Methanol?

[greeneggcat]

Hi guys and gals, just a question. I have made myself some white box style stoves from alu bottles. Now I work opposite someone who makes bio diesel and have been offered free methanol. This is a clear liquid. Is it safe to use in my stove instead of methylated spirit?

Prob just being stupid, but any help would be gratefully received. Cheers!

[rik_uk3]

Its all I use these days.

[The Big Lebowski]

Well, I use pure ethanol, which burns a lot cleaner than methylated spirit.

If its free, your a lucky boy.

[greeneggcat]

Cheers guys! Just never heard mention about it being used for stoves before, but thought it was meths without the carp.

Lucky girl by the way! :-)

[The Big Lebowski]

Ah... My appol's!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methanol

[greeneggcat]

Mmmmm very interesting! I want me some of that space methanol!

Ps if you see any "preserved animals" in the woods it has not to do with me and my new found knowledge. :-)

Thanks chaps!

[amn1240]

Cheers guys! Just never heard mention about it being used for stoves before, but thought it was meths without the carp.

Meths is mostly Ethanol with 5%-10% Methanol added to make it poisonous (+ purple dye) I use Bio-Ethanol which as Lebowski says burns alot cleaner than meths.

[Bucephalas]

I nearly bought 25 litres of 99.9% virgin methanol but then read that it soots easily and is too wild a flame!

I'll have to chat to you about it bug Al.

Free does sound good though.

[The Big Lebowski]

No worries buddy... I've a couple of ounces of ethanol left I can pack or the weekend.

That's to burn btw

[cbr6fs]

I use methanol injection on my car, personally i would not use it as fuel for a stove.

Firstly, it's highly toxic even a few ml can have drastic effects like blindness.
It's not just ingestion you have to worry about either, handling it can be very tricky especially if you have small cuts on your hands as this will quickly be taken into the blood stream.

You also have to be wary of how you store it as i've seen cases where it has effectively eaten through certain containers.

It also burns as an invisible flame, so can be very dangerous if your not expecting that.


Free stuff is great, but personally i'd sooner pay a few quid and use Methylated spirits instead, Methanol is nasty nasty stuff.

[widu13]

I've used it for years without any problems bud.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

[Andy BB]

I nearly bought 25 litres of 99.9% virgin methanol but then read that it soots easily and is too wild a flame!

I'll have to chat to you about it bug Al.

Free does sound good though.

Dunno where you got the story about it sooting and being "too wild a flame"! But thats totally wrong. It burns marginally less hot than ethanol (although I doubt you'd ever notice the difference), clean-burning and is an excellent alcohol to use in your alco stoves.

However, methanol is nasty stuff - very toxic (thats where the expression "blind drunk" came from, as only a small amount of methanol in badly-distilled ethanol will blind you - or worse..) You pays your money and takes your choice....

[santaman2000]

I use methanol injection on my car, personally i would not use it as fuel for a stove.

Firstly, it's highly toxic even a few ml can have drastic effects like blindness.
It's not just ingestion you have to worry about either, handling it can be very tricky especially if you have small cuts on your hands as this will quickly be taken into the blood stream.

You also have to be wary of how you store it as i've seen cases where it has effectively eaten through certain containers.

It also burns as an invisible flame, so can be very dangerous if your not expecting that.'.

So do some gel fuels (diethylene glycol) www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NVzgJCcwLQ

[rik_uk3]

Never had any problems with sooting from methanol.

I nearly bought 25 litres of 99.9% virgin methanol but then read that it soots easily and is too wild a flame!

I'll have to chat to you about it bug Al.

Free does sound good though.