Long lighters, also called BBQ lighters, are the most commonly used lighters when firing up a BBQ grill. The only concern most people have is that it costs much and can be a waste of money when it runs out of gas. Fortunately, there are now refillable lighters on the market, and we’re going to show you how to refill them.

How Can You Tell If a Lighter is Refillable?

Starting The Camp Fire With Kindling And Lighter In A lighter
If you don’t know whether the lighter you have is refillable or not, you only need to check the bottom of the tank. If there’s a valve there, that means you’re lighter is refillable as you can fill in the tank through there.

The majority of Bic lighters are disposable, but some brands, including Xikar, Colibri, and ST Dupont, produce both soft-flame and torch-style refillable butane lighters.

How to Refill a Butane Lighter

The most common refillable lighter is a butane lighter, and here’s the step by step process of refilling it:

1. Purchase a Can of Quality Butane

First, make sure that you’ll only buy a can of high-quality Butane. The problem when purchasing cheap butane is that it contains more impurities that can cause your lighter to clog up and stop working properly.

If possible, buy from trusted brands that are at least triple, four, or five-times refined. Lesser than that is already not good as you can expect a high level of impurities.

2. Bleed Your Lighter

Next, you need to bleed your lighter. This means completely removing any gas or butane that is left inside the lighter.

Just simply insert an end of a paperclip or screwdriver on the valve at the bottom of your lighter. You’ll hear a hissing sound as the air and any residue is released, so hold your position until the hissing sound disappears. This usually just takes 5-10 seconds.

long-lighter-valve

Photo Credit – http://andyquan.com/

Once the lighter is emptied, turn the flame adjustment wheel to the lowest setting to get ready for the refill.

3. Insert the Butane

To refill the lighter, hold it upside down along with the can of butane. Then, push the nozzle into the valve and fill up the lighter. Look at the window of the lighter to see if it’s been filled up. 

refilling-bbq-lighter

Photo Credit – http://andyquan.com/

As there may be tendencies of butane leaking, I suggest wearing some gloves for protection. Also, do this on a solid surface so you can keep the lighter balanced.

4. Play the Waiting Game & Fire Away

Lastly, once the lighter is refilled, wait for 3-5 minutes before firing it up. This gives the lighter time to return to room temperature and time for any excess butane to evaporate. 

Before using, adjust the flame height up to the middle only so as not to trigger an intense burst of flame. Increase the flame height gradually every after you’ve tried to fire the lighter up a couple of times.