Bru
Well-Known Member
No 'cos I might be stoopid but I ain't THAT stoopid!
Petrol goes bang, meths doesn't.
Origo Fuel.
- Thread starter jakeroyd
- Start date
No 'cos I might be stoopid but I ain't THAT stoopid!
Petrol goes bang, meths doesn't.
jakeroyd
Well-Known Member
Rusty. You must be trying to blow me to hell
I have not tried it.
I'm going for bio ethanol
I have not tried it.
I'm going for bio ethanol
Laurie
Well-Known Member
Petrol doesn't go bang. But it's vapour certainly will, and that's how you light Origo stoves. Don't please in any way use petrol
BruceDanforth
Well-Known Member
Asda are selling bioethanol in litre bottles at the moment.
Halo
Well-Known Member
I suspect they (B&Q , ASDA et Al) get round the HMRC regulations the same way as Thames Water, Starbucks, Google and many other big corporations do - they are too big for individual HMRC officials to have a go at and the comittees run by senior career geeks wont risk it - so the small companies and individuals get treated to the full force of the law whilst the bigger offenders cock a snook at the regulations and those so poor they have to pay tax.
I cannot think why the conspiracy theorists are having a field day with the Bilderberg Group.
Windfall
Well-Known Member
We also have an Origo stove & have been told that adding a little water to meths removes the bad smell. We've not tried it ourselves as we buy Alcool a bruler whenever we go to France (easily available in most large supermarkets or bricolage) which is clear denatured alcohol with no offensive smell. Haven't bought any for ages but I seem to remember it was considerably cheaper than meths.
Laurie
Well-Known Member
I have done that when we had an Origo, but I wonder with this availability of bio ethanol, whether it would now be worth the hassle?
Bru
Well-Known Member
Petrol doesn't go bang. But it's vapour certainly will, and that's how you light Origo stoves. Don't please in any way use petrol
You are, of course, correct ... but I venture to suggest that you ain't gonna care whether it's the liquid or the vapour that just went bang when you're leaping off the back of the burning boat with your hair on fire
As you say, for the love of everything you hold dear, DON'T use petrol in a spirit stove!!!
Vis adding water, I didn't find it made much discernible difference and now that bio ethanol is widely available, burns a little hotter, smells a lot less and is even somewhat cheaper than meths why bother?
As to why bio-ethanol has suddenly hit the market and how they're getting away with selling what, on the face of it, appears to be an illegal product I haven't a clue! Being curious I went and did some research ...
According to HMRC rules and regulations, we should still only be able to purchase CDA (standard violet meths) without a licence and certainly shouldn't be able to lay our hands on 97% pure ethanol which is what I've got purchased from Amazon - it doesn't say on the bottle what the other 3% is though but I suspect it's denaturing ingredients (almost certainly methanol) to meet regulations in Eire where the stuff originates
Alcool à brûler is still denatured with methanol (5% to 10% according to Wikipedia) and I suspect there's 3% methanol in the Irish bio-ethanol.
Standard UK meths (CDA - Completely Denatured Alcohol) comprises 90% Ethanol, 9.5% Wood Naptha (Methanol) and 0.5% Crude Pyridine plus a trace of mineral naptha and a voilet dye
What's missing from the clear ethanols (Alcool à brûler in France and tbe newly available bio-ethanols in the UK) compared to standard UK meths (CDA) is the 0.5% Crude Pyridine which is what, apparently, gives normal meths it's unpleasant smell
The bio-ethanols for use in fireplaces also have a significantly lower proportion of methanol (assuming the missing 3% is methanol which it almost certainly is) in them which may account for the slightly hotter flame (and it is definitely hotter but not by an order of magnitude)
I have a feeling this is probably a rare occasion where being in the EU has played out to our advantage. I suspect HMRC are playing ostrich at the moment because they have a rules conflict - their internal rules say denatured alchohol has to be to a certain formula for sale to the public in the UK but EU rules say it's legal to import and sell denatured alcohol from another EU state that meets their formula for CDA!
Whatever the case, it's cheaper, nicer and better so long may it continue to be available!!!
jakeroyd
Well-Known Member
Got some B&Q Bio-Ethanol and can report that it burns in a very satisfactory manner.
An almost invisible flame with yellow 'tips' to each tongue.
Seems to shut off ok as well , as you will know the Origo has a plate moved via the on-off lever that acts as a snuffer.
A bit of a faff to fill I found , I will need to decant my BE into a bottle with a small outlet like a washing up bottle to fill it without spilling.
An almost invisible flame with yellow 'tips' to each tongue.
Seems to shut off ok as well , as you will know the Origo has a plate moved via the on-off lever that acts as a snuffer.
