Re: Running on paint thinner?


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Posted by David Sherman on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 at 3:29PM :

In Reply to: Re: Running on paint thinner? posted by Scott R on Wednesday, August 24, 2005 at 12:46PM :

The BTUs per pound are pretty much the same for all liquid hydrocarbons. BTUs per gallon are more for heavier fuels. That's why engine efficiency is rated in lbs/brake-hp-hr. Paint thinner appears to be somewhere between kerosene and gasoline in density, so yes, it would contain slightly less BTUs per gallon than #2 diesel. However, I would only use it if the difference in price was extreme or if diesel became unavailable and I had to go somewhere or run a generator or other piece of machinery.

It looks to me like our normal fuels, gasoline and #2 diesel are going to be getting more and more scarce, so it would be nice to have some options. It also seems to me that paint thinner could be mixed with gasoline and burned in old low-compression engines like our 230s. I know that in the early days of automobiles, kerosene was much cheaper than gasoline, and some people would use a 50/50 mix of gas and kero.

Reclaimed solvents like paint thinner, lacquer thinner, etc, are sometimes available pretty reasonable, and while I'm sure the manufacturers wouldn't recommend them in a modern vehicle, if one ran across some for cheap or free, it seems like it should be possible to use it to at least stretch the preferred fuels.



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