[08redgt500]

Thanks for all the insights and suggestions...

Now I'm actually not sure which one the speed shop tech did say the guy was using, I still think he said ethanol, but maybe not and I mis-spoke when I started the thread. E85 is mostly ethanol, corn squeezin's and all. ;) I believe you can buy de-natured alcohol, which is ethanol with a little methanol added to make it non-potable; therefore not a controlled substance and no liquor tax. We used de-natured alcohol in the boat stove, years ago; which in the scheme of things is a lot safer than little tanks of propane banging around, or at least that was one opinion back then. It can get pretty rough when ocean racing(sail), which is what we were doing at times. ;)

The question remains which would be better for this type of rig, do people use both?

Ethanol & Methanol Defined

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug, best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages and in thermometers. In common usage, it is often referred to simply as alcohol.

Ethanol is abbreviated as EtOH, using the common organic chemistry notation of representing the ethyl group (C2H5) with Et. This designation is used both by EMS and Hospital ER staff when describing alcohol intoxication, and is found in most chemistry textbooks as well.

Ethanol is a straight-chain alcohol, and its molecular formula is C2H5OH. An alternative notation is CH3-CH2-OH, which indicates that the carbon of a methyl group (CH3-) is attached to the carbon of a methylene group (-CH2-), which is attached to the oxygen of a hydroxyl group (-OH).

Its empirical formula is C2H6O, making it a constitutional isomer of dimethyl ether.

Except for use of fire, the fermentation of sugar into ethanol is one of the earliest organic reactions employed by humanity. The intoxicating effects of ethanol consumption have been known since ancient times. In modern times, ethanol intended for industrial use is also produced from by-products of petroleum refining.

Ethanol has widespread use as a solvent of substances intended for human contact or consumption, including scents, flavorings, colorings, and medicines. In chemistry, it is both an essential solvent and a feedstock for the synthesis of other products. It has a long history as a fuel for heat and light and also as a fuel for internal combustion engines.


Methanol, also known as methyl alcohol, carbinol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical compound with chemical formula CH3OH (often abbreviated MeOH). It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colourless, flammable, toxic liquid with a distinctive odor that is somewhat milder and sweeter than ethanol. At room temperature it is a polar liquid and is used as an antifreeze, solvent, fuel, and as a denaturant for ethanol. It is also used for producing biodiesel via transesterification reaction.

Methanol is produced naturally in the anaerobic metabolism of many varieties of bacteria, and is ubiquitous in the environment. As a result, there is a small fraction of methanol vapor in the atmosphere. Over the course of several days, atmospheric methanol is oxidized by oxygen with the help of sunlight to carbon dioxide and water.

Methanol burns in air forming carbon dioxide and water:

2 CH3OH + 3 O2 → 2 CO2 + 4 H2O

A methanol flame is almost colorless in bright sunlight conditions, causing an additional safety hazard around open methanol flames.

Because of its toxic properties, methanol is frequently used as a denaturant additive for ethanol manufactured for industrial uses— this addition of methanol economically exempts industrial ethanol from the rather significant 'liquor' taxes that would otherwise be levied as it is the essence of all potable alcoholic beverages. Methanol is often called wood alcohol because it was once produced chiefly as a byproduct of the destructive distillation of wood. It is now produced synthetically by a multi-step process: natural gas or coal gas and steam are reformed in a furnace to produce hydrogen and carbon monoxide; then, hydrogen and carbon monoxide gases react under pressure in the presence of a catalyst. Methanol is also produced from the gasification of a range of renewable biomass materials, such as wood and black liquor from pulp and paper mills.