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Thread: Alternative to Coleman fuel?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master Markbo's Avatar
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    Alternative to Coleman fuel?

    Just gathering up start-up equipment I got a double burner Coleman fuel stove for $10. With the price of Coleman fuel at $10/gallon equivalent that doesn't seem like a good deal to me. Is there a cheaper viable alternative to Coleman Fuel?

  2. #2
    Boolit Master uncle joe's Avatar
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    amoco preimum 93 octane works

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    Boolit Master
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    The newer petrol type Colmans were dual fuel and labeled so. You are supposed to be able to use non leaded from the pump. In my experiance it does work but seems to shorten the life of the generator. I guess there are more impurities at the pump.
    The generators have gotten quite expensive so its a toss up on which way to go.
    I have decided to stay with the white gas. I watch the price year long at walmart and by a couple anytime its on sale. Right or wrong thats what I do.

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    Boolit Man
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    I have been using high test from the pump for 30yrs. and my stove works fine.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master


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    Markbo:
    I use the same two burner Coleman. I switched mine over to propane and never looked back. A 5 gallon tank will last a long time and you don't have to mess with filling the liquid fuel tank on the original stove.
    Jack

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    Coleman fuel is nothing more than naptha. Here in No. Indiana Amish country we can purchase naptha at the pump, last I checked it ran around $3.25 a gal. If you have a place to get naptha you're good to go.

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    My dad ran white gas/ then unleaded for years. The generator did finaly mess up. But it took years and the savings more than made up for the gen. I switched to propane...Buck
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    Boolit Master RKJ's Avatar
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    I got a 1000W hot plate from Walgreens for $10.00, I used my Coleman propane (set up for the little tanks) and it proved too cost prohibitive for me. The cost to change over to a bigger tank also was more than I wanted to spend. I smelted about 20 lbs of range lead last night with it and it took about 2 hours from start to finish, but I was doing other things while it smelted so the time didn't bother me. It's not real fast but it gets the job done.

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    Amoco 93, have used it for 30 + years and generator still working. Dittos for "Uncle Joe". Used to use the 2 burner for everything. Now smelt with propane but use the Coleman for pre heating scrap or ingosts before adding to pot. Got the stove at a yard sale in about "80" for $3. 10 ga
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    The good days was when American White Gas was 100 Octane. It was the only fuel that my 425HP GTO would run on without engine ping. The 8 miles to the gallon was not that good though. Ha!! Ha!!
    Shooter of the "HOLY BLACK" SASS 81802 AKA FAIRSHAKE; NRA ; BOLD; WARTHOG;Deadwood Marshal;Bayou Bounty Hunter; So That his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat; 44 WCF filled to the top, 210 gr. bullet

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    I tried unleaded pump gas and I had problems with my generators clogging. Also didn't like the fumes from the gas as it gave me a headache. Automobile unleaded gas has a lot of nasty additives. When my son was in Boy Scouts I found a hardware store that would order barrels of Naptha at a reasonable price and I have been using it ever since I used to buy a 50 gal barrel and split with the other guys in scouting. I bought a turkey fryer at a garage sale for $10 and I have now switched to propane. The turkey fryer makes quick work of smelting and the 20lb tank of propane lasts a long time. My Dad made me another smelter using the burner out of a gas water heater, and it really gets the job done. He welded me up a stand and mounted the burner to the stand.

    G

  12. #12
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    Coleman Fuel Alternate

    Look at the sticky above, 'this old pot' and click on 'plumber's furnace'. This is THE thing for melting lots of lead cheaply. Propane is EXPENSIVE, whereas regular, unleaded gas is comparatively cheap. Most of these were made by Clayton & Lambert, and can be found regularly on Ebay for not much money. Most will have to be refurbished, but that's an easy job. Just use common sense with this smelter-melter and you'll be fine.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by jcwit View Post
    Coleman fuel is nothing more than naptha. Here in No. Indiana Amish country we can purchase naptha at the pump, last I checked it ran around $3.25 a gal. If you have a place to get naptha you're good to go.
    Really? That's amazing to me! We don't have it available here in northern Kentucky. I might have to take a couple of cans with me the next time I drive across Indiana.

    Care to suggest a specific gas station where it's available?

    I'm currently running a 50/50 mix of Coleman fuel and regular unleaded gas in my smelting stove.
    Last edited by Elkins45; 10-02-2010 at 10:29 AM.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by cajun shooter View Post
    The good days was when American White Gas was 100 Octane. It was the only fuel that my 425HP GTO would run on without engine ping. The 8 miles to the gallon was not that good though. Ha!! Ha!!
    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought lower octane fuels actually burned hotter than higher octane ones? Isn't that why some engines need higher octane to avoid pre-ignition pinging, because it resists ignition except at higher temps?

