Why is it that Bic lighters work until the last drop of fuel is gone, but cheap lighters crap out half full of fuel?
Stop smoking, that’s why!
Seriously, I’ve noticed this. Bics are better made, therefore cost a bit more, but IMHO it’s worth it, because it’s always an inconvenient time when the cheapies stop working, i.e. trying to get a fire started before dusk, when a pretty woman asks you for a light, etc.
If the lighter stops striking before the gas has been exhausted, it’ll be the result of an undersized/defective flint wearing away, while if it still sparks with gas remaining you just need to carefully turn the cog-like stopper on the gas chamber to allow a better flow of gas. In my tar-stained experience.
There’s another common cause of failure in these lighters. The little rocker arm that you push on to open the gas valve is made out of a crummy plastic. Over time it’ll bend so that it no longer actuates the valve. Sometimes the arm even breaks at its pivot point.
Bic’s been sued many times for lighter related injuries because they are the big name with deep pockets. They not only make lighters, but pens and razor blades. It’s in there interest to make a better lighter than those cheap assed no name brands you see beside them at the gas station.
That probably explains it. And it would explain why it usually dies over time but sometimes dies quickly.
Mebbe because they’re CHEAP!
This is a question, why?
That is rather rude. If mechanical engineering questions do not interest you, perhaps you could be kind enough to allow those who do have an interest in it to discuss it.
Actually, that’s a mechanical engineering answer, though not a very detailed one. In a cost vs. benefit analysis, it’s possibly more profitable for the cheap lighters to be less well made.
My guess is that the cheap lighters use a fuel that doesn’t maintain as high of pressure, but that’s just a guess.
I don’t think it’s that so much as a lack of flint. Bics never run out of flint, just out of gas. The cheap .50cent lighters either run out of lighter fluid at an alarming rate or they no longer spark when there’s fuel remaining, due to no sparkage (flint).
I’ve gotten good results ‘Magicking’ those cheap lighters into working well past the point where there’s visible fuel. Pry the metal cover away, lift the adjuster off the cog, set it back to min (-), set it back on the cog and give it another crank toward max (+) to open the adjuster valve wider. Be careful, it’s easy to turn them into real flamethrowers this way. I’ve gotten at least dozens more good lights out of them cheap lighters this way.
I seldom see a lighter run out of flint before gas. You can pick up any old crusty lighter off the side of the road, and it will spark, just not flame.
Maybe curt, but not rude.
The question can be restated generally as, “Why are products that cost more better than inferior products that cost less.” And the general answer is because they use better materials, a more sophisticated design, or are otherwise an inferior product. That’s why they cost less. The answer is already given in the question.
There’s no discussion, per se. It’s just one guy saying, “They break because they’re cheap plastic,” more politely, and the response is, “oh, yeah, you’re right, it’s cheap plastic. Good call.”
Obviously the cheap lighters are less well made, but I wasn’t asking why they’re cheap. It is not always the case that a more expensive item functions better than a cheaper item.
Anyway, thanks to **Squink ** for letting me know what you thought made them so prone to failure. I checked out your hypothesis and, sure enough, the plastic stem that opens the valve is bent. It’s made of material too limp to stand up to a lot of usage. The equivalent part on the Bic lighter was thicker and flanged for more strength.
Yup. Funny how when you take the time to look for the failure mode you can usually find it, isn’t it? 
Sure — if you know where to look. Thanks again for the assist.
Yeah, but the thing with putting “,why?” at the end of the sentence is invariably pretty snotty.
BIC lighters? Bahh… The advances in lighter technology in recent years astound the casual observer. For $1.50 you can nowdays buy lighters with electrostatic ignitions, in many new shapes and trigger mechanisms. For $5 you can have a swanky torch, which is about a million times a better lighter than a BIC, at least if you light any cigarettes outdoors. Those torches come in a bevy of styles and contraptions, from which you can help derive your personal originality. And if you really must have a BIC, the new minis are the epitome of convenience and chic.
My favorite lighter that I’ve owned had a flint wheel with a vertical axis. The lighter was a tall, thin, rectangular prism with an edge that would spin. Flick your thumb, and it was lit. And then airport security fucking took it.
I have repaired my cheap lighters many times to get the last bit of juice. The reply above is correct, the cheaper lighters experience fatigue at the lever where it raises the valve. I pop off the wind shroud and manually reolcate the flame hieght adjustment to allow the lever to lift the valve again. If the lighter has no adjustment, you have to lift the lever manually but this is dangerous as you can create a foot high flame if you are not careful.