Kerosine

Is it possible to use kerosene in a tilley lamp?.

 

Yes. Use only kerosene.

Kerosine = kerosene = paraffin is the correct fuel for Tilley lamps.

Do not use gasoline or alcohol.

Cheers

Tony

 

Sorry for sounding daft, but is kerosene the same thing as paraffin.

Thanks les

 

Yes Les. Kerosene is paraffin. Which is what Tony has just stated using the 'equals' symbol = .

 

Short answer, yes.

Longer answer, as I said above, they are the same but the quality of available paraffin in your country may vary. Buy the best that's available.

Look through recent topics on this site about fuel availability and you will find a great deal of information.

Regards

Tony

 

Tony,

I saw that you said to look through recent posts about kerosene. Considering this topic has the heading kerosine, I thought I'd ask my question here.

When you mention 'quality' in a kerosene, as many others on the forum mention, how is it to be known what is good and bad quality kerosene?

I assumed, considering it's 2015, that all kerosenes would be of good quality.

Is there a recommended industry standard for kerosene/paraffin to be used in lamps?

I generally purchase Diggers kerosene. It states "100% v/v Kerosene" Does the v/v give you an indication if it's good or bad quality kerosene?

In short, how am I, or anyone else for that matter, able to know if they are buying good or bad quality kerosene.

It's not like kerosene manufactures are going to put "This is bad quality kerosene" on their label.

 

Kerosene is the alternative name for paraffin invented by Scotsman James Paraffin Young.(The bloke in my profile picture) I have not heard of any different quality levels so suspect you can safely use whatever you can obtain. Just keep the windows open a wee bit if using indoors.

 

Hey Stuart,

I thought the same as you as most kerosenes would be of similar quality.

My Diggers brand kerosene states in its product use:Fire Starter - Kero Heater/Lamp Fuel - Cleaner/Degreaser. Btw, we Australians shorten kerosene to kero.

Upon reading that I did wonder if there may be different grades of kerosene. Let's say, one better suited to be used as a degreaser than lamp fuel.

My question remains though, even if there are different grades. How to you know if the kerosene you are buying is good quality to use as lamp fuel?

 

The 'quality' of kerosene/paraffin may well be a measure of its sulphur content. Better quality will have a lower sulphur content.

The other thing that may vary is the proportion of longer and shorter chain hydrocarbons. Liquid fuels will typically be a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules of chain length C6 - C16. A preponderance of smaller molecules will be more volatile and thus easier to ignite i.e. petrol/gasoline type fuels. On the other hand, a preponderance of larger molecules will be a less volatile fuel which is more difficult to ignite i.e. diesel oil. Paraffin/kerosene is somewhere intermediate.

Just Google 'alkanes' to get a fuller picture.

Oh, and this isn't an answer to anyone in particular, merely a contribution to the thread in general...

 

Assuming that LJ is in Manchester UK, not Manchester Bolivia, then it is perfectly safe to use paraffin/kerosene/28 sec heating oil in a Tilley lamp. They are all made to a relevant British Standard and so there is virtually no variation in quality. Lamp Oil is fine to use but is usually expensive as it 'low odour' for use in wick lamps. Cheapest fuel source in UK is UK domestic heating oil (I had 1100 litres delivered recently at 32p a litre). Find a friend/relative who has oil fired central heating or check with heating oil suppliers as some will have an 'on pump' facility at their depot for the sale of small quantities (usually a minimum of 20 litres). For a small quantity expect to pay around 60ppl.

Terry

 

You can also use Wilkinsons* BBQ lighter fluid. This is normally too expensive so you have to wait until the end-of-season** when they need to clear the shelves for their Halloween tat.

*Other cheap shops are available.

**Or during August when we're having one of our usual sh!t summers...

 

Kero .
Comes in about 3 common types
Jet A which is clear
Next is plain kero clear.
The other kero is a dyed kero blue or pink .
The other keros are named saw 1 to 4.
these are used in industries etc
Bob .

 

Thanks Bob.

I use the blue dyed kero as it's readily available and mostly all I see. Whether it's better or worse quality than the others you mention, I don't know, but it does the job just fine for me.

I hadn't thought of using bbq lighter fluid nor nitro. Perhaps bbq lighter fluid is un-dyed kero?

 

Aren't the dyes just company gimmicks - Esso Blue; Aladdin Pink . . ? And 'Red' diesel for tax purposes?

