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After failing to be impressed by most catch cans available commercially, I decided to come up with my own design. When designing my catch can, I had several goals in mind:
Maximize the path length for the fuel/oil vapor to allow more time for condensation
Maximize surface area that the fuel/oil vapor touches
Ability to check fluid level at a glance
Allow fluid to be drained easily
Allow for easy installation/removal
Low cost
Good looks
Light weight
Here is what I came up with:
The can is constructed of 1/4'' and 1/8'' polycarbonate sheet, which has excellent oil resistance and insulation properties in addition to being extremely strong. It's also clear, which removes the need for a sight tube to check fluid level. I have a lot of experience with machining and working with polycarbonate, so it was a no-brainer for me. The catch can is solvent welded together with methylene chloride, which is by far the best way to go about joining polycarbonate pieces together. Just be careful, as it burns the skin and causes cancer if inhaled. I live in California and I was able to buy pure methylene chloride online (surprisingly). The mesh inside is pure copper pest control netting and works beautifully for its purpose of maximizing surface area. Overall, I'm very happy with how my catch can turned out! However, it is a bit heavy so I've already designed a smaller, lighter version. In addition, I don't produce all that much blowby even though I'm supercharged so a can of this size is overkill. In any case, I'll make another post when I finish catch can version 2!
Nice work, I've been thinking of doing something similar.
I would probably use a bit less of that copper netting and maybe do that middle divider a bit shorter so it can hold more fluid before it gets "jammed" up.
Looking forward to see next version
Well done. I like that its see thru but then again at the same don't because you can see the scourer material clearly lol. I appreciate why this is necessary though. Again, well done.
DIY Catch Can
