I got one. It stopped igniting. I can no longer hear the
pezioelectric spark thingy clicking. I just read the wiki page and
they have this to say:

"Lighters with piezo-electric ignition typically do not work or have
great difficulty at high altitude, if the striking mechanism is
improperly aligned. They are unsuitable for mountaineering or other
high altitude applications. The higher the altitude, the less likely a
lighter with piezo-electric ignition is to work. Above 8000 feet
lighters with piezo-electric ignition are no longer reliable."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezo_ignition

Swell! I happen to live at about 7800 ft in the CO Rockies. OTOH, it
worked OK when I first moved here, about 3 yrs ago and even worked 3
wks ago, though it was becoming iffy. Now, zip, zero, nada. Are
these things adjustable/repairable or should I forget it and keep my
welding striker handy? The BernzOmatic website appears to be working
about as well as my trigger start torch.


nb

notbob wrote the following:
I got one. It stopped igniting. I can no longer hear the
pezioelectric spark thingy clicking. I just read the wiki page and
they have this to say:

"Lighters with piezo-electric ignition typically do not work or have
great difficulty at high altitude, if the striking mechanism is
improperly aligned. They are unsuitable for mountaineering or other
high altitude applications. The higher the altitude, the less likely a
lighter with piezo-electric ignition is to work. Above 8000 feet
lighters with piezo-electric ignition are no longer reliable."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezo_ignition

Swell! I happen to live at about 7800 ft in the CO Rockies. OTOH, it
worked OK when I first moved here, about 3 yrs ago and even worked 3
wks ago, though it was becoming iffy. Now, zip, zero, nada. Are
these things adjustable/repairable or should I forget it and keep my
welding striker handy? The BernzOmatic website appears to be working
about as well as my trigger start torch.


nb

Buy a flint igniter like we had to use years ago.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/new-release...trial/13400581

--

Bill
In Hamptonburgh, NY
In the original Orange County. Est. 1683
To email, remove the double zeroes after @

notbob wrote:

I got one. It stopped igniting. I can no longer hear the
pezioelectric spark thingy clicking. I just read the wiki page and
they have this to say:

"Lighters with piezo-electric ignition typically do not work or have
great difficulty at high altitude, if the striking mechanism is
improperly aligned. They are unsuitable for mountaineering or other
high altitude applications. The higher the altitude, the less likely a
lighter with piezo-electric ignition is to work. Above 8000 feet
lighters with piezo-electric ignition are no longer reliable."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezo_ignition

Swell! I happen to live at about 7800 ft in the CO Rockies. OTOH, it
worked OK when I first moved here, about 3 yrs ago and even worked 3
wks ago, though it was becoming iffy. Now, zip, zero, nada. Are
these things adjustable/repairable or should I forget it and keep my
welding striker handy? The BernzOmatic website appears to be working
about as well as my trigger start torch.

nb

If it aint' clicking, the problem isn't altitude. The clicking is the
impact mechanism hammering the piezo rock. Sounds like you need repair
or replacement. I love my TS4000 and use it regularly, but I'm at around
600'

On 2011-07-16, Pete C. wrote:

If it aint' clicking, the problem isn't altitude. The clicking is the
impact mechanism hammering the piezo rock. Sounds like you need repair
or replacement. I love my TS4000 and use it regularly, but I'm at around
600'

I think it's adjustment, too. We have 2-3 Bic BBQ igniters to light
our propane kitchen range. They work fine. It's been my experience
that most piezoelectric igniters eventually fail. I think it's merely
cheap design/execution. I bought an auto ignition module for our
range, but it's electronic.

nb

On Jul 16, 3:14*pm, "Pete C." wrote:
notbob wrote:

I got one. *It stopped igniting. *I can no longer hear the
pezioelectric spark thingy clicking. *I just read the wiki page and
they have this to say:

"Lighters with piezo-electric ignition typically do not work or have
great difficulty at high altitude, if the striking mechanism is
improperly aligned. They are unsuitable for mountaineering or other
high altitude applications. The higher the altitude, the less likely a
lighter with piezo-electric ignition is to work. Above 8000 feet
lighters with piezo-electric ignition are no longer reliable."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piezo_ignition

Swell! *I happen to live at about 7800 ft in the CO Rockies. *OTOH, it
worked OK when I first moved here, about 3 yrs ago and even worked 3
wks ago, though it was becoming iffy. *Now, zip, zero, nada. *Are
these things adjustable/repairable or should I forget it and keep my
welding striker handy? *The BernzOmatic website appears to be working
about as well as my trigger start torch.

nb

If it aint' clicking, the problem isn't altitude. The clicking is the
impact mechanism hammering the piezo rock. Sounds like you need repair
or replacement. I love my TS4000 and use it regularly, but I'm at around
600'- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Pete C is right on!!!

If it aint' clicking, the problem isn't altitude. The clicking is the
impact mechanism hammering the piezo rock. Sounds like you need repair
or replacement. I love my TS4000 and use it regularly, but I'm at around
600'

Maybe so; maybe no.

Usually/often the "clink" occurs when the charge created by gradually
bending the crystal discharges (via the spark gap.)

If the gap is shorted, in many/most designs there just will not be a
"click."

At higher altitudes a spark will cross a gap at a much lower voltage.
But a low voltage spark just doesn't have the energy of a higher voltage
spark and may not ignite the fuel.

In any case, where you operate at extremes of moisture, air pressure,
and temperature, I believe you are better off with a flint type
lighter/igniter.

I realize this is an old question but I ran into a similar problem with my TS4000 and I couldn't find a solution to fix it so here's how I resolved my issue.

1. Confirm the torch doesn't light.

2. Confirm spark from Peizo (sp?) Sparker.
- make sure you are getting a spark where you need it.

2 a) Remove the Nozzle (it just screws off) from the end of the torch.
- with the nozzle off you should see a small wire affixed to the top of the gas tube. Depress the trigger to confirm a spark is being generated

2 b) in the case of a weak or no spark you need to check out the path the spark would take from the Peizo spark device. My TS4000 has three small bolts (two are recessed): one recessed bolt is located near the base of the gas tube, one bolt (circular head) is located on the main body above the trigger, and the third is located on the main body below the directly below the gas tube reccessed bolt. The bolts all take a small hexagonal bit; however, since I work in computers I have more Torx screwdrivers around, I used a T8 to loosen or remove the bolts.
- Keeping the unit vertical, loosen the gas tube bolt until the gas tube can be removed - be careful not to lose the spring that is housed in the main body under the ignition tube, the ignition tube is connected to the gas tube at a ninety degree angle before it drops ninety degrees to intersect the main body.
- Lift out the spring and depress the trigger while looking down the main body spring's housing hole to confirm the spark.

2 b (i)Good Spark
Stretch out the spring a little, clean both ends of the spark, clean the contact at the bottom of the igniter, reassemble, and test.
2 b (ii)Poor /or No Spark
Remove bolt above the trigger, remove the red trigger button, and tip out the Peizo Spark unit. Holding the unit at the long ends, squeeze it to test the unit while its removed from unit. You can try carefully cleaning the small wire in the center of the unit to improve the quality of the spark. If this helps, reassemble and test. If not you can try replacing the Peizo spark unit. I haven't tried it but the Peizo unit looks the same as other Peizo Spark units I have seen in other devices so you may be able to use a Peizo unit out of another device (cheap lighter, etc)

I'm no expert so please take the utmost care if you are irresponsible enough to attempt anything I suggest. I still have all my fingers and toes but I also have some scars.

Finally, please excuse any nomenclature, grammar, and spelling mistakes. I try to be as accurate as possible but my learning disability makes writing very difficult.