Switzerland
Switzerland
Bon à Savoir no. 9 – September 12, 2001
Throw away after explosion…
Disposable lighters put to a heat resistance test: explosive results
When exposed to heat, they leak gas, warp or even explode… Of the 18 pocket lighters tested,
some can be qualified as truly "disposable".
What is the temperature inside a car that has been in the August sun all afternoon? Too hot for certain
lighters exposed to 65°C, eight disposable lighters from our test quite simply exploded!. The least resistant
all exploded into pieces after only 10 minutes and others warped or leaked their gas.
European standards set the heat resistance of disposable lighters at 55°C but in reality when left in a car in
the summer heat they are exposed to much greater temperatures that can easily reach 80°C and even
100°C.
Commissioned by Bon à Savoir, the German institute IPI used the European ISO standard which
guarantees the safe use of lighters, to test their heat resistance. Several criteria were taken into account:
Do lighters always work at an outside temperature of 55°C, 65°C or 75°C? (Weighting in the overall
conclusions: 30%).
Do they still work when they are lit several times within a period of 20 seconds? What happens if they burn
constantly for 2 minutes? (Weighting: 30%).
Do they resist any damage if they fall from a height of 1.5 metres? (30%).
Is the flame regular without any flickering or sudden changes of intensity? (10%).
Thirty lighters from each model were tested and the results are clear: 10 models (out of 18) meet all the test
requirements and are only just below the maximum score of 100 points. The table opposite speaks for
itself: all these lighters belong to three brands: BIC, Cricket and Tokai. Of the eight subsequent models,
three were assessed as “satisfactory” and five considered as “unsatisfactory.” It was in fact the lighters from
these last two classifications that unexpectedly exploded during the temperature test.
T E S T R E S U L T S AT A G L AN C E
Points
Variable
flame
Cricket Original
Bic Ethno
Bic Spicy Mini
Bic Mini
Bic Maxi
Bic Birthday
Bic Gas
Cricket Mini
Tokai
Cricket Pocket Electronic
Satisfactory
98
98
98
97
97
97
97
97
97
97
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
Cli Cla Fashion
Win Set
Rondo Lady
Unsatisfactory
72
64
60
Yes
Yes
Yes
2.00
3.00
2.20
Sim Up
Speedy
Atomic Universal
“No name”
Brand
58
58
55
47
40
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
2.00
2.60
1.00
0.50
1.00
Brand, product name
Unit price
in CHF
Very good
1.30
1.30
1.80
0.06
0.75
0.75
1.45
1.70
2.50
2.60
Classification according to the number of points and secondly according to
price.
BIC® LIGHTERS. OUR QUALITY, YOUR SAFETY
2
Switzerland
Switzerland
1
BIC® LIGHTERS. OUR QUALITY, YOUR SAFETY