Unique firelighting device, anyone?

[Bucketosudz]

Greetings!

I found a unique lighter in some old belongings of my Father, and wanted to share it here.

The lighter is called The Airflam Windproof Lighter. No Flint, No Wick, No Moving Parts. It won the Luxembourg International Fair-Gold Medal. I have seen very few, and not much is mentioned about them on the interwebs. Wondered if any of you might know anything further about it.

What I know is that it was distributed by Murphy Reier Inc. in the US in 1955. It functions by exposing a the Platinum and Silver wire chemical compound in it to ambient oxygen, then lighting the Methanol soaked cotton material's vapor in the tube. They sold for a whopping $395 USD in 1955!:yikes:

Alas here is some pics for those interested:

Any of you seen one of these, or used them?

 

[Loenja]

looks great interesting in how it performs

 

[The Big Lebowski]

And i bet very muchly its worth more than $395 now!

And it looks very much 'pristine'

TBL.

 

[demographic]

How well does it work?
Interesting.

Any chance you could scan the instructions (assuming there are some on the box) onto the computer and post the picture up?

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

a plastic bottle in 1955? even the bottle must be worth a bit! lol

be very interested if someone still makes them, or if not why not?

it had a Gold award! there must be some info somewhere!

Thinking perhaps no ones heard of them because:
1) They were far too expensive? (but then we'd surely have heard of them they'd be Gucci kit! ).
2) Too dangerous? (perhaps someone got hurt and they stopped production).
3) Were they too specific to the small group of people that required the "No Flint, No Wick, No Moving Parts"? (lighthouse keepers, sailors, explorers, disabled?)
4) perhaps they have another well known name e.g. If I said "hover" it would describe a vacuum cleaner (even though it's a brand name).
5) Does the silver/platinum/ethanol fire create a poisonous gas? that would have been considered safe back then?

perhaps the "Zippo" company would know something about it?
hope you find out the answers!


did a quick search found this:

http://lbc.gotstogo.com/weblogsm2/archives/2004/04/keywords_alcohol_book_cover_fr.php

also someone mentioned them around in the 1940's.

this link includes instructions!!:
http://freespirit1.homestead.com/col-germany.html

This has a few usefull links that may help:
http://cr4.globalspec.com/thread/7953

 

[Galemys]

Hi Bucketosudz, a very interesting find!

I´ve got a French book on firelighting techniques (from primitive to modern) that has your Airflam lighter and other similar brands in it. The book is called ´La grande aventure du feu´and is written by Bertrand Roussel and Paul Boutie.

According to the book these catalyst type of lighters or ´briquets au methanol´ were quite fashionable around the first world war and again in the 1930s and 1950s. They were sold under the names ´catalyst pocket lighter´, ´Ray-o-light´, ´self starting cigar lighter´ (early 20th century). Airflam and another brand, Lectrolite, were produced in the 30s and 50s. Fabrication stopped however at the end of the fifties.

These lighters work on the principle that platinum acts as a catalyst in the oxidation of methanol, producing CO2 and water (so no toxic gases are formed Rappleby). The platinum heats up by this process and the glowing platinum wire then ignites the methanol vapour.

The book says these lighters were ´peu costeux´(I assume this means cheap) so the Airflam must have been pricey because of its silver content (the silver isn´t needed for the catalyst reaction).

I wonder if there would be a modern device (old phone, computer or the like) from which I could scavenge a bit of platinum wire to try this out myself?

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Robbi]

had something similar to this about 18 years ago, a stainless steel tube about the size of a clipper with wadding packed into it and open at the top, can't for the life of me remember what it was filled with but to light a ciggy all you did was place the ciggy in the open end and suck, no flame, flint or wick, wish i still had it now.

 

[veryWildbill]

Unfortunately they seem to have dropped in price
http://branfordhouseantiques.com/cgi-bin/p/awtp-product.cgi?d=branford-house-antiques&item=32542

 

[Bucketosudz]

Thank You all for the informative replies, some of the details given had escaped me. They indeed appear to have gone down in value, perhaps technology has changed such to render them nearly obsolete. I know Zippo used some of the same technology in their hand warmers. It was suggested that because it had platinum and silver in it, that is where the value is. I suspect that could very well be the case, as there is not much else to the lighter itself besides some dense cardboard type material and some glass like cotton wick? I haven't tried its function yet, not certain what methanol product to use at this moment.

Alas, it was a fun find, and I suspect I will barter it to someone who really fancies it someday.

 

[R.Lewis]

I know somewhere at my mums is some 99.5% pure platinum wire and sheet. My grandad was an Electro-plater/glassblower so would have to be pure. Only downside is would have to see my mum....

It will be a no then!!

 

[crazydave]

three dollars 95 cents maybe! apparently using platinum wire was common in explosives which is why a lot of this style of lighter were made in the trenches out of old bullet casings.

the instructions I've see where you use wood alcohol, take the top off and blow down into the chamber to oxygenate it then it will light. apparently you have to let them dry out every now and again to lose any residual moisture.

interesting non the less as the technology for this sort of thing is about a hundred and fifty years old

 

[Galemys]

I know somewhere at my mums is some 99.5% pure platinum wire and sheet. My grandad was an Electro-plater/glassblower so would have to be pure. Only downside is would have to see my mum....

It will be a no then!!

What exactly does an Electroplater do? And in what kind of products did the platinum wire end up?

Cheers,

Tom

 

[ged]

...It was suggested that because it had platinum and silver in it, that is where the value is. ...

AFAIK platinum has always been a lot more expensive than silver.

... I suspect I will barter it to someone who really fancies it someday.

If we can agree a deal, I'll take it.

 

[ged]

What exactly does an Electroplater do? And in what kind of products did the platinum wire end up?

He usually deposits metals onto other metals (think chromium plating). Usually thin layers. The platinum might be used as an electrode, it's like gold in that it's resistant to chemical attack. Platinum is used as a catalyst in lots of chemical processes, catalytic converters in cars and wood burning stoves for example, although they may not all use platinum because of the cost. Electrical contacts often contain platinum, again because of resistance to chemical attack (i.e. oxidization in air at high temperatures when a spark bridges the contacts). That's why, like gold, it stays shiny for a long time after you polish it. Hence its use in jewellery, if you discount the pose value of just having something that's expensive.

 

[EdS]

sounds like a similar set up to the peacock handwarmers.

 

[Galemys]

He usually deposits metals onto other metals (think chromium plating). Usually thin layers. The platinum might be used as an electrode, it's like gold in that it's resistant to chemical attack. Platinum is used as a catalyst in lots of chemical processes, catalytic converters in cars and wood burning stoves for example, although they may not all use platinum because of the cost. Electrical contacts often contain platinum, again because of resistance to chemical attack (i.e. oxidization in air at high temperatures when a spark bridges the contacts).

Thanks Ged!
There´s a slicht chance I can find some redundant pH-electrodes at the lab where I work so I can take them apart to find out if there´s some platinum in them (hopefully in the form of a wire...) Cheers,

Tom

 

[ged]

... chance I can find some redundant pH-electrodes at the lab ...

It's decades since I last even saw a pH meter, but when I was using them they had a liquid-filled glass electrode so I don't think they'd have much platinum in them. Things have probably moved on since then.

Incidentally I think most solid catalysts are used in fine powder form, so that the maximum surface area is exposed to the reactants. Very finely powdered metals are usually black, so you get 'platinum black' which is just very fine platinum powder.

You used to see things to light town gas (gas manufactured from coal) which were basically a little black pellet suspended on a wire with a handle. You just waved the (cold) pellet in the gas, it almost instantly glowed white hot and that lit the gas. Unfortunately they didn't seem to work so well on North Sea ('natural') gas so you don't see them here any more.

 

[jimcam]

Thats better than my flint on a keyring with scratcher.Jim.(Night Owl).