white gas vs unleaded gas

[quiknot]

not sure if anyone knows but...

i currently can only get a good smelting from using a coleman stove to melt my ww's and range lead....

my question is: does white gas (coleman's choice) have a higher degree of heat thermons compared to regular unlead gas....as unleaded gas is roughly 1/2 the price of the preferred white gas..

thanks

[mike in co]

cheaper walmart fuel burns hotter than unleaded gas.....
in the lead biz i think the extra temp and cost was worth it...but i moved on to a turkey burner and a 50 cal ammo can for 100-120 lb melts....

[AkMike]

The Unleaded will work BUT it'll carbon up the brass tube we called the generator.
It can be pulled apart and cleaned out but it's a dirty PITA. We used it when we ran out of Coleman gas and were at a remote cabin far far away from Wally World.
Boat gas was all we had.

[MT Gianni]

They sell dual fuel stoves so the generator for those will run on either but will still carbon eventually. Coleman fuel and it's competitor brands are further refined from the same type of light oil as gasoline not from a higher btu type oil. I am unsure of any octane additives that are added for cleaner burnning. Gianni

[tomf52]

I have been running my Coleman for years on regular unleaded gasoline with no problems of any kind, including any carbon buildup in the generator. It has seen many operating hours using this fuel. Hope this helps, Tom

[felix]

Octane additives intentionally slow the ignition, and that prolly would not be necessary for the uses of "white" gasoline. Like toluene, gasoline would have many grades. Gasoline is nothing but a petro that ends up being just about anything that burns easily in a certain range, where toluene is considerably more limited by having a much, much more limited "formula". Certain grades of toluene work fine as octane boosters, and other grades are terrible. Damn difficult to make any chemical as textbook pure. The grade, as determined by the trash within a substance, like Gianni says/implies, is dependent on many factors, like where the base oil came from, which is at the top of the list. Just like making quality BP. The grain of wood, and where that wood is grown, has a lot to do with the "grade" of the final BP. ... felix

[felix]

Tom, you have been lucky to have gasoline that works so well. That luck might or might not last your lifetime. Just be leary of every gallon you purchase for your stove. What I am saying here, is to not get bent out of shape when you get a bad batch. In fact, we don't know that the gasoline you are using is not also used to make or repackage into a "white" gas grade? ... felix

[Newtire]

I have been running my Coleman for years on regular unleaded gasoline with no problems of any kind, including any carbon buildup in the generator. It has seen many operating hours using this fuel. Hope this helps, Tom

I have experienced the same thing Tom. Been using it ever since started casting back in '82 & even though I know there's a difference due to the octane controllers added, I never had any time when the jets plugged up like they say leaded gas would do. I know that Coleman fuel doesn't make a motor fuel worth a damn as a friend of mine put a gallon into his BMW motorcycle to get into town and it pinged all the way!

[omgb]

Many moons ago back in the early 70s, I was a certified Coleman repairman. Coleman fuel is unleaded gasoline without any additives other than an oderant and a tad bit of something to retard its change over to varnish. The stuff at the pump has a whole lot more in it depending on what state you are in, in some cases it may actually have chemicals that are carcinogenic. Any way, any Coleman stove is dual fuel capable for a short time. The use of lead will eventually clog up the generator as will the use of unleaded motor fuel with all of the additives. That being said, you can use pump gas for quite some time without a problem if it is free from a few of the nastier additives such as the oxygenators found in CA gas.

As mentioned earlier, the no-name stove gas sold by Wally World is pretty good and almost as cheap as pump gas in most states and cheaper than pump gas in some parts of SoCal. You may want to try it.

In any event, you should have on hand an extra generator or two. Old ones can be cleaned to a certain degree but they will never be as good as new.

As to one gas burning hotter than another, I really don't know. I haven't noticed any difference as long as the generator is in good condition. Get that fouled and the BTUs go down bou coup pronto.

[shooting on a shoestring]

I've burned unleaded in my casting stove for decades, same generator, runs fine on central Texas gasoline. It is showing some sulfur deposits around the burner though, but it'll probably burn through another couple of decades and then I won't care anymore. I've also used unleaded in single mantle lanterns, but those generators do plug up after a couple of gallons, so I burn them on canned gas. The canned gas costs more due to having a high-priced, highly printed can wrapped around it, and also warehouse and retail floorspace to pay for. I buy my casting gasoline 5 gallons at a time and dose it with some Sta-bil to keep it from going bad if I get too busy to cast for a while. My pump on my Coleman tank quit working 10 or 15 years ago. I just unscrew it and hold my compressed air nozzle over the thumb hole, and pressurize it in a blast. Fast, easy, cheap and works great.