Ruined MSR fuel bottles?

That sounds bogus to me. Looking inside a those bottles, they look unlined to me.

I have had a few bottles go south on me, but the only thing that goes is the o-ring which MSR will replace.

Denatured ruin an aluminum bottle?
I don't think so..

I only use plastic soda bottles with denatured alcohol as aluminum bottles can dent, warp and lose their seal if dropped. A soda bottle is more reliable.

Aluminum bottles are best for petroleum based fuels like white gas, coleman fuel, …

A local shop cut open one of their MSR bottles that had been used for alcohol storage (Don't know how long). The bottom and sides were a spiderweb of dark etchings.

Our MSR bottle below had alcohol in it on and off for 5+ years. We used it for our Trangias. (We now use Caldera Cones and 8 ounce poly flip-tops.)

The dark bleb at the end of the red arrow is an "erosion pit" about halfway through the thickness of the bottom. The "erosion pit" at the end of the blue arrow is about 3/4 through.

I don't think this would have been an immediate issue, but at some point we would have had leaking alcohol.

More seriously, had we reverted back to using it as a pressurized MSR white gas fuel bottle, it could have been catastrophic.

Yeah, sounds bogus. I distinctly remember that my new MSR bottle from years ago was raw aluminum inside, no lining or coating.

I had always been told that they had a ceramic lining?
Ceramic wouldn't be effected by alcohol, but I could see how the small trace of water in alcohol could oxidize bare aluminum.

This could actually be a problem with any fuel type as you could get water condensation inside and that would collect on the bottom and also oxidize the aluminum.

"Lining" in this case could be simple anodizing, which can certainly fail under chemical assault.

Seconded on not using a pitted one for pressurized fuel.

Cheers,

Rick

Yes, there could be a problem here.

If the bottle is coated, which is quite possible even if you can't see it, the coating will have been optimised (at MSR's request) for white gas, not alcohol. Over time the coating may weaken a bit and let alcohol diffuse through it to the aluminium. Coatings which resist white gas may not resist alcohol.

Now, when pure ethyl alcohol reaches the aluminium it should not do anything to it. But denatured alcohol can have all sorts of nasties in it – USA regulations do NOT limit what can be put in denatured alcohol. Trust me, some of the things are downright toxic and dangerous. The additives or contaminants can definitely corrode the aluminium.

Stick to plastic bottles for alcohol.

Cheers

Thanks everyone. I tossed 'em.