Aviation fuel

[Quixoticgeek]

Am wondering if any of the stove geeks could help me understand aviation fuel in multi-fuel stoves.

All the high end expedition liquid fuel stoves (MSR dragonfly & XGK, Primus omnifuel & omnilite Ti) list "aviation fuel" in the list of fuels they burn. My research suggests that there are two types of aviation fuel, avgas, and jet fuel. Both being slightly different. I know that aviation fuel should never be the first choice in multi-fuel stoves, but if you do have to use it, do you treat either type the same (I.e. use the same jet in the stove), or do you treat avgas as petrol, and jet fuel as kerosene, and thus use corresponding jets?

Am just curious. Everyone talks about their stoves being able to burn everything, yet everyone with the stoves seem to stick to petrol.

Cheers

Julia

 

[Ogri the trog]

Your assumptions are correct, Avgas (Aviation gasoline) is essentially "Five Star" petrol and Jet fuel also known as Avtur, Avcat or Avtag - (depending upon its intended purpose) - is basically kerosene with various additions - again depending upon its intended purpose. So using the "Petrol" jet or the "Kerosene" jet is the way to go.

I used to use Avtur in a Brass Primus which burnt with a bright green flame which was pretty cool to look at but that's about all, but I did have issues getting the same fuel to burn in an MSR Whisperlite!

It might be time to revisit some of my old stoves and maybe invest in a new one!

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[cranmere]

My MSR doesn't need different jets, but the down side is that although it will burn darned near anything it's a bit temperamental about some fuels. I normally use Coleman fuel or clean plain kerosene/paraffin because those are what the stove actually likes and it burns them with no trouble but occasionally it's useful to be able to use whatever is available locally.

 

[Quixoticgeek]

My MSR doesn't need different jets, but the down side is that although it will burn darned near anything it's a bit temperamental about some fuels. I normally use Coleman fuel or clean plain kerosene/paraffin because those are what the stove actually likes and it burns them with no trouble but occasionally it's useful to be able to use whatever is available locally.

My first stove was an MSR Whisperlite Internationale, but after repeated trips when I found it diesel a lot easier to come by than petrol (more diesel vehicles than petrol), I bought a dragonfly. Ironically, since buying the dragonfly, I've not needed to burn anything other than petrol. The Dragonfly's a lovely stove, but very noisy. I'm thinking of selling it, as I'm just not using it.

Last week I took my whisperlite out on a kayak camping trip, after playing around with meths stoves for the last wee while, it was a joy to use the MSR. Shame it's so heavy.

J

 

[Alan 13~7]

when I worked at British Aerospace some years ago building the Jetstream 31, I used to run my primus stove on jet fuel (Jet A1) ... basically its just refined Paraffin ( or in the US Kerosene ) as was said earlier I also used it in my storm lanterns, & as a degreaser to clean my motorbike brilliant stuff if you have access to it....

 

[bilmo-p5]

If you're in doubt as to the nature of your aviation fuel there's a few things you can do to help identify it.
Before putting any in your stove, pour a little into a small metal receptacle such as a beer bottle top or a jar lid.
It's generally undyed, so colour doesn't really help, but what does it smell like?
Dip a finger in it and look at it on your fingertip; petrol will evaporate quite quickly whereas paraffin won't at all. Rub it between your finger and thumb; paraffin will feel distinctly oily, petrol less so,if it has not evaporated .
Wipe the fuel off your hands and, in a safe place, introduce a naked flame to your sample. Paraffin won't readily light whereas petrol will, and possibly quite vigorously too (WHOOMF!), so be careful.

If you're still not sure what you have, try carefully lighting your stove with it and see how it goes. In multi jet stoves such as the Omni, use the paraffin jet (nipple) as that will have the smallest orifice (0.28mm IIRC) . Petrol will burn OK through the paraffin jet but the petrol jet can let too much paraffin through for it to vapourise properly (WHOOMF!)
Light the stove as for paraffin.

Petrol tends to be the most commonly used fuel because it is usually the optimum fuel for the single jet stoves (petrol/white gas/Coleman fuel being the predominant camping fuel in the US market).
It is also a cleaner fuel, both for burning and in case of spills where petrol evaporates quickly leaving little residual smell whilst paraffin is there for the duration (and a little bit goes a long way).
In use it generally requires less priming and can be used for that priming, obviating the need to carry a second, priming, fuel.

 

[Teepee]

The priming wicks Omni-fuels/lite/nova will happily prime with paraffin or kero. The wick only needs touching with a flame and it's lit. It takes 30 secs to get the flame surrounding the burner bottom'ly but works OK.

 

[Ogri the trog]

My first stove was an MSR Whisperlite Internationale, but after repeated trips when I found it diesel a lot easier to come by than petrol (more diesel vehicles than petrol), I bought a dragonfly. Ironically, since buying the dragonfly, I've not needed to burn anything other than petrol. The Dragonfly's a lovely stove, but very noisy. I'm thinking of selling it, as I'm just not using it.

Last week I took my whisperlite out on a kayak camping trip, after playing around with meths stoves for the last wee while, it was a joy to use the MSR. Shame it's so heavy.

J

I used the old brass Primus for years, got it when I was in the Scouts some 40 years ago and using Avtur came as soon as I joined up and began working on aircraft. I kept on using it because it kept on working. I thought that in buying the Whisperlite I would be upgrading, but it hasn't caught on as much as the Primus.
I've been looking at the Dragonfly as a step up and a little more versatile than the Whisperlite.

ATB

Ogri the trog

 

[santaman2000]

If you're in doubt as to the nature of your aviation fuel there's a few things you can do to help identify it.
Before putting any in your stove, pour a little into a small metal receptacle such as a beer bottle top or a jar lid.
It's generally undyed, so colour doesn't really help........

Not so

The various jet fuels are undyed (which in and of itself means that undyed is probably a jet fuel) but the avgas grades are almost always dyed.