I'm sure that someone on here is smarter than me on this so here goes. The following info is from msds sheets. Crown White Gas Fuel is a "Light Aliphatic Naphtha" (300ppm) with Toulene added (50ppm). I ran across five gallons of Crown PSC 1000 Parts Cleaner that contains "MEDIUM ALIPHATIC SOLVENT NAPHTHA" (95-100%) sold at tractor supply for $40 delivered. It has no other ingredients listed on the msds sheet. I noticed that light naptha contains hydrocarbons ranging from C5-C10 and medium naptha contains hydrocarbons ranging from C9-C12. What that means to the price of tea in china I have no idea but I noticed that the ranges were close enough to possibly consider this as a fuel base. Light Naptha Boiling Range: 30°-160°C (95°-320°F) Flash Point: Typical 40 - 46 °C (104 - 115 °F) Medium Naptha Boiling Range 140°-220°C (284°-428°F) Flash Point:>38°C (100°F) 1k & 2k Kerosene Boiling Range 149 to 304 °C (300 to 580 °F) Flash Point:>38°C (100°F) The question that I pose is simple. Would a medium aliphatic solvent be a viable alternative in stoves since it is readily available and about the same price as CF or other comparable white gas fuels for stoves ? I ask because some stoves such as the SVEA 123 can't burn kerosene without extensive modifications and I was wondering about alternative sourced fuels for self pressurizing stoves if there were a shortage.
Crown is available at Walmart for $7.99 per US gallon, last I looked. I bought several cans. At this price, I see no reason to consider any other petrol-type fuel here in the US. Or perhaps I don't understand the question....
It's the same price here but usually there is only a limited amount available (three gallons or less at walmart). The question is based upon areas or times where it is not available and thus for informational purposes for those who might need or want an alternative in the future.
Per the MFG's MSDS: http://www.packserv.com/files/1514/0500/6251/Crown_PSC_1000_PSC1000_01.28.12.pdf Crown PSC 1000 has a flash point of 61 C / 143 F. Per Coleman's MSDS: http://ferris.msdssoftware.com/ImageDir/i011DA2E.pdf Coleman fuel's flash point is under 0F. Vapor pressure of Crown PSC 1000 is 0.260mm/hg @ 20c/68f, while Coleman fuel's vapor pressure is 518mm/hg @ the same temp. That's a huge difference, there just isn't much evaporating at that temperature. So, is there a petroleum naphtha that'll work? You bet, the folks across the pond use panel wipe instead of white gas because actual white gas is bleedingly expensive. Works fine for them. Will Crown PSC 1000 work? No, it's much more like kerosene than Coleman fuel.
Thanks Marc. I knew that someone had to have more insight on it than me . I know nothing about vapor pressure
I would like to know if you could run GPAs on what you can make with a column still. Ive managed to get into the 90%+ category and have wanted to try running it, but not knowing what could happen has held me back....
I bought a can of Crown at Malwart. Semms to work OK in my Svea123 and Coleman 425F. Maybe a little more yellow st the flame
If you’re referring to 90% alcohol then I wouldn’t. There are a few people that have distilled regular gasoline with the cutoff at 130degrees C. That should work in cf stoves.
I can't write of anything definitive here, but from what I've seen of MSDS sheets(or whatever the new name for them are), I don't think they're required to have a complete ingredient list. Seems to me that once they list enough toxins, they get a pass. It wouldn't surprise me if Crown and Coleman fuel were the same and coming from the same refiner, but Coleman fuel has an added dye. If looking for a substitute, you may want to reach out to Crown directly. They are a packaging company and I believe are directly tied to a refiner. Crown has gone up at Walmart, but is still under $9 per gallon. If your Walmart only has a few gallons on the shelf and you want more, just ask. They may have it in inventory and will get what you want.
If I recall correctly, Crown and Coleman are not from the same producers. You can see on the SDS. Coke and Pepsi are similar, but not the same. Interchangeable is not the same as 'same'.
Boiling range and flash point are one thing to check. Quite important is also to see that aromatic content has VERY low aromatics content or better if solvent is Aromatic free/clean. I have used pure Heptane that is (highly) purified and dearomatised. Aromatics(Toluene, Xylene, ect.) that solvents often contain are quite nasty chemicals with poisonous side effects. Here Heptane is sold as industrial solvent in 20 ltr. (5.28 US gallons)drums.
Here in the US, you have VM&P naptha, Ronsonal or Zippo lighter fluid, Bestine rubber cement thinner, all will work splendid in place of Coleman fuel or Crown camp fuel. Murph
From my personal experiences, stoves need to be tailored to their fuels, and switching from one to another may or may not work, depending on how the stove in particular is designed. For example, Charcoal Lighter Fluid (CLF/LF-1) runs perfectly well in a Coleman 200a lantern, but it runs very poorly in a Coleman 502 stove, both of which burn Coleman fuel with no problems. The question is will the stove be able to effectively heat the fuel to the proper temperature? And in your case you are seemingly raising this temperature. Some stoves may be able to handle your medium naptha, but it's no guarantee that it will work in all stove. Worst case scenario is that it's possible that medium naptha is too heavy for your white gas stove AND too light for your kerosene stove (that one's dangerous) Not to beat a dead horse, but here's another example of what I'm trying to convey. I've used VM&P Naptha which is heavier than Coleman fuel, but lighter than CLF. (Light, medium, and heavy Napthas) It burns VERY well in my Svea 123r, but it struggles to generate proper pressure in my Optimus 8r.
I have a couple of Zippo lighters, and a German [Austrian?] Imco ''gasoline'' lighter. As an expedient, I filled them with Coleman fuel. They burn even better, brighter, and the fill lasts longer than on proprietary lighter fluid... That is, it doesn't evaporate as easily.
I fueled Zippos with Coleman fuel for near 30 years and sparked them with free flints salvaged from my friends depleted Bic lighters. Quit smoking more than 20 years ago, but there's a Zippo in each of my gasoline lantern boxes and in all the Coleman suitcase stoves I regularly use. Never have to worry about matches.
There you go. I've been salvaging the Bic flints for the Zippo for years myself. But I only tumbled onto the fact that Zippo fluid and Coleman gas are both naptha recently. [Due to this forum.]
I sort of thought Coleman fuel evaporated more quickly than Zippo fuel, but I never tried to accurately measure it. Material Safety Data sheets are good, but the thing to look at are the CAS#s, that will tell you how close your proposed substitute will be. I've heard painter's VM&P naptha is close if not identical, but it is relatively expensive. Might be handy to know for long haul hikers visiting a small town along the way or something like that.
I don't notice a difference in the burn characteristics between Coleman and Crown fuel, but prefer Crown because it has no dye. I've used VM&P naphtha in a lantern and it burns fine, but needed to be lit with the flame of the lighter to the mantle or the fuel running down the generator due to its much higher flash point and inability to easily light. I wouldn't quite say that it needed a preheat, but needed the heat of an open flame for a split second. I've not tried VM&P in a lighter, but based on the above, won't. Both Crown and Coleman fuel are also perfect in liquid fueled hand warmers.
A little off topic but VM&P Naptha is the best fuel that I've ever used in Jon-e hand warmers (the old ones with the platinum catalysts) far superior to Coleman fuel. It's expensive but it has it's place. Probably works great in zippo lighters too, it's expensive for stove fuel but it's cheap for lighter fluid.
