Pocket Rocket Ignition

Many thanks, Bonzo.  I wonder how this happened?  At any rate, after reading your post I spent some time fiddling and wrestling, and managed to get the wire far enough into the tube that it is making contact, and the piezo is firing pretty consistently.  But the kink is bad enough that the tube is pinched down, so I’m assuming this is just a temporary fix.  As has been noted in this post, piezo ignitors are by nature unreliable and impermanent, but I’m glad to have mine working again, at least for now.  Whether I get any response or not, I am going to report this issue to MSR.

We all count ounces AND want durability. Comparing two stoves, would you buy one that weighs two ounces more, if all else where equal? Both have Peizo lighters. It’s only later that you find out the one you bought has a crappy lighter. The heavier one has a more dependable lighter. How would you know? and would you buy it anyway, given we all carry lighters?

Every Peizo lighter I’ve ever owned, whether on BPing stoves or backyard gas grills, lasted at most a year.  I learned my lesson and bought a stove (two now) with no Piezo.  No looking back.

Comparing two stoves, would you buy one that weighs two ounces more, if all else where equal?

Well, no… because if everything else about the stoves is equal, the extra two ounces is just that: extra weight.

Both have Peizo lighters. It’s only later that you find out the one you bought has a crappy lighter. The heavier one has a more dependable lighter.

That’s not “all else being equal.” My answer is still no, however.

How would you know? and would you buy it anyway, given we all carry lighters?

Good/bad/indifferent are all subjective judgements, so that’s up to the individual buyer…and yes, I would buy the one with the crappy piezo anyway, which is exactly what I did.  My original plan was to just use a lighter, and to strip the broken piezo from the stove; it wasn’t until I got it home that I thought about trying to fix it.  I assumed that the problem was in the piezoelectric plate, and not the connection.  That being said:

Every Peizo lighter I’ve ever owned, whether on BPing stoves or backyard gas grills, lasted at most a year.

I’ve had the same basic issue.  I don’t expect any of them to last.

I would have fixed it too, if it was really really simple–I’m challenged in these things. And I would have been glad to have a new piezo stove! Yay, free upgrade. I would have congratulated myself every time it worked in the field. And if it didn’t…who cares? I’d have my lighter regardless.

so, yay, Bonzo, you got a great deal with Jerry’s help!