I have not taken it apart yet. I am going to try contacting the vendor instead of the manufacturer before voiding my warranty  . I tried your (great) suggestion of lighting it manually, and, strangely, it worked the first few times, then not at all... the jet coming out of the Arc is so strong it almost extinguishes the BIC flame!

Then I emptied it, and filled it up for the 4th time... still no luck.

So, strong jet of butane and workable spark, but no flame...

I'll keep you posted.

JBArk