Alcohol for Stove (Origo)

[banjoman]

Is there any difference between the denatured stove alcohol West Marine sells for 30 bucks a gallon and the denatured alcohol my local hardware store has for 10 bucks a gallon?

[Bob Cleek]

One has a picture of a boat on the label. The other doesn't. Also, the "marine" version may have blue dye in it to remind you it isn't drinkable. This isn't the best idea, though, since it can easily be confused with Bombay Sapphire!

[banjoman]

Figured as much.
Thanks!

[dmede]

Some notes on types of denatured alcohol:

http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm#Fuels

[Woxbox]

I used the hardware stuff for years without any problems.

Reminds me of the gasoline Coleman used to sell and maybe still does for their camp stoves. It was nothing more than unleaded gas at a ridiculous price.

[Canoeyawl]

Coleman camp fuel is naptha, an excellent cleaning solvent.

[Dale Genther]

We have an Origo 2 burner stove with oven. We have been using the Ace hardware brand for years with no problems.

BTW We love the stove! We installed it due to the problems meeting all the ABYC requirements for propane stoves, which are difficult to meet in an old wood boat that wasn't built with a proper propane locker in mind.

[Scott Rosen]

If my numbers are right . . . the difference is twenty bucks.

Some brands of alcohol burn hotter than others. I have no idea how you tell them apart. As far as I can tell, the cheaper the alcohol, the hotter the burn.

I have an Origo stove, and the cheap stuff works just fine. In fact, the Origo's need all the help they can get. Use the high-priced stuff and it'll take you an hour to make a pot of coffee.

[Mrleft8]

the Origo's need all the help they can get. Use the high-priced stuff and it'll take you an hour to make a pot of coffee. By which time, you might not need the coffee after all.... ;)
I always found the hardware store stuff better, and burns cleaner.

[redbopeep]

This site (http://zenstoves.net/Stoves.htm#Fuels) has some great info on the different types of alcohols one might burn in backpackers' style alcohol stoves. The info is useful here as well. Scroll down past the info on all the stoves to get to the fuel info.

When my husband and I were younger we spent a lot of time on our bicycles touring in the US and Canada. Cheap living in a tent all summer between school semesters :)

We had a little Trangia stove (http://www.trangia.se/english/2934.the_trangia_principle.html) that we used. We bought (cheap and available everywhere) isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol that you could get at the drug stores because we didn't want to carry a gallon on our bikes. Very little heat in that stuff.

The Trangia is the alcohol burner that Navigator Stoveworks sells to drop into their stovetops for summer use, btw. Cheaper to just buy the Trangia and make your own grate/holder for your wood stove...

Trangia for $12.56 here (http://www.campsaver.com/itemdesc.asp?ic=327550)

http://www.campsaver.com/mmWINTERFIXCOM/Images/a/trangia_spirit_stove.jpg

++++


Navigator stove alcohol drop in burner kit for $215 here (http://www.marinestove.com/pricelist.htm)

http://www.marinestove.com/dropincod.JPG

[herryjohn]

you can do it better

[navigatorstoves]

Hey Folks,

Please be aware that the drop in burner pictured in the last post is one of out PROTOTYPE sheet metal brass units. If one looks at our website a bit more closely you will see that the housing we have decided to produce is CAST SILICON BRONZE. A nice hunk of metal that will hold heat like C.I. and with gravity's help, will stay put down in the coverplate opening when the boat is jostled about. Plan to take proto picture down so as not to confuse........

Cheers, Andrew Moore / Navigator Stoves

[redbopeep]

Hey Folks,

Please be aware that the drop in burner pictured in the last post is one of out PROTOTYPE sheet metal brass units. If one looks at our website a bit more closely you will see that the housing we have decided to produce is CAST SILICON BRONZE. A nice hunk of metal that will hold heat like C.I. and with gravity's help, will stay put down in the coverplate opening when the boat is jostled about. Plan to take proto picture down so as not to confuse........

Cheers, Andrew Moore / Navigator Stoves

Hi, Andrew,

I'm glad to hear that you've made the holder more substantial and a casting--I really love this type of burner and think a good looking and heavy casting would enhance its use in your stoves--I must admit I didn't really understand the cost for what I see with the prototype. It will be great when you get your new pics up.

[Chip-skiff]

Smart way to cook and brew up when you don't need cabin heat.

One wee trick is that hardware-store denatured alcohol/methylated spirit actually burns hotter and cleaner with a small amount of water added.

[navigatorstoves]

Hi All,

Had a moment this week to get a few cast ALUMINUM housings for our DROP IN BURNER kits into the works. This alternative will definitely be less costly than the silicon bronze units but will not be as nice to my mind. Better than not having one at all though. I'll be posting a thread on the Navigator Stove forum once I get these up and ready to go. It will be nice to get some user feedback here or there which will inform how we make the kit in the future.

Hope the powers that be don't mind me talking about our products. My intention is to keep an open line of communication where stove related design ideas can be discussed that will eventually find their way into what we make for the boating community.

Cheers, Andrew Moore / Navigator Stoves