Coleman lanterns, stoves, coolers, and stuff

[Brad Johnson]

When oil fields had primary frac towers all over the place (pre EPA and such) there was a waste product they drained off the towers and gave away.  The pumpers all called it 'drip gas', although it was gasoline only by association. Nasty stuff, and there was no guarantee your vehicle would actually run on it.  We usually filled half the tank with gas then topped off with drip.  Not the best way to treat a vehicle but, hey, it was free.

Brad

[Perd Hapley]

Ah, so you could be ninety years old, in my area, and never know about drip.  No oil fields in this part of Missouri, that I know of.

[mtnbkr]

Like I said earlier, we don't have oil fields, distilation/refineries, etc in this area.  This isn't something I would have been exposed to regardless of my age.

I see Fisty has the same reaction. :)

Chris

[Perd Hapley]

Sorry, Grandpa, but us youngsters are way more smarter than you think we are.  So stuff it.     

[Brad Johnson]

Eh, what was that?  Couldn't hear ya.  Gotta speak up sonny...

Brad

[Tallpine]

When oil fields had primary frac towers all over the place (pre EPA and such) there was a waste product they drained off the towers and gave away.  The pumpers all called it 'drip gas', although it was gasoline only by association. Nasty stuff, and there was no guarantee your vehicle would actually run on it.  We usually filled half the tank with gas then topped off with drip.  Not the best way to treat a vehicle but, hey, it was free.

Brad

It sure beats having to pay 19 cents a gallon for gas   


BTW, I used to haul logs over Cottonwood Pass to Buena Vista - back before it was paved on the east side.  Our friends co-own the store & cabins at the lake on the west side. 

[230RN]

They probably also never pulled up to a frac tower overflow tank and filled up with drip, either. (Not that it helped any given the truck might, or might not, keep running afterwards.)

I can't imagine anything that goes through a fractionating tower as being excess except maybe the final yuchie gases, which I think are flared off.  Was the stuff in the overflow tank for free, or what?

I guess the lowest-boiling-point fractions, like maybe naphtha, are close to being fuel.

But I thought they used just about everything in the crude, at least nowadays.

Enlighten me.

[charby]

When oil fields had primary frac towers all over the place (pre EPA and such) there was a waste product they drained off the towers and gave away.  The pumpers all called it 'drip gas', although it was gasoline only by association. Nasty stuff, and there was no guarantee your vehicle would actually run on it.  We usually filled half the tank with gas then topped off with drip.  Not the best way to treat a vehicle but, hey, it was free.

Brad

White gas has about 55 octane rating, I wonder if drip gas is similar?

[230RN]

"When oil fields had primary frac towers all over the place (pre EPA and such) there was a waste product they drained off the towers and gave away.  The pumpers all called it 'drip gas', although it was gasoline only by association. Nasty stuff, and there was no guarantee your vehicle would actually run on it.  We usually filled half the tank with gas then topped off with drip.  Not the best way to treat a vehicle but, hey, it was free."

Heh. Missed that.  I guess my browser is set to not refresh a page.

Anyhow, those old vehicles had a timing lever on the steering column.  I guess you could just retard the heck out of it to make the engine run on 55-octane gas.  You also had to retard the spark to crank-start it. 

I gave up on white-gas stuff a long time ago.  I don't go camping any more, but I've got a lantern and a small barbecue and a two-burner stove that burns propane... just in case I have to camp "in the house"   I'm also set up with a small inverter to run a small TV for news and warnings... this, besides the radio.

[Brad Johnson]

This was being burned in early-70s pickup trucks.  Even with their abysmally low compression the engines still clattered like a paint shaker full of marbles.  Naptha would be about the closest named product to what drip gas was, though I'm sure today's naptha is likely better stuff than drip could ever hope to be.

But, like I said, it was free.  Sometimes you do what you have to when times are slim.  At least it got us to town for groceries.

