Q. on home made stoves

“Hey All,
How long do these things last?
Is this just a 1 time deal and
I was wondering what fuel to use.

Thanks,
Lefty”

“What kind of stove were ya thinking Lefty?”

“Hm...this is just some stove
I found while surfing at work. heh!
Well, I think its one of those
pepsi canned stoves, or cat food
stove where you pour some alchohol
in it.

I have a coleman propane stove at
present but I just don't know when
I'm going to be out of propane
and I'd hate to carry 2 tanks.

Any thoughts?”

“They last until they fall apart or get broken. You use denatured alcohol (aka gas line antifreeze). I just made one for myself. It's pretty easy.”

“I wondered what that sh!t was actually used for.”

“I've used the same beercan burner for almost 2 years now. Those puppies are actually pretty strong and resilient.”

“skully, are you sure?

I thought antifreeze was ethylene glycol CH2OHOH
and denatured alcholol is ethanol C2H5OH plus some methanol CH3OH to make it toxic”

“I don't know that you would want actual antifreeze in your gasline though...so Skully may be right.”

“Biz, not coolant antifreeze, gasline antifreeze. You know, that you put into your gas tank to evaporate out any water before you gas up so the gas line doesn't ice up. Maybe it's called gasline de-icer.”

“You know, drygas.”

“it is gas line antifreeze in that it mixes with the water in the tank (if any) to keep the water from freezing and/or to keep the water in solution so that it gets pumped to the engine and thus out of the tank. Personally I think of denatured alky as shellac thinner since one most often finds it in the paint section of the hardware store. Methyl alcohol I think makes a better gas line antifreeze.”

“HOI, denatured alcohol and drygas are the same thing. Drygas is ethanol mixed with methanol. It's just in a small container that's shaped for pouring into your gas tank. It's also easier to find (at any gas station) when you're out on a trip and need to find more.”

“true - some forms of dry gas are denatured alky - other forms are different composition - I vaguely remember Heet coming in two types - one of which was basically denatured and the other a form (not sure - methyl alky ???) that burns better but puts the user at some risk if the user absorbs any through the skin - something about the body metabolizing the meth into formaldehyde.”

“I'm not exactly sure what you mean by methyl alky. In chemica nomenclature methanol is the more modern term for what used to be called methyl alcohol. They're the same thing.

Denatured alcohol is ethanol without any water in it--da pure stuff. To keep people from drinking it ('cause that's what bathtub gin is) they put methanol in it to make it toxic.”

“Ok traced down the particulars on the Heet dry gas - the type of Heet in the yellow bottle is methanol and is often used by hikers because it burns "better" than the denatured alcohol. Note however that this yellow bottled Heet is pure methanol as near as I can tell - no ethanol in the mix.”

“Thanks, that's good to know. I've been using the Drygas and it's a mixture of ethanol and methanol.”

“BTW, methanol is extremely toxic. If you use that be very careful with it. Don't even breath the fumes.”

“that is also what I have heard about methanol - be real careful to avoid exposure - as I recall it will be taken up through the skin as well as from the fumes.”

“he he, no not really. I live in a desert. Gas lines never freeze up here.

thanks, though. I learned something new.”

“Hey guys,
I just made one of those just now.
Pretty flimsy.

I have some white gas here. Does anyone know if I can use it?”

“Biz, I didn't know what elevation you were at. My aunt used to live in Prescott and she got snow.”

“I don't think you can use the white gas. It burns too quickly.”

“By the way.. Be careful with what you burn. Some chemicals that aren't that harmful in liquid form are extremely toxic in gas form. For example a common item we use at work is fine at room temp...but heat it past 200 degrees F and it becomes a formaldehyde gas. Yikes!!!”

“that is right - don't use any petroluem based fuels in an alky stove - this includes white gas”

“I asked on here (I thought) about a pepsi can stove and someone posted a link that describes what it is but I have't been able to find it again. Does anyone remember the link?”

“lefty, if you want to play with it, but have no denatured alcohol, just try it with some rubbing alcohol. if it works good with that, then it'll work really good with the denatured stuff. all of it sucks in really cold weather, though.”