 

I had always wondered where the name Paraffin came from. For that matter I have no idea where the name kerosene comes from either.

 

Keep looking - 'Paraffin' was only his nick-name!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Young_%28Scottish_chemist%29
http://www.scottishshale.co.uk/HistoryPages/Biographies/JamesYoung.html

The word paraffin seems to originate from German and Latin:
1830-40; < German < Latin par (um) barely + aff (īnis) connected + -in2; so called from its slight affinity for other substances

From:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/paraffin

Similarly, Kerosene (Greek)
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/kerosene?s=t

 

I do believe that's correct in your part of the world. I've seen a copper show on TV where the coppers actually check the colour of the diesel to see if people are using fuel taxed cheaper for farmers use. Something like that anyway.

Here, I don't know why they dye the kerosene.

 

The Kero in Oz is probably dyed blue to distinguish it from water or other colourless liquids for safety reasons.

 

Yes I think that's the idea....

 

There are a lot of volatile liquids including metho and turps that aren't coloured.

I wonder if kero is coloured to distinguish between differing types of kero rather than other liquids?

 

In the UK, heating oil carries a zero rate of duty and is dyed yellow to allow it's detection in road vehicles. I'm no expert, but I think it is possible to modify a petrol engine to run on paraffin/kero/heating oil. Of course, there are still plenty of old paraffin powered tractors knocking around, but paraffin is illegal in a road vehicle.

There are always interesting exceptions to the myriad of excise rules. If you own a Lohmann engined cyclemotor you have to have a special fuel licence from HMRC as it runs on a petrol/diesel/paraffin/two stroke mix. But if you are a member of the EACC and own a Lohmann, you are good to go as HMRC has issued the club a 'General Licence to mix Hydrocarbon Fuels' which covers all members (I have a friend who used to own one).

Terry

 

In the UK meths is normally dyed purple...

 

My current gallon of Meths has turned itself from purple to clear not quite sure how that came about

 

Yes, in the UK Customs and Excise do have the occasional field day dipping tanks for dyed diesel.

I also had a bottle of purple meths that turned clear over time - must have been frightened by my shed antics . . .

Paraffin spark ignition engines are a bit of a speciality. The jetting needs to be correct for the different fuels, and most early tractors of the Tractor Vapourising Oil type (TVO) were started on petrol (they wouldn't start on TVO) until sufficiently warmed up to switch the fuel. TVO being now unavailable, there are recipes for making it:
http://www.fofh.co.uk/tech/tvo.htm
Further instructions:
http://www.sky-net.org.uk/kelvin/petrol/sleeve/running.html
Kelvin made petrol/paraffin engines for marine use. Serious bits of kit, and there are a few in some narrow boats in the UK. This is a starting procedure for one such that uses diesel as the main fuel. Bit of a palava:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEaS097_tww

 

TVO is still available down my way Derek

http://ryeoil.co.uk/ryeoilstore/?wpsc-product=tractor-vaporising-oil

Strange thing with the meths aye

 

It's a contraction of 'par affinity' which means, essentially, 'little affinity'. It refers to the relatively low reactivity of the alkane homologous series compared with the alkenes and alkynes.

Alkanes possess only single bonds which are more stable than the double and triple bonds contained in the other two series.

It'll all be on Wikipedia if anyone's that interested...

Edit:

 

Yep !! Exactly wot David said

 

Derek mentioned one of my favourite engine manufacturers - Kelvin.

I have lots of experience with Kelvin K3s, beautifully manufactured beasts.
Low compression magneto-ignition petrol to start and high compression direct injection diesel to run, switched via a valve arrangement to expose the petrol combustion chamber.
Used in marine, compressor and generator applications the smooth, gentle pulse of these 22hp/cyl engines is a joy to the ears!

Anyway, tangent over, back to lamps.....

Alec.

 

Hi.

I appreciate I am a bit late joining this post, however I would appreciate an explanation if anyone knows as to why 28 sec. heating oil smells so very different to regular paraffin. I have oil fired heating and always syphon a couple of gallons into containers when I have just had a tank top up. To date I have only ever used this heating oil in my wick lamps and have not noticed any unusual odour when in use.

Regards, Jeremy

 

Hi Jeremy. It's because heating oil is designed to be used in a sealed system where any odour gets vented to the outside. Any smell is therefore irrelevant, so they don't bother to remove it.

Terry