Brad

[Harold Tuttle]

drip gas was as low as 40 octane

[Jim147]

drip gas was as low as 40 octane

A few moth balls, a little acetone and a bottle of corn squeezens and we can turn it into racing fuel.

jim

[kgbsquirrel]

I'd almost bet 50 internetz that there ain't 1 in 10 people here that have a clue about what you are talking about :D

A fractional distillation tower is used to separate the different hydrocarbon molecules, by weight, out of petroleum chiefly by virtue of their differing boiling points with the lightest rising to the very top of the tower with heavier weighted molecules being taken off at succeeding lower points in the tower and finally the remaining portion, or residual fuel oils, at the bottom. This process was generally succeeded by additional distillation of the different take offs to further separate, or refine, them into a more narrow range of differing molecular weights. This process produces what we know as the different types of petroleum based fuels, to wit, distillate fuel oils.

To the OP, white gas can refer to either unadulterated gasoline or naphtha.

And I'm 26, if you were wondering.  So when do I get to collect my 50 internetz?

[KD5NRH]

drip gas was as low as 40 octane

IIRC, the real problem was the inconsistent nature of it; anywhere from mid-20s to 60 octane, and no easy way to know until you try.  A big tank with a steady input was a good thing, since the large volume would average out, while a small tank never had enough throughput for the high-end stuff to cancel out the junk.

[Perd Hapley]

A fractional distillation tower is used to separate the different hydrocarbon molecules, by weight, out of petroleum chiefly by virtue of their differing boiling points with the lightest rising to the very top of the tower with heavier weighted molecules being taken off at succeeding lower points in the tower and finally the remaining portion, or residual fuel oils, at the bottom. This process was generally succeeded by additional distillation of the different take offs to further separate, or refine, them into a more narrow range of differing molecular weights. This process produces what we know as the different types of petroleum based fuels, to wit, distillate fuel oils.

To the OP, white gas can refer to either unadulterated gasoline or naphtha.

And I'm 26, if you were wondering.  

Old enough to use Google, eh?  

[Chuck Dye]

(ignores gearheaded petrospeak)

The Coleman stuff is great and does play a part in most of my camping memories, but if you want to stop me in my tracks, overwhelmed with memories, present me with the smells of kerosene lanterns and wet surplus G.I. canvas.

[kgbsquirrel]

Old enough to use Google, eh?  

What's this, someone with an expanded knowledge base that doesn't fit my preconceived stereotype? Impossible! Must be using google, definitely google. 

[Jamisjockey]

Not to hijack back to topic....but....
I've got some "newer" coleman stuff and it's great.
Coleman "northstar" self lighting lantern.  Nothing but great things to say about it.
Coleman "extreme" cooler will keep ice for days in 90+ weather.

[Perd Hapley]

What's this, someone with an expanded knowledge base that doesn't fit my preconceived stereotype? Impossible! Must be using google, definitely google. 

What stereotype would that be?  The stereotype regarding well-dressed squirrels?  No, really, I don't know enough about you to even entertain a stereotype.  Your answer looked like something copy-pasted from another website, not an off-the-cuff response.  Which probably just means you have a grasp of the subject matter and write well.  Congrats.   

[Brad Johnson]

Not to hijack back to topic....but....
I've got some "newer" coleman stuff and it's great.
Coleman "northstar" self lighting lantern.  Nothing but great things to say about it.
Coleman "extreme" cooler will keep ice for days in 90+ weather.

We have a lantern that was my grandfather's when he was a kid.  Still works, although I don't know how given the conditions it's in.

Also, I stumbled upon the beautifully crafted Petromax kerosene lanterns a couple years back.  (Coleman has a kerosene burner, too, just not as pretty)



Not only pretty, suckers are bright, too.

Brad

[mtnbkr]

We have a lantern that was my grandfather's when he was a kid.  Still works, although I don't know how given the conditions it's in.

Also, I stumbled upon the beautifully crafted Petromax kerosene lanterns a couple years back.  (Coleman has a kerosene burner, too, just not as pretty)

Not only pretty, suckers are bright, too.

Brad

A friend of mine has a Petromax.  Beautiful, bright, LOUD, and a finicky PITA to deal with.  Also, they're too bright for normal camping use.  He's gone back to normal Coleman lanterns.

Chris

[Perd Hapley]

Beautiful, bright, LOUD, and a finicky PITA to deal with. 

Wait, are we still discussing lanterns? 

[sanglant]

off topic link

[Perd Hapley]

Founded in 1908?  That's one heck of a time to start making oil lamps!   

[Brad Johnson]

Not really.  Many areas of the country weren't fully electrified until the early 50's.  Even then, many people preferred oil lamps because of either familiarty or expense.

Brad