A fairly common question is, “How often should I change the wick in a Zippo?”
When you see that the wick has become very thin and frayed, you can replace it. Although, you can do without it the first two or three times. You just need to take tweezers, and gently pull the wick up, and simply cut off the burnt piece with scissors according to the level of wind protection. At the same time, remember that the longer the wick, the higher the flame of your lighter.
In general, if you use high-quality gasoline, then the wick can not be changed at all, because. It is not the wick itself that burns, but gasoline vapor. And if your Zippo has enough fuel, the fuse won't burn out. But if you still decide to change it, then here's a guide for you.
Remove the insert from the body of the lighter. Turning it over, you will see the head of the screw that holds the spring that fixes the flint. Loosen the screw carefully. Remove the felt pad from the insert. Using tweezers or tweezers, remove all the cotton stuffing from it. Place the wick into the insert by pulling it from below through the smoke hole with tweezers. Start gradually putting the cotton filler back into the insert, while wavy (snaking) laying the wick into the intermediate layers of cotton. Reinsert the felt pad. Make sure nothing is left in the flint hole before inserting a new flint, inserting the spring and tightening the screw. Make sure the screw is screwed in just enough to close the lighter with ease, and that the length of the wick matches the height of the windshield.
Make a cut.Of course, according to the instructions.
Since the lighter comes with a manual in several languages, let's open it and take a look.
Let's stop at the point where it is indicated how to cut off a smoked wick with protruding lumps.
Squeeze with tweezers, pull out a centimeter, cut off along the windscreen.
No matter how.
I really didn't succeed!
The tweezers tore the wick up to the base wire.
Couldn't pull it out even a millimeter!
He plucked like a chicken tail. 
I decided not to follow the instructions - I dismantled the lighter from below, lifted the felt and slightly gutted it, releasing the wick a little - and voila!
You can take the wick and pull with your bare fingers as much as you need.
Done.
Then he stuffed the inside of the lighter with standard cotton balls back, laid the wick and refilled.
And to hell with the instructions.
Fill tanks. Refueling my Zippo foreign fuel.
I buy gasoline B-70 of a certain manufacturer, the fuel of which does not leave greasy marks, if smeared.
To be honest, I take B-70 as a fuel for reasons of economy, it ignites a little worse than native Zipp fuel.
Let's say, from the second teal, or you just need to blow out the chimney so that gasoline vapors rise.
And if on the street, in a draft - the difference is almost imperceptible - that branded fuel, that gasoline - flares up equally well on the street.
The smell is almost imperceptible.
As for the soot on the lighter - I’m not complaining yet, anyway, every couple of months I clean the wheel and the chimney with cotton swabs and toothpicks.
There seems to be no harm to the lighter itself.
Metal, felt and cotton wool - why go bad there?
A comrade who smokes says that he does not smell the difference in the aroma of tobacco when he lights it with matches and a gasoline lighter.
But for the price of fuel - the difference is very noticeable.
$7 for 125 ml branded rectified and $3 for a liter of B-70.
If you figure it out even without a calculator, this is somewhere around a twenty-fold savings!
It works for me.
Everything works anyway, it burns, sparkles and clicks merrily.
Every person is a child at heart. What do children like? That's right, all clapping and sparkling! After all, no holiday can be imagined without fireworks, and some manage to make them at home.
Fortunately, this rarely happens. Much more often we buy pyrotechnics on the eve of the New Year holidays. Unfortunately, the quality of their workmanship often leaves much to be desired. This is especially true of cheap pyrotechnics, the wicks of which are sometimes obscenely short.
And how to make a wick from improvised materials? Is it real at all? There is practically nothing complicated about this.
The simplest option
Surely everyone in childhood at least once, but dabbled with matches. Remember how beautifully saltpeter, peeled from them, burns? Before you make a wick, you will need to scrape it from a couple of boxes. The resulting saltpeter is rammed into juice sticks or something similar. Dense tamper - the guarantor of long burning.
Despite their primitiveness, such wicks burn very stably, and with proper sealing, they are practically not afraid of getting wet. Perfect option for the safe use of questionable pyrotechnics!
If there is such an opportunity, then before you make a wick, try to get them. They burn excellently, easily withstand even getting wet, so you can make just excellent out of them.
There is also a method involving the use of ordinary adhesive tape. Again, you will have to grind the sulfur from a couple of boxes of matches, and then cut off a narrow strip of adhesive tape of the required length. Put it with the sticky side up, pour a thin strip of match nitrate on it.
