No vent in catch can

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DrCharles

DrCharles

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I bought one of those nice-looking octagonal TIG-welded aluminum catch cans from Summit, and ran my overflow hose from the radiator neck to a brass elbow screwed into the bung. The can has a drain **** on the bottom... so far so good.

But the can does not have any vent fitting. So once the radiator cap starts opening under pressure, the can will also accumulate pressure quickly. Should I drill a small vent hole in the top of the can? Seems dangerous in an overheat situation since there is no place for the pressure to escape...
 
1/8 is plenty until you have a "big blow" for some reason. "the right" way to do it would be to say, tap a hole in the top of the can and screw in a fitting for an overflow tube. Otherwise, if something happens, it can blow coolant all over the place in there in case of a bad overheat, etc

I'd want say, 1/8" pipe thread hooked to 5/16tube/ hose
 
I assume the can has a cap. Is it posable that the cap has a presure relief? Easy test would be to apply less than 16 lbs air pressure to the inlet with the cap on
 
Use as simple catch or recovery? Couldn't you replace the valve with a barb and treat that as your in/out? Use the upper fitting as the vent - even run a hose down low and it will act as overflow. You'd have to use a recovery cap on the rad.
 
DrCharles said:
Definitely not vented or pressure-relieved.
Summit Racing® Aluminum Overflow Tanks SUM-300100

It is now... 1/4" hole in the top! Simplest way to make it work :)
Click to expand...


Why couldn't you put the hose at the bottom......which would act as a return "recovery" and leave the top "valve" open? With the hose at the top, don't you have to drain it every time it "pukes?"

SUM-300100_ml.jpg
 
As I answered, the simplest solution was to just drill a hole, and keep the drain **** functional.
I don't expect it to keep puking... if the cold coolant level is in the right place, then the full hot level won't overflow. Not running it as a coolant recovery system. Plenty of spare room in the top tank, too.
 
DrCharles said:
As I answered, the simplest solution was to just drill a hole, and keep the drain **** functional.
I don't expect it to keep puking... if the cold coolant level is in the right place, then the full hot level won't overflow. Not running it as a coolant recovery system. Plenty of spare room in the top tank, too.
Click to expand...

Sorry, I disagree. All it has to do is puke ONCE and your headroom is gone. Because next time, it will go out the vent. And since it's not easy to look in there, how do you know if it's full? You'll have to check it every day to find out

"It's so easy" to hook this up as a recovery I don't understand why you wouldn't
 
you bought a "racing" catch can, not an automotive recovery tank. not the same intended use.

just a hole in the top isnt going to cut it. it needs a vent line running down low for safety.
you want a face full of steam, or worse, if your leaning over it?
 
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