I use coleman fuel in the gallon tin. I would suggest that many  of the problems folks run into come from contamination, dirt and what not that gets into the fuel tank. These things will happen, the thing to do is be familiar with how to work on your stove. Maybe carry some spare parts for field repairs and of course the tools that will fit your stove. Kind of a neat independent feeling "by dab, I can fix that!"
Best Wishes, Rob

There should be no high-molecular-weight paraffins in any kind of gasoline. (In chemical terms, propane is a paraffin, so I assume you mean solid wax, which is removed very early in the refining process.) If there were any wax solids in gasoline precipitating out at refrigerator temperatures, think what would happen to cars' fuel injectors when the temperature drops to -40. I have no idea where these stories come from.

Summer gasoline is formulated a little differently than winter gasoline: winter gas has a bit more of the volatile components to help it burn better in cold weather. But I doubt that will make much difference to camp stove use.

Probably the biggest thing affecting how easily gasoline will ignite is the number of "depressuring" cycles it goes through. If you store gasoline in a closed container, you've probably noticed that the pressure will build up. When the container is opened, the "pressure" escapes - that vapor contains more of the lighter (more volatile) components than the liquid that is left. Enough openings and closings and eventually most of the lighter ends will be gone and the remaining liquid might be a bit harder to ignite.

So it makes sense to dump unused unleaded into your car's gas tank and refill your Sigg bottles each trip with fresh stuff. Winter campers would automatically be using winter gasoline this way too.

If Coleman fuel claims to have more lighter ends than regular gasoline, then I'd expect you'd need a high-pressure jerry can to store it. After about the second time you opened the can, all of the lighter ends will have been boiled off and the liquid would have about the same composition as regular gasoline. So it sounds to me like just more marketing BS.

I'd forgotten about gasohol though - we don't have much of that around here, and I avoid it since (here) it costs the same per litre as 100% gasoline but contains less energy. (Each 10% of ethanol in the blend gives you 5% worse mileage). So avoid using gasohol in camp stoves.

Hope this helps.

You make a lot of sence Mr W.
I always buy fresh gas before I go into the woods and it still won't start if its really cold -10 or lower; mined you M&M I only used a small portion of white gas along with mostly gas and oil mix, didn't seem to cause any long term damage though.

//Windsailor

Windsailor:

Before I became a paper pusher/talker, I used to be a logger in northern Wisconsin.  While starting a chainsaw in the zero to 20 below range could take more time, once the saw was running I never heard of anyone having trouble with the gas, provided you didn't have water or some other impurity in the gas.  Plus cold weather may decrease your gas mileage, but again I never heard of anyone having trouble driving their motor vehicle in the below zero range.

I have no experience with Coleman fuel in cold weather.
Westwood

I had some trouble in cold weather with a White Gas stove. My local outfitter told me there's a bit of paraffin blended into the gas as a stabilizer. Said Mountainers regularly refrigerate their gas and strain out the paraffin with a coffee filter before cold weather camping trips.
Also said I could put my fuel bottle in my sleeping bag with me to keep it warm.

I haven't tried either yet. 2nd hand knowledge to me, but I thought interesting.

"Coleman fuel has an octane rating of 50 to 55 and none of the additives found in modern gasoline.[2] It has a lower molecular weight than gasoline, kerosene and diesel fuel and cannot be used as a substitute for any of those fuels in modern engines.[2]

The flammability of Coleman Fuel is similar to gasoline; however, it should never be used in modern era gasoline engines. Its high heat of combustion and lack of octane boosting additives like tetra-ethyl lead will destroy engine valves, and its low octane rating would produce knocking.[2]"

reference [2] above = see below
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(see #2 for Coleman's opinion of hte different fuels)


depending on where you live, you likely get a slightly different blend of gas, and slightly different from each company - i.e. shell vs mobil vs conoco      ---   Here in Colorado, they use alchohol or MTBE for "winter" blends to keep the air cleaner - not sure if MTBE fumes would be particularly good for you, but I'd guess not (most stations use an alchohol mix)  - I would guess that California gas would be different yet with thier more stringent air quality requirements, but maybe not

I have one dual fuel Coleman stove, but I've never run gas station gas in it, always using Coleman Fuel instead, on the assumption that it is "cleaner"

I guess you could think that is just a marketing ploy if you like, or not

db wrote on Mar 30^th, 2011 at 6:22am:



It depends on what your cooking.

In the cozies thread, Preacher linked to Zen Stoves. Here's a page from the site on stove fuels if it helps. (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

On my last trip I was using three a (possibly four) year old gallon of Coleman. Maybe my stove needs some attention but I had to pump it a lot during cooking. I still have two pints left so I'm kinda hoping it was the stove.

For those who burn unleaded. Does it smell much?

Correct me if I missed that someone might have mention the differences between regular unleaded gas and white gas. The biggest difference becomes apparent in really cold weather I'm talking about -0 and below, regular gas will tend to gels up more at these extreme temps then white gas.  I learned this the hard way while winter camping a few years back, coleman stove wouldn't light, chain saw wouldn't start bought fuel and chain saw had to be pre-warmed up in order to operate correctly. Don't ask me why I like camping out in that extreme low temps (record low of -37), fire starters won't even burn at that temp. I will only use white gas in my coleman stove and a little in the chain saw during winter camping trips.

Happy camping

//Windsailor

Thanks Joe,
So I can continue to use unleaded in my stove as I have done for 10 years.  Using about 4 quarts per year.  Oh, my stove is a 35 years old coleman two burner.  Kind of heavy and bulky, but works great.  We generally base camp so weight is less of an issue.  Any gas I don't use on a trip, I put in my van's tank.  Never a problem with old fuel.
Westwood