Alcohol fuelled Coleman 295

Not a favourite Coleman of mine - too modern - but a friend who uses nothing but alcohol stoves when camping and who insists on seeking an alcohol-fuelled light source prompted me to dig out the 295 from the back of the shed to experiment with fuelling it on alcohol.

I’d already robbed it of its globe for an older Coleman.

I confirmed from the Coleman generator chart (file below) that the jet has a 0.009 inch (0.23mm) orifice.

Sure enough, when removed from the generator a 0.23mm stove pricker would pass through it.






Experience with stove jet sizes suggested that a jet orifice of 0.35mm would give a correct fuel/air ratio for alcohol so I drilled out the gas tip to that dimension.

I didn’t try the Coleman instant light function and havent yet fabricated a priming cup, so used a blowlamp to heat up the generator and burner/mixing chamber. Success.




In the video I varied the exposure to picture the twin mantles. It’s not the lamp’s output that’s fluctuating.



I’m aware that Coleman painted the inside of their steel tanks with an anti-corrosion coating and from threads such as THIS one that alcohol might attack it. I wonder too whether the plastic pickup tube and valve seals might not hold up to exposure to alcohol.

I’ll run it for a couple of weeks and will then disassemble the lamp and inspect the parts to check for adverse effects. If it holds up I’ll ship it off to my pal to live out his ‘one fuel’ dream. The lamp will be free, but he might get a shock at the price of a replacement globe.

John

 

Wow, that's very useful indeed and an excellent but of experimentation! We'll done!

 

I bet that one is thirsty

 

An interesting experiment.

 

A jet orifice of 0.042 sq.mm. cross-sectional area upped to 0.08 sq.mm. so yes, nearly twice the consumption probably.

 

Interesting John. When you say alcohol - are you using meths ? I suppose it is roughly 1/2 price of branded Coleman fluid, so if the consumption doubles the cost stays static

 

@Firestarter
Yes, meths. More expensive than Aspen though.

 

Interesting test to see the 295 running on Metho. Well done.

I'm fairly certain I have read somewhere that a 295 can also be converted to run on kerosene with a change to a Coleman 639 generator. Haven't done it myself but I have changed a Coleman shellite stove to metho because of too much yellow flame on normal fuel.

 

Did you do anything with the air intakes?

 

@Nils Stephenson
No alteration to the air intake Nils. I anticipated that could be an issue but evidently there’s a plentiful capacity for supplying air to the mixing chamber via the intake tube.

 

I was expecting that they would have to be restricted, as is normally done with a Px style lantern (or Primus).

 

@Nils Stephenson
Ah yes, I could possibly have got the lamp to burn alcohol by restricting the air inlet and keeping the jet unchanged. Not so brightly though, perhaps.

 

The Px style conversions have both a larger jet and a restricted airflow. For a 300cp lamp like this the jet should be 0.3 mm. A 0.35 mm jet should give 400cp. I don't know what the ratio of jet size to air inlet should be. But if it works, alls good.

 

Right. Consensus suggests that the Coleman 295 has an output closer to that than 300cp. As you say, it works.

 

Interesting and informative..
Will you be making a spirit cup or i suppose you are waiting to see what happens with the plastic parts ?

edit : did anyone ever convert a milspec type lantern to alcohol?

 

A very well done experiment. @presscall
I supposed you would be using denatured alcohol as well. Or was it pure methanol?
Looks like you have increased the cross-sectional are of the jet orifice by about 1.9x. Perhaps it could be a good reference figure for other conversion projects from gasoline to alcohol-fuel too.
@podbros ,
If the milspecs really has a 0.0045" diametre jet orifice, I guess you might want to calculate the cross-sectional area and multiply that by 1.9x to arrive to an experimental figure which could be a good reference starting point for alcohol burning. I'm not sure if the milspec's jet orifice is really 0.0045" diam.(a little contradictory for a lantern rated at 300cp). @presscall would have a first hand experience on this.
As for the plastic pickup, I think it'll be resistant to alcohol. Not sure about the fount's liner coating. Older coatings aren't resistant but they might change the coating type for newer lanterns. If the seals are made of viton or fluorosilicones, they should be alright in alcohol. Can't remember whether buna-n is compatible with alcohols or not.

 

Yes, @MYN the fuel was denatured alcohol (methylated spirits in the UK).

 

I’ve made a start on one, yes.

 

It's definitely possible to convert one as I've done it to my 295 and it works perfectly.

 

My 'Gas' Coleman, -TBH I'm not really game to start it on Petrol, but is it worth me trying to run it on Meths?

 

Well Julian, this is an ongoing experiment, but it’s promising.

You’d be unlikely to get combustion out of an un-modified gasoline lantern running on meths and I’ve explained my reasons for modifying this one.

For myself, I’m happy with the performance and safety features of Coleman lamps and stoves to use the fuel they were designed to be used with. Steel ball non-return valve (‘check’ valve in Coleman terms); check valve lock facility; check valve isolated from the fuel, its air outlet piped by brass tube to air-space above the fuel - so if the valve were to fail to seal it would be locked shut anyway and if the user had forgotten to do that only pressurised air and not fuel would escape up the pump tube.

 

I was asked by @podbros whether I’d be fabricating a spirit cup for preheating.

Turns out, the ‘quick light’ feature works perfectly well with methylated spirit, so I’ve put aside the spirit cup components for another possible project in the future.

 

The only possible drawback of converting a gasoline/kerosene lamp to alcohol would be the relatively high(volumetric) consumption rate for the equivalent output (candlepower) ratings.
Alcohol(methylated/denatured) would certainly burn cleaner than most other more carbonaceous liquid fuels.

 

That's the reason why I don't use my alcohol fueled lanterns too often (apart from their historical significance). The high consumption leads to a total burning time of 4 hours for a 300 CP Hasag 252SP or a Ditmar 519 with a full tank, whereas with the paraffin fueled version it is more than 8 hours.

 

I'd mainly use alcohol for this purpose out of historical significance or to retain the originality of certain devices(lamps/stoves) too.
Other than that, I might also use alcohol in case there is a shortage or when I run out the usual fuels(kerosene, gasoline/naphtha).
I also do it on some devices for experimental purposes or out of curiosity.
Another thing, there is apparently, an increased corrosion tendency of metal parts like steel/iron with long term alcohol use.

 

By 'Alcohol' is the equivalent Methylated sprits? (Alcohol is what I drink!!!) Haha.
On a similar subject, if you see 'Use Benzoline' on a Swedish device (actually a Max Seivert APH blowtorch) what would you use?

 

What we in Australia buy as "metho" ("methylated spirits") used to be ethanol (alcohol), denatured with methanol (wood alcohol - very poisonous). Nowadays, in Australia, ethanol is denatured with a bitterant (not methanol) to make it undrinkable, but still labelled methylated spirits.

Tony

 

Benzoline is a coal-derived spirit used for cars way back. Naptha/white gas (ish)
this thread is helpful Veritas 350 benzoline or paraffine?

 

I suspect due to there nearly always being some water left in distilled ethanol - as well as the additives to stop people drinking it

 

There will always be some percentages of water in it. Even when new and unopened in the can. Such commonly available methylated spirits aren't the same as laboratory or reagent-grade absolute alcohols.