In this guide
The short version
- An arc lighter runs a small electric arc between two electrodes. There is no fuel and no flame, so wind cannot blow it out and there is nothing to refill.
- The hot spot is tiny and fixed. It suits cigarettes, cigarillos and candle wicks, not the wide foot of a cigar.
- Coil lighters are the other flameless option: a glowing element instead of an arc, slower and quieter, with the same cigar limit.
- For cigars, an electric ignition butane torch such as the Vector Icon II gives you USB charging with a real flame.
An arc lighter has no fuel tank, no wick and no flame. Press the button and a small electric arc jumps between two metal electrodes at the top; touch a cigarette, a cigarillo or a candle wick to that arc and it lights. That makes it the one lighter we sell that wind cannot blow out and that never needs a refill, and it is also why it is the wrong tool for a cigar. Here is how it works, where it falls short, and which one fits which job.
How an arc lighter makes heat without a flame
A butane lighter burns gas in air. An arc lighter is closer to a tiny spark that stays on. A battery feeds a circuit that steps the voltage up high enough to jump a gap between two electrodes; the air in that gap breaks down and conducts, and the result is a thin, bright, violet line of plasma, hot enough to light tobacco or a wick on contact.
A single arc runs between one pair of electrodes. A double arc runs two arcs that cross in the middle, so the hot spot sits at the crossing point. Either way the arc exists only between the electrodes, which is the key to everything that follows: you bring the material to the arc, not the other way around. While the button is held you hear a faint buzz and see the arc; let go and it is gone, with no soot and nothing to adjust.
What an arc does well
Wind is the obvious one. A soft flame leans and dies in a breeze and even a torch flame can be pushed around; an arc has no flame to disturb, so a windy porch is no harder than a kitchen table. The second is maintenance. There is no butane to buy, no purging and no bleeding air out of a tank (a routine in itself, as our butane guide shows). You charge it like a phone.
The Vector Electron is the arc lighter we stock for the pocket. It lights from a sensor ignition button, has a battery indicator on the front that shows 75%, 50% and 25%, and charges over a supplied USB cable. Vector rates it for any altitude, one more place a fuel lighter can struggle, and the case measures 1.37 by 0.61 by 3.07in. It carries Vector's lifetime warranty, with no proof of purchase required.
Where it falls short
The hot spot is small and it does not move. A cigarette or a cigarillo has a foot narrow enough to sit between the electrodes, so it lights in a second or two. A cigar does not. Its foot is wider than the arc, so you would be dragging the edge of the foot across a pinpoint of heat and hoping for an even burn, and you will not get one. Vector says this plainly on the Electron: it is for cigarette and cigarillo use and will not effectively light full-sized cigars. Treat that as a rule for the whole category, not a quirk of one model.
Because you touch the material to the arc, you also bring your fingers close to it. Keep the button released until the lighter is in position, and keep anything you do not mean to light out of the gap.
The second limit is the battery. A fuel lighter with a full tank lights for weeks; an arc lighter lights until the cell is flat, and cold shortens that. The Electron's three-step indicator is there so you are not surprised, and the two Ronson models below quote their uses per charge outright. The third is reach: a pocket arc lighter cannot get down into a jar candle or a pipe bowl the way a long yellow flame can. That is a job for the candle-lighter shape, or for a flame.
Arc vs coil: the two kinds of flameless lighter
Not every electric lighter is an arc lighter. The older idea is a coil: a small element that glows when current runs through it, the same principle as a car's dash lighter. The Ronson Coilite is a coil lighter. You slide a button to heat the coil, press the end of a cigarette against it, and it shuts itself off after 10 seconds if you forget to let go.
The differences in use are small but real. A coil takes a moment to come up to heat and glows orange rather than snapping to a violet line, so it feels slower and quieter, and it has no exposed gap to keep clear, just a hot surface. Ronson quotes up to 30 uses per charge from the Coilite's lithium ion cell, charged through a built-in USB charger, with a 1 year warranty. An arc is quicker on the draw; a coil is simpler. Both share the same hard limit: neither will light a cigar.
Arc lighters for candles
Put the arc on the end of a long, flexible neck and you have the shape that has quietly replaced matches in a lot of kitchens. The neck reaches the bottom of a tall jar and keeps your hand away from the heat, and because there is no flame, nothing flares back when it lights.
The Ronson Rechargeable Candle Lighter is the one we have in stock. It runs a 250mAh battery that Ronson rates for up to 50 arcs per charge, recharges over USB with the cable included, and carries a lifetime warranty.
Zippo makes the same shape, the Zippo Rechargeable Candle Lighter, with a windproof arc on a flexible neck, a 10.2in metal body and an approximately 90 minute recharge. It was sold out when this was written, so check the electric lighters collection for current stock.
A candle lighter's neck is meant to reach, not to be used as a lever. Bend it gently to the angle you want and leave it there; working it back and forth every time is what wears a flexible neck out.
For cigars, keep the flame and electrify the button
If a cigar is what you light most, no arc lighter is for you. What you may actually want from the category is the USB charging, and Vector sells that attached to a real butane torch. The Icon II is a wind resistant triple torch whose three flames merge into one, lit by a sensor ignition button that runs off a USB charge, with no batteries to replace and a cable included. It keeps what a cigar needs: a large fuel gauge window and a flame adjust wheel on the base. It measures 1.53 by 0.68 by 3.32in and carries Vector's lifetime warranty.
The same family runs from the single flat flame Icon IV to the quad jet Icon III, a table lighter with a self cleaning cigar punch that Vector rates to 10,000 feet. For choosing between flame counts in the first place, our torch lighter guide walks through single, triple and quad jets.
Which one to buy
For cigarettes and cigarillos in a pocket, with wind and no refills in mind: the Vector Electron. For the same job with a glowing coil instead of a spark: the Ronson Coilite. For candles: the Ronson Rechargeable Candle Lighter, with the Zippo version as the alternative when it is back in stock. For cigars: not an arc at all, but an electric ignition torch such as the Icon II, or any of the butane torches in our torch lighter guide.
There is also a middle path for Zippo owners who want to keep the case but lose the fluid. Zippo's insert line includes an arc insert that drops into a regular Zippo case the way the torch and pipe inserts do; it is not for Armor cases, and it comes gift boxed with Zippo's 2 year warranty. Our first Zippo guide covers how the inserts fit, and the insert page shows which styles are in stock today; when this was written, the arc insert was the one available.
All four electric models here charge over USB, and three of them come with the cable. Give any of them a full charge before a trip; the indicator on the Electron and the uses-per-charge figures on the Ronsons are the only warning you get.
Questions people ask
Can an arc lighter light a cigar?
Not well. The arc is a pinpoint of heat between two electrodes, and a cigar's foot is wider than that. Vector states that the Electron is for cigarette and cigarillo use and will not effectively light full-sized cigars. Use a butane torch for cigars.
Do arc lighters work in wind?
Yes. There is no flame to blow out, so a breeze does not affect the arc. You still have to hold the cigarette or wick against the arc itself, since the heat does not reach beyond the gap between the electrodes.
How many lights do you get per charge?
It depends on the model. Ronson rates its Rechargeable Candle Lighter for up to 50 arcs per charge from a 250mAh battery and the Coilite for up to 30 uses per charge. The Vector Electron does not quote a count; it shows a 75%, 50% and 25% battery indicator instead.
Can I put an arc insert in my Zippo?
Zippo makes an arc insert that fits regular Zippo cases, not Armor cases, alongside its torch, pipe and yellow flame inserts. The inserts sell out often, so check the product page for which styles are in stock.
