windmill shockpro sp-3000 lighter ignition failure

[Josh Muller]

so.... ive got this fancy lighter. a windmill shockpro 3000 with 4.8 gram butane fuel capacity, and a peizo electric starter....

for the first 3 days it worked fine, but after that it progressed very quickly to a state of non ignition. ignition clicker is depressed but no spark occurs. from what ive read, the main problems with not ignition are lack of butane, air lock, and out of alignment quartz... since no spark is occuring, i can only assume its the damaged/malfunctioning quartz.

the only recommendation given for that is to basically send it in for repair.



so..... im left with a bit of a delemma. because of this problem, i thought about carrying a sparker to ignite it, so i pulled out my old zippo lighter with the H on the front i bought of some guy for 2$ my freshmen year of high school (flames of hell ) and i realized, man... this thing is a pretty nice lighter... i can do pretty much anything i would need with this, and carrying the shockpro (huge i might add, like a large pocket watch, but thicker) around for nothing is kind of an excersize in futility. if i ever go camping, id probably bring it to have the extra source of high intensity heat available. i could always spark it with a magesium flint if nothing else.

but honestly, i dont want it if its not going to be self sparking. since i dont have the original box, or reciept *although its less then 2 weeks old *, i assume that id have to pay to get it fixed by windmill.

and even if i did, i am fairly unfamiliar peizo electric starters. id honestly much rather have a replaceable flint in place with the knowledge i have of them thus far, flint = reliable, replaceable, jerry-rigable. peizo electric starter = shop fixable only.

are peizo electric starters reliable over long term use, say 3, 4, 20 year use? can you replace them yourself?

is my unit faulty, or is this just a common problem with peizo electric starters?

would anyone like to trade a non sparking sp3000 for a sparking windmill carbonate? (should the peizo electric starter actually be reliable (joking on that one... i'll put up a trade/sale add in the trade forums when i am serious about it (wich depends on the response to this/what i learn over the next few days about the starter assembly))


thank you for any responses

 

[Point44]

i have the same lighter. pictures on the net looks deceiving. i didn't realise it was that big. i don't use it often since i carry my windmill delta with me all the time.

i don't think it's worth it carrying it if you need to spark it yourself. the zippo will do fine. what i don't like about zippos though are that it's messy having to refuel and putting a new flint in. with a piezo electric lighter you just need to refuel.

why would you need it to be reliable up to 20 years? just buy a new lighter every now and then or carry a firesteel when camping.

by the way, my sp3000 sometimes doesn't ignite. usually on the first couple of clicks after i've not ignited it in awhile. doesn't happen with my delta though. worked fine all this while.

Sorry i haven't provided anything useful. hehhe

 

[Josh Muller]

personally, i dont trust things that i cant maintain myself. i would be perfectly happy to have this lighter (sp-3000) be fully capable of dissasembly and reassembly with new parts, even though it would mean that i would have to do a complete refurbish job on it ever 6 months or 6 years, whatever it takes to wear one of these down.

ive had this zippo since freshmen year, wich makes it 6-7 years old (in my hands, plus however old it was from being built). i have a langlitz jacket right now that ive had for about a year and a half now (made in 1988), and i expect to have it for another 10+, minimum. i still have my first knife, wich is a total peice of crap, but i still have it. sans the knife, the things ive kept all these years because they work, are a part of me like nothing else in the world. the things that you have around you become a part of you, they degrade into your body and you become so used to them that they become like your hands, something you never think about, but know intuatively.

i can just use bics if i want, they are easily ubtainable, highly highly reliable, sturdy and shock resistant. but if i could, id like to have the same bick lighter to my grave, as long as it works well. simply because the things that make our past give meaning to our present and our future by providing a reminder of what we really are, and where we've come from.

i remember all the gear ive had through out high school, and i loved every last bit of it, albeit often for a short time. the things i still have i love just the same as when i first got them. a lot of things have gone since then, a lot of them i wish handnt, so i cherish what i still have. that zippo is part of it, something that seems to stay exactly like when i first got it.


