Disclaimer: I in no way endorse, suggest or wish to inspire anyone to use this product. I just now, quite accidentally, came across this product. AFC-705 Fuel Catalyst. It's general characteristics seem ideal, I do not know if it is safe to use in lamps, to use in lamps to help defeat carbon build up, remove sludge, water, soot and makes kerosene and other fuels burn cleaner with less smell or smoke. The product is used at 1:500 ratio so quite small amounts are used. Among other things it states: * Cleans Fuel, Storage Tanks, and Injection Systems * Removes and prevents Carbon build-up and Corrosion * Reduces harmful Emissions, Soot and Particulate Has anyone ever tried such a fuel catalyst in their lamps? If so, what were the results?
For what it says, it is denatured alcohol, pure and simple....cheaper by the gallon, I use a teaspoon per gallon to ward off frost in my lanterns and heaters during winter ( frozen water in suspension tend to clog the fuel pickup) , and at the end of summer to remove moisture build up.
It's interesting that you mention moister build up. I had a Tilley lamp sitting outside in the sun. I took out the pump to refuel and immediately noticed water droplets on the pump tube that had been exposed to the inside of the fount. When I lit that lamp later in the night, it was pulsing somewhat and I wondered if the moister vapour in the fount was the cause of that pulsing. It made me think of lawn mowers you can hear people using from time to time. Those lawn mowers engines, rather than reving at a constant rate, stall and surge. The cause is often water in the fuel bowl.
I think the surging of petrol engined law mowers is more likely down to a sticky governor caused by dirt build up, or simply a very sensitive spring controlling the governor. Water in the fuel will usually stop the b****y thing altogether and hasten a tank clean! Been there done that - and put the blame squarely on ethanol content of modern rubbish petrol. AFC-705 claims much: http://www.diesel-fuels.com/algae-contamination/contaminated-fuel.php - and the ratio claimed here is 1:5000 (one to five thousand): http://cleanfuelmanagement.com/p_fcatalyst.html This ratio is similar to that of using acetone as an additive to petrol: http://pesn.com/2005/03/17/6900069_Acetone/ Having recently purchased a litre of acetone for tool cleaning resin, I might give that a go in the cars tank. If you don't hear from me again, you'll know it's not such a good idea . . .
Surely if it is alcohol then it promotes rusting of steel parts and particularly tanks?? One of the main points of Aspen 4 is that it has a very low ethonol content.
There is always some water in pressure lamp tanks. It is not normally a problem because if it does condense out then it gathers at the low point and then gets sucked up to the burner. Water tends not to burn very well but small quantities will lean out the burn for a moment and then the lamp wil run fine. You will get a surge of a lighter burn as the steam blasts out. ::Neil::
The problem is that ethanol in fuel tends to act as a hygroscopic agent, it absorbs water a lot until it evaporates, then it releases that water into the container...also when we pump our lanterns or stoves, we are introducing air and moisture into the tank, under pressure is OK, but when you release the pressure, the water in suspension decants into the fount.
I'm guessing I'd be introducing more moisture than the southern states of Australia as I live in a sub tropic climate with high humidity. I wonder if it would be worth removing the pump and leaving the lamp in the sun for an hour or so every now and then, to allow the moisture to evaparate somewhat?
I think if you use all the fuel in the fount, and then refill with fresh fuel, most of the moisture will be either gone ( during normal operation) or reduced at a minimum.
I just re-read your second post about using a teaspoon of metho (denatured alcohol) per gallon. I'm going to give that a go. Thanks for that tip.
Not really because as soon as you start pumping you are shoving more high humidity air into the tank. This is why all lamps have some water in the tanks. Unless you are pumping in a real dry atmosphere you are always introducing water. ::Neil::
