I made some alcohol lamps with 3/8" copper tubing soldered to a mason jar lid, tiki lamp wicks and fueled by methyl hydrate from the hardware store. I have a simple CO2 controller but like you, no cash for a tank as yet. Need a portable AC/dehuey unit too so I can run a sealed room mainly to keep my humidity up as it's real dry here.
In a 10x10' room it gets the CO2 over 1500ppm in 15 min or so. I made a smaller one that uses smaller tubing and a cotton shoelace for a wick. Can run that all day burning much less fuel so I'm not having to keep running downstairs to light the wick or put it out every half hour. Kept in a metal can for safety but I've been doing it for years with no problems. We used to use the same thing in science class in junior high so if it's safe enough for a bunch of kids it should be OK for adults.
When the wicks burn down to just nubs the flame is barely visible but you still get lots of CO2. I was doing my testing when it was well broke in. Crappy soldering job that I have got better at. If you keep the propane torch on the tubing more it won't melt the seal around the lid and can pull the wicks back so they are barely above the top of the tube. I use a couple of wire nuts to snuff them out and keep on top to reduce evaporation when not in use.
I tried something that would put out a lot more CO2 faster but ran into heat issues.
This is the controller I bought for around $270. The same one with digital readout was $200 more. Ouch! I have the flow gauge and solenoid already so just need a tank and gas. Made in Canada! Wishing I'd got the better one so I could run the CO2 at double the normal atmospheric level of 400 but I can set this to run at 1000 and put it on a timer so keep the level a little lower than that. During the stretch I want 1500+ tho.
