this very day without issue. I prepped mating surfaces by scuffing them up as well.....

Well I thought that might be an issue as the gas in the lighter is under much pressure and leakage is a real concern. The main thing I like about the Mini BICs is that they hold their gas when not in use for years, something that cheapo lighters fail at every time.

Did you use this PowerBond 806 on the valve as well? It looks like a lot of it, or epoxied.

not as much pressure as you might think. 

Vapour pressure of butane at room temp (20C/70F) is about 40 PSI  or 280kPa  (rough, rounded off figures)

[evil510]

Did you use this PowerBond 806 on the valve as well? It looks like a lot of it, or epoxied.

I only had one valve to work with at the time. I had to recycle it over and over with each failed attempt at bonding. This meant digging it out with a probe at times, consequently causing a little damage to the once nicely mated surfaces. PowerBond was also used for the valve. This adhesive works well for mating surfaces. For filling gaps, not so much. After bonded, I did use a thin layer of epoxy to fill in any tiny gaps for good measure on the inside. Also once bonded, I filled in the tiny seam where the two parts meet with the PowerBond. Wetsanded and polished afterwards. What you can't see and what I never got pictures of is that both the valve and the hole in the base are tapered in such a way that makes it near impossible for the valve to ever pop out. If anything, pressure forces it tighter against the base. Hope this helps.....

surely there's a market for those... 

Thank you, Whoey.....

Nice!  The mini bic is hard to beat for size and function.  Even when the fuel is out in a survival situation you can make a pile of flint dust and ignite that with the sparker to get a few more fires out of it.   

Thank you, Syph007. Exactly. I like the fact that it is still useful even after it has exhausted its fuel. Where I live, it is sunny enough to use my fresnal lens 95% of the year. This also lightens the workload of my lighter. That and the fact that I am a non smoker, lol.....

Looks awesome! I might have to order some of the 806 mentioned.

Do you still carry this in an altoids can?

Thank you, NKlamerus. Yes, this particular one is always stored in an Altoids tin. I have a few versions. One for urban environment, one more for survival and another that is a combination of both.....

Beautiful mod, the peanut variety of lighter never appealed to me because of the evaporation problem. I use a Clipper, as it is easy to refill both Flint and fuel. I've been thinking about doing something similar. Never dared though, because I couldn't get the underside of the lighter without breaking it. If you don't mind shedding some light, I would really appreciate it. Thanks for sharing!!!

Thank you, WWW. I didn't get along with the peanut types either. Cut it above the top of the base with either a cut-off wheel or saw, etc...about 1/4 above the seam to be safe. Rather than breaking pieces off, which will often break off pieces of the base, grind or file off the remaining plastic until you get to the bare base. Hope this helps.....

Nice work! Do you have an idea of how many uses it's good for, before and after the mod?

Thank you, pfrsantos. Beforehand, a typical mini bic will give you approximately 1,450 lights. This is roughly 1/3 of the size of a mini Bic, which equates to about 485 lights. I can tell you that I use it often for a month or more between refills. Also, many times when I use it, it is on for quite longer, like when heating shrink tubing. Hope this helps.....

This is great!    I wonder if  a brass tube could be added from one of those cheap peanut lighters to make the flin replacable? of course it would have to be glued in at both ends, which woul be a bit harder to do...

Thank you, lister. The flints are already replaceable. I actually have a few extra flints from Bics that I destroyed as spares. It's easy to do. First remove the wind guard. While holding keeping pressure on the wheel, push the pivot tabs off to the side. Slowly release pressure on the wheel, if you don't, the flint will shoot out like a little bullet. You'll now see the flint and a long skinny spring. Replace flint. Compress spring and flint back into cavity. While using tip of small screwdriver to keep pressure on top of flint, push friction wheel back into place. Engage the pivot tabs, then replace the wind guard. Hope this helps.....

the gas in the lighter is under much pressure

not as much pressure as you might think. 

Vapour pressure of butane at room temp (20C/70F) is about 40 PSI  or 280kPa  (rough, rounded off figures)

..... though more than enough to pressure to break the seal of an inferior bonding on any type of pressurized canister. Sure, it may not explode but it will leak.