==> From an engineering perspective I believe they break so quickly, because there is a plastic part inside the tip of the lighter, which melts (right where the flame exits). If you light something holding the lighter upside down (for example: lighting a bunch of tea-lights sitting in deep glasses), then this plastic gets hot and melts. If you do it long enough the plastic in the tip starts sizzling, melts, and eventually even catches on fire, so be careful. Smells pretty bad, too. I believe the function of this little plastic part is to hold in place the gas exit nozzle and the spark jump wire. Once it melts, the spark does not jump any more, or the gas flow is obstructed, and the lighter does not work any more. In my opinion, this plastic part in the tip should not be plastic, but ceramic to withstand the temperature, and the insulation of the spark jump wire should be made from Teflon for the same reason. All the plastic close to the flame can actually be a fire hazard & health hazard. But I guess they use plastic because it's much cheaper to manufacture them that way.
Long story short:
==> Use flame pointing up, or lighter will die quickly.
==> Besides the issue above, not a bad lighter.
==> I read all the reviews and warnings, but still purchased 2 of them, returned 1 so far.
==> Lighters came empty, had to fuel them up, which worked well.
==> Push-button I find not as hard to push as everybody says, but hard enough to be child-prove.
==> Once fueled, lighters worked well (as long as you don't melt the plastic inside the tip; see above).
==> Flame adjustment wheel works well.
==> Nice shape, looks good
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OK, received the replacement quickly, good service. But they shipped it in a soft envelope, so I think it took some beating during shipping and broke through the middle, where the black plastic part joins the metal casing. So I epoxy'ed it back together, works fine now. So bear in mind that this is not really that strong of a product with a few reliability flaws. Otherwise works fine. Not a bad lighter.
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