A bit of a faff to fill I found , I will need to decant my BE into a bottle with a small outlet like a washing up bottle to fill it without spilling.
Laurie
Well-Known Member
You are, of course, correct ... but I venture to suggest that you ain't gonna care whether it's the liquid or the vapour that just went bang when you're leaping off the back of the burning boat with your hair on fire
As you say, for the love of everything you hold dear, DON'T use petrol in a spirit stove!!!
QUOTE]
LOL
Burnham Bob
Well-Known Member
actually this looks cheaper on amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/12-Liters-High-Performance-Bio-Ethanol/dp/B004Y1LDN4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kh_1
http://www.amazon.co.uk/12-Liters-High-Performance-Bio-Ethanol/dp/B004Y1LDN4/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kh_1
jakeroyd
Well-Known Member
I did check out the amazon deal BB but was concerned that purity is not stated. The B&Q stuff says it is >97%.
I assume the remainder is impurities of various sorts ?
I assume the remainder is impurities of various sorts ?
Bru
Well-Known Member
If you order the stuff I bought from Amazon (various qtys available, see link below) it comes in extremely handy 1 litre bottles with a moulded nozzle, makes filling an absolute doddle. And it's cheaper!
It'll be (as per my earlier post) 3% methanol to denature it
Try http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ethanol-Heating-Fuel-Delivery-Ireland/dp/B009T80FTA/ref=pd_cp_kh_3 which is 95% "pure". Can't read the label clearly enough on the German stuff Bob linked to but it'll doubtless be between 90% and 97% "pure" with the remainder once again being methanol. It really doesn't make much difference, it's not having the added stink which is the big bonus (and I learned something there because I hadn't previously realised that the smell of meths is deliberately added)
Otter
Well-Known Member
That's way more expensive than B&Q - it's £11 for delivery. B&Q is £2.50 per litre price, not the best bottles but easy to put into better bottles if you have them and free collection if you're passing
Mirror Painter
Well-Known Member
Apologies if this have been covered - but I thought the concern on boats was that petrol vapour is heavier than air and will drop down to bilges - ready to explode.
ronsurf
Well-Known Member
I tried using petrol in a Trangia once. Trangia's are also spirit stoves and we were out of meths.
It started off OK, but it was cold. As it got hotter I was confronted with a Trangia with a 2' high flame, rather than a 2" flame. It turned into an issue to put it out as it was difficult to get near. Meths you can put out with water - in this instance I ended up throwing a wet towel over the whole lot and thanked my lucky stars it wasn't closer to anything.
No petrol in spirit stoves. It says no because it's not a very good idea.
It started off OK, but it was cold. As it got hotter I was confronted with a Trangia with a 2' high flame, rather than a 2" flame. It turned into an issue to put it out as it was difficult to get near. Meths you can put out with water - in this instance I ended up throwing a wet towel over the whole lot and thanked my lucky stars it wasn't closer to anything.
No petrol in spirit stoves. It says no because it's not a very good idea.
rustybarge
Well-Known Member
Have a look at this petrol/alcohol cooker..........
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coleman-Spo...&qid=1371139952&sr=1-2&keywords=coleman+stove
View attachment 32721
Two burner version:http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coleman-Unleaded-Double-Burner-Stove/dp/B000QUIKX8/ref=pd_sim_sg_2
View attachment 32722
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Bru
Well-Known Member
Rusty, those are PETROL cookers designed to run on PETROL. They have a burner system and fuel tank that is fit for the purpose. They will not work with alcohol and Coleman Fuel is basically petrol (technically naptha) without the additives and with a low octane rating
Spirit stoves such as the Origo are NOT designed to run on petrol, they are designed to run on denatured alcohol. They have no burner as such, the spirit simply evaporates off the top of the tank and the vapour burns
Try to run a spirit stove such as the Origo etc on petrol and you WILL regret it - at best it'll destroy the fuel holder, more likely it'll result in a catastrophic fire or an even more catastrophic explosion
It's been said already several times in this thread but it clearly needs saying again - DO NOT attempt to run an alcohol spirit stove on petrol! Just don't!
jamie N
Well-Known Member
I've invested nearly £900.00 quid on an cooker that SWMBO repeatedly informs me is a 1/4 of the size and twice the price etc.etc. Of course, she's quite correct, but the Origo really is superb at what it does,where it does it and does seem more superior each time it's used. It's not impossible that others may hold different feelings of course! I wouldn't dream of using anything other than the correct fuel though; that's too daft to consider.
ronsurf
Well-Known Member
I have a twin Origo and it's excellent. No fuss, no mess, just light and cook. Tell your wife that an Origo has no explosion risk. Even better, you don't need to drive away from your boat and worry that you haven't turned the gas off!