I keep about 20 gallons of reglar unleaded in 5 gal cans during hurricane season. I add StaBil to it (which is probably just alcohol) and it seems to keep the stuff fresh for about 1 year. A bit added to Coleman fuel would probably extend its lifespan to decades. I keep my fuel stash out by my fence line in a plastic cabinet made for swimming pool stuff storage . If there is going to be a fire, I want it to be on a cheap fence, not my house. I keep my kero and CF in the garage, though, just to minimize moisture pickup.
Hi all: Unless the formula for Coleman has changed , Stabil is not necessary. I have used open and unopened cans of Coleman fuel recently that was from the 1950's with out a problem. Mike...
Amazing flivver. Is this gonna be like the toliet paper shortage from the '70's now, stovies making a run on Wally World and others for that last can of Coleman fuel?
Call me cheap if you want, but I use "white gas", which is purchased from a pump just like gas/diesel. I buy it from a town about 15 miles from my home where there is a large Amish settlement and the price is around $4 a gallon now. I bought 5 gallons two years ago and am almost out now so I'll be heading back down with my 5 gallon container real soon. I know it doesn't have the preservatives in it, but it burns just fine and I cannot really even tell the difference between coleman fuel and it. It might go bad after many years, but I don't plan on keeping it that long . I like flames. Coleman fuel is around $11 a gallon at the local Wallyworld and close to $15 at hardware stores.
Can you run Coleman fuel in a car with out damaging it? (The car). It's expensive but with it not going bad it would be a good emergency back up in case you ran out.
I thought I read where Coleman fuel octane was in the 50's, so before replying I did a quick online search and it says 50-55 octane. If in a life and death situation. Not sure of the very short term damage to an engine, I would think a low RPM at the most.
Algae will grow in kerosene at the boundary between the fuel and any water that is in the container. The reason why gasolene goes "off" is because the additives the put into it, to make engines run better, break down. Coleman has no additives in it I believe, so it will last indefinately. It has been in the ground for millions of years, so what difference will it make in a can for 10 , 20 or 100 years. Neil
I used some Coleman fuel in my VW bug years ago, when I ran out of gas (Duh!). It knocked like hell. I wouldn't advise it in engines unless in an emergency. Paul
We often pass a couple of Amish homes in eastern Kansas on our travels and I've noticed a bright lamp glowing in the window on overcast days. I'm not sure what the folks there would think if an Englisher were to stop and ask where they purchase their white gas
Could be wrong, but I don't think it's algae that grows in Diesel. It's a type of bacteria rather than algae that as Neil mentioned occurs at the water/Diesel boundary (I believe it lives in the water but feeds on Diesel). As something with a fast propogation, but short life span, as individuals die off they sink to the bottom of the tank and create a sludge. In boating circles it's known as "Diesel Bug" and can cause blockages of the fuel system when the sludge gets stirred up in a rough sea. With a boat the usual advice is to keep your tank topped up with Diesel to minimise the surface area within a tank where condensation can form, but in a stove this is not feasible as you need to leave an air space for correct operation. I've asked the question previously as to whether anyone knows whether this issue could also potentially occur in paraffin/kero, but nobody related any direct experience so this may provide another reason to just not use Diesel as a stove fuel. Cheers, Graham
I've only gone by what I was told as a manager of a convenience store. We "stuck" the underground tanks everyday, to get the inches and check for water at least once a week. When cleaning the strainers on the pumps, the diesel always needed some cleaning, not easy to clean them.
I found a really good explanation of diesel "algae" here- http://www.dieseldoctor.com/messageboard/data/584.html Scroll down to "Steve", his explanation looks very credible.
The Amish in Lancaster PA buy Naptha in bulk and is distributed thru the many lantern shops. they won't sell it to us because they don't want us loading a five gal can into the trunk and driving away with it. they are very much afraid of being sued by us. Amish don't have insurance or file law suits. they won't refill the small propane tanks for us either,but they are available to the community.
I posted this one on CCF Trer is No coleman fuel in Venezuela and you cant find white gas any more so here it goes Compact model Distiller Electric temperature regulated stove Pressure cocker pot or a sealed container Materials 2 meters of 5/16 copper tubing Connector 5/16 OD x ¼ NPT ¼ inch NPT threaded coupling (cut in half and used as a counter nut on the connector) 2 liter soda bottle with threaded cap Plastic jar Clear plastic 5/16 hose (to direct the distilled gas to the clear plastic soda bottle) Cable gland -7 to 11mm ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tools Drill with ½ inch drill bit NPT ¼ inch tap and recommended drill bit Thermometer Procedure 1-Drill the top of the pressure cocker lid and thread with the ¼ inch NPT tap 2-Cut the ¼ inch coupling in half 3-Install the ¼ NPT x 5/16 OD threaded connector on the top of the lid and half of the ¼ inch coupling as a counter nut 4-wrap the 5/16 copper tubing around a spray can to form a spiral leaving about 40 cm strait to connect to the top of the pressure cocker 5-Drill a ½ inch hole at 3 cm from the bottom of the plastic jar 6-install the copper coil inside the plastic jar using the cable gland to prevent the cooling water to escape 7-Drill the bottle’s cap so the plastic hose will fit and install the other end at the end of the cooper tubing 8-Place a pot with water on the stove with the thermometer to find out the approximate temperature of each of the stoves settings Distilling Fill up your condenser coil jar with water and ice and keep it cold by replacing the melted ice when needed Wrap a small piece of cloth at the end of the plastic hose so water condensation can’t enter the plastic bottle Turn on the stove starting at a low setting and work the temperature up according with the amount of drip fuel coming out from the condenser Naphtha is supposed to evaporate from 50 C and 90 C but you can go higher and still get clear fuel out of the gasoline my experience is that you get 50 % of the initial volume if you stop at 90 C but if you go higher you can still get an 25 % more of clear fuel I haven’t gone past 75 % of the original volume so the pressure cocker won’t run dry I recommend the procedure be done outside
With our current petrol and white gas prices its worth a crack. I can see problems though explaining it to the insurance company if done inside and something goes wrong or the police if someone sees it outside. How long does the seal on the pressure cooker last?
Yes it is a problem in the aviation industry. Fuel tanker drivers at work have to test for water every day. I think uk military aviation fuel (AVTUR) has a fungicide to stop this, but civilian fuel (JET A1) does not. If pilots have to fill up with JET A1 they have to record it in the aircraft log book. I think the ground crew have to carry out extra checks when they are carrying out planned maintenance at a later date. Diesel fuel is just kerro with added oil. I don't know about modern diesls, with all their electronic gismos, but older diesel engines will burn kerro no poblem. I knew a guy at work that used to run his car on waste AVTUR. I am not recommending this because it is illegal to run road vehicles on non duty paid fuel (my get out clause) I think the military have a one fuel policy on their vehicles, so that all you need is one tanker to fill any vehicle, so during times of war supply is easier, planes, tanks and landrovers can all use the same fuel. Neil
Hi Randy, And here's alternative backside based research that suggests a contrary view to "Steve": Diesel Fuel Bug This explanation is consistent with the numerous articles I've read on the subject in boating magazines over many years. However, I'm not qualified in any manner to provide a definitive view either way so I'll leave it to someone with an education in the correct discipline to arbitrate. Cheers, Graham.
Hi Graham, Happy Holiday! No arbitration needed, as it would seem to me that both explanations are probably true in varying cases. Same here, I'm no scientist, but it only seems reasonable for both scenarios to be the truth. ATB, Randy
Aboard ship of the US Coast Guard a fuel additive called Biobore is added to the diesel fuel to prevent algie growth. As i remember we added 1/4 cup to 9,000 gallons and that kept the growth to a mininium. In that light i cleaned the fuel tanks on my last ship and removed not more than 15 gallons of contaminated fuel from all the tanks. Mind there was more fuel than that which was needed to clean the tanks but the resulting fuel sludge was less than 15 gallons for the 6 storage tanks. Because the Service tanks were not contaminated (the fuel had been run through an oil/water seperator) it was unnecessary to clean them. lance
