Alternatives to Coleman Fuel

Any ideas as to what I can use instead of coleman fuel as I am a little hacked off at the cost of it?

Had thought of perhaps turps/white spirit?

I've happily used white spirit in my Optimus Nova - it's a bargain bought in decent quantities from B&Q etc. compared to the poxy tins of Coleman fuel - so I'd have thought an XGK2 would handle it no problem.

No idea what an XGK2 is but in an old coleamn peak 1 I've used normal unleaded and lighter fuel. Panel wipe from a motor factors is suppsoed to be good and cheap but I have no personal experience of using it.

Hey Dave

There is a tread on here somewhere from about a year ago but I can't find it. I use panel wipe which I get from a local bodyshop. It's composition is apparently very similar to Coleman fuel and it certainly burns very clean and hot and it is about £10 for 5 litres. I have a Whisperlite by the way.

Buying White Gas in bulk for the Panel Wipe discussion.

Aah - thanks Captain. Your search skills are obviously more sophisticated than mine.

Unleaded petrol works fine with an XGK and is readily available from purveyors of fine vehicle fuels and other good stores :-)

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OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com 

Unleaded petrol isn't particularly healthy stuff, though. 35% aromatics (i.e. carbon ring molecules), and max 1% benzene. Stuff like Panel Wipe, being intended as a volatile surface cleaner, shouldn't (!) pose a carcinogen risk. I may look up the MSDS data.

I think there was a suggestion that panel wipe had a lot of nasty stuff in it, and that you wouldn't want to be breathing in any of the fumes. Think it had a high benzine content, but I could be wrong as I'm working from memory.

Cant remember if it was on here or on IKC that I saw that snippet of info.

Would be interested in finding out for sure though.

Si

I was trying to avoid petrol because of the additives and aromatic hydrocarbons and their potential as carcniogens.

I'll see if I can find some haz data on White Spirit

Okay, long discussion here from link here. The gist seems to be that you have to be careful exactly what product you're buying (a wise caveat), as the contents and their combustion products may be unpleasant. As is often the way with internet stuff, someone chimed in with 'it sounds like cellulose thinners', which I think is wrong: someone who had actually _used_ it said it smelt more like lighter fluid (i.e. naptha). This is also echoed further down the thread by John: "Coleman = Naptha = Panel Wipe' I recently emailed a UK distributor of Panel Wipe to ask them about the chemical composition of the stuff, their response was 'Naptha'".

I'd be surprised (but I could be wrong) if a product intended for surface degreasing that relies on volatility to remove the residue would contain carcinogenic solvents. Of course, the unintended combustion products may be different...

In Best Fuel? it is noted that one source of 'Panel Wipe' was clearly labelled as 'Naptha', as is Coleman fuel.

I'm sure I remember reading something about two variants of Panel Wipe, an 'F' and an 'S', being fast and slow, i.e. different volatilities. This is also echoed in the long thread, with a suggestion that the 'fast' one may be cellulose thinners.

Okay, Churchill Paints Panel Wipe HSDS shows no warnings for carcinogenic contents: the only cautionary phrase is 'highly flammable'. Their degreaser, however, is different, and its HSDS includes some 'R-phrases' (Harmful by inhalation, irritant).

I've been looking for a source of 'Panel Wipe', and I'll be looking very carefully at the contents before I buy. I'll endeavour to do some more digging, and ask around again amongst my friends in the oil refinery industry.

International Fuel Names is also interesting, espcially the <0.5% benzene content in Coleman Fuel...

I was thinking from my Alevel organic chem, that it was a petroleum distilate and can be known as stodard solvent or naptha and that was why I thought it would be ok.

As for carcinogen I can't seem to find anything that links it with being a carcinogen

Unleaded petrol is nasty, but it's cheap and sometimes you have no choice.

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OutdoorsMagic Editor | jon@outdoorsmagic.com