No - ignition is just faster - hard to explain but the flames are much bigger much faster… with a bit of a “woomph” sound to it. In a gasoline (white gas) stove, adding a bit of kerosene should just result in some yellow flame tips. They are designed to handle the risks of gasoline. As far as I know, the concern is with running gasoline in a kerosene stove. Not something I will be trying as I can see no benefit and a lot of risk. Preheating is required regardless…
I've tried kooky mixes of white gas, charcoal lighter fluid (= heavy naphtha, not kerosene!), kerosene and alcohol with good results: Charcoal Lighter Fluid as an alternative fuel https://classiccampstoves.com/threads/alcohol-in-white-gas-or-kerosene.45976/#post-490934 Stoves that don't burn kerosene too cleanly get "improved" by a bit of white gas and alcohol. All of my stoves survived so far and I've even gotten some stoves that don't burn kerosene like the Soto Muka Stormbreaker to burn mixes with some amount of kerosene in them but not the majority content of the mix. The key aspect is that with fuels "lighter" than kerosene the stove needs less air so the jet has to be changed over and this is especially true with alcohol. The other aspect is for stoves that don't normally burn kerosene the generator has to get hot enough to sustain combustion for mixes with kerosene and alcohol in them.
Yes, I agree, even with the primus fuel bottle which has its inside lacquered, cannot have a 100% guarantee. I also concern about alcohol damaging the fuel line, as I've experimented with alcohol that can damage rubber and free BPA plastic in 1 year of storage time. Yes, cannot be more agree to that.
Yes, I haven't had Coleman nor Soto Muka. I saw that the priming was faster than MSR Whisperlite. But yes, white gas is easier to ignite than kerosene.
Interestingly, I was going to ask this very question. This was based on two things, firstly the original Op.111t was sold as dual fuel although the jets probably changed when the 111b came out. Secondly, when I had a first model diesel Isuzu Trooper the manual recommended mixing petrol/gasoline with the diesel for cold weather starting, I can't remember the mix though. So surely there must be a mix that allows easier cold weather starting of kerosene stoves. Since diesel Redex is very much naptha surely even a percentage of that in kerosene might be effective. Just a thought.
I've accidentally done around 20% Coleman (shellite/naphtha) in alcohol ... with far too much ooomph!! I don't think I'd recommend it, but it didn't fireball.
I have burned up to 25% Coleman gas in kerosene in a Coleman 550b with kero generator. Since this stove and generator will safely and easily burn 100% Coleman gas there is no danger in burning any mix of the two you desire. I have also burned the same mix in a Coleman 639C lantern that I thought was occasionally sooting up too much. I decided that that particular lantern liked a bit more pressure than my other identical lantern and I abandoned using the mix. I am not using a mix in anything at the present time.
Dear Mr. @BradB , May I ask the result of this? I don't know well but only can expect the reason why - maybe Gasoline takes too much Latent heat so the remained heat is not enough to vapore Kero? Hope to know the reason why, it's good for my knowledge
With the 550B stove, at one point it was not burning kerosene that well. I attempted to rectify that by trying the 25/75 gas/kero mix. If I remember, the actual problem with the stove was a faulty check valve. However, with 550 generators impossible to clean or replace, I no longer burn kero in those stoves. With the 639 lantern, it burned the mix just fine. But I also learned the lantern would behave properly if I pumped it up a bit more often, at least once per hour. On lower pressure it was causing the mantle to turn dark with soot. With higher pressure it seems okay burning 100% kerosene.
Thanks! I've also a 639C with the 3rd party manometer, brand SMC. I don't know it's accuracy - in case it's correct, above than around 0.15 MPa is required for the best light.