so... if i can get a windmill policarbonate lighter that will iether work consistenly for the next 10 years+, or that i can personally see to its maintanence and repair to an extent that it will be servicably comparable to when i first got it, i'll go for it. if this shockpro 3000 fits that description, and i just got an example of fluke craftsmanship, i'll stick with it and iether repair it myself, or have it repaired (if the basic hardware is reliable enough). if it doesnt fit the bill, and peizo electric starters eventually wear out (within 2-3 years) and have to be replaced by the manifacturer specifically, i'll buy a sparkable mini torch, and carry my zippo with me instead. its been with me this long, and i dont mind carrying it the same length of time again.

i like the added heat of the compact butane, and would like to switch over, but not if its gonna mean constant hassle vs. constant reliability.

man, that was a little more phylisophical (?) then i intended it to be.... oh well... thats what i get for staying up till 5am

 

[Josh Muller]

mainly i want to know how reliable the peizo electric should be, wether its supposed to be like a zippo and light every time, or it its supposed to take a few clicks to get it started....

 

[jamesraykenney]

mainly i want to know how reliable the peizo electric should be, wether its supposed to be like a zippo and light every time, or it its supposed to take a few clicks to get it started....

I have one with the same problem...

One thing to check though...
When you go to light it, make sure you press the button in enough to start the gas going, and THEN push it the rest of the way to fire the little hammer that hits the quartz crystal. This lets the gas build up just a little and help it to ignite correctly...

There is aparantly a MAJOR quality control problem with the model 3000.
There are a LOT of reports of leaking and/or ignition problems.
BUT once you get a good one, they seem to be VERY good.

 

[Josh Muller]

mine simply wont spark. 1 out of ever 15-25 at the moment sparks (and sometimes ignites). in a completely pitch dark room, yo ucan tell when the little quarts sparks, and this one simply doesnt seem to have any life in it...

that is (kind of?) good to know about the sp-3000.... from that description it sounds like the only way to get it fixed is to send it back to windmill (not even sure where to send it to).... at that point i almost feel like taking a 50$ loss and just giving it away to someone who wants to mess with it...

 

[thatmguy]

Josh, I have 3 Deltas. When I bought my first one, off Ebay, had similar problems. Either wouldn't light , ot wouldn't go off after I let off the gas.

I contacted Windmill. They said send it in. Did, got a new one back in short order.

Their customer service was great in my case. Don't know of others.

I love my Deltas. Tough lil bastids.

Just read that you don't have contact info, so:

Essential Gear, Inc
22 Cleveland St.
Greenfield, MA 01301
413.772.8984

 

[GarageBoy]

I like prometheus and vector. Don't know about long term

 

[Denix]

I have an old Blazer PB-207. I bought it new in April 1997. Its had at least a dozen refils using cheap butane, and I must have lit it over 500 times. It still works great. I carry it in my pocket every day.

So, from my experience, a quality piezo lighter should last.

Guy

 

[Josh Muller]

thank you for the responses i'll call the company and see what they say. do you think i'll have to drain the butane out of it before sending it in?

 

[dizos]

I wish they would come out with a bomb proof hard anodized aluminum lighter that lights reliably. I keep getting dissappointed with "fancy" lighters. Nothing beats a Bic or Zippo.

-- Jeff

 

[thatmguy]

do you think i'll have to drain the butane out of it before sending it in?

When I sent mine back, I did. Just used a refill adaptor and stood on the deck and let it all out. took about 2 minutes or so, butthe Windmill is only 1 gm.

Hope it works out bubba.

 

[Josh Muller]

just called to get an authorization number to send the lighter, (the lady was very nice i might add ) and they said that the adress has changed to

171 wells st
Greenfield, MA
01301

just thought the info might be of some use to anyone in the same situation (thanks thatmguy )