Is All Butane Created Equal


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I finally pulled the trigger and bought a Xikar Table Top Lighter. I splurged and went with the Xi3 Mayan Cloisonne Tabletop Lighter. I'm sure the functionality is the same as other Xikar's but I loved the design and it is a beautiful piece. I have included a couple of pics of my new purchase. Special thanks to Mark at cigarmony.com for his assistance.

My question is about Butane. Perhaps this akin to buying the $100k sports car and putting regular in it, but perhaps it’s just another gimmick pulling at the spending habits of the consumer. Is all Butane the same? Xikar has their premium butane which claims to have zero impurities. Does it matter? Will the premium make a difference in the performance of my lighter vs. the regular?

I would appreciate hearing your thoughts and experiences.

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I've only used Ronson in my DuPont and it never fails, used multiple times daily for over 2 years.

Nice lighter mate!

My experience with Xikar lighters, and probably most butane lighters, is that the quality of butane used does matter.

Use a "pure" a butane as you can. The problem with lower quality butane is that you will find a carbon deposit forming around the "spark plug" that will short: i.e. the spark will happen between the tip of the plug and the body of the lighter instead of the tip of the spark and one of the torch tips. That will result in many misses when trying to light the lighter.

Good luck and enjoy. :party:

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Agreed. Butane quality is definitely NOT a gimmick. Poor quality butane can lead to build up and lighter malfunctioning. Xikar has good butane, as does Vector. You want to use stuff that is "pure" (as you have) or "5x filtered" and the like.

Congrats on the new lighter. Enjoy.

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I agree with both of the opinions above. Quality does matter. Look for 5x filtered or refined. I was using Lava butane exclusively, but is recently went out of production. Have switched to Vector with good results. It would be a shame to not have that beautiful Xikar not performing up to its full potential by using cheap butane. Exactly like your car/petrol analogy.

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NEVER use ronson butane. Ronson butane will clog the jets and you'll have to send that new lighter in for repair after a few fills with Ronson. I'd go for 4 or 5 times filtered for better longevity, however, with a Xikar it doesn't matter too much because if it breaks or the jets clog you can send it in to get it repaired for free (you pay shipping though). Generally, Xikar replaces the lighter and just sends you a brand new one. I think the best butane for the money is Vector 5-times purified butane. Seems to be pretty pricey online, but the store I run sells it for 7.50 US and I'm sure this price runs pretty standard at a local B&M wherever you are.

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NEVER use ronson butane. Ronson butane will clog the jets and you'll have to send that new lighter in for repair after a few fills with Ronson. I'd go for 4 or 5 times filtered for better longevity, however, with a Xikar it doesn't matter too much because if it breaks or the jets clog you can send it in to get it repaired for free (you pay shipping though). Generally, Xikar replaces the lighter and just sends you a brand new one. I think the best butane for the money is Vector 5-times purified butane. Seems to be pretty pricey online, but the store I run sells it for 7.50 US and I'm sure this price runs pretty standard at a local B&M wherever you are.

Dang it, I've been using ronson no wonder my colibri and even the cheapo ones went bust.

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I agree with all. Get the Vector quintuplus butane from Mark's store - I've had issues with Ronson butane clogging up things, as well as the Bernzomatic butane (stuff for soldering torches, sold at Home Depot and the like) has given me issues as well. When I finally ponied up a while ago, and got some nice lighters (Colibri Ambiance and Xikar Genesis), I've been using Colibri premium butane exclusively. Now that I've recently got a nice Vector Tri-pump, I got a couple of cans of the Vector fuel as well. They're big cans of great stuff, and are quite volume-filled and economical. I'm pretty sure Mark sells 2 cans of it for like $17 or so, and it works great.

And I love the new lighter. I was recently looking at some of Xikar's new releases for their cutters, in the Mayan style, as well as the black-to-blue one. Cool stuff. My Xikar collection might just keep growing....

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I bought some xikar butane at the local b+m the other day, it was all they had. Anyone try this stuff?

Been using that for ages and never any issues!!

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On a related note - any aussies know where we can get decent butane in Sydney? I can only find the cheap stuff.

I've used Newport Extra Purified Butane in my Blazer lighters. You can get it at most tobacco shops or DSE/Tandy.

So far the only issue I've had with it is refilling my Blazer EVO. Even with the multiple nozzles, I can't get it to fill properly. Most of the time I lose 1/4 of the gas in leakage.

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I've used Newport Extra Purified Butane in my Blazer lighters. You can get it at most tobacco shops or DSE/Tandy.

So far the only issue I've had with it is refilling my Blazer EVO. Even with the multiple nozzles, I can't get it to fill properly. Most of the time I lose 1/4 of the gas in leakage.

Thanks Fuzz - I never would've thought to look in an electronics shop for butane.

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