primus fuel

[Able]

I put this in the liveaboard section but it may reach a knowledgable person willing to reply here.
I am fitting a Wallas diesel cooker to a yacht. I have two old fashioned Primus stoves as standby should there be problems. I find they work on diesel after a fashion. Does anyone know enough about fuels to recommend anything to add to the diesel apart from paraffin to boost the Primus stoves performance.

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[vyv_cox]

You have two main problems with using diesel: the viscosity and the additive content. Reducing the viscosity can only be done by adding a hydrocarbon with a lower molecular weight, e.g. paraffin. Using something with an even lower molecular weight introduces safety issues that are better not experimented with. Diesel burnt inside the boat is likely to produce very unpleasant fumes, which is why diesel stoves always vent exhausts outside. I should stick to paraffin for your primus.

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[Mirelle]

I definitely agree. Having run primus stoves on more-or-less diluted diesel, as a result of (a) getting muddled up in Holland (Gas Olie/Petroleum) and (b) forgetting that a can had diesel in until a good deal of it was in the Taylors' tank, I would strongly advise carrying a couple of gallons of paraffin for tne Primuses ( one burner will run for 8 hours at full blast on one pint - useful number to keep in mind!)

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