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Do Alcohol stovers still use meths?

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Alan 13~7

Alan 13~7

Settler
Oct 2, 2014
571
12
Prestwick, Scotland
As at July 2013 European legislation has outlawed the use of methylated spirits in the UK in camping stoves for cooking.

In its place sits a new European approved formula called
Bio-Ethanol.

Apart from Buster80 Are there any other die hards still running stoves on methylated spirits?

(edit:~ Not strictly true, The cheeky rascals at ekofuel.org, have pulled a fast one cleverly manipulating the existance of this government charter as a marketing ploy for Bio-ethanol) Thanks for pointing that out pterodaktyl.

Alan
 
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AFAIK they altered the formula in 2013 so that "methylated spirits" no longer contains methanol as the denaturant. I can't find any mention of it's use as a camping stove fuel being banned.

That said I have a bottle of bio ethanol from B&Q which I'll test out once my current bottle of meths runs out.
 
:surrender: heres where I got it from Pterodaktyl

http://www.ekofuel.org/blog/running_trangia_on_bioethanol/

I'd not taken the time to actually read through the government charter till now...

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/330451/eis0613.pdf

Damn it you're right. I do see what you mean. The cheeky rascals, a clever manipulation as a marketing tool from the guys at ekofuel for Bio-ethanol me thinks.

Cheers for pointing that out nice one I feel like a Twonk now? On the plus side yes I fell for it but I actually like Bio-ethanol better than methylated spirits let me know how you find it?

I've only used the B&Q stuff, Its still a bit sooty but it definitely does burn noticeably hotter than traditional meths and doesn't clogg up the burner, and I have covertly cooked a meal in the living room while the wife was out & tidied up before she got back with no bad fuel smells I got away with it.

I'd be interested to know how the B&Q stuff compares to the "purpose designed for cooking" bio ethanol heat wise. Reading threads it seems to burn cleaner than the B&Q stuff...

bilmo-p5 I've had a quick look at your link cheers I will have a good read at it later

you need only read on if you are at all interested:~

Bio-ethanol is a natural, environmental friendly fuel, a form of quasi-renewable energy that can be produced from agricultural feed-stocks. It can be made from very common crops such as sugar cane, potato, manioc and corn. It is clean burning and only produces a tiny amount of CO2 and water, leaving no residue or odor. In fact the amount of CO2 and water produced is roughly the same as human breath. The fuel lights instantly and will burn with a vibrant blue & yellow flame.


In conclusion:~
Although Bio-ethanol allegedly burns cleaner than meths the Bio-ethanol from B&Q still seems to leave sooty deposits on pots especially when dry baking maybe even more so. Initially boil times appear to compare similar to methylated spirits with 20 mls of Bio- Ethanol boiling one pint of water in just over 7 minutes, if anything I would say Bio-ethanol seems to burn slightly hotter & at about the same rate, as methylated spirits., I have managed to successfully dry bake bread but will have to adjust my times considerably I can probably knock off about 20 minutes & also using around 1/3rd less fuel.... compared to dry baking a loaf of bread using methylated spirit.
 
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Bio-ethanol = 95+% ethanol
Meths = 95+% ethanol

You'll not notice any realistic difference in burning efficiency, as they are basically the same thing.....

Minor differences to other (<5%) additives - meths used to be Methanol - nasty, poisonous stuff, but burns nicely. (As an aside, ethyl alcohol contaminated with methyl alcohol provided the "blind" in "blind drunk"...) The USA use it (ie methanol) for alcohol burners (Yellow HEET actually an auto industry product), and it can be bought cheaply - compared to meths for example - here in the UK.
 
Bio ethanol makes me chuckle.

As opposed to all the synthetic ethanol (none) out there?

Oh your ethanol is produced organically by micro organisms? Like yeast sugar and water? Like all ethanol ever made?

Its not only not green, its one of the most destructive products made after anything containing palm oil ( almost every commercial soap made)

Still add "bio" or "green" to the name and someone will not only huy it but buy into it (sigh)
 
I'm not saying I'm not environmentally aware, I just don't get obsessive about it. but I don't really care if its green, yellow or any of the shades in-between, so long as it works well in my military stove....
 
I finally got around to opening my Notkocher 71 over the weekend and it uses Ethanol gel. Works well for what i need it for and I assume it would last quite a bit longer than liquid. Saw a couple of people with Meths stoves and they called their fuel Meths but I'm not sure if it actually was or this Bio-Ethanol stuff.
 
I seem to remember reading somewhere somebody had one of these that was almost empty & quite by chance noticed that if you mix whats left with some fresh bio-ethanol the new bio-ethanol solidifies & forms into gel.... sounds a bit unlikely though, I may have got it wrong.... anyway I like the look of these & even though I've read that these are a bit rubbish I wondered if maybe they deteriorate over time, or maybe were they just expecting too much, anyway I'd like to see how good or bad they are for myself.... Swedish army how bad can they actually be in reality?
 
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Corned beef is a salt-cured beef product. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt.

Eigh? I don't get the connection rik am I missing something here?
 
sorry Johnny I have no idea of the type of fuel available in Canada for the Swedish Army Trangia stove. they will pretty much run on just about any kind of alcohol preferably 95+%

Anybody?
 
Alan 13~7 said:
Corned beef is a salt-cured beef product. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt.

Eigh? I don't get the connection rik am I missing something here?
Click to expand...

The connection is that a large quantity of the world's corned beef (at least the tinned variety) has usually come from Argentina and other South American nations. Now that they are devoting more of their farmland to crops to be used in making biofuels, the supply has gone down resulting in higher prices.

That said, other factors have led to higher prices for all beef products as well.
 
You can buy straight methanol in Canada, sold for home fondue burners and as a winter, deicing gasoline additive.
I buy it by the liter in the local hardware store with the intention of washing a carpy finish off a nice little table.

If "Meths" is no more than denatured ethanol, I suppose I could find it. Probably a major paint store for a start.
 
Robson Valley said:
......If "Meths" is no more than denatured ethanol, I suppose I could find it. Probably a major paint store for a start.
Click to expand...

Lowes still carries it in the following sized cans:
*1 Quart (US quart) for $7.28
*1 Gallon (US gallon) for $15.98

www.lowes.com/pd_148736-78-QSL26_0__

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