Methanol ( M1) test kit results

Pronto

Believe nothing you hear and half of what you see.
Joined
Dec 9, 2002
I've always been curious how pure the methanol I've been using is. A friend and I split a 55 gal drum of M1 (99.9 pure) distributed for service stations to mix up their own windshield washer fluid. It's about 4 years old now and the drum is half empty. I keep my alky tank full at all times, a 1 liter heavy duty chemical jug full (got from work) and a 5 gal metal drum (had bought M1 in it years ago) full. I saved the alky from the tank when I winterized last fall. I figured that was going to be the "worst" since the tank seal is ok but not as good as the other containers even though I've added to it several times to top it off. The test kit came from Utah Biodiesel Supply. It's simple enough to use. There's some measuring and math involved but it's not complicated.
methanol test kit.jpg

I was very satisfied with the results. The alky from the tank came in at 98.6 pure. The jug came in at 98. 9 pure and the 5 gal drum came in at 99.3 pure. All had been filled early summer from the big drum. So for those that use alky, this might give you an idea how long a well sealed container will keep pure. I'm sure generally the same is true for E85 for those that buy that in bulk. The better the seal the longer it will stay uncontaminated by water. Areas that are more humid will probably end up with more contamination especially in a crappy container. I don't recommend the typical red plastic gas jugs. They don't seal good and are a royal pain to deal with the new spouts. I wouldn't use an old 1 gallon water jug either. Those caps are not tight either.
 
very good results considering the supposed water attraction/accumaltion properties of it
my old offshore boat with 140 gallon tank on it, I would always have it full because of condensation potentially getting in tank , and reliability is the most important thing when 50 miles offshore ;)
great info and post pronto
 
I've always been curious how pure the methanol I've been using is. A friend and I split a 55 gal drum of M1 (99.9 pure) distributed for service stations to mix up their own windshield washer fluid. It's about 4 years old now and the drum is half empty. I keep my alky tank full at all times, a 1 liter heavy duty chemical jug full (got from work) and a 5 gal metal drum (had bought M1 in it years ago) full. I saved the alky from the tank when I winterized last fall. I figured that was going to be the "worst" since the tank seal is ok but not as good as the other containers even though I've added to it several times to top it off. The test kit came from Utah Biodiesel Supply. It's simple enough to use. There's some measuring and math involved but it's not complicated.
View attachment 339099
I was very satisfied with the results. The alky from the tank came in at 98.6 pure. The jug came in at 98. 9 pure and the 5 gal drum came in at 99.3 pure. All had been filled early summer from the big drum. So for those that use alky, this might give you an idea how long a well sealed container will keep pure. I'm sure generally the same is true for E85 for those that buy that in bulk. The better the seal the longer it will stay uncontaminated by water. Areas that are more humid will probably end up with more contamination especially in a crappy container. I don't recommend the typical red plastic gas jugs. They don't seal good and are a royal pain to deal with the new spouts. I wouldn't use an old 1 gallon water jug either. Those caps are not tight either.

Thanks for the info. On a side note, do you recall what a 55gal drum of M1 costs? And was it branded M1 or was it just 99.9% Methanol (not that there’s a difference but wondering if the service station was buying racing fuel for windshield cleaner) [emoji1605]


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The M1 was unbranded. There is a supplier in Ma I believe that sold it but I'm not 100% on that. My friend that's a full time mechanic found the deal. It was a supplier of oils and coolant etc in bulk to service stations. He saw they sold M1 for windshield washer fluid and a light went off. He was working at a dealership at the time. We put the barrel in my pu which is illegal transportation (no hazard markings) but my truck has a cap so no one knew but us, lol. I don't recall the exact amount but it was much cheaper than the track.
A quick search found this for comparison. I'm sure if you knew someone at at service station a deal could be worked out to get a drum.
https://qwixmix.com/collections/methanol/products/55-gallon-drum-of-methanol
 
Great information!! I was just wondering about this the other week. Thank you for taking the time to perform your testing and reporting back on the results.

What do you recommend for easy pouring into the alky tank in the car?

I know a 5 gallon pail from VP fuels is around $40. I don't have the space to store a 55 gallon drum and I just opened a fresh pail about 2 weeks ago, topped off the tank in the car, and after my last spirited driving outing I had dropped about a 1/4" at best in the tank. I will never let it go below 70% full. I would expect this 5 gallon pail to last me at least through July. I don't go WOT a lot on the street since the traffic around here doesn't really allow that and plenty of cops just waiting in every town for you to past them doing stupid stuff just like that.
 
I keep a 1 liter bottle in the trunk. It's an industrial style bottle with a nice lip that allows pouring without drips. I don't know where you could find something like that. Maybe US Plastics or someplace like that. I just use a dedicated funnel to go from the bottle to the tank. Any drips get wiped up and that's it.
bottle.jpg
 
I use this, I make sure the spout is on & bottomed out tight on the neck of jug , (if not it will leak when you release the spout), Practice with it you will perfect it......….when finished I pull spout off & put back in Ziplock bag. & cover the whole container & spout with an old but new looking car cover bag in the dark out in my lawn mower shed. When I pour it in the reservoir it still feels cold almost to the touch.
 

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Not sure if a screw cap would seal tight enough.
 
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