Do Alcohol stovers still use meths?

[Alan 13~7]

Right, cheers santa, I'm feeling enlightened now, I have to admit to being a user of corned beef, mostly in sandwiches or with tatties n beans, I don't really notice accelerating prices on individual shopping items, but yes I see your point, I suppose everything we do has a knock on effect in one way or another .... prettily much the nature of the beast that is man!

 

[mick91]

I've ran them on isopropyl alcohol, you can get it on Amazon for buttons and it burns reasonably clean. End of the day isopropynol and propynol are referred to as fuel alcohols for good reason. The blue dye in meths is to indicate its meths and contains a chemical called bitrex, sole purpose of bitrex is to make you vomit if you try to drink the stuff. But all fuel and rubbing alcohols have some kind of adulterant to make them undrinkable and thereby not taxable as drink, but they're also all flammable.

 

[rik_uk3]

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.

Most of my American stove brothers use HEET, can you get that in BC.

I just use methanol these days.

 

[Andy BB]

Most of my American stove brothers use HEET, can you get that in BC.

I just use methanol these days.

Just make sure it's Yellow Heet!

 

[petrochemicals]

You can burn acetone in a trangia.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Acetone-fueled-camp-stove/

And it's classed as a "very organic compound" which is good.

 

[British Red]

You can burn acetone in a trangia.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Acetone-fueled-camp-stove/

And it's classed as a "very organic compound" which is good.

From that link

it has been brought to my attention that acetone is carcinogenic, so don't use it.

 

[Johnny Canuck]

Well spotted!

From that link

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[santaman2000]

From that link

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That said, wood smoke is a carcinogenic.

 

[Buadhach]

I understand it isn't illegal to own, sell existing stocks or burn classic blue meths. An EU edict sez you can't make the stuff any more and bio ethanol is the blue meths replacement.

The bio ethanol sold by B&Q is intended for use in the spirit burning decor fireplaces they sell. Maybe the sooting complained of is caused by an additive designed to produce cheery yellow flames -who would want a decor fireplace which boasted blue/purple flame? Yellow flame is associated with sooting. Maybe it would be worthwhile adding between 5% to 10% water to the bio ethanol to see if it has the same soot reducing property as it is alleged to have with blue meths. I'm only sayin'.

 

[PDA1]

All denatured ethanol sold in the EU is now made to the same specification. Doesn't matter if you call it "bio ethanol", "green ethanol" or plain denatured alcohol. It is all the same
Per hectolitre (100 L) of absolute ethanol: 3 litres of isopropyl alcohol, 3 litres of methyl ethyl ketone and 1 gram denatonium benzoate. The old "meths" used methanol as the denaturing agent. Methanol burns clean, IPA and MEK burn with a bit of smoke.

 

[petrochemicals]

From that link

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it has been brought to my attention that acetone is carcinogenic, so don't use it.[/COLOR]

Listen red I could argue with you all day by quoting from that link. From that link.

Acetone is not a carcinogen. We use tonnes of the stuff at work without issue.

 

[rik_uk3]

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?

I've read that these south American foreign Johnies are growing more and more plants for bio fuel and raising less cattle hence the rise in the price of corned beef... its absolutely appalling.

 

[drliamski]

So what is the cleanest burning replacement for classic blue meths?

 

[PDA1]

So what is the cleanest burning replacement for classic blue meths?

The cleanest is Methanol. Easily available here in the USA, but maybe not so much in the UK. It is poisonous, so must be used with care. So NOT recommended for scouts, youth groups etc.
Denatured alcohol with MEK and IPA doesn't smoke all that much and is readily available.
You can make/buy burnersspecifically made to burn clean with Isopropyl alcohol (google flat cat gear IPA burner) but most burners such as trangia smoke badly with IPA. IPA is rubbing alcohol and readily available in pharmacists

 

[rik_uk3]

Methanol is easy to get in the UK, just don't drink it or wash in it.

 

[Fishery Pokery]

Just as some anecdotal information, I bought a litre of bio ethanol from go outdoors at the weekend.
I did a trial run at the weekend and couldn't believe how sooty it made the pan compared to the Wilkinsons methane I've been using upto now.
I was really disappointed as I had thought it would burn cleaner!
Not sure why it seems so much dirtier?

 

[Alan 13~7]

Just as some anecdotal information, I bought a litre of bio ethanol from go outdoors at the weekend.
I did a trial run at the weekend and couldn't believe how sooty it made the pan compared to the Wilkinsons methane I've been using up to now.
I was really disappointed as I had thought it would burn cleaner!
Not sure why it seems so much dirtier?

I am surprised if its the proper Fuel4 Bio-Ethanol Spirit for camping n stuff? I've heard good reviews, it is supposed to be virtually soot free, But yea I sort of had the same problem with the B&Q stuff but found that starting with an empty burner that has been burnt dry. I flushed out the burner using warm bio ethanol ( IE.fill with bio Light let bloom extinguish discard repeat until it runs clear) the purple that's in meth seems to be left behind & becomes concentrated over time, what comes out looks like exactly like purple meth the sooting was reduced considerably, Although B&Q bio is still a bit sooty I didn't think it as sooty as the meth I had been using

As suggested by Buadhach

"The bio ethanol sold by B&Q is intended for use in the spirit burning decor fireplaces they sell. Maybe the sooting complained of is caused by an additive designed to produce cheery yellow flames"

Good point, I hadn't considered that, possibly you are right?

Buadhach also suggests "Maybe it would be worthwhile adding between 5% to 10% water to the bio ethanol to see if it has the same soot reducing property as it is alleged to have with blue meths. I'm only sayin'."

I personally favour undiluted Fuel..... Why? Well, from a scientific view point water has a very high specific heat, higher than meths. What this means is that not only are the fuels less powerful per gram, but the fuel also needs to heat up and evaporate the water added to the fuel!
This wastes precious energy which could be used to heat the food or water in the pan.

The soot getting in your kit problem? The pot will go black sure but once a black sooty patina has formed a quick wipe with a wet cloth before you pack and carry removes the excess soot after each use and the rest is pretty hard to shift so the black doesn't transfer & won't mark anything.
& I too also, I'm only sayin'.

 

[gonzo_the_great]

Quick price check....

A store chain called "In-excess", in my area of Dorset, have meths at £1 for a 500ml bottle.
That is cheaper than anywhere else I've seen locally. So stocked up for the year.

I also wondered about the GoOutdoors 'bio-ethanol', as I can't see how good old meths can be anything else but bio?!
I agree meths not being green. It's purple! Well, it's not if you leave it on a sunny window sill for a few months.

 

[Alan 13~7]

Quick price check....

A store chain called "In-excess", in my area of Dorset, have meths at £1 for a 500ml bottle.
That is cheaper than anywhere else I've seen locally. So stocked up for the year.

I also wondered about the GoOutdoors 'bio-ethanol', as I can't see how good old meths can be anything else but bio?!
I agree meths not being green. It's purple! Well, it's not if you leave it on a sunny window sill for a few months.

Brilliant price, I take it its the purple stuff? Point of interest how much is "for the year" ?

 

[kaizersoza]

I use both bio ethanol (from B&Q) and meths, I am currently using my meths supply that i bought in B&M's for around a £1 a bottle (500mls) The B&Q stuff will soot up the bottom of your pot/pan but it washes off and I use a lid for my cooking so doesn't affect the taste of my food at all