Hi all,
Adding water to the meths will indeed reduce the smell a little, but the downside, is that it will also reduce the calorific value of the meths, means that your kettle will take a little longer to boil. personally I don't find the smell of meths that obnoxious, and to be honest, the Origo doesn't seem to give off all that much of a smell. Somebody mentioned the colour of the meths, it is my belief that the lighter the colour the less of the nasties are in it, so you want to avoid the dark purple stuff sold in some ironmongers. If you can get Meths BP do so, it is a purer medical grade.
The best alcohol to use in an Origo is what is now known as industrial denatured alcohol, basically it's meths with no additives, it burns with a nice warm sort of alcohol smell, think of pochin [:D] If you get across the water to France on occasion, you can buy what I think they call Alcohol Brule, you can get it in any supermarket, and it's grand stuff for Origo's, no additives and burns with that nice warm alcohol smell.
If you are prepared to jump through a couple of minor hoops, you can buy industrial denatured alcohol, (used to be called IMS, Industrial Methilated Spirit) at your local chemist, but you will have to collect it on the day it is delivered to them, as most Chemist shops no longer have fire proof cabinets to store flammables in over night, something to do with cheaper insurance.
However, here is the hoop you will have to jump through. To buy industrial denatured alcohol in this country, you will need to obtain a licence from Revenue and Customs, this is not arduous, but you will have to tell them a little lie, they will allow you to buy up to 20 litres a year for "Specialised Hobbies and Pastimes". Now, I have a licence and find that 5 litres a year is sufficient for my needs, at that level of consumption they will not bat an eyelid, and you will find that they are very helpful, here is the lie, you don't tell them that you want it for fuelling a stove on a boat, for some reason they don't like that. what you tell them is that you have a number of model steam engines and you find that denatured alcohol is better for your engines, less soot and less smell etc.
At these small quantities, they will not be coming round to inspect your steam engines, so you can breath easy on that one[:)]
My advice is just ask for 5 litres a year to start with, and if you find that it isn't enough, you can always up the quantity later, I find that mostly I have a surplus at the end of the year, on 5 litres, but if you do a lot of banqueting on your boat, then I guess that you will need a bit more. By the way, Denatured Alcohol is a clear liquid, so I just dump a very small amount of purple meths into it, just enough to colour it a bit, somebody is then less likely to take a swig of it thinking it is water!! I should add that Denatured Alcohol has a higher calorific value than the purple stuff, so it takes less time to boil a kettle, ergo, you will use less fuel over the year. You may want to take a look here??
http://customs.hmrc.gov....63&propertyType=document
I hope the above will be of use to somebody? By the way, some of you may be wondering why on earth Customs and Excise would have an interest in this stuff, well as I understand it, IDA is used in cutting some of the nasty drugs like heroine and such by drug dealers, so I guess that they want to try and keep a track of what is going where, and for what purpose? It is also used in genuine and bonafide industrial processes, and by French Polishers, for mixing colours and stains. It seems a bit paranoid to me really as anyone that is going to use it for nefarious purposes, can bring in a van load of the stuff purchased in any French Supermarket!
Cheers, Ray.
Seal 22 MK3 "Morveren" ex "Mellisa" ex "Sachi" Number 384
(the last one built by John Baker)
Seal 22 MK3 "Morveren" Number 384
(the last one built by John Baker)