Ronsonol/Lighter fluid = ???

One of the first things that a Chemistry student learns in Organic Chemistry is "like disolves like".

Lighter fluid (Ronsonol or Zippo) is is naphta gas or white gas and is a also similar to the Colemen stove fuel used in camping stoves. It is a good solvent for petrolium bases oils and grease.

Isopropyl Alcohol on the other hand is not very effective in disolving petrolium products but can be a good cleaning agent for removing organic based dirt from most sufaces including most plastics.

Acetone and / or laquer thinner will eat many plastics and paint finishes.

Bill K.
 
In German 'lighter fluid' is 'Feuerzeugbenzin' (BTW, both Ronsonol and Zippo brands are available in Austria, I guess in the NL, too, just check at larger tobacco stores); 'Benzin' is also German for 'gasoline', and there is also 'Waschbenzin' - purified gasoline for washing purposes; BTW, it is not really a good idea to use car-type gasoline in a Zippo lighter, since there are a lot of additives, some of them carcinogenic, in there...

Roman
 
Ohhh. Yeah... Back of the little bottle says "Contains Naptha". Some of my old repair books say use "Naptha" for cleaning oil. I always though it was replaced by Ronsonol...

Never was one of those people who stuck burning things in my mouth! Feet stink, may itch, but don't burn...
 
Reportedly some people prefer Ronsonol because they claim that it is it is purer than the common naptha used for cleaning automotive parts and paint brushes. (Varsol etc.) After using Ronsonol on iris blases and shutter blades, I almost always have to go back and wipe them either with an electrical contact cleaner or with ethanol to remove any residual oil.

Be careful with the more volatile stuff like gasoline or ether. You can blow yourself up of at least start an inadvertent fire by adding sparks or a hot light.

-Paul
 
Thanks again, folks.
Seems that "wasbenzine" (purified gasoline) works; however i have serious problems getting out the brass ring on the front which has the focusing helical and the second(middle) lens element. Since it's in the way of the shutter box cover, i am getting pissed off. :bang:
No web resource shows such a ring - although servicing this exact type of ikonta i have not found yet.
Will keep you updated.
 
Well, it looks like it's more confusing than I had hoped. There is a special fuel for Zippo lighters, the image Bill posted is a good example..... this stuff is a good solvent and safe for plastics (use caution around inks, like the printed meter displays in viewfinders).

You may be able to use gasoline in a lighter, but don't clean parts with it (unless we're talking about engine parts, it works on carburetors pretty well). The table that Bill posted the link for is geared toward the interchangeability of these liquids as stove fuels and it cannot be trusted to indicate that they are actually the same chemicals. "Coleman Fuel", for instance, is the term most commonly given in the table for the equivalent of "Naphtha"..... it is not the same stuff (and it may vary from country to country), and neither is white gasoline. However, there is some good information in the table and in the subsequent comments.

To be safe, wherever you are I would try to find a can of packaged cigarette lighter fuel, ideally Zippo or Ronsonol brand.

One standard reference that you might be able to find is the CAS identification number - but I'm not sure you'll see that in other countries either. It is:

Solvent naphtha (CAS #64742-89-8)

Given the degree of uncertainty in translation and in supply in different countries, you might have to experiment to find what works best for you.

rick 🙂=
 
Pherdinand, the cell holding the second element in the Compur (and preventing removal of the shutter cover) is right-hand threaded and very tight. I recently serviced an Ikonta B shutter and this was probably the tightest one I've encountered in a long time. I usually try to unscrew these by wrapping a rubber sheet around them to get a grip, but that was not good enough for this one. Try getting some of the double-side-adhesive foam tape stuff that 3M makes, wrap that around the cell and then carefully grip the outside of the tape with a pair of slip-joint pliers.

It turns counter-clockwise to unscrew.

rick : ) =
 
I've been doing a little more reading, and it looks like Coleman fuel is the same stuff as lighter fluid. The source that showed it as 45-50% naphtha described another 45-50% as "aliphatic petroleum distillates", which has a different CAS number but is chemically basically the same thing.

Coleman's current US specification sheet calls for 1 ounce per 1,000 gallons of rust inhibitor and less than 1/2 ounce per 1,000 gallons of green dye.... not a lot of contaminant there.

Chemically, Solvent Naphtha appears to be an aliphatic hydrocarbon blend (this family includes gases Methane and Butane, and solid Paraffin waxes), consisting primarily of n-Octane and n-Nonane (C8H18 and C9H20).

Maybe this will put it into terms that can be understood in different countries without having to hunt for specific brand names...

rick 🙂=
 
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