ORIGINAL: Dave Harmon
ORIGINAL: 1QwkSport2.5r
ORIGINAL: w8ye
Back in the 60's I ran about 10 gallons of that blue methanol.
I worked for Ashland Oil Company in a gasoline terminal at the time and it was methanol based antifreeze. I bought two 5 gallon cans of it.
My vendor I've been getting methanol from is called Lubrication Technologies. I'm not sure if they're national or just local but they deal with just about every petroleum chemical known to man. According to their catalog, this is their cleaning solvent methanol. They sell methanol fuel they call ''dragon'' but I don't know if it's the same color or not. It runs fine so I don't care.
I get it.....the blue color is to indicate that it is not pure.
If it runs good for you....ok....but it's not for me.
I followed up with the supplier I get my methanol from in regard to the blue color. They told me they dont directly manufacture it; they buy it from someone else in bulk and package it for resale. They did tell me it should be "water white" or clear in laymans terms, but if there are no ill effects in my application to not worry about it. Color doesnt declare its purity. Their quality control lab tests every product they sell and they tell me this product tests 99.9% pure with the residual .1% being the denaturing compound. They also said any methanol sold in the United States must be denatured (its a law) to prevent people from drinking it, so it is possible that this particular vendor's vendor uses something with a slight blue color as the denaturing compound.
I have a new 5 gallon bucket I haven't opened yet; If this other bucket is the same color and if for some reason it doesnt run in the engines properly I can return it. I found another supplier (a refinery) that sells clear methanol that too is 99.9% pure and for a much better price so I will use that vendor next time.
I haven't seen even the slightest bit of rust or corrosion in any of my engines or any ill effects on my glow plugs so I will use this up and buy from another vendor and be done with it.
Back to the subject... Does anyone know if regular run-of-the-mill food coloring is water based or alcohol based? Someone I met recently makes his own fuel and he found alcohol based food coloring. I've used the regular stuff that you'd use for making frosting or cookies and didnt have any problems with it other than having to use several drops to see any change in color. I'm certainly not concerned, just asking the question..
Thanks for all of your replies, folks. Even if my alcohol is 'tainted', I appreciate the information.