    Seems to me you would actually get more heat out of the low octane stuff if that's true. That's just something I read on USENET 10 years ago, so I could be completely wrong.

  15. #15
    Boolit Master on Heavens Range
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    Consider the octane number as the amount of deterrent to ignition. Has nothing to do with the amount of energy stored within. ... felix
    felix

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by felix View Post
    Consider the octane number as the amount of deterrent to ignition. Has nothing to do with the amount of energy stored within. ... felix
    Yeah, I can understand how one isn't related to the other. I also realize the 'octane rating' is only a measure of how the fuel behaves and that it doesn't imply how much actual octane is in the mix.

    So is there, in fact, a difference in stored energy between the average 87 octane regular and the 93 octane premium? No sense paying the extra $0.20/gallon if there's no benefit. My gut feeling tells me there isn't, otherwise cars running higher octane fuels would get higher MPG (because of the extra energy) and I don't think that's the case.

  17. #17
    Boolit Master
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    How hard/expensive is it to convert the gas stoves to propane?

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy
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    Coleman Stoves

    I have been using an old coleman 425 two burner stove for several years. A month ago I bought two more coleman 425's at a garage sale for $3.00/pair...
    I took em home cleaned em up and got em burning pretty good.

    Just a heads up...Parts are getting harder to find, at least around here, seems more and more are going to propane.
    I put all new generators ( $15.00 each from ACE hardware ) in each of my stoves, and cleaned and lubed the pump leathers . I used leather pump lube from a Graco industrial paint pump , but common Neats foot oil or shoe or boot oil should work .
    Coleman gas here is around $8.59 gallon.
    My pot holds about 12 pounds and it takes a while to melt with the stove valve almost wide open.
    I have a propane burner I have made out of parts from an old weed burner, so when I have lots of smelting or big stuff to smelt I use that and the cast iron Dutch oven.
    Good luck and shop around for discount camp stove fuel or if you can, get to a oil dealer or distributor and see what the cost is for a 5 gallon can of Naptha ? You may be able to get a deal that way. "P J"
    U.S. Army Veteran, RVN 69-70, D trp.(AIR) 3/4 Cav, 25th Inf. Div. CUCHI, Helicopter Crew Chief
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  19. #19
    In Remembrance - Super Moderator & Official Cast Boolits Sketch Artist

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    I use a mil cook stove heater, That is what they used in the ovens to supply the heat. I run reg gasoline in it when I was makeing shot and using gas to rinse the oil off the shot I used that gas to run my burner which I smelted down more lead for shot with. When I used gas that was very red from the transmission fluid it was harder to get going and I had to pressure the tank two or three time to keep it going. When I used new reg gas I only had to do it maybe one time if that. As far as the cost I could smelt several hundreds of lbs of WWs with 3 gals of gas so the cost of using this is way cheaper then any other fuel most people use. I have used reg gas in my stoves lanterns camping for years just unleaded big thing to me it how much easier it is to have a mistake turn bad with say spilled gas.
    Reloading to save money I am sure the saving is going to start soon

  20. #20
    Boolit Master on Heavens Range
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    Elkins, that is a yes and no answer. It depends on what is used to augment the raw gasoline, and that depends on application for the most part: racing engine, passenger car, airplane, etc. The retail dealer calls up what he wants from the distributor who then does the mixing according to royalty requirements. For example, a Shell station contract says so many gallons per month must be sold out of that particular location with Shell additives. The remaining quantity per month can be additives which are "on-sale" that month. State Law usually requires that octane it says on the pump, and that would be the only limitation.

    The engine is a heat pump, purely and simply. What propels the motor is the expansion of air, and the air expands from the heat delivered by the gasoline. Therefore, it is more air that means more torque, and that air must be heated in the correct amount of time. The engine could very well blow up with a gasoline that produces heat at the wrong time, and is just like using powders which are too fast for the torque demanded (velocity) in guns. We must slow the burn rate down, and/or change the ignition characteristics by mechanical means (valve and spark timing).

    Gasoline comes through the pipeline in two flavors only; alcohol ready, and no alcohol allowed. It is the additives that move the gasoline up from the nominal 85-86 octane.

    ... felix
    Last edited by felix; 10-03-2010 at 10:59 AM.
    felix

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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