Reverse Engineering Technical Report

By Henry Zhang, Joell Vaca, Cais Wang, and Shane Taylor

 Table of Contents

1. Table of Contents

2. Device Description

3. Bill of Materials

4. Sketches

5. Flowchart

6. Procedures

1
Device Description

For this project we decided to modify a butane torch lighter. The device is

“worked” by having a spark create a flame and holding down the button to supply gas. The

device came assembled, and can be refueled. We started with a metal cased lighter but after

complications with running out of fuel and not having the correct fuel to refuel it with we

switched to a smaller disposable version of the lighter. The two lighters are different shapes but

have the same components. The lighter is “worked” by having a spark creates a flame and

holding down the button to supply gas. The device came assembled, and can be refueled. Our

original goal for this project was to change the color of the flame using chemicals.

We tested our original goal with several chemicals, such as copper, borax, and nickel

chromium, but the test did not change the color of our flame. Our reasoning for making this

decision was that the first lighter we got was green, and that got us thinking about

non-traditionally-colored lighters. As a result, we decided to change our goal to modify our

limiter to increase the size of the flame. We simply thought that it would be interesting to

increase the size of the flame.

2
Bill of Materials

Part # Name Quantity Dimensio Function Cost Interactio Website

n ns source

1 Case 1 32mm x Protects N/A Interacts N/A

12mm x inner with all
48mm parts parts

2 Fuel tank 1 15mm x Stores N/A Interacts N/A

30mm x fuel for with case
30mm lighter and
nozzle
bracket

3 Lid 1 25mm x Suffocate N/A Interacts N/A

32mm s flame hinge and
spring

4 Nozzle 1 38mm x Directs N/A Interacts N/A

bracket 26mm fuel to with fuel
spark and tank,
holds nozzle
flame bracket
and spark
generator

5 Button 1 20mm x Generate N/A Interacts N/A

8mm s spark with
and spark
releases generator
fuel , and
lever

6 Fuel tube 1 10mm Delivers N/A Interacts N/A

fuel to with fuel
nozzle and
nozzle

7 Tiny Bar 1 3mm Holds lid N/A Interacts N/A

in place with lid
and fuel
tank

8 Small bar 2 10mm Holds N/A Interacts N/A

3
 parts in with
place nozzle
bracket
and fuel
tank

9 Small 1 8mm Spring N/A Interacts N/A

Spring Loaded with lid
the lid

10 Small 1 8mm Holds N/A Interacts N/A

screw case onto with fuel
fuel tank tank and
cas

11 Small 1 5mm Grounds N/A Interacts N/A

disk the spark with
generator spark
generator

12 Small 1 18mm x Releases N/A Interacts N/A

lever 8mm fuel with
button,
and fuel
tank/
tube.

13 Small 1 12mm Connects N/A Interacts N/A

hinge lid with lid

4
Sketches

5
Flowchart

6
Procedures

We added several substances to change the color of the flame. We removed the fuel

release limiter to increase the size of the flame by first removing the metal cover for the flame,

then locating the limiter gear and lever, and finally removing the limiter gear and lever. We did

some simple research using the internet to figure out how to do these things.

The size procedure succeeded. We were able to increase the size of the flame from 2 cm

(0.78 inches) to 23 cm (6 inches). However, it consumed fuel at a much higher rate. It took about

eight minutes to consume the entire container. The color procedure failed. We added several

substances to the flame, but none of them worked.

We think the size procedure succeeded because it was relatively easy to follow without

errors. We think the color procedure failed because the color changing substances we used were

powders. We would need a metal to make a permanent change. The solids we had didn’t work.

Overall, while our original procedure did not work, we would consider our project a

success because we were able to use our engineering/design skills to substantially improve the

original device.