how long do they last?

[HedgeWitch]

I just wondered what the average lifespan is for a small £20 torch? I bought one a wee while ago, and have used it for 6 projects, have refilled it once and found when i came to use it today, it vomited flame over me and wouldn't switch off. So, after a comedic, but potentially lethal dash to the garden i let it blow out for a while and then tried it again. It's still broken and i have no hair left on my arms. Do they always die so tragically?(taking their owners with them, something akin to Viking burial rites). Do they always burn out so quickly?

[caroleallen]

I'd expect it to last longer than that. Have you tried adjusting the flame?

[HedgeWitch]

I tried that and it did some sort of pyrotechnical display which resulted in me having to run into the garden with it. When i turned it off it was still blowing out condensed blue flame, when i turned it up, it had a foot and a half long uncontrollable flame. It eventually cut out, some 2 minutes after i cut off the gas supply. Thats when i bled it out for a while, thinking i may have overfilled it, if that is possible, but it did exactly the same thing when i tried it again.

[Dennis]

I have had my minitorch for sixteen years and the only time it did that was when I grossly over- fiilled it. Suggest you buy the next one from a firm you can go back to, like Cookies. Dennis.

[HedgeWitch]

Cheers Dennis, I wondered whether it was my own fault. I just didn't know whether it was worth getting another torch for a little bit more if the dinky ones had a short lifespan. As it is, I'll just buy another little one, and try not to fit a hippo's worth of gas into a mouse hole's worth of torch.

[WitchfordSilver]

I've a cooks torch which is about 4 years old don't get much use now, but still works the same it did the day i got it.

Had a problem with the fill valve leaking but a blow with new gas cleared whatever was stopping it closing off, not leaked since.

Take it back, it should last longer than one refill, must have run to 100 or more in mine by now.