Refilling your lighter is an integral part of owing a reusable lighter. No matter how frugal you are with your lighter’s use, or how infrequently you light up, you will eventually run out of fluid. While the refilling process might be understood, quite a few smokers do not know whether or not the lighter can be used immediately after refilling it. Actually, to understand this, you’ll need to know a bit more about how the refilling process works, as well as why you should wait to light up afterward.

First, you should not strike your lighter immediately after refilling it. This is because the lighter fluid is cold after being compressed by the propellant. Allowing the fluid to come to room temperature before you light is a very good idea. In addition, this will allow any spilled fluid (overspray) to evaporate, so that it does not catch fire and cause you injury.

How should you refill your lighter correctly? Hold the lighter vertically in front of you. Keep the bottom of the lighter facing up and locate the fuel nozzle. Now, insert the nozzle of your fuel canister into the receptacle. Keep the lighter and the canister away from your eyes during the refilling process. As a note, some lighter fuel manufacturers recommend that you shake the canister before using it, while others do not. Check the canister to find out which applies to you.

When you have the canister inserted into the filler nozzle, press down on the canister while holding the lighter steady. You will hear a hissing noise and feel the canister and lighter become cooler to the touch. Keep the canister depressed for about five seconds, ensuring that the lighter has sufficient time to fill, without having to deal with the problem of overfilling.

When the lighter is full, set down the canister and allow the contents of the lighter to come to room temperature. Once the fuel has acclimated, you should adjust the flame height to your desired setting and then ignite the lighter, while holding it well away from your face and clothing. If the lighter does not ignite, you’ll need to continue adding fuel and allowing the fuel to warm up.