What is White Gas (recommended for Speed Dip)?

coleman lantern fuel

Coleman lantern/gas fuel.

Yeah, someone told me they were the same, but that you could buy the "white gas" cheaper than the "Coleman Fuel." Are these just kerosine??

They always called kerosine "white gas" where I come from.

NO! Not the same.

I just looked it up. White gas is "naptha," a mixture of low boiling-point hydrocarbons. Mister Ed is right, it's not the same as kerosine. So the question is, where does one get naptha? It should be cheaper than Colemans although it's the same thing.

hardware store, but it wasnt cheaper last time i checked

For decades we burned Blazo in our coleman stoves and lamps. That was before Coleman started selling their own fuel. the Coleman fuel has a bit of an oily feel compared to Blazo. I don't know if you can buy Blazo anymore but Chevron use to sell it in 1 gallon and five gallon cans. It is the real thing if you want white gas. Call a local Chevron/Standard distributor (not a gas station) and see if they still sell Blazo.

Use mineral spirits or paint thinner with speed dip,coleman has a universal fuel out now that has additives that cause problems with speed dip.I know I had to toss a batch out.

yeah we always called kerosene white gas....hmmmmm

I "think" white gas has just been refined to a higher degree with more impurities removed. I always equated kerosene to #2 crude fuel oil, commomly used for heating homes.

back in my younger days leaded gas had a pinkish tint to it and unleaded was clearer or "white" in color

I remember Garold Weiland talking of using "unleaded" gas in his coleman type camp stove in his Fox Trapping Vol.1 & 2 for boiling traps. This was back when most gas was still leaded.

Unleaded gas is about the same as white gas. Coleman fuel is no where near white gas. We used to buy white gas at red bird gas stations yrs. ago. We used it in our lanterns for yrs.

From Coleman's Website:

Coleman® Fuel
Also called white gas or camping fuel, you can't beat it for camping in the winter or at high altitude. Burns hot even at subzero temperatures. And unlike butane and propane, output doesn't falter as temperatures drop. Coleman® Fuel is very refined, and burns hotter and cleaner than other liquid fuels. It's relatively inexpensive and not difficult to come by. By carrying the fuel in small refillable fuel bottles, you don't have the disposal considerations you do with empty propane or butane cylinders. But unlike appliances that use those fuels, you do need to fill liquid-fuel appliances. And for steady output, they need to be pumped occasionally to maintain pressure within the fuel tank.
Main advantages: heat output and economy.

its what happens after an albino eats some beans

Don...

White gas is unleaded gasoline that has been purified a little more. Coleman fuel is purified a little further to just the naptha.

So, coleman fuel IS very close to white gas, it's just got less impurities....and A LOT less impurities than gasoline.

Mostly because white gas is obsolete...nobody uses it in their stoves anymore, heck, the colemans I've bought in the last five years were all dual fuel...I just take along a gallon of straight gas.

Naptha is still used as a solvent in paint/stain preparation and cleaning.

Now that everyone knows what "white gas" is, I remember as a kid 55 years ago (about age 10)there was a small Sunoco gas station in our rural area that had a "white gas" pump next to their other two pump offerings. Any of you other elders remember that?

If I am not mistaken, that is what my father used for gas in his 20 ft.,wooden, 'river' fishing boat that had an inboard motor in it that was started with about an 18" heavy steel flywheel. We also used it in our Coleman lanterns and stoves. That was long before Coleman fuel was ever marketed in one gallon cans at a retail outlet. Our "white gas" came from the gas station pump, not from a can.

Jonathan

Fuel oil is not the same as Kerosene. IF I recall correctly, kerosene was also known as coal oil and #2 fuel oil is lesser refined Diesel fuel.

I stand corrected, wasn't sure anyway.

