Fuel for alchol cooktop

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May 31, 2007
784
Hunter 37 cutter Blind River
Don't be using methyl hydrate inside the boat. The fumes are very poisonous. The denatured alcohol has an extra carbon molecule and burns hotter, cleaner. I have tried methyl in a pressurized stove and can attest to its unsuitability.
 

Gail R

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Apr 22, 2009
261
Pearson 34 Freeport, ME
Well, that would be one way to eliminate yourself from the gene pool.
:(
Really? Are you saying that a Coleman stove is inherently dangerous? That is about as ridiculous as saying a gasoline engine is sure to blow your boat up.

Nothing wrong with a Coleman stove -- campers have been using them for years. Provided you use them as they are intended (camp stove, outdoors use only) and with normal safety precautions, they are perfectly safe.
 
Apr 8, 2010
2,238
Ericson Yachts Olson 34 28400 Portland OR
Really? Are you saying that a Coleman stove is inherently dangerous? That is about as ridiculous as saying a gasoline engine is sure to blow your boat up.

Nothing wrong with a Coleman stove -- campers have been using them for years. Provided you use them as they are intended (camp stove, outdoors use only) and with normal safety precautions, they are perfectly safe.
I grew up camping with the parents -- umbrella tent, CCC campgrounds, and like most other campers we used a Coleman stove. Row boats, trout fishing, the whole nine yeards - it was great. :)

Yeah, they're safe enough - sorta kinda, used on an open picnic table or other outdoor stand... but they can easily leak gasoline around the pump seals and also the burner assemblies.
You get Flare ups, and I remember them well, happened to campers regularly. No concern as long as fuels are oudoors where fumes cannot accumulate and there are ways to extinguish a fire.

In a boat? Oh my. Compared to the fuel system on a marine A4 gas engine, they would be a lot more hazardous. While fires and explosions are rare for inboard aux engines, they do happen once in a while and are often deadly.
Deliberately putting a white gas pressure stove below decks is really unwise.

If you want to redirect the thread from choosing brands/varieties of alcohol for cooking to a discussion of different types of cooking stoves, it might be better to start a new thread, FWIW.

Note B: Putting a gas camping stove inside would likely void any insurance you have, also. (Even if you do not value your life highly.)
:(
 
Jan 2, 2008
547
Hunter 33 (Cherubini design Forked River, Barnegat Bay, NJ
The whole ethanol - denatured alcohol thing is about taxation. Ethanol, which is the basis for consumable liquor is highly taxed. Unfortunately ethanol can be a good solvent for certain applications. How to get solvent without paying outlandish taxes on it? Denature it with something noxious. It is no longer of any value for drinking and is not taxed at that rate. Well over 50 per cent of what you pay for a bottle of liquor is tax.

Despite the fact that I barely have a sense of smell, I can't stand the smell of burning stove alcohol. I tried 198 proof (YES, one hundred nintey eight proof) ethanol in my Origo. Smells about as bad to me as denatured, but appears to burn about the same. I can't speak to the cost of it because it fell out of a hose and otherwise would have gone to waste.
 
Dec 8, 2007
303
-mac 26M -26M tucson-san carlos mx
odd i have very sensitive smelling, and have never detected any kind of odor when i use home depot denatured alch in my origo.
 
Mar 2, 2011
489
Compac 14 Charleston, SC
Good ventilation is a must for any type of cooking fuel. Origos specify denatured alcohol and it seemed safer overall to me than most other forms of fuel.
 
May 31, 2007
784
Hunter 37 cutter Blind River
I don't use a Coleman and haven't for years so can't comment. I have a childhood recollection of using naptha gas, or white gas, in a pressurized camp stove and always assumed that was what Coleman used. Could be wrong though. I would be surprised if that stuff Coleman sells is just methyl hydrate.
Wish Lowes up here in Canada sold the denatured stuff. Far cheaper than marine alcohol but essentially the same stuff.
 
Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
I think my question was taken the wrong way. I meant, I have a Origo 2 burner and a bottle of "Origo Stove fuel" from the PO.
But we also car camp in our Provincial parks and we use my 40 year old Coleman stove. I just wanted to know what the fuel was/is. And if there is a cheaper alternative, I'm cheap, it fits.
I had not heard of white gas before but had heard of naphtha, but not in a Coleman stove context. not sure what context..
So. What can I use in my Coleman stove that is not on the boat and wont be because its not safe and someone bolted the Origo down to the counter with rusting steel bolts.
 
Mar 20, 2012
3,983
Cal 34-III, MacGregor 25 Salem, Oregon
Ok so let me geet this strait, the two methol and ethol are pretty much the same. One is a bit hotter burning.
From Brad: Methyl hydrate = methanol / wood alcohol
denatured alcohol = ethanol / grain alcohol

IIRC, ethanol (denatured alcohol) burns a little hotter (more BTU/lb)


From RichH: Methyl Hydrate is simply another 'tech name' for wood alcohol or methanol

The High Heat Value (HHV) for methanol is ~10,000 BTU/lb.; for ethanol ~13,000 BTU/lb.


Denatured Alcohol is simply ethanol with a wee bit of methanol added to make it 'poisonous'.

The use of the term methyl hydrate instead of wood ALCOHOL or methyl ALCOHOL is to lessen the chance of alcohol addicted persons from mistakenly drinking it and going blind or dying.
So what can I use in my old Coleman stove? It looks like this one. Just not as clean, and with a few scorch marks on the wind protector things...

the coleman stoves use white gas, also known as clear gas.... you can buy clear gas at some places for use in boats, quads, gas powered lawn equipment and other off road use.... it is the same as white gas only way cheaper. but still expensive!
 
Feb 20, 2011
8,062
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
I think my question was taken the wrong way. I meant, I have a Origo 2 burner and a bottle of "Origo Stove fuel" from the PO.
But we also car camp in our Provincial parks and we use my 40 year old Coleman stove. I just wanted to know what the fuel was/is. And if there is a cheaper alternative, I'm cheap, it fits.
I had not heard of white gas before but had heard of naphtha, but not in a Coleman stove context. not sure what context..
So. What can I use in my Coleman stove that is not on the boat and wont be because its not safe and someone bolted the Origo down to the counter with rusting steel bolts.
You should be able to find Coleman fuel.
Even in Canada. ;)
 
Nov 23, 2011
2,023
MacGregor 26D London Ontario Canada
I was at a local Canadian Tire on Saturday. Nothing! Lots of small green propane bottles. I think they were just out. Although the empty space on the bottom shelf was kind of small for the Gal jugs...
 
Jan 22, 2008
8,050
Beneteau 323 Annapolis MD
I just wanted to know what the fuel was/is. I had not heard of white gas before but had heard of naphtha, but not in a Coleman stove context. not sure what context... quote]

IIRC, Decades ago, probably before lead-free gas was invented, Amoco sold "white gas", the premium gas.
 
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