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What makes it red?!

Posted: 2003-08-19 09:48pm
by Chardok
searches on the internbet yielded nothing....
I just bought a lighter, and it has some kind of ball-shaped metal thingy suspended in the middle right where the flame is...it makes the flame on the lighter BRIGHT red, not like your normal Gas-blue or even yellow..and it only makes the flame red when the ball thingy is heated up quite a bit (It's glowing hot) what IS that ball thingy made of?!

Posted: 2003-08-19 09:49pm
by Dalton
Some sort of heat-charged material?

Posted: 2003-08-19 09:51pm
by Joe
Probably a metal that burns red. Remember Chemistry lab? The only one I can recall offhand is Strontium, but that's probably not the onein question.

Posted: 2003-08-19 09:53pm
by Chardok
Alas, my highschool in rednecksville, Tennessee did not posess (sp?) the needed components to make a red flame....wierd thing is, the metal does Burn up, it just cools back to a solid state, ready to turn the flame red again when summoned....

Posted: 2003-08-19 09:55pm
by kojikun
Nichrome wires will, for some reason, create a nice red flame, while not burning.

Posted: 2003-08-19 09:57pm
by haas mark
kojikun wrote:Nichrome wires will, for some reason, create a nice red flame, while not burning.
Hmm. Well, there are different things that cause different lighters to burn different colors. A common one around here is the green lighters, though I have also seen blue, yellow, purple, orange, and red.

~ver

Posted: 2003-08-19 10:02pm
by Enigma
For me, I'm looking for a lighter that gives off a 6 inch flame that burns like an oil well on fire. I currently have one that is part of a switchblade but unfortunately the lighter won't hold it's load. :(

Posted: 2003-08-19 10:03pm
by kojikun
Enigma wrote:For me, I'm looking for a lighter that gives off a 6 inch flame that burns like an oil well on fire. I currently have one that is part of a switchblade but unfortunately the lighter won't hold it's load. :(
Why wont it? Fuel consumption problems?

Posted: 2003-08-19 10:05pm
by Enigma
kojikun wrote:
Enigma wrote:For me, I'm looking for a lighter that gives off a 6 inch flame that burns like an oil well on fire. I currently have one that is part of a switchblade but unfortunately the lighter won't hold it's load. :(
Why wont it? Fuel consumption problems?
No. The fuel just leaks out. I've tried to find a decent replacement but there are no lighters that gives off a furious 6 inch or more flame.

Posted: 2003-08-19 10:08pm
by kojikun
Enigma wrote:No. The fuel just leaks out. I've tried to find a decent replacement but there are no lighters that gives off a furious 6 inch or more flame.
Leaks out how?

Posted: 2003-08-19 10:13pm
by Enigma
kojikun wrote:
Enigma wrote:No. The fuel just leaks out. I've tried to find a decent replacement but there are no lighters that gives off a furious 6 inch or more flame.
Leaks out how?
After refueling the lighter suddenly goes cold for a couple of seconds.

It would work the first time after refueling but when I try to light it again, it goes dead. Even if I lit it for a second for the first time and then try again.... nothing.

Posted: 2003-08-19 10:20pm
by Einhander Sn0m4n
I saw some lighters at Walgreens that spit out a brilliant emerald green flame, not the blue-green Cu-spectrum flame or the yellowish Ba spectrum one. Molybdenum, maybe, or perhaps Boron (or both)?

BTW according to http://webmineral.com/help/FlameTest.shtml , Li can produce a bright red flame, but I'd think its melting point would be a bit low for torch lighters.

Posted: 2003-08-19 10:27pm
by haas mark
Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:I saw some lighters at Walgreens that spit out a brilliant emerald green flame, not the blue-green Cu-spectrum flame or the yellowish Ba spectrum one. Molybdenum, maybe, or perhaps Boron (or both)?

BTW according to http://webmineral.com/help/FlameTest.shtml , Li can produce a bright red flame, but I'd think its melting point would be a bit low for torch lighters.
oooooo.......... i can use my meds to make red lighters.. :twisted:

~ver

Posted: 2003-08-19 10:28pm
by J
Enigma wrote:For me, I'm looking for a lighter that gives off a 6 inch flame that burns like an oil well on fire. I currently have one that is part of a switchblade but unfortunately the lighter won't hold it's load. :(
My BF taught me this one, he's kind've a pyro. Buy one of those disposable lighters that has a flame adjustment dial thingy. Carefully remove the metal cover so you can get to the dial. Note which way the dial goes to make the flame bigger, and keep turning it until the flame's big enough for you, then you put everything back together and you're happy.

Posted: 2003-08-19 10:56pm
by Pu-239
verilon wrote:
Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:I saw some lighters at Walgreens that spit out a brilliant emerald green flame, not the blue-green Cu-spectrum flame or the yellowish Ba spectrum one. Molybdenum, maybe, or perhaps Boron (or both)?

BTW according to http://webmineral.com/help/FlameTest.shtml , Li can produce a bright red flame, but I'd think its melting point would be a bit low for torch lighters.
oooooo.......... i can use my meds to make red lighters.. :twisted:

~ver
Bipolar?
And they give lithium carbonate, not lithium metal.

