If you aren’t sure what purging a butane lighter even means, don’t worry it’s all easy to understand. It is simply a way of saying getting all the air and/or butane fuel from your torch lighter. A butane lighter purge tool is a small tool that can make purging or bleeding butane lighters a little easier. That may be a bit of an oversimplification so, let’s get into a little more detail.
What is a butane lighter purge tool?
When you read or hear about a purging tool or a bleed tool for a lighter, what most people are talking about is a very small screwdriver-looking type tool that is missing a tip. Again, like at the top of the post, they are for purging air from the lighter.
Using a torch lighter purging tool is easy. Simply use the purge tool to push down on the purge/fill nozzle that is at the bottom of butane lighters.
In case you haven’t figured it out yet, the picture at the top of this section is probably the most common purging tool for butane torches. If you do a google search for butane lighter purging tools you’ll find some that are very different looking, but all serve the same function. They have a wide range in price that starts at a few dollars and goes all the way to over $20.
The benefit of getting a purging tool like the one that is pictured above is it has a relief hole on the side. That hole pretty much ensures you don’t get any butane on your hands. For some people, it’s a must, but for me, I just use a rag.
Do I need one to purge my lighter?
No. You do not need to have a purging tool to purge your butane lighters. Many people, including myself, use different tools or items to purge our lighters.
Some people use wooden match sticks, paper clips, bobby pins, or chopsticks if narrow enough. I have used push pins before, but don’t recommend it. Most of the time I use a set of small electronic screwdrivers that I picked up for around $10. I prefer to use this set of screwdrivers because there are different sizes that I can use to purge any of my butane lighters.
Why do I need to purge my butane lighter?
The most common reason butane lighters need to be purged is air getting trapped above the butane tank. If air gets trapped your torch lighter is going to sputter and pop. Improper filling of your butane lighter can cause air to get trapped easily. This is why it is important never to shake your can of butane before filling a lighter.
Also, it’s good practice to always purge your torch lighter before you refill it. This way you’ll know you don’t have any air trapped that’s going to cause you problems later.
How to purge a lighter
- To purge your butane lighter turn the flame adjuster/fuel flow all the way down.
- If you’ve recently used the lighter let it cool down a few minutes before the next step.
- Hold your lighter vertically and use the purging tool to push down on the fill nozzle.
- Air and butane will come blasting out of the nozzle so be careful and never keep it near your face.
- It may take a few times of depressing the nozzle to get all the butane and air from your lighter.
You’ll know when you’re lighter has been purged when you don’t hear any more air coming out of it. Then fill it with butane and you’ll be good to go.
If you aren’t sure or just need a refresher on how to properly fill a butane lighter you can check out our post on how to do it. I genuinely hope any of the info here helps. For any comments or questions, you can drop me a message on the contact page or drop them down in the comments section.
Quick shake or NO Shake of butane can before filling lighters?
I tend to give it a quick shake. I have read both shake and daon’t shake. I don’t think it matters too much.