Advise needed on the best Amish mix, is 80 percent paraffin and 20 percent Coleman fuel ok to use in both Tilley’s & Coleman as well as a Kayen ? What members have experimented with mixtures, and whats been the best mixture results. (And what were the results when tested) I want something that I can use in my Tilley’s & Coleman with out causing damage to the vaporises and generators, But I mainly want a good brew for my Tilleys. And before people get up me about just using Kerosene in my Tilleys, I like to be different to others and step outside the box. I want to know what works better or just as well, or what not to do or try. Regards Darren
Hi Tony Merry Christmas mate now how did you manage to acquire JetA1, my local Bunnings Store run out of it haha. How did you find that mixture compared to normal Kerosene any pros/cons. Cheers Darren
Jet A1 is the closest to pure kerosene you can get in Australia. Next closest is Diggers that’s dyed blue. I use Diggers when I can’t get my hands on Jet A1. I use to be able to get JetA1 from a local service station but they don’t sell it any more. I did manage to get hold of some from a regional airport, but I had to drive a long way (I was there for other reasons than buying fuel). My advice, unless you know someone in the aircraft business, is to find the best deal on Diggers in a 20 litre drum. Same for Shellite. Tony
So the diggers Kerosene (white) you buy at bunning is a less pure form of kero compared to the blue diggers kero ? I thought the only difference was blue die. Also what difference have you observed with your Amish Mixture. Not sure if this is cheep but a place near me is selling 20L diggers kerosene drums for $65.00 down from $85.00. Also I hear a lot of controversy that Kerosene can go off once opened like a drum, if not used within a few years. Not sure is this is correct ? Regards Darren
Sorry to confuse you: Diggers White is the same as Diggers Blue but without the blue dye. 20 litres of kero at $65 is about as cheap as you’ll find it, unless you can get it at a pump. I have no objective evaluation of “Amish mix” v pure kero. As I can get kero and Shellite for around the same price, I just use it that way because it reputably stops the generator/vapouriser from carboning up as fast. Too much Shellite will make your kero dangerously volatile, of course. I don’t know how long kero lasts once opened, but if kept with a lid on, it must be years. Cheers
Thanks Tony, I might google and see out how long Kerosene lasts in this harsh Australian weather of ours. I really would like to get a few drums at that price and store it away for when the revolution starts :-) (Agenda 21)
I know, I know, kerosene prices here are cheap compared to what your paying over there for a gallon of kerosene, but $5.00 a gallon is a lot! Wish it was cheaper...
Kerosene costs AU$1.00 per liter at the pump here in South Africa atm. That is US$0.70 per liter or US$2.65 per US gal. Coming down by a few cents on 1 January.
Thanks @phaedrus42 I’m so happy for you ...... Anyway, have a happy and safe New Year mate. Cheers Pete
Thanks, Pete. The down side is there is no Shellite or Coleman Fuel in SA. Closest equivalent is called Preclean which is pure hexane and costs 4 times as much as kerosene.
Be interesting how long kerosene keeps for before going old and stale. Phaedrua do you use much kerosene, i have a mate in the UK or goes through 20L every 5 days Cheers Darren
I buy 200 liters at a time a few times per year and keep it in 25 liter plastic containers. For easy use I decant it into a 5 liter jug. I have never had it go bad or even yellow. In a winter cold spell I use up to 8 liters per day in Valor, Perfection or Aladdin heaters but for lamps and stoves just one or two liters per day. In summer, much less of course. I light at least one lamp or lantern every evening just for fun
I happened to chance upon seeing a couple of truck loads tagged/labelled as Jet-A1 being delivered to be unloaded at a local gas station near me. I was puzzelled. The gas station does not and has never sell anything labelled as kerosene or Jet-A1. Only Petrol(RON95 and 98), Euro 5 Diesel and LNG are available to the public. I wonder what the truck loads are meant for?
I use an 80/20 Amish mix of kero and whichever naptha based fuel I can get get hold of such as brake cleaner or panel wipe.
Yes Tony, I'm aware of its purpose as aviation fuel. What I was baffled with was, that gas station only caters for road vehicles(cars, trucks, bikes, buses, etc.), nothing aviation. So what's the Jet-A1 supply there for?? If there's any purpose, I'd only be guessing: a substitute for road diesel?
I've heard that there are lubricant additives for kerosene that make it a viable cheap substitute for diesel.
Diesel costs about ZAR16 per liter and paraffin ZAR10 so there is an incentive. The price difference is mostly due to taxes and levies.
Phaedrus 200L my god that a lot of Kerosene, that would last me a lifetime lol..... Love to see a few photos of the lamps you burn every night. I would love to light mine every night but the mosquitoes on sunset in Australia are like vampires, Kills my feng shui plus its summer in Australia and bloody hot enough let alone having a lamp heating up the already hot house. MYN me thinks something fishy’s going on. Why the hell would a gas station be dealing in Jet A1 unless it was a special customer order. Never the less try and score some Cheers Darren
Hi ColinG so 80% kero and 20% brake cleaner or panel wipe. Wow how do you find that blend compared to straight kerosene. Pros/Cons ? Do you prefer brake or panel if given the choice. What lamp do you burn the most on this blend. Regards Darren
I don't think its for some special customers, Darren. I'm a little suspicious that its being sold as diesel. It can't be used as a petrol substitute. If whatever in delivery tanker is really Jet-A1 as tagged, then its rather sort of good news for me. Aviation fuel easily available to the general public. I don't use diesel in my car. At least I could use it as lantern fuel .
@MYN I've seen some changes in retail kero sales recent that made my inner 'suspicion-o-meter' jangle. Firstly, a few UK fuel companies have started to sell a new kero product with minimal sulphur content. Now either the refineries are producing a new product - unlikely in my opinion - or they're rationalising their product line to save costs and will begin selling only low/no sulphur kero for aviation and domestic use which would be much cheaper for the refining industry. Now then, if you can run diesel engines on kero that's even better and as a bonus you can reduce particulate emisions as well. If this turns out to be correct it could be good news for kero-heads like us! In the UK I've often seen ambulances that apparently run on kero... or at least they have a fuel cap that says 'paraffin only'.
In my country, kero has not been used for decades on road vehicles. I've seen it last being used as cab(taxi) fuel some 30yrs ago. But now, with this low-sulphur diesel coming into picture, I'd say its not impossible. Perhaps it resembles Jet A-1 close enough that the economics favours such changes. Your observations could be right. Its rather inexpensive in my area(govenment-subsized), currently at RM2.18/litre.(euro0.4796/litre).
A paraffin only fuel cap is likely to be for a fuel burning heater. Who wants to burn road legal diesel for that purpose and pay the tax on it? Running the engine on untaxed paraffin is as illegal for the ambulance service as it would be for anyone else.