Posted: 2003-08-19 10:58pm
by Pu-239
jmac wrote:
Enigma wrote:For me, I'm looking for a lighter that gives off a 6 inch flame that burns like an oil well on fire. I currently have one that is part of a switchblade but unfortunately the lighter won't hold it's load. :(
My BF taught me this one, he's kind've a pyro. Buy one of those disposable lighters that has a flame adjustment dial thingy. Carefully remove the metal cover so you can get to the dial. Note which way the dial goes to make the flame bigger, and keep turning it until the flame's big enough for you, then you put everything back together and you're happy.
My uncle sells (or used to?) sell lighters with "safety devices" that could produce a 3 inch or so flame without disassembly.

Posted: 2003-08-19 11:17pm
by haas mark
Pu-239 wrote:
verilon wrote:
Einhander Sn0m4n wrote:I saw some lighters at Walgreens that spit out a brilliant emerald green flame, not the blue-green Cu-spectrum flame or the yellowish Ba spectrum one. Molybdenum, maybe, or perhaps Boron (or both)?

BTW according to http://webmineral.com/help/FlameTest.shtml , Li can produce a bright red flame, but I'd think its melting point would be a bit low for torch lighters.
oooooo.......... i can use my meds to make red lighters.. :twisted:

~ver
Bipolar?
And they give lithium carbonate, not lithium metal.
:lol: I know.. and yes. ;)

~ver

Posted: 2003-08-20 10:40pm
by Lt. Dan
jmac wrote:
Enigma wrote:For me, I'm looking for a lighter that gives off a 6 inch flame that burns like an oil well on fire. I currently have one that is part of a switchblade but unfortunately the lighter won't hold it's load. :(
My BF taught me this one, he's kind've a pyro. Buy one of those disposable lighters that has a flame adjustment dial thingy. Carefully remove the metal cover so you can get to the dial. Note which way the dial goes to make the flame bigger, and keep turning it until the flame's big enough for you, then you put everything back together and you're happy.
Hahahaha...That reminds me of a guy in freshman year. He did that but didn't stop. After a few turns, it shot off fuel with out pressing the button. He had fuel all over his arm and against all the advise of everyone there, he sparked it. Burnt all the hairs from his right arm. Funny to see him waving his arm around while in flames. BTW, we call that a crack-lighter.

Posted: 2003-08-20 11:42pm
by Enigma
jmac wrote:
Enigma wrote:For me, I'm looking for a lighter that gives off a 6 inch flame that burns like an oil well on fire. I currently have one that is part of a switchblade but unfortunately the lighter won't hold it's load. :(
My BF taught me this one, he's kind've a pyro. Buy one of those disposable lighters that has a flame adjustment dial thingy. Carefully remove the metal cover so you can get to the dial. Note which way the dial goes to make the flame bigger, and keep turning it until the flame's big enough for you, then you put everything back together and you're happy.
But it won't burn as strong as mine did. The lighter I have had a flame that would burn furiously besides being 6 inches long.

Posted: 2003-08-20 11:44pm
by Enigma
Lt. Dan wrote:<snip> BTW, we call that a crack-lighter.
That would explain why my lighter is part of the switchblade.

Posted: 2003-08-20 11:46pm
by Nathan F
Chardok wrote:Alas, my highschool in rednecksville, Tennessee did not posess (sp?) the needed components to make a red flame....wierd thing is, the metal does Burn up, it just cools back to a solid state, ready to turn the flame red again when summoned....
Heheh, funny, I went to the lone high school in the county with the smallest person per square mile population in the state of TN, yet we went over the spectrum of colors burned by different materials. Sounds like you just didn't pay attention...

Posted: 2003-08-20 11:49pm
by Chardok
No, seriously, We didn't even have a Chem lab. As an aside, I meant to say that the metal doesN'T burn up, just heats up, turns the flame red....blah blah blah

Posted: 2003-08-21 12:43am
by RedImperator
jmac wrote:
Enigma wrote:For me, I'm looking for a lighter that gives off a 6 inch flame that burns like an oil well on fire. I currently have one that is part of a switchblade but unfortunately the lighter won't hold it's load. :(
My BF taught me this one, he's kind've a pyro. Buy one of those disposable lighters that has a flame adjustment dial thingy. Carefully remove the metal cover so you can get to the dial. Note which way the dial goes to make the flame bigger, and keep turning it until the flame's big enough for you, then you put everything back together and you're happy.
I know exactly what you're talking about. Those lighters are useful for much more than that, really. They're pieces of shit that blow out in the wind.

Be careful not to open the valve too much, by the way, or the butane will be released so fast it blows out its own flame.

Posted: 2003-08-21 05:06am
by The Yosemite Bear
FIRE mmm FIRE

erm time to go be manly and BBQ something...

Posted: 2003-08-21 11:16pm
by darthdavid
If you want a super lighter so bad, use a spray paint can... :twisted: