The nature of de-natured alcohol

lagarto

lagarto

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Oct 26, 2001
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Hello all,

I just have a quick and very basic question about de-natured alcohol fueled stoves. I recently acquired two titanium Vargo brand alcohol fuel stoves, one for myself and one for my brother, who is a hard-core moutaineer. They say to use pure de-natured alcohol only, but my question is, does this mean only the kind available at paint and hardware stores, or can regular isopropyl be used in a pinch. I did some research on google and results were mixed. If anyone here can clarify things it would be much appreciated.

Lagarto
 
Denatured burns better in my Vargos. Not much to offer, but based on experience.
 
Regular isopropyl alcohol is usually only a 70% solution in water and does not burn cleanly in alcohol stoves. It will have a sooty yellow flame.

Denatured alcohol is ethanol with a denaturing compound added to make it unfit for human consumption (meaning poisonous). Sometimes it is benzene, but usually it is methanol, MIBK, ethyl acetate, or a combination thereof. If you are interested in the composition of commonly encountered brands, look here:

http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat2/MSDS.htm
 
Thanks folks. Looks like I'll stick with the regular de-natured kind.

Lagarto
 
+1 on Heet. I personally haven't used it yet, just beginning to experiment with alcohol myself, but I hear it's the way to go. Bottle is more convenient too. Available @ WallyWorld in the automotive dept and other automotive outlets.
 
I've tried them all in my trangia and soda can stove. Denatured works best. U can get isopropyl 90% and that works good too. Heet works, but I liked denatured best.
 
The only alcohol stove I use is an ancient Trangia Swedish Military model. I used the yellow bottles of HEET at first, but have shifted over to a less expensive Klean-Strip brand that I get in quart cans at Home Depot.
I'll admit to using the HEET bottles to carry the Klean-Strip product when I go camping.
Both products are denatured, and work great.
 
I've tried 99% ethanol and that works about the best, but its not easy to get. By accident, I stumbled across an excellent quality denatured alcohol product sold in a department store named 'fondu fuel'. Its designed specifically to burn in the fondu-burners which is essentially the same as your alcohol stove. There are two types, one is a gel that doesn't work and the other is a liquid. Funny thing is they colour the liquid blue so as to not drink it. Despite it leaving a bit of blue residue on the stove, this stuff works as good as pure ethanol. Also it costs $3 for 500 mL which is very reasonable and the 500 mL bottles are a good size for packing (that lasts me about 1 week with my trangia).

So check out the department store in the fondu pot section.
 
When you buy denatured alcohol you might want to check the % of methanol in it. Methanol is highly toxic and can be absorbed into the body through the skin or by breathing the fumes.

Those of you using HEET you should be aware that the yellow stuff is 99% methanol.

There's a good read on the use of methanol in a stove here http://jwbasecamp.com/Articles/SuperCat/index.html under 'Safety Notes'.
 
Fondue fuel must be a Canadian thing :rolleyes:. I also use fondue fuel that I get from the dollar store. Works great.

Doc
 
FWIW, the reason denatured alcohol is recommended in many stoves including marine stoves is it is easy to put out with water (if you had to).
 
Thanks for all the info folks. I just picked up some denatured alcohol at Lowe's but now it's raining...of course, lol. I guess I'll test drive it tomorrow.

Lagarto
 
Denatured alcohol denaturants depend where you buy and what brand. Denataorium Benzoate ( a very strong bitterant) is common, as are benzene, pyridine, dyes, methanol, and methyl isobutyl ketone (and combinations thereof).

If you have to use isopropanol, get the 91%, not the 70%. While you waste energy with the water content over pure alcohol, the 91% is azeotropic and evaporates as if it were a single substance. 70% will burn until the increasing water content of the liquid snuffs the fire out. Everclear is very near the 96% azeotrope for ethanol and effectively burns as such. However, the price tag is quite discouraging and frankly unnecessary.

Red or yellow bottles of Heet burn well. The red is 99% isopropanol. The yellow is 99% methanol (both have small amounts of oily rust inhibitors added).

My personal choice is Kleenstrip SLX denatured alcohol, available in the solvent section of some hardware stores. This is roughly 50:50 methanol and ethanol with a little methyl isobutyl ketone added. It smells better than isopropanol and packs somewhat higher energy density than methanol.

Methanol certainly isn't healthy to drink (if you should happen to drink some, get trashed as fast as you can on regular booze to combat poisoning), but some fumes won't kill you. I've washed my hands with the stuff. It dries them out, much like any solvent, but that's all. It's not a cumulative poison and small amounts (such as fumes that you breathe in) should be rapidly cleared by the liver. As well, burning it destroys it, so the fumes coming from a methanol fire are mostly water vapor and carbon dioxide, perhaps with traces of methanol, formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide. And hey, trioxane fuel bars are *all* formaldehyde and they have a long history of safe use. The relatively tiny amounts in a methanol fire should not be a concern.
 
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