Camp Heat can refill???

[abunaitoo]

What kind of liquid can I use to refill a Camp Heat can????
It says Diethylene glycol, but that sounds like it's going to be hard to find.
Did a web search, and it's not something I'd feel safe handling.
Looking for something that has no smell when burning.
Was thinking 90% alcohol might work.

[Bookworm]

90% alcohol will burn, but not as well as one would think.

Try denatured alcohol. In an alcohol stove.

Alcohol burning stoves are cheap, and the fuel can purchased almost anywhere.

[GhostHawk]

Dollar store gas line deicer aka 'Heat'. Or a mix of 90% alcohol and heat.

[abunaitoo]

I've never seen "Heat" here.
Red or yellow bottle.
Alcohol is not as hot as the Camp Heat.
I tried an alcohol burner.
Costco has good heating cans, but they come in a big package.
I use maybe four a year.
They dry out before I can use them all.
What is the fuel used in lamps?????
I wounder how hot that is????

[Mr_Sheesh]

Lamps are either Kerosene / White Gas usually? Look for Methanol for stoves, "Denatured Alcohol" or the like. Marine stores use it; Isopropyl doesn't heat as well as Methanol. You can get pure Ethanol but (a) it's a waste to burn it :p and (b) it's usually more expensive than Methanol aka Wood Alcohol.

[Mytmousemalibu]

I wouldn't use isopropyl in any form, especially anything less than 100% pure. The other component is good ole water which is still left afterwards. Even 90% doesn't burn great. It will burn till the water to isopropanol ratio starts to even out and you are left with an unburnable ratio. Plus isopropyl burns dirty with a yellow flame an it stinks. What you want is Denatured alcohol. It burns clean down to the last drop, no stink, no soot, its the way to go.

[mold maker]

If you only use 4 a year???????

[RU shooter]

Moonshine ! Break out the mash barrel and Fire up the stil

[Elkins45]

The reason they use dietheyne glycol is because it has such low volatility. That's important in an unsealed (non-airtight) container like Canned Heat. If you use ethanol or methanol you can expect the cans to empty themselves pretty quickly from evaporation, so don't fill them up and expect to store them.

Be careful if you happen to get ahold of methanol. It's toxic, and you can't see the flame in daylight. It's pretty easy to burn yourself and not even know it until the damage is done. I've done it. The first clue something was wrong was the smell of the hair burning off of my hand.

[abunaitoo]

I have a can of Denatured alcohol.
I'll give it a try.
This is a wick type of burner.
Have to pry the cap off.
I use it in a homemade food warmer.
Use it at our, twice a year, Gunshow.
Two day show, so one can a day works great.
Burner is used to heat water, that keeps the Hotdogs hot.

[Geezer in NH]

Is that like Sterno?? Same pink jell the Chinese Restaurants use in a Poo-Poo Platter. They get it out of big cans it seems to fill the small burners to put on the table. Check out the restaurant suppliers in your area.

[WebMonkey]

now you're cookin' with sterno!
;)

[abunaitoo]

I've tried sterno.
It would go out after a little while.
Had to stir it to get it to work again.

[Jniedbalski]

Isopropyl alcohol has less btu’s Than ethonal or methonal. Methanol wood alcohal is usally a lot higher in price than denatured alcohol because it’s more expensive to produce than ethonal.If you get pure ethanol it is very expensive because you are paying the government for the alcohol tax. Denatured alcohol ethonal,is just a way the government poisoned it so you don’t drink it. They want there tax. The last time I looked it up 70 or 75% of the price of ethonal was just the tax on it .

[Mr_Sheesh]

Methanol burns hot, definitely. Hot is good - I think of it as an emergency stove fuel, I have over a gallon of it and want to get more, though mainly I'd use the white gas stoves I have if we get "the big one" - that earthquake they know will hit the Seattle area some day. Lots of wood around here too, so I could make a wood burning / woodgas stove, and use wood, and teach neighbors to do that, too. Lots of options here, but if and when that Quake hits it's going to SUCK. I at least live east of I-5 so I won't be swimming if a big Tsunami hits, not that you can swim in that mud and debris, but I'll lose a lot of people I know, most likely.

[Lloyd Smale]

was camping one night and we were up all night cooking a pig. All we had were old kerosene wick lamps. Nobody remembered to bring extra fuel. the lamp we used by the pig went dry after about 2 hours. One of the guys said pour some shine in it. they were a bit reluctant so only filled it about a 1/4 full. that was at about 2am. Lamp was still burning at noon the next day and still had some left in it. I would consider trying something like alcohol and melted bees wax mixed together. Or even kerosene or white gas and wax.
Moonshine ! Break out the mash barrel and Fire up the stil

[Bookworm]

The idea of the gel type fuel is stability. It won't explode, and usually won't leak much.

Then comes denatured alcohol, which is ethanol (grain alcohol) rendered undrinkable by the addition of certain chemicals. This process also makes it non-taxable as a beverage. It burns hot, with a visible flame. It also won't explode.

Next is Kerosene and its cousins. This burns well, won't explode, but has a definite smell. The odor bothers some folks more than others.

Last in my consideration is Methanol - wood alcohol. This is what some drag racers burn as a race fuel, mixed with gasoline, or nitro (yes, nitroglycerin) for top-fuel cars.

Methanol is very hazardous. It burns very hot, with an invisible flame. Think about that. You could be on fire, and not know it until the pain registered.

Methanol also evaporates very quickly, making fuel loss part of the equation.

Use what you will, but keep in mind the liability of using certain fuels indoors.

[Mr_Sheesh]

I have fast reflexes so I don't find methanol an issue - You CAN add some denatured alcohol to it to make it more visible but not mess the heat output up much, that works.

[skeettx]

Like this??
https://www.walmart.com/ip/BioFuel-Cans-7-oz/48464006?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227037534917&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=80427496009&wl4=pla-177660689089&wl5=9028456&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=48464006&wl13=&veh=sem

[Lloyd Smale]

bio fuel with no tax?? Corn liquor! Want to pay the tax? Everclear! Heck you can save the planet with half of it and drink the other half!

[mattw]

Denatured alcohol is made by adding spearmint oil to the final 100% alcohol. My father worked at a plant for almost 40 years that made medical / cosmetics grade alcohol. When there was a production leak, not only the EPA showed up but so did the IRS. Had to account for every last drop of the pure stuff. They really did not care if the denatured got dumped. Some of the clean up stories were hilarious!

[David2011]

You might check the boat supply stores in HI. Alcohol is a common stove fuel on boats. You might need a different stove but last time I looked some were very inexpensive.

Bookworm, racers use nitroMETHANE; not nitroglycerin.

[Elkins45]

Denatured alcohol is made by adding spearmint oil to the final 100% alcohol. My father worked at a plant for almost 40 years that made medical / cosmetics grade alcohol. When there was a production leak, not only the EPA showed up but so did the IRS. Had to account for every last drop of the pure stuff. They really did not care if the denatured got dumped. Some of the clean up stories were hilarious!

There’s more than one way to denature ethanol. For cosmetics I can see why they might use something different, but the stuff I used to buy for school lab use was denatured with benzene.