Alcohol stove fuel...

[skipmac]

Denatured alcohol is not denatured with gasoline. It's most often denatured with ethanol. Looking at the MSDS for whatever product will show what the denaturing agent is.

Every last gallon I've ever bought was denatured with ethanol.

Perhaps you meant denatured with methanol? Cooking alcohol is ethanol (the kind of alcohol you drink) and methanol is the poisonous stuff that might be used to denature ethanol.

Regarding denaturing, this is required in the US (and most countries) to prevent people from buying industrial grade ethanol and drinking it to avoid the sin tax on ethanol. By ATF regulations there are dozens of legally approved formulas for SDAs (semi denatured alcohol) and CDAs (completely denatured alcohol) to denature ethanol to make it undrinkable and tax free. To qualify as legally denatured the ethanol must adhere exactly to the ATF approved formula. Depending on the industry and application there are dozens of formulas and additives including: gasoline (used mainly in fuel grade ethanol for the auto fuel industry), ketones, other alcohols (isopropyl alcohol, n-propyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, butyl alcohol), and lots more.

So saying denatured alcohol is about as specific as saying solvent. It could be just about anything.

 

[skipmac]

My 2 cents (4 in Canada) when you spill alcohol you can dilute with water and the fire goes out. The other fuels that are lighter than water will spread when you throw the water on. Hate to see you lose your nice boat.

All U Get

That's what they say in all the books but I can tell you from personal experience it doesn't always work that way. First boat had a pressurized alcohol stove. On a windy day the burner blew out and since the flame is so light we didn't notice so a good bit of liquid alcohol leaked out under the burners. Went to light a second burner and set the top of the stove on fire which took a few seconds to notice, again due to the dim light of the flame. Following instructions with the stove we doused the stove with a gallon or so of water which washed burning alcohol under the stove and into the bilge. Got very exciting after that but we managed to put it out and avoid any damage.

Bottom line, I think alcohol stoves have there own risks and they cook slow and the fuel is expensive. Propane for me.

I always liked the quote from Donald Street. He said he would rather be blown up all at once by a propane stove than slowly tortured to death with alcohol stove.

 

[Gunni]

 

[Chief RA]

Gunni: Ricki Bobby was obviously using alcohol! Chief

 

[odaydokay]

Thanks , lots of very helpful input ( as usual ), looks like I'll definitely stick with the denatured alcohol as per manufactures specs , and probably just keep a USCG approved metal bottle for refill . Mostly sailing on weekends and a couple longer trips thru summer . The Origo 3000 seems to be fairly safe when used properly .

The Origo 3000 is terrific. Never an issue in my now 22 year old one. The previous pressurized alcohol stove? A reliability and repair nightmare. A gasoline stove on my boat??? NEVER!