From above, press down this entire structure with the same strip of adhesive tape. The resulting ignition cord can be used even in winter conditions, since it is slightly exposed to moisture. Since it is extremely easy to make a firecracker wick this way, it can be recommended for pyrotechnic enthusiasts of all ages.
Attention! Strictly follow all fire safety regulations, otherwise you can easily start a fire.
For city dwellers
If you have a little poplar fluff lying around on your balcony since spring - great! One has only to stuff dry fluff into a rolled-up newspaper to make a pretty good wick out of it. Needless to say, all material must be absolutely dry.
Method for young chemists
To make a reliable wick according to this recipe, you will need ordinary potassium permanganate, Moment glue or similar, and matches. A small amount of potassium permanganate, glue is taken, and then these two components are mixed until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
Attention! We should not forget that "Moment" is not only extremely flammable, but also contains many substances harmful to your health. Be sure to ensure that the room is well ventilated when doing this kind of work.
You should not rush, it will take at least ten minutes to completely mix the components. Since the resulting mixture is too liquid, you should wait a few minutes until the curing process has passed.
After this time, the resulting puddle must be carefully shaped, giving it a more compact look. When the composition acquires the consistency of plasticine, it must be rolled out, giving the appearance of a sausage. Thickness doesn't matter.
And how to make a wick from matches and the composition we have described? It's simple: if you need a wick that burns quickly and very reliably, then a certain amount of ground match nitrate should be added to the composition before it hardens.
How it works?
Have you wondered why such difficulties? The fact is that the resulting wick not only burns perfectly (and at an acceptable speed), but also easily withstands the ingress of water and snow. With it, you can easily launch fireworks from a safe distance, even setting it directly in a snowdrift.
Potassium nitrate is our choice!
If you ask the representatives of the older generation, they will surely tell you about all the ways to get a wick that were used by children in the USSR. Among the main components, it has always occupied a place of honor. In those years, it was sold in all agricultural stores, so there were no problems with obtaining it.
How to use it? First, saltpeter must be dissolved in ordinary water, taking one part active ingredient and three parts liquid. The easiest way to make a wick is to soak an ordinary newspaper in the resulting mixture. More precisely, you can simply dip it in a jar and immediately take it out.
After that, the paper should be thoroughly dried. Attention! Since the products from the evaporation of the working composition are not very useful for human health, it is advisable to do this outdoors.
And how to make a wick for firecrackers from the resulting material? We roll the dried newspaper into a thin tube, if necessary, tying it with a thread. A certain skill requires only bringing it to "combat readiness".
To do this, set fire to the very tip of the "sausage", and then bring down the flame. A smoldering fire is the goal of all of ours. It will easily endure even light moisture, and the burning rate is such that it will reliably protect you from premature pyrotechnics.
By the way, before you make a homemade wick, be sure to familiarize yourself with the characteristics of modern products of this kind. Almost certainly, what you see will impress you so much that you definitely won’t dare to approach an extinct firecracker.
A more serious way
The disadvantage of the above method should be considered the fact that a thin newspaper is in no way suitable for the role of a Fickford cord. It can quickly go out, and then burn out sharply right in front of your astonished eyes. The consequences can be very sad.
Therefore, it is desirable to get high-quality cotton rope. It is also soaked in the above aqueous solution saltpeter and dry thoroughly. To make the design as reliable as possible, you can lubricate it with a mixture of potassium permanganate and Moment glue. We have already given the recipe for the “hellish composition” above.
This ignition cord will withstand even significant moisture, which will not have any effect on its ability to burn. By the way, what can a wick be made of if you do not take into account the above methods?
And again potassium nitrate
Unfortunately, it will not be possible to refuse this substance, since it is only with its help that sufficiently reliable wicks can be created. So, we take about two parts of saltpeter and one part of ordinary granulated sugar.
We grind all this in a porcelain mortar until a fine and homogeneous powder is formed. The resulting composition can be hammered into juice tubes (as in the match nitrate method).
Important note
Before you make a wick with your own hands, do not forget about the responsibility for all your subsequent actions. It is possible to launch pyrotechnics only in the absence of a strong side wind, outside dense urban areas. It is unacceptable to use such products in hot and dry weather, as well as their use by minors.
Here's how to make a wick without using expensive tools.
Pyrotechnics, both large and small, have long been an integral part of almost any holiday. Moreover, we are talking not only about fireworks, but also including sparklers, crackers and firecrackers.
The key to safety when using pyrotechnics is, first of all, strict adherence to the operating instructions. However, there are situations when it is necessary to improvise in order for the holiday to really succeed. For example, a purchased firecracker has a too short wick, and it is dangerous to use it, but I really want to. Then there is a way out: make a wick for firecrackers with your own hands.
There are several ways to do this. The difference in them mainly lies in the choice of combustible substance.
Therefore, each method has its own characteristics:
- As a cord, you can use insulation from wires or a rod from a pen that has run out of ink. We fill the wire with sulfur, removed from the match heads and crushed into powder. We tamp the filling well with a needle or toothpick. Be careful as the force of friction can cause an accidental fire. The denser the sulfur is packed, the longer the wick will burn.
- In order not to grind the sulfur heads, you can simply gently break them off and lay them in a row on adhesive tape. Then roll the tape into a tube so that the sulfur is inside. The more heads, the longer the cord.
- Ordinary thin rope can be soaked in a solution of saltpeter, which can be purchased at a gardening store (this is a good fertilizer). Saltpeter will need to be dissolved in water to a good saturation, and then lower the cord there for several hours.
- Combustible composition can be made from potassium permanganate and super-glue. These two components must be combined and mixed well. At first, the mixture will turn out to be liquid, but over time it will thicken to the state of plasticine. Roll the resulting substance into a thin sausage. Here is the wick for you.
- In summer, poplar fluff is suitable for making a wick. Collect it, remember well and wrap it in a paper tube.
How to make a firecracker without a wick
You can independently make not only the wick, but also the firecracker itself. There can be several options for fillings: these are sulfur from matches, and saltpeter mixtures, and much more. If you understand chemistry, you can easily pick up suitable composition. The body is also made from improvised materials. It is possible to make it from cardboard, foil, small plastic jars ... It all depends on what effect you are counting on.
Making a firecracker without a wick is difficult, but possible. True, it’s not very clear why the wick is preventing you ... And there are much more ways to make it as it should be, rather than vice versa. But still there are such options.
Our faithful friends, matches, will come to our aid. We clean off sulfur from them, usually one whole box is enough. Then we carefully grind it into powder and pour it onto a piece of foil about 10x10 cm in size. Next, cut out the side of the box - phosphorus cherkash. We clean it from the remnants of paper. Cut into two or three parts and put to the sulfur powder. We wrap the foil to make a small square with a flammable core inside. Ready! In order for the firecracker to detonate, you just need to hit it with a hammer.
Another way is to use napkins, electrical tape, caps and small stones for making. First you will need to exfoliate the napkin. Cut the resulting thin part into eight equal squares. Grind the contents of the caps in the center of the cut out piece of napkin, and put the pebbles on top. Wrap the resulting mixture so that the shape of the firecracker resembles a small onion. For tightness, wrap the tail of the bulb with electrical tape. To detonate, throw your invention against a wall or throw it hard on the pavement.
And yet, we will include one in our list of recipes, how to make a firecracker with a wick and gunpowder. Take a piece of thick cardboard and roll it into a cylinder. Choose the parameters of the piece yourself, it will serve as a case for the future firecracker, respectively, it should not be very large.
On the one hand, we make a plug. It can be made from plasticine or the same cardboard. If you prefer the second option, coat it well with glue so that the plug stays in place at the right time. Next, we make gunpowder. It can be made from potassium nitrate, coal and sulfur. The proportions must be observed as follows: six parts of saltpeter, one part of coal and the same amount of sulfur. Mix all ingredients thoroughly. The quantity depends on the size of the case. We fall asleep our gunpowder inside the case and proceed to the manufacture of the wick. Any method can be used, but the option with a rod from a handle and sulfur from matches is still recommended.
The length of the wick should be such that you have time to move to a safe distance. We are preparing a plug for the other side of the case. We insert it and make a hole in it that matches the diameter of the wick. If it turned out more, we additionally wrap the wick with paper so that it is tightly fixed in the cap of the firecracker, and the design itself is airtight. Firecracker is ready.
Where can I buy firecracker wick
If you are not eager to make a firecracker or its components yourself, then you have a direct road to a pyrotechnics store. There, experienced sellers will tell you which wick is best suited for your product. Usually wicks and strings (for professional fireworks) are sold in skeins, meaning either mass use for big holidays, or cut off as much as you need.
In order not to make a mistake with the choice of the wick, decide for yourself how many firecrackers will go into action, and how far you will have time to move away from the moment of arson. If in doubt, ask a professional for advice. Let him give you comprehensive recommendations on exactly how many centimeters of wick you need to purchase. If you don't want to leave the house in search of the right product, online stores also have plenty to choose from. At your service there will always be a manager or administrator who will give you no less detailed information about the quantity, quality and cost.
