alternative fuel for alcohol lamps (varnishing plates)

r u t h · Nov 28, 2020

hi all,

i just discovered that denatured alcohol has been banned in california. does anyone have a preferred alternative fuel or heat source for varnishing plates, preferably one usable indoors for 5-10 minutes at a time?

thank you!

reddesert · Nov 29, 2020

You may be able to buy alcohol stove fuel from a camping supply store. I don't live in California so I can't check, but my understanding is that the vast majority of denatured alcohol was used as a solvent, not for fuel, and CA, Canada, etc banned it to reduce VOC emissions (ie the tiny-by-comparison market for alcohol fuel is not what they were concerned about).

fgorga · Nov 29, 2020

Can you get Sterno? Sterno is just ethanol with additives to make it a jelly.

Alternatively, you may be able to substitute iso-propanol (AKA iso-propyl alcohol) for denatured alcohol (AKA ethanol) in your current lamp.

I would try the highest percentage you can find... 99% would be best, but I would not go lower than 90%.

The 70% iso-propanol one can find at the drug store will probably not work. It will be hard to ignite and would probably burn too coolly, certainly cooler than purer stuff (either ethanol or iso-propanol)... too much of the energy goes into vaporizing the water.

r u t h · Nov 29, 2020

the nearby hardware stores are out of sterno, unfortunately. i'm worried that iso-propyl may leave soot. maybe everclear is the best option? but i think they only sell 150 proof here.

shutterfinger · Nov 29, 2020

You can get 99% isopropyl alcohol on ebay for about $35 a quart.

Donald Qualls · Nov 29, 2020

Unfortunately, isopropyl won't burn clean in a pressure burner type stove designed for ethanol, though many of them will work fine with straight methanol (sold as a solvent in the paint department). I've used it, many years ago, in small wick burners (like a fat wick oil candle); it does burn pretty cleanly that way, if the wick isn't so fat the flame starves for air in the core. It can be made to burn cleanly in a pressure type stove (like a gasoline pressure stove) by altering the air to fuel ratio, but most (if not all) alcohol stoves I've seen are designed for ethanol. This may backfire on California, however -- the primary source of air pollution in Mexico City has long been leaks in propane/butane tanks used for heating and cooking. California is effectively legislating a change-over from liquid alcohol as a fuel to butane or propane -- which are notoriously hard to seal and don't tend to get maintained. Further, I don't think I'd consider either methanol or isopropyl an improvement for the VOC issue.

Seems to me that ethanol sold in gasoline (E-10, E-15, and E-85) is a much larger contributor to the problem than chafing dish fuel or shellac thinner. And there's no replacement for ethanol in either shellac or wet plate photography (the latter such a tiny consumer that it ought to merit an exemption, at least to allow users to order in from out of state).

Otherwise, one might have to purchase the 150 proof version of Everclear, and use molecular sieves to sop up the last of the water. Expensive way to run a burner, but at least feasible for wet plate photographers.

knj · Nov 29, 2020

Learned in scouts how to make a burner out of aluminum can. Used HEET for fuel. Probably not cheapest per oz but available in little yellow bottles. Don’t know about California. Please don’t blow yourself up.

removedacct1 · Nov 29, 2020

Here's an alternative suggestion: ditch the spirit lamp entirely and buy a cheap toaster oven.

I have had the BEST results (cleanest, glossiest surfaces) by baking the varnished plates in a small toaster oven. Preheat the toaster to 250F and bake the plate for about 3 minutes (your oven may perform differently, so do some tests). You can get away from dealing with slow, uneven, risky alcohol lamps entirely, and you will enjoy a better finish on your plates by adopting the toaster method.

reddesert · Nov 29, 2020

As I said above, California and other places (like all of Canada) that are banning the sale of denatured alcohol at the hardware store are doing it to reduce its use as a solvent - as a paint stripper, which is the vast majority of its use. Its use in alcohol stoves is a very minor component of its sales in the US, so if people change to other fuels that is a small perturbation to total VOC.

You can buy alcohol stove fuel from camping supply stores like REI, https://www.rei.com/product/837419/crown-fuel-alcohol-stove-fuel I don't know if they carry it in California, but one of the reviews suggests they do.

This kind of fuel (or HEET, etc) will burn in the kind of alcohol stove (wick, not pressure) that you can buy at camping stores or make from a soda can.

Donald Qualls · Nov 29, 2020

reddesert said:
This kind of fuel (or HEET, etc) will burn in the kind of alcohol stove (wick, not pressure) that you can buy at camping stores or make from a soda can.

Most "can" stoves are actually low-pressure jet types of one sort or another; most work just as well, if not better, without any sort of wick material. The infamous "pot quench" -- in which the stove goes out suddenly if a cold pot is place directly on the crown of the stove, vs. using a separate pot stand -- is because the sudden temperature drop kills the pressure generation inside the stove.

This kind of stove works equally well on methanol or ethanol -- but there are two flavors of HEET -- one is isopropyl, the other is methanol. Get the wrong one, and a stove like a "penny" stove (or any of a hundred other variations in the soda/beer/tea can stove) will burn poorly and soot up whatever you're heating (and be much more prone to pot quench, due to the lower vapor pressure of isopropyl). Wick burners mostly don't care whether they're fed methanol, ethanol, or isopropyl (as long as it's the 91% kind, not the common 70%).

Sadly, if VOC is the primary reason for banning solvent-application sales of denatured, methanol solvent is going as well, eliminating the two least hazardous solvents available for things like enamel paint cleanup etc. I wonder if they're going to pull paint thinner, lacquer thinner, etc. -- all of which are used in ways that result in most of the contents of the can evaporating. If so, so much for the custom car and motorcycle businesses and hobbyists in SoCal...

mshchem · Nov 29, 2020

r u t h said:
hi all,

i just discovered that denatured alcohol has been banned in california. does anyone have a preferred alternative fuel or heat source for varnishing plates, preferably one usable indoors for 5-10 minutes at a time?

thank you!

Gently heat with a click start propane torch with a fan tip. Otherwise a hair dryer, my wife has one that you could cook on.

UnderwoodPhoto · Dec 4, 2020

E100 or E85 at your local gas station?

Donald Qualls · Dec 4, 2020

UnderwoodPhoto said:
E100 or E85 at your local gas station?

Check the pump notice: at least around here, E85 might be as little as 51% alcohol, the rest the same stuff as E0 unleaded (i.e. hexane, heptane, etc.), probably undesirable for operating an alcohol lamp. If you can get real E100, the only advantage it has over denatured ethanol is price, with the disadvantage that you don't know the actual strength (like E85, it might be much lower than the nominal percentage of alcohol) nor do you have any disclosure of the denaturing agents -- and since it's intended as motor fuel, those aren't selected for their photographic friendliness. Not to mention that here in North Carolina, I haven't even seen E100.

mgb74 · Dec 5, 2020

https://www.goldeagle.com/product/heet-gas-line-antifreeze-water-remover/
This is the methanol alcohol version. There is an isopropyl alcohol version - you don't want that one.

Donald Qualls · Dec 5, 2020

mgb74 said:
https://www.goldeagle.com/product/heet-gas-line-antifreeze-water-remover/
This is the methanol alcohol version. There is an isopropyl alcohol version - you don't want that one.

Might be hard to find a parts store that stocks gas line anti-freeze in the parts of California the alcohol solvent ban is aimed at. Doesn't get far below freezing, or stay that way for long, in Los Angeles or even San Francisco.

UnderwoodPhoto · Dec 5, 2020

Donald Qualls said:
Check the pump notice: at least around here, E85 might be as little as 51% alcohol, the rest the same stuff as E0 unleaded (i.e. hexane, heptane, etc.), probably undesirable for operating an alcohol lamp. If you can get real E100, the only advantage it has over denatured ethanol is price, with the disadvantage that you don't know the actual strength (like

In the summer, e85 exactly that. E100 is always that. e85 in the cold winter areas will likely be around 50% only like you say. But in Cali, both fuels will likely be as advertised. Certainly easy enough to test in a lamp outdoors. If it does not work, pour it in your car or keep it for clean up. Another source is Air Brake Antifreeze. Pure Methanol.

mgb74 · Dec 5, 2020

Donald Qualls said:
Might be hard to find a parts store that stocks gas line anti-freeze in the parts of California the alcohol solvent ban is aimed at. Doesn't get far below freezing, or stay that way for long, in Los Angeles or even San Francisco.

At least based on a quick look online, it is available in the Oakland area. LA might be another story.

reddesert · Dec 6, 2020

Get the yellow HEET or the camp stove fuel. Don't mess with the gas station.

There are mountains in California, it snows in the mountains above Los Angeles every year. A motivated person can easily find these things, even if the average Angeleno doesn't know about them. Probably easier to find HEET than to find a snow shovel.

alternative fuel for alcohol lamps (varnishing plates)

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