“I made a waterbottle full of hot chocolate while dayhiking yesterday. Sat down near a frozen-over beaver pond, wiped away the snow from a flat spot on the hillside, set the burner down on the frozen ground...and it still lit right up. It was in the 20sF.”

“Ummmm....Buddur, I personally don't think temps above 20 are really cold.”

“Let me have another go at it this weekend.
I'm ready to blow up my hands!

Just kidding.”

“I can't find anything that resembles denatured alcohol, or ethanol, up here in Ontario. I've found methyl hydrate, fondue fuel, methanol, and lots of other nice toxic mixtures, but nothing like what seems to be available in the USA. Could Isopropyl alcohol (60%) be an alternative? Has anyone got a Canadian source for denatured alcohol? I've tried Walmart, Canadian tire, TSC, Home depot, and a couple of pharmacies, but no luck- except for finding lab grade stuff at 44$/litre!!! at a chemical supply.”

“At WalMart, in the automotive supply section, you will find yellow bottles called HEET. Either a single bottle or a four-pak. This is a gas tank additive, but is also a good pepsi can stove fuel. I paid about $2.40 for a four pak of 12 ounce bottles (sorry about not using metric).”

“The bottle says "contains Methyl Alchohol"”

“CDN$3.83 for four 355ml bottles.”

“That's good ol' wood alky. Don't drink it, it causes blindness. But it burns pretty good.”

“Paint stores have it near thinners and brush cleaners.”

“often called shellac thinner”

“Most likely the fondue fuel is what you want.”

“Yup. I think HPM has it nailed down.”

“I thought the fondue fuel was a clever joke.”

“Thanks everyone, I'll check for heet. The fondue stuff says methyl hydrate - that's not good, I think. I had no luck in the paint dep't., nothing there is labeled ethanol, or alcohol either. Maybe a visit south would be easier!”

“Sorry. If I lived closer to the border, I would bring you some.”

“70% isoPropyl alcohol doesn't burn as well as methyl hydrate.”

“After much running around, I discovered that there is no heet in Canada. I did manage to find a different gas line anti-freeze with the ingredient listing methyl alcohol, and also a "premium" kind with no methanol in it. It looks like it contains isopropyl alcohol. In the drug store, I found 99% isopropyl alcohol. Has anyone tried this stuff? I'm afraid to use Methyl Hydrate, even though it seems to be available everywhere - I've read somewhere about toxic fumes, and incomplete burnoff. This is driving me crazy! Maybe I should brew my own ethanol in the garage.”

“the % shows the purity of the alcohol...99% is used for sterilzing needles etc, and burns extremely clean....I have used it in my pepsi can stove, with better results than the HEET anyway.”

“Thanks SuperTroll, I think that will be better than the methanol stuff. I never thought much about fuel residue until now. Probably doesn't matter anyway with all junk we use-deet, kerosene, even white gas , not to mention all the stull around the house, especially during reno season.”

“minor note on nomenclature the following are all referring to the same chemical:
MeOH [methanol, carbinol, methyl alcohol, methyl hydrate, methyl hydroxide, monohydroxymethane,
wood alcohol]

apparently in Canada methyl hydrate is the preferred term for what is called methanol in the US”

“Thanks Everybody! Last nite I tried the 99% isopropyl and the stove looked like a bonfire gone wrong, a baby inferno. Then I tried gas-line antifreeze, ingr. say methol alcohol, and got similar spectacular results, except the 'smoke' made my eyes hurt later. Stove works great with either fuel, but I must remember to use a windscreen in the future. I think the wind was the cause of my blue bonfire. Good news - all the snow around the test site is melted now. I'm still looking for ethanol-maybe at the liquor store. Now If only I could figure out how to construct the cat stove (somehow I can't get the holes right) Thanks again everyone!”

“for the holes in the aluminum i drill with a 1/16" drill bit just as much as i can without cutting through at all.then take a pin or needle and make the hole.this seems to make clean ,even holes.”

“My problem is with the church key things. I've tried following the instructions on sgtr0ck's site, and the pct site, but I still don't get it. I think my church key(bottle opener thingy) is too big or something. I could only find one size(big) around here. Good thing the cat loves her food, cause i've gone thru lots of cans trying to get it right.”