#1 fuel oil is kerosene, #2 fuel oil is diesel, naptha is a high grade fuel oil that is used in mine safety lamps (possum lights) as they are known in the coal mining industry that are carried by foreman and firebosses inside the mine to help aid in the detection of low oxygen in the atmosphere and methane. not used as much as they once were. a form of naptha is also used as airplane fuel.

like others said white gas was popular when i was a kid also, used to power coleman stoves and lanterns. good ol days

Jonathn, as I said in my reply, I used to buy white gas at gas station from a pump.
Snowman, I know they call Coleman fuel white gas, but it don't seem to be the same white gas I used to buy. It seens to have some kind of adative to it that pure white gas does not have, I have burnrd a lot of umleaded gas in Coleman lanterns and stoves. It works fine for me and it used to be a lot cheaper to.

I too remember getting white gas at the gas station. But for the past 30+ years we have bought it by the 55 gallon drum or the 5 gallon can. As I mentioned above it sold under the name Blazo. It was usually sold in two 5 gallon cans and packed in a wooden box. Those cans were square and are becoming a rarity up here now. The boxes are still seen once in a while and are called "blazo boxes". Many shelves and cupboards in bush cabins are made from blazo boxes.

I agree with Don that there is something besides "white gas" in Coleman fuel. It doesn't evaporate as fast as white gas. Also, kerosene is not diesel, it is the same as Jet A-50 and a further refined product called Jet B. They smell similar to diesel but are much more highly refined. You can use all of them in lamps but don't try to feed #1 or #2 diesel to your helicopter or or your 757. You won't be going far.

The Coleman type fuels have stabilizers added for long shelf life. I still have a can I bought on sale years ago for $.79 that still works great. I bought like 50 cans 'cause it was cheap.
Anybody know what you have to do to old style stoves, lanterns and heaters to convert to unleaded gas.

Years ago, when I was just a snip of a kid, we had a gas station and sold white gas. It was used in Coleman lanterns mostly.

We also sold kerosene, which was dispensed in a separate pump and stored in a barrel. Kerosene isn't as explosive as are gasolines, but is still very flammable. Kerosene was mostly used back then for kerosene heaters. I always considered it similar to fuel oil. It would not be good for use in conjunction with Speed Dip, as it would take a long time to dry and it would probably leave an odor.

naptha ain't that the main thing in lighter fluid?

BigBob: 79 cents for a gallon of Coleman fuel has to be a world record. I found some in a hardware store going out of business in 1991. The sale price then was $4.75/gallon. I bought all they had and still have 30 gallons of it left.

The only difference in using one fuel over the other is the generator. Some will handle unleaded but the old ones don't do well on straight unleaded gas. They burn for a while but eventually the generator gets fouled up and has to be replaced.

lmao white17

i pay around that NOW

Converting BigBob's .79 to Alaska prices probably make it around $4.75 a gallon.

I'll see if I can find a current local price for the stuff. probably need a cosigner to buy it now.

I sure bought more then one 5 gal can of blazo in my life I do not remmeber the square cans by the time I moved to Ak it was in blue round 5 gal cans but the boxes are highly sought afterby locals here for their many uses. I have a couple one in the shop is filled with rope for sleds and nets not sure where the othere is off the top of my head but my wife is constantly looking for them.
I do remmeber going camping with my parents as a child and my big brother and I had to walk down to the gas station and pump a gal of white gas into a jug from the pump marked white gas prior to leaving. I simply got to go so I was out of everyones hair for a bit as I coulden't sit still waiting to go

You can't remember the square cans ???!!! Todd, you've been writing too much fiction lately. :-))

Ditto on the generator thing white 17. They would burn for a period then the Gen, would plug up.

That $.79 price was from the mid 70's.

What is the actual difference in the generators or orifice?

My dad used to get it in 55 gallon drums,he used it in his printing shop

Yeah the orifice is different and so is the configuration of the generator.

I just priced a can of Coleman fuel here at the local store. $18.49 per gallon.

When I was a kid most all gas was leaded. Amoco was about the only unleaded gas around. It was referred to as white gas.