UKH

I've got a MSR dragon fly and so far have been using unleaded petrol with it but its fairly sooty and smelly especially when priming and wandered what most people use.

I was thinking of changing to either primus power fuel or coleman fuel but wanted to know what else is worth using as they are both quite a lot more expensive than petrol.

Thank
Andy

In reply to Andrew W:

I recently started using coleman fuel with my MSR whisperlite international and its certainly a lot easier to get started/primed and cleaner burning than the only other thing I have tried- kerosene. If available I would definitely go with the white gas from now on for ease!

In reply to Andrew W:

Rather than coleman fuel try Aspen 4. It's a clean fuel designed for use in lawnmores etc so without the additives and crap that's added for car use meaning it's much cleaner and less toxic to burn. It's more expensive than petrol, but cheaper than Coleman / Primus options.

I've been using it in my Primus omifuel for the last couple of years and haven't noticed a difference in performance compared to Coleman / Primus fuels. It comes in 5l containers which is more useful than than the small coleman bottles since I tend to carry the fuel in the fuel bottle, and tip any remainder back into the big container at the end of a trip.

http://www.aspenfuel.co.uk/clean-facts/alkylate-petrol/uses-for-aspen/for-l...

Cheers,

Stuart

In reply to StuDoig:

I was just about to ask "what about Aspen?"
have been using it recently in garden machinery. Easier to get them started and noticeably cleaner emissions. About £20 for 5 litres though.

In reply to Dell:

Aye, definitely better in the stove - noticed they've even started mentioning its use in camping stoves in their blurb. I really noticed the difference in my lawn mower too incidentally.

Not cheap, but coleman fuel is about £7 a liter (from a quick google - I'm sure you might get it cheaper if you hunted around) and aspen £4 a liter. Definitely cheaper, but not as cheap as stuff from the pump by a long way.

A while since I bought any so didn't have a cost in my head other than cheaper than coleman!

Guess it depends on how much you use it - 3-4 times more expensive than fuel from a pump, so cost will ramp up if you burn loads, but still a good bit cheaper than coleman. Prob not nearly as easy to get abroad either.

Cheers,

Stu

In reply to Andrew W:

When in France, pop into a hardware store and stock up on 'Essence C' which is dry cleaning fluid but is a very cheap replacement for coleman fuel.

In reply to Andy Hardy:

Damm, just drove home from France - opportunity missed! Will look out for it next time I'm down there though.

In reply to StuDoig:

Top tip: Essence 'F' is *very much* NOT the same as Essence 'C'. I used 'F' in a coleman fuel stove, and just managed to turn the stove off before the preheat tube melted!(about 60s after ignition)

Essence 'C' works a treat though.

In reply to Andrew W:

For people going to France:
Leclerc etc, Carrefour ou Intermarche sell: Essence C (clair) or Essence filtrée or ask for Essence à l'usage domestique. If they don’t understand they will sell you parafin. (Pas petrole = No parafin.)

In reply to StuDoig:

In Finland they used to have available at big petrol stations "little engine petrol" (literal translation) for outboards, chainsaws etc. which worked a treat in camping stoves - and sounds like the Aspen stuff. I understood that the Finnish stuff is what you use for two stroke engines where you add the oil to the fuel? Hence it didn't have all the additives that car petrol has to lubricate the engine. And that's why it burns so much cleaner in a stove.

Does that sound right to anyone?

In reply to Andrew W:

I've been using this http://ow.ly/My1L3003ERi at ~£2 per litre its almost as cheap as petrol out the pump. Its worked really well- burns clean and hot and I haven't died of the black lung yet

In reply to mishabruml:

If you are in holland, they sell 'wasbenzine' (translates to 'cleaning petrol'). You can get it in supermarkets and DIY stores and sold as a cleaning solvent. Cheaper than unleaded and comes in a bottle too! Burns nice and clean too. Just have to cross that little channel thingy to get it....

In reply to StuDoig:

Lawnmores. Made my day.

In reply to TobyA:

Aspen 2 is for 2 strokes Aspen 4 for 4 strokes brought the last lot at the garage at the start of the Grimsel Pass

Tony

Thanks for the advice, I picked up some aspen 4t today so will be interested to see how it compares to standard unleaded petrol, its much less smelly so hopefully a good sign, I might give some of the other options a go when I finish the 5l container but that might not be for a while.

In reply to PM:

haha, Doh! Spelllller of the yeer aword for me!

In reply to Andrew W:

If it doesn't work out for you try tetrysol panel wipe. It use to be £14 I think. It's basically pure Hexane so leaves